Here was a place I honestly never thought I’d be – at the opera. If you would have asked me a year ago, a week ago, or yesterday if I would be attending an opera today, I would have answered with a hearty “No way!” – once I got up off the floor from laughing my guts out.
Nonetheless, there I was at the Granada Theater on this fine Sunday afternoon in Santa Barbara attending my very first opera. Laura, Shauna’s sister, called us with this idea – that we go and do something totally random, like go see Don Giovanni (the story of Don Juan). Why not?
We arrived at the theater and bought the cheapest tickets, just in case we hated it. That had us way up in the balcony with only two rows of seats behind us. We had to climb 3 sets of stairs, maybe 4, to get to our seats, but honestly, the trip up to the nosebleed section wasn’t that hard at all. You would have thought we’d just climbed the stairs of the Empire State Building by the way some of the other attendees were huffing, puffing and complaining.
One guy about my age was literally stopping, taking breaks, bending over and acting like he was scaling Mount Fricken Everest. Seriously? He didn’t look to have any health issues, and maybe I am being harsh, but come on. It seemed like a classic case of being just plain out of shape.
The trip up to the balcony of the Granada should not take that much out of a person. Well, A fit person, that is. I saw people in their 60s and 70s up there and looking much better than this fellow.
Barring some terrible condition that strikes me, that will never be me. I intend to fit and healthy right up until the final whistle. I will be jogging and bike riding well into my 60s and beyond if all goes according to “plan.” And when I can’t do that I’ll be walking everywhere, hiking up mountains, and ascending steps without dying. I know I can. It’s all about doing what I am now, and then just never stopping. Adjusting? Sure. Modifying? Absolutely. But just stopping and watching my body deteriorate and fall apart? Not on the agenda.
nice info..thanks