THE SWEET TRAP

I have decided to prepare myself for a reasonably active summer after listening to the first small voices of old age! I have had some serious problems with my spine and a trapped nerve, which has necessitated a visit to hospital and some semi-invasive surgery to put things right. My specialist suggests I “take things easy” and “you’re not getting any younger, you know” and a litany of the usual phrases – “time to cut down on things” (unspoken but acknowledged pastimes, like smoking less, eating sensibly and drinking in moderation).

I think this happens to many of us and doctors have memorised this list. It is almost a command to “be aware”. Many of my acquaintances and friends, on hearing these words, start to pack their lives in cotton wool, smother their impulses, cover up their passions, and gradually retire from “manhood” into a kind of spiritual and physical semi-invalidism…and they are encouraged in this by wives and families…

And who doesn’t like to be the centre of attention? A second childhood falls on many men; they trade their violence for living for the promise (?) of a small increase in the span of their years. Basically, the ex-head-of-the-house becomes the youngest child. This “sweet trap” fills me with horror!

I have always live with a violent passion for life, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock – or missed sleep for two nights, worked too hard in glory or bummed in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, sailed, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence rather than a punishment…I have refused to surrender my passion for a few (questionably) extra years of life.

Until next time (and happily not being a baby again),

Peripatetic Scribe