The 'Young' Man And The Sea

Into the ocean went the sixty-one-year-old...

And he danced a bit back towards the beach the way children do... when a wave flattens itself at the end of its shore-bound journey.

(Of course, the ocean water was slightly cooler than "nippy".)

This "man of the sea" had grown weary of theories of exercise, diet, vitamin and mineral supplementation, and all the jargon of healthy aging and "life extension".

And on this first day of 2007, he followed up his little dance with some slow wading into the slate-gray brine...until the water was to his waist and to his chest, where it took his breath away...and then WHOOSH, a wave broke over his head.

One very chilling wave was plenty! He hopped backwards to shore as quickly as his numb extremities could carry him...and, on shore, he paused and took several deep breaths of relief.

He no longer felt old; he really did feel momentarily reborn.

A young man and woman, parked alongside Highway 101 at South Beach, were cracked up with laughter watching the portly sixty-something trot along the beach to his van.

"Are you CRAZY?" they shouted.

"Yes, I am." he yelled in exultation.

"Is the water cold?"

All the man was capable of by way of a reply was hysteric laughter that escaped from deeper inside than any laughter he had experienced in a very long time.