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newsRoly 86 and brother 88 still powering on
I recall many years ago watching a documentary on TV about people in a
remote mountain village in South America, who live to very old ages. As
I recall, infant mortality was quite high, but past that, they just
kept going. There were these old people 100+ still getting up early and
working all day in the fields and gardens, despite having all sorts of
things wrong with them. And that's the thing, they weren't stopped by
pains and so on, just kept working. They were also very peaceful.
I was reminded of that documentary recently, when I watched a rerun
of an episode of Landline, that first screened in 2018, about two
brothers, farmers, aged 86 and 88. Roly had this to say about other
elderly farmers who he knew, who had retired:
"They get sick and tired of fishing, they come home, sit on the lounge
chair watching the idiot box and they only last a few months and they're
dead and six foot under,"
Roly and his brother haven't even got a computer or smart phone.
I have seen elderly family members become less mobile, and their
muscles atrophy, so they become even less mobile, and spend more time in
bed. So they use electric wheelchairs to get around, or give up.
Another one I know, slouched all day, sitting watching TV, year after
year, until her back became very curved.
I was thinking about this today, when I was swimming at a local
beach. Beautiful sunshine, sparkling ocean, paths meandering through the
sand dunes and limestone cliffs -- peaceful and getting plenty of
exercise. Later on, did some work in the garden.
This is something that everyone can do, get exercise, and practice
something mental to attain peacefulness, regardless where you live. We
don't have to go into a decline as we get into late 70s and beyond.
Changing the subject, I have appended to the post about building a water diversion into my new 720 litre tank:
https://bkhome.org/news/202012/simple-water-inlet-design-for-a-courtyard-tank.html
EDIT 2021-01-06:
David W. sent me a link to an old chap who retired at age 102:
The essential point here, is that Bob was very active, as they said, not a desk job!
Tags: ethos