GOING PAST 72

YES, I MADE IT PAST my 72nd birthday. This seems somewhat amazing to me. I have outlived my father, who just missed getting to 71 but probably will not outdo my mother who died at 102. My health is good and I do, more rather than less, the right things in regard to diet and exercise.

I suppose the main dread , given the probability of long life, is the threat of Alzheimer's disease. It looks like there are several things one can do to offset this possibility. Most are not too onerous, such as drinking several cups of coffee a day plus one or two glasses of red wine. Black and bitter drinks do no harm. Regular exercise to ensure circulation to the brain seems like a good idea. Taking aspirin each day is said to be good for vascular health and it appears that some ibuprofen (to ease the arthritic twinges in my knees) also helps offset the approach of dementia. Speaking of diet, I find I am moving in the direction of the vegetarian approach, and may even end up vegan. Certainly, I am eating much less meat and diary products; this from reading 'Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes'. I don't have diabetes but have a high risk for it. Besides being a good read and containing useful recipes, this book seems based on solid research.

Being in a loving relationship does not harm; quite the opposite in fact.

I regret I can offer little of philosophical worth about getting older. Try to arrange oneself to enjoy each day, keep active and creative, attempt to be a contribution to others, don't give up things one did when younger; all these come to mind.

Since that fateful day, life has moved along quickly. My little garden us coming along well (we ate our first radishes the other day); a spike of excitement earlier this week when a young black bear too up residence temporarily in one of the trees in our yard.

Being interested in neurology, I am impressed by what is being discovered about the brain's ability to reconstruct itself and to lay down new neural networks in response to learning and solving problems. On this basis, I have continued my study of French language and took a course at the local community college last semester. My growing interest in gardening opened up an opportunity to complete the Master Gardener's extension course out of Cornell University; it is astonishing that some folk know so much about gardening and that there is so much to know!

Aside from taking the lawn mower apart to replace the drive belt and discovering how much easier it is to turn compost with my new portable composting bin and pitchfork (I can turn the entire heap within a half-hour), the most engaging experience has been getting ready for my trip to France. I leave on June 25th and will spend almost the entire time on an organic farm in one of the least populated areas of France, the region called Ariege. This is in the southwest of France, bordering Spain, in the slopes of the Pyrenees.

The farm is about eight miles toward the Spanish border from the ancient town of St. Girons (so you can Google-map the location). I discovered this through the The Frugal Traveler's column in NYTimes. You can find about this program by going to wwoof. One can 'wwoof'' all around the world.

But how to get there? One can do so by train and by bus but it is somewhat complicated. After dreaming about riding through the beautiful French countryside, I decided to train it from Paris to Toulouse (on the Very Fast Train), stay a day or so, and then ride the 112 Km to the farm . It is mainly flat going until the last pitch. Having worked hard with Google Maps, I now have the route worked out.

My folding bike travels in a suitcase. At my destination, out it comes and the suitcase becomes a trailer. Here I am somewhere between Quebec and Montreal back in 2006.

Would you believe that, after days of unrelenting rain here, what weather can I expect for this ride?



You've guessed it...rain showers! Still, the die is cast and I will take my chances and preprare for a wet ride.

I leave on Thursday next and will try to get a blog posting done while I am in France.