Another Trip 'Round The Sun

Yesterday I turned 38 years of age, which means I'm not old yet but I can see it looming on the horizon like a brick road on the highway of life.

When you turn 30 it's not a big deal, you can still think of yourself as in your (very) late 20's, which is still in your prime. As the 30's go on, you keep holding onto that idea of yourself, until you hit the tipping point at 35. But then, hey, 35's halfway, that's just as close to the 20's as it is to the 40's, so no big whoop, right?

Then you sort of stop thinking about it for a few years, because 36 and 37 are still closer to 35 than to 40, so in effect you're still really only halfway between 20 and 40, so why not just think of yourself as still in your late 20's?

But that changes at 38. The relentless march of math means that you can't pretend any more, 40's sitting there just two years ahead of you, waiting to jump on you and pound your ass like that bouncer at the strip club when you got too rowdy at the bachelor party.

All of my siblings are at least 4 years older than I am, so they're past the 40 year mark. That makes it fun to tell them "Just two more years till I'm old!" Proving, I guess, that no matter your age you're always the little brother, ready to be a brat at the drop of a hat.

I don't really think of 40 as old, of course. Not any more. I did when I was younger, but I'm learning that the older you get, the further away old gets. I'll wager that I could be sitting on the porch at 90, thinking "Thank goodness I'm not 110 yet, now those buggers are old! Oh drat, I wet myself again."