If you were in the West Danville/Joe's Pond area today, you know the wind was whipping seriously at the pond. Things were getting tossed around and anything that wasn't hitched probably landed in the water - or on a neighbor's lawn or dock. We had a call from Karen Cobb saying that a boat on the south shore was being banged into the seawall. I was unable to reach the owner, but I did get in touch with Kevin Johnson who contacted his son, Kyle who was mowing lawns in the area and was able to go over. He said there were some other folks there when he arrived, and the boat was secured - I don't know if it was the owners or some kind neighbors who noticed the problem, but many thanks to Karen and Lee Cobb, as well as Kevin and Kyle for helping.
    Karen said the runaway raft is still in the same place - I guess nobody has missed it yet.
     Today I measured .90 inch of rain that had fallen during the night. We've certainly had a lot of precipitation this spring. In spite of that, our back lawn has dried out nicely - but there are still some very wet spots in some areas on the lower lawn. The hillside above us has lots of springs and marshy areas. I'm impressed every spring with how lush and green the foliage is, especially when we've had plenty of rain like this spring. The trees and grass are gorgeous. I think I've heard people complain about the hordes of black flies more this year than ever before, though. It seems to me they came early and so far there's no sign of them letting up. With all the rain, this will no doubt be a big year for mosquitoes, too.
    I don't always watch CBS in the morning, but this morning I happened to see an interview with Dr. Louise Aronson about her new book, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life. She was saying that elders, people age 60 and older, are now happier than either children or adults. She also made the point that the three age groups, childhood, adulthood and elderhood are equal in size now. Our population is getting older - grayer - more rapidly than the other two groups, apparently because couples are not having as many children now. She also stated that medicine/doctors are not keeping up with the aging population, i.e., they get extensive training on how to care for children and adults, but only a few hours of training devoted to elders. I don't know about all of that - but her message is that generally speaking, elders are happier because they know and accept who they are, have gained some wisdom along the way and therefore don't have the angst younger generations do.
     I think I can relate to all of that. Of course, there are certain limitations we elders have, usually physical, which can make us a little cranky sometimes - or maybe that's just me. It doesn't make me happy that I can't bend like I used to, don't have as much stamina, have occasional aches and pains and can't thread a needle on the first try - or the tenth, or sometimes I just decide to forget the button and use a safety pin. But there are lots of things I'm way more comfortable with than when I was a few decades younger. I know my limitations and keep my expectations reasonable. I see more good in people I associate with than potential problems, and I know it isn't the end of the world if I make a mistake - or if someone else does. That's life, and I guess it's easier to handle the more you live it. And I just heard today there is an immunization to prevent Alzheimer's on the medical horizon. Now, that's something to be really happy about, whatever age group you're in!