Old Boys

There are 170 units in my complex, and even with about 10% of them for sale or rent, there are bunches of people around. And since I tend to wander about early in the morning, particularly during the summer, when I walk and run in the complex, I know a lot about the comings and goings of folks. I know the nurses that work the late evening shift, and those that work the early morning. I know the residents at medical school, and when they change rotations. I know who else teaches school, and is taking it easy during the summer. I know that the retired folks tend not to emerge from their homes until about 9 a.m., and that the younger folks tend to come home very early in the morning.

A couple of my favorite residents are these two old boys. They live next to one another. They are in their later 70's, and are going through their second puberty. Both drive hot vehicles. One is in a Dodge Charger and the other in a massive Dodge RAM pickup. It is so massive that when he has been out late, he can't maneuver it into its narrow parking space. One is Catholic and worships on Saturday afternoon, and then they party afterwards. The other is Baptist and worships on Sunday, and then they party afterwards. One never married and the other is a widower, and they are both on their own. One has a cat, and the other complains about the cat.

They spend the early evenings sitting on the porch in front of their homes, mostly complaining in that generic old boy sort of way about everything. They aren't nosy, but they watch what is going on. They are cordial, but there are only two chairs, no one is invited to join them. They are apparently available, and enjoy the spoils of being two bachelor men far outnumbered by single women.

I think these old boys should be the textbook example of growing old grace-filledly.

They are a thin place.