Past it?

Last night there was a mad dash to use up the mortar I'd mixed so that I could go with Ash to unload the van at Blidworth.

This morning I have aches and pains and am wondering if I'm past it. Am I asking too much of this frail little body? Should I put my feet up and become a telly addict? Should I join a bowls club or take up flower arranging...not that there is anything wrong with these things...I'm just looking at options.

Teddy Sherringham was playing football at the highest level in his forties.

I'm sure Eileen told me that the chap who almost won the golf the other day was 58.

Our Queen at 83 still rides horses two or three times a week and Prince Philip rode a team of horses competitively up to the age of 85.

Peggy and Pip Coy are just ordinary folk who play golf several times a week, and they are in their 80's.

Am I past it? No, I don't think so. I just feel it today.

Question: So why can't I windsurf the English Channel aged 60? Answer: I can! I will! It's on my hit list. Thanks for the reminder.

Perhaps I should start preparing. Yes, I think I'll start preparing. When I get to Bel-Air I'll check my sails to see if the mice have left anything.

I have three years!

I've always liked the sea.

When I left school, I went to Hendon beach with two of my brothers and we hacked the roof off an abandoned old van and put to sea. We left John on the beach as it wasn't big enough for three.
It soon became dark and we gave up paddling as we weren't sure where the land was. Our Alan was paddling frantically but was just filling the 'boat' with more water. We concentrated our efforts instead on scooping out the water oozing through the rust holes.

Our John alerted the police after three hours and we were eventually picked up by the police launch on their way back home. They had been searching for hours and had decided to give up before chancing on us. We were two miles out and when we were dragged on board, our little craft immediately disappeared under the swell.

If they had missed us, we would have been in deep trouble.

We got a right telling off but it was a great adventure and seeing the write-up in the local and national press made it even more worthwhile. Shan't do it again though. It was a one-off. Don't even think about it you grandkids! Grandad was very silly!

When I was even younger, I played on bomb sites that had been turned into great lakes by the rain. We all used to float corrugated iron and jump on with a piece of wood as a paddle to see who could stay on the longest.

When I started to learn how to windsurf, it was the same kind of feeling...except I could now go much faster.

Before I'm past it, I just have to get across that Channel without being charged an arm and a leg!
It's getting pretty late in the day though! It'll have to be my swan song...the definition of which is the beautiful legendary song sung only once by a swan in its lifetime, as it is dying.

Well, I'm not exactly dying, but it'll be my last energetic type adventure I think.