Aweh fellow Ruminants & Groupies in day 444 of Re-Modified Lock Down Currently Level 2.
Period as a semi-retired pensioner: 64 days
On the 31st of May I turned 60 and an appropriate topic for Ruminant Pink Friday™ is thus some ruminations on being 60. I did not choose to be 60 it just sort of happened. Humans have an obsessive need to classify everything and to pigeonhole you. I am therefore greatly relieved to see that I am still classified as middle aged. Middle age apparently ends at 65. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_age. Five more years until old age.
The Republic of South Africa came into being on 31 May 1961 when I was born. South Africa was no longer a colony but was free to embark on grand apartheid. I am a living monument to the Republic of South Africa. In the apartheid state my birthday was a public holiday and on my 5th birthday there was a parade in the streets with marching bands and aero planes writing 5 in the sky. How fitting. Even those with access to the executive lift and spa cannot match this.
All this ended abruptly in 1994 and Republic day was deemed to be colonialist and a symbol of apartheid. These labels are also applied to me and I am a privileged white, bourgeois, (neo) colonialist, imperialist and beneficiary of apartheid. This creates tremendous guilt, and it is only the prospect of impending senility that will allow me to forget my shameful past.
There are those who like to say things like 60 is the new 40 and that age is just a number. I am afraid science and biology does not support that. It is true that life expectancies have increased with better diet and medical care, but the ageing process is constant and relentless. The easy diseases have been cured and those remaining are much tougher to crack.
The life expectancy of a 60-year-old man in South Africa is 76. https://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/population-ageing-data/life-expectancy-at-60/. This, of course, takes into consideration the vast differences in living conditions and medical treatment in South Africa. Given my unearned white privilege my life expectancy extends to 82-6 in line with first world countries. There is considerable variance in life expectancy. Some of this has to do with being virtuous in terms of eating well, controlling your weight, remaining active and approaching life with a positive attitude. Hard living and substance abuse apparently shortens your life but then there’s Keith (Keef) Richards (77).
I remember watching him being interviewed by an aggressive and self-righteous interviewer who said to him that she believed that he had a serious drug problem upon which he replied, “no, no, no, I have never had any problems with drugs although I have had a few problems with the police”. One thing you can say for sure is that Keith has enjoyed his life to the full.
But hidden in my genes or just bad luck a terminal cancer or terminal disease could be awaiting me. I am now of an age where a few of my peers have succumbed to disease. Just think Johnny Clegg. We were both academics at Wits University in the 80’s. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at 62 and battled this for four years before it killed him. There is no doubt that Johnny was a virtuous man in every respect. Healthy, energetic and an inspiration to everyone around him.
I have a very finite number of good years left. What do I do with my remaining time? As one does these days, I asked Google what one should do with one’s time but somehow the advice to read a book, do some exercise and, do some more home organization just lack sparkle.
I am going to take Oliver to see a Chelsea match in London if the British will give us visas. I am going to focus on family and friends. I will try to teach and mentor those who think I have something worthy to contribute. I am already becoming more involved in our community. I will work to the extent I can find interesting part time work. I will spend more time in the wilderness outdoors searching for the meaning of life. I will blog, argue, debate, and point out your flaws. I will acknowledge my own numerous deficiencies and I probably will not change. I will cherish you all.
I will become even more irreverent, and I will not genuflect to authority.
Thank you for all the helpful suggestions and comments. Please keep them up.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 