NOW HEAR THIS (April 28-June 19, 2024)

A Southern Indiana Sunrise

 It's been three weeks since we left the solitude of WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE on Edisto Island, South Carolina. Our last month there was pretty close to perfect. The weather was wonderful, the dolphin performed accordingly, and the sunsets were amazing!  It is always difficult to leave this enchanted place. 

This last portion of our 20 week stay included a visit by our oldest granddaughter, Abigail, and a college friend, a day trip to the Cypress Wetlands Bird Rookery in Port Royal, South Carolina, and a fall on the pavement that sent me to the ER in Charleston.

The girls enjoyed the sunny weather with daily bike rides to the Cabana and several trips to the indoor

swimming pool.  The vast number of birds at the rookery made for a truly a noisy and visually stunning experience, and the careless stumble and fall to the pavement resulted in many bruises and a deep gnash in the middle of my tongue.

As always, as we pulled away from the condo, we wondered if it might be the last time we'd be able to visit this special place. We've booked six weeks for next spring but, we'll have to see what the next few months hold. We are not getting any younger.

REFLECTIONS

I just returned from a group meeting concerning hearing issues and the need for an "advanced" hearing aid device that will make life so much more enjoyable and decrease the odds of developing dementia! Apparently, if the brain has difficulty processing our diminished hearing it will more quickly fall toward dementia. True? Perhaps. But it seems like a pretty slick way to make the purchase of a state-of-the-art hearing system almost a no-brainer (pun intended). I did get a free meal at the Golden Corral though.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that hearing is one of the most wonderful gifts that we have. I would really miss all the wonderful sounds that surround us 24/7. Here, in the Indiana woods, I spend a bunch of time sitting on the deck of our little cabin. It is situated on the edge of a deep woods, leading to a creek in the valley below. This is our slice of "Pair-A-Dice". The sounds of the woodland birds fill the air during the day and the nighttime noise of the frogs and crickets bring "hearing" to the forefront.

I have the "Merlin Bird ID App" that identifies the various bird songs that echo through the woods. In any given 10-minute period, it will list anywhere between 10 and 20 different species of birds that are surrounding me. I will sit with my eyes closed and listen intently to their chatter. As they flit to the feeder I can know "who" they are. Hearing is important.

However, I want the well-meaning, young hearing aid "salespeople" to know that as we age there are a

whole bunch of things that deteriorate! If we endeavored to pay to enhance each of them, we would run out of funds in a hurry.  Yet we see it daily on the "tube" (For those younger than 70....that's the television) buy this miracle thing for your "fill in the blank". You'll feel so much younger and more vital.

Maybe I'm way off base here but, when you find yourself over 3/4 of a century old it's only a matter of time (maybe 10 years..maybe) before the whole system is going to shut down and there will be no longer a need for the newest device or procedure.

When my hearing gets so bad that I can't enjoy the sounds around me I'll just find an app, turn up the volume, and remember. Frankly, I'm not going to worry about it. Any of it! I don't have the time!