The post that follows was originally posted 6 years ago and mentions turning 50. Tomorrow I turn 50 so I decided to repost with a few updates at the end.
I recently bought in the same week two Pogo Sticks and a pair of reading glasses. I am 44 and, to most people, considered to old for pogo sticks and (admittedly to lesser degree) possibly to young for reading glasses.
Since I juggle for a living, use a pogo stick in my show, and bought both of them trying to find one that collapses small enough to fit in my prop box, therefore, the pogo stick purchases don't seem all that unusual. However, one of them was purchased at ebay's United Kingdom site and cost $132 ($110 of that for shipping) and is advertised as being able to get 6' of air, thus giving me visions of being the man to take extreme pogo sticking mainstream. One small bounce for a teenager, one giant leap for a middle aged man who needs reading glasses.
One might consider this a desperate and potentially stupid attempt at trying to relive ones youth, aka, a mid life crises. If you can't afford the sports car, go for the coolest pogo stick you can find. (By the way you can spend up to $500 on a pogo stick, without going out of the country, so I think I showed great restraint.) Honestly, I think for me, it's the same thing it's always been: I like showing off physical skills that I can do better than other people, the more skills the better, and the current skill du-jour is pogo sticking. Besides, I need to exercise and stay in shape for my job anyway, so why not have a little fun and excitement in the process. If the day comes where I hurt myself pogo sticking (referred to as "sticking it to your self") then I'll have to reconsider using it beyond my little trick in the show and be content with aggressive inline skating. One has to adjust as necessary.
The reading glasses cost a dollar and while not as cool as my sunglasses, ($10 at a scratch and dent sale) they do look better on me than my wife's spare pair. I don't actually need them for reading per se, but have used them for looking at a map, pulling out slivers, or doing close up work for more than a few minutes, such as sewing or certain household repairs. Which is simply to say, I am getting older and my body is reflecting that.
I'll confess, I wasn't completely sure where I was going with this entry when I started it but the juxtaposition of the two items purchased seemed to have so much potential, I couldn't pass it up.
As I have started writing this and thinking more about it, two lines of thought have emerged in my head.
1. The Pogo Stick: Old dogs can learn new tricks.
They may not be quite as exciting or impressive but they can be learned. I bought my first pogo stick when I was 40. I enjoy it; learning tricks on it is a challenge, but it rarely goes more than a foot off the ground (the new one may change that and I will need to be careful). On the other hand, when I was a kid, I would jump off the roof onto the front yard. Last winter I learned to jump on our trampoline on my mountain bike. It's a very soft landing; low impact bike jumping. When I was a kid, I set up a jump that progressively got bigger and bigger and never had a soft landing. My point is, we (those over 40?) can still enjoy and have challenges (for the moment I'm talking physical) doing things that might not be considered appropriate for our age, not out of some desperate attempt at recapturing our youth, but simply for the joy of learning something new and having a fun way to get exercise. And of course mentally, there's always new things to learn and ways to challenge your self. My wife has started taking piano lessons again after not playing since childhood. My stepfather is learning about particle physics. We've all heard of authors who didn't start writing until their sixties. The possibilities are endless: learn a new language, a musical instrument, tap dancing, the history of Bulgaria, if you've lived long enough, you probably have some things to say, write a blog.
2. The Reading Glasses: We age, it happens, get over it.
There is no question that we live in a culture that tends to celebrate youth and make fun of aging. From the jokes made about peoples age, to the "funny" cards and black balloons used on milestone birthdays (40-50-etc.) reverence for age is no longer a given in our culture. I can hear the arguments: "It's just for fun" "Nobody really means it." Why make a big deal out of it." A couple of reasons.
First, I would argue that it's just these sorts-of-things that have contributed greatly to the lack of respect that is too often shown to older people (whatever that means) in our society. If youth (whatever that means) constantly see age as the butt of jokes, or black ballooned birthday parties for 50 year olds—with the implication being that it's all down hill and your almost dead—it's no wonder they don't show the respect and honor that age deserves.
Second, age in the Bible is always looked upon with reverence, as something to be honored and associated with wisdom. So—and I don't think I'm making to big a leap here—if God says we shouldn't make fun of aging, then we probably shouldn't. How about a birthday party where someone is truly honored, with cards that reflect that, and decorations that reflect that, and people tell their kids about what this person has meant in their lives and so teach what it means to honor and show reverence for our elders.
In conclusion: I guess the main point of this whole entry is. . .
I don't want black balloons or cards that joke about my age when I turn 50. However, if you all want to pool together and get me one of those $500 pogo sticks, that would rock.
Additions on the eve of my 50th:
I now wear reading glasses for all reading and have a pair within a few feet at any given moment of the day. Still use one of those pogo sticks for fly-to gigs. Never got into "extreme pogo sticking." Still do inline skating in skateparks when the opportunity arrives. Still trying to learn new skills: juggling and other. While one of those $500 pogo stick would be fun to try I have enough sense to know that at some point I'm going to come crashing to pavement form 6 feet of air and that healing time isn't what it used to be. On the other hand I am in the process of learning kiteboarding so if you all want to all go in on a 12 meter, 4 line, arc style, kiteboarding kite that what would be awesome.
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