It was Wednesday April 3, 2024. 8 o’clock pm. After waking up to body chills and sleepwalking through the day with fatigue I decided to listen to music to help me relax. After a brief moment of deliberation it was Barry White’s “Your Game Baby” for the first song.

So after listening to the song once I play it again. As the song plays my mind inexplicably takes me back the the 1970s. I begin to crave more 70s music. For the next two days I listen to Barry White, Heatwave, GQ, the Ohio Players. And then….

I realize the I had never watched some of the classic movies of the era. So Friday night I turn on “A Piece of the Action”. The acting, cinematography and language are dated by today’s standards but the movie’s theme and representation of the culture at that time were entertaining. So much so that……

On Saturday I watch “Uptown Saturday Night”. On Sunday I watch “Let’s Do It Again”. I had never seen these classic movies in their entirety until now. So much history. So many iconic actors. So many beautiful actresses. So much influence.

I don’t know why my mind guided me to the music and movies of the 70s, but my body, soul and spirit were much better on Monday morning. 

Can you be sexy at 60? I need to know. And I guess it depends on one’s perspective……

The reason I ask is both simple and simultaneously complicated. A little background may help explain why I ask this question and also why I need an answer.

In my early teens I was an above average athlete. I ran faster and jumped higher than most of my peers. Inspired by one of my best friends I started lifting weights. My friend became a bodybuilder while I lifted mainly for health and fitness.  I actually squatted 460 pounds as a high school sophomore.  I stopped lifting after high school as music became my mistress and took up all of my leisure time (and my money!).

At age 23 I had my annual physical.  Everything was good except…..my body mass index was around 30 I think. In other words I was over weight. The next day I bought a Men’s Health magazine and an excercise magazine. Before I started exercising I went a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant for the breakfast buffet.  I ate pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs, wings, biscuits, all my stomach could take. 

Then, for the next six years I went cold turkey on junk food. No chocolate, cakes, ice cream. No junk food. I went to the gym four days a week. One hour of weight training and thirty minutes of cardio a day.  34 inch waist. 180 pounds. 

I had worn size 34 pants for about 30 years. Fatherhood interrupted my fitness. The day after my first son was born I celebrated with my first Snickers in 10 years. The flood gates opened and back came all of the junk food bad habits. After my second son was born I celebrated with a honey bun and Pepsi. Game over.

Well into my thirties by then I decided to return to my good fitness habits. Still wearing size 34 pants but not healthy. So, I decided to become “Fit At 40”. Then youth sports and homework and college planning and home planning and marriage adjustments and financial planning and spiritual enrichment became my priority. Now approaching 50 I decided to become “Fit At 50”. Well, let’s just say that “time flies when you’re having fun…..”

So guess what?  The next decade that I am hopefully fortunate to live to will have a six in front. And you know what has happened? My pants size changed for the first time in about thirty years. And now when walk past a mirror my stomach appears first in the reflection……lol!  At first thought I said to myself that I would lose weight by adjusting my diet. Then I had a revelation! My why not return to my roots? Why not increase muscle mass in my whole body? Then my stomach wouldn’t stand out as much! And maybe build my abs into a six pack for the first time in my life! 

I’ve never considered myself as sexy. Don’t think any woman has ever told me I was sexy.  Never spent time looking at myself in photos or in the mirror. But times change. I need to get fit. I need to get healthy. I’m gonna proclaim it. I’m gonna be “Sexy At 60”!  I’ll keep you posted. 

Monday. February 5, 2024. 5pm. Blessed to have the opportunity to work from home. Time to log off.

Planned all day to get out and enjoy some sunshine. Walk out for my routine check of the yard and cars. And…….

I discover an almost flat tire. My few minutes of sunshine spent looking at the the views shared above. We’ll see what tomorrow brings……

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away one of my classmates brought one of these to school.  Rubiks Cube he called it. Not long after these cubes started showing up all over school.

After a few days my classmate still had not figured it out. Sometime thereafter another student walks by with the colors perfectly aligned.  We accused him of not rearranging the cube after purchasing and pretending that he had solved it. The student quickly rearranged the colors and almost as quickly arranged them again. …..

Later that year a family member bought a Cube and did the same thing.  Astonished, I tried as best I could but never solved the Cube.

One recent day while checking out videos the Cube pops up out of nowhere.  Was it here to taunt me?  I had to find out so I bought one. 

Now let’s see……

Sennheiser e835 mic. Saturday night. So Amazing by Luther and Lovely Day by Bill Withers. How much time can you get out of a 24-hour day? Not enough.

Winter is here. I like the Winter. In my younger days I would use cold, snowy days to write “term papers” and finish projects. As time went on I found that Winter provided a solitary environment for writing songs.

But……snow. What can I say that I haven’t already? The experts say that we have a snowy winter ahead. Gonna share some thoughts of winters past.

It’s January. It’s Winter. So snow is always a possibility. Even so I’m not ready for it. Snow and I have a past. Luckily there are only two more months until Spring!

And just like that the Holiday Season of 2023 is over. Thanksgiving? Gone. Christmas? Gone. New Year’s Day 2024? Gone.

2023 was a good year. Family is good. I’m good. My health is good. Doctor’s visits good for the most part. See, I’m at the age where going to the doctor is like taking your body on a blind date: you never know what you’re gonna get…….

Speaking of age I celebrated another birthday recently. For weeks leading up to it my family asked what I wanted for gifts. I had no idea. As the day approached I recalled a few times when I experienced some anxiety and sleeplessness. A headache or two as well. Guess what the doctor ordered? Music, what else?

I don’t do enough singing in my life. A few years back I promised myself that I would take on the challenge of singing in public. Little did I know my sons would beat me to it. Both of them released somgs and/or videos recently. I’m falling behind. So for my birthday I got an SM58 microphone and a small portable PA system.

Singing. Learning songs. Playing guitar. No more headaches, sleeplessness or anxiety.

And all I needed was a microphone.

Maaaaan. I don’t even know where to begin.

So, this Holiday Season I was really looking forward to having my “health reset”. My health reset is where I take a day and stay in bed as long as body needs. And, upon getting up I do everything I want to do that day.

Well, with Christmas being on a Monday I decided to take the following Tuesday off. In addition, New Year’s Day is on a Monday so I took the preceding Friday off. Boy was I looking forward to my 2-day mini vacation and some much needed rest.

Fast forward to Tuesday December 26th. I wake up feeling a little light headed. As the day moves along I develop what I thought was a slight head cold. Some time in the mid afternoon I decide to catch up on some reading. Without even realizing I had fallen asleep I wake up that evening with the dreaded flu like symptoms. Subsequently, I spend the next three days getting more sleep than I had ever asked for. Didn’t do much else either. Did nothing that I had planned to do.

Spent my Tuesday off in bed and my Friday off at the doctor’s office. Oh well……

So. Be careful what you ask for. And whatever you want to do, don’t wait for the right time. Use whatever time you have to do what you want to do. Now that I am awake I’m gonna eat the chocolate candy that I’ve been missing while I was sleeping for the past three days.

Thank God for the gift of His son Jesus Christ.