I will be 101 years old in August. Not many things happen anymore that are exciting, but the following happened to me one recent afternoon.
When one reaches this age, one is subject to taking lots of naps. I woke up after 1 that afternoon. I looked at my watch and it said a quarter after 8. I couldn’t recall if it was just after breakfast or a couple of hours after dinner or even the next morning. So I checked the old faithful Columbian sports section that was in my lap and at the top of the page it said, “Section B1, Thursday, July 30, 2011.” Good lord, have I been asleep for a month? I can’t be. I check it again. Sure enough, it said, “July 30, 2011.”
Only in fairy tales has anyone slept such long periods. At my age, I think my mind is still pretty sharp and I have a pointed head to prove it, but something was haywire here. I turned the page. At the top it said, “Thursday, June 30, 2011.” On all pages of the paper, it said, “Thursday, June 30, 2011.” The problem was solved. The excitement was squelched. It was too early to go to bed, so I decided to lean back and take a nap.
Philip W. Biesanz
Vancouver
