Menopausal Mauve
July 4, 2023
Menopausal Mauve
I was in the shower when the latest explosion of a quarter stick of dynamite went off across the lake. Of course, the water amplifies the sound, but it's really atrocious that I can hear it with my ears under water in the shower. "I hate people who are inconsiderate," I thought. But it didn't take more than a minute to recall what it was life when I was a teen or in my 20s and the 4th of July was a huge family gathering with shouts and booms and lots of alcohol. Actually, that was probably well into my 40s, and I didn't feel inconsiderate back then. I guess I assumed everyone was loud on Independence Day. Remembering has softened my irritation.
I do hate that our animals are scared, and that this week is when all the bats leave the lake because the booms interfere with their echolocation.
So many things come to me in the shower, and my mind goes from one string of thought to another. Thinking about being young reminded me of the time I happened to be on break with Patti Crooks and I told her that I thought it was absolutely medieval and perverse that our mothers didn't warn us that our hair would turn gray. I don't mean the hair on our head - hell, that started turning gray when I was 15. I said pubic hair. Her eyes got big and she practically yelled as she said, "I know!!" and grabbed my arm.
That led me to think about libido as we age. I was thinking about how important it seems when young. You can insert your own idea of young here; it might be 60, for all I know. Anyway, I was thinking how easy it is to grow into a comfortable companionship with someone, and maybe as you are old, it no longer matters what gender you are, you could live with anyone in a companionable partnership as long as you really love them, get them, enjoy them. It makes me wonder if gender becomes less and less important, or if the facade of gender falls away.
Then I thought about how many old men seem to die of heart attacks while in the middle of banging younger women. Is that for real or is that just another myth created by our American lookie-loo fascination with sex and scandal? I can't tell.
Hell, Robert DeNiro is impregnating at least one woman at 79. He's still alive He's not alone. Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino didn't even start having babies until he was 61 and this year he had a new baby while being 82 or 83. I would love to see their cholesterol levels.
The drain in our shower is clearly a rabbit hole because it never fails to take me on a journey like this. I wish I could find a photo of Neil Munro "Bunny" Roger in his suit of, what he called, menopausal mauve, worn on his 71st birthday. He loved that color.