Winning Words 1/15/13
“How to keep a healthy level of sanity:  As often as possible, skip, rather than walk.”  (Gary Barnes)  Just now I tried to skip, but couldn’t do it.  What has happened to my childhood when skipping came so easy and was so much fun?  What other skills have we lost in the aging process?  …making up games?  …daring to do things?  …being excited about tomorrow?  My favorite Twilight Zone episode is “Kick the Can.”    ;-)  Jack

 FROM WALMART REV:  Mine was bowling with my son after not touching a bowling ball for over tens...I had rolled twelve strikes in a roll at Sylvan Lanes in Keego Harbor one afternoon in 1984...this time I could not hardly walk up to the foul line with out tripping over my feet...barely broke 100 in my score...I've lost my timing in bowling as I had before,  Jack.////FROM JACK:  A friend of mine decided to play catch with his teen-age son.  It had been awhile.  The son threw a curve ball which hit dad right in the forehead, knocking him out.  He recovered, but I don't think he tried to catch any more curve balls.

 FROM SHARIN SHARON:  I've lost playing in the snow, actually rolling around in it--making angels, etc. We don't have any snow anyway today but when we get some more this winter, I'll likely be inside, keeping warm.////FROM JACK:  If you do try making snow angels, remember to take along that device that sends out the message, "I've fallen and can't get up."

 FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  i love to skip.  another favorite thing is "riding" the grocery cart like a scooter through the parking lot to my car.  i often park farther away to make the ride longer.  i have yet to see anybody else do the same, so i guess i'll just have to keep "planting the seed"!////FROM JACK: Try doing that down the aisles of the grocery stores and see what reactions you get from the shoppers.

 FROM MY LAWYER:  I was with my friend, Michael Serling and his wife for dinner in Florida.  He lives in Orchard Lake; but we just don't get to socialize much here.  Anyway, his cousin was Rod Serling of the Twilight Zone.  He told me that on December 31 and January 1, the Sci-Fi network had 48 hours of Twilight Zone shows.  I recorded them all and have been watching a couple a night for the past two weeks.  Really enjoyable; and, I can't believe the stars the were in the shows.  Big name celebs acted in the shows, maybe before they were famous, but some already famous ones too.////FROM JACK:  Thanks for introducing me to Michael.  I had an interesting conversation with him about his cousin.  The Twilight Zone is one of my all-time favorite TV series.  I never get tired of watching re-runs.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  OK I can still skip…..though my left heel hurts a bit… ////FROM JACK:  For me, the hurting part would be my Maximus Gluteus.

FROM WATERFORD JAN:  Ouch!  I'll bet that every one of your arthritic readers regrets trying to skip this morning.  To your question regarding skills lost, I think I'd like to say "Don't go there!"  I once learned that children should learn how to skip because it is a significant skill in their development.////FROM JACK:  Here's the remedial instruction for  skipping...Learning cues: step forward and hop on the same foot; repeat with the other foot; lift knee sharply upward.  Whee...I'm skipping, I'm skipping!

 FROM CL IN MICHIGAN:  No more skipping attempts please!////FROM JACK:  I'll be carrying my cellphone, and I know the number to call....9-1-1.

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  I haven’t seen that episode but will try to find it on youtube.////FROM JACK:  I checked, and it's there on YouTube.  Like most Twilight Zone episodes...thought-provoking!

 FROM TRIHARDER:  so interesting, Jack, that you discuss losing skills as we age. Obviously, we become so much stronger at other things, but I remember making up games, going for walks, playing tag, hide-n-seek, kick ball or whiffle ball on the corner, football on the street. Some of us had to be in when the street lights came on ("C'mon, mom, one more touchdown!").  We would round up the gang and ride over to the school ball field (many times with two on a bike; very occasionally, we'd try 3) to play 5 on 5 or even three on three, home run derby or even just to climb the powerhouse////FROM JACK:  Like with most skills...Use it or lose it!  Texting while driving?  I used to ride my bike no-handed, while reading the newspaper....until I ran into the back end of a parked car.  I, too, remember two on a bike...with one riding on the handlebars.

 FROM AW IN MICHIGAN:  You are off to a great start in 2013, Jack.////FROM JACK:  No turboparalysis for me...at least, not for today.

 FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  What I like about you is that you stay young at heart. ////FROM JACK:  Jimmy Durante had the right idea..
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you  If you're young at heart
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind  If you're young at heart
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth  To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it's much better by far  To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105  Look at all you'll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part, you have a head start  If you are among the very young at heart

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  HA!  YOU ARE RIGHT!  I TRIED SKIPPING WITH MY GREAT-GRAND, AVERY, AND ONLY MANAGED A COUPLE OF STEP-HOPS!  I AGREE  WITH OPRAH W. "CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR, AND ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT"...WE HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT IS A MEANINGFUL LIFE FOR US, AND THEN GO FOR IT!  I DON'T REMEMBER WATCHING THE TWILIGHT ZONE BUT WE SPENT MANY HAPPY EVENING HOURS WITH A HOST OF NEIGHBORHOOD FRIENDS, PLAYING "KICK THE CAN". SUCH SIJMPLE PLEASURES!! :-)////FROM JACK:  We always played "Kick the Can" in the twilight zone, or at least under the streetlight in front of our house.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Cassidy used to Hop.////FROM JACK:  So did Chester Good.

 FROM AJ IN MICHIGAN:  I love this one. I have my grandchildren skip with me whenever. It reminds me of when I was young and nothing was too bothersome.////FROM JACK:  Do you play Hop Scotch with them?

 FROM RS IN TEXAS:  You're right, Jack - lots of things are "less doable" now than then.  Drugs help with some ...........with others not so much.  Bottom line is that life is still good - just different in some ways. ////FROM JACK:  Lots of things are different with different ages groups...the kinds of games they play, the kinds of foods they eat, the style of clothes they wear, the kinds of jokes that amuse them.

 FROM HOLLY K:  What a joy to read this. If you remember my mother she jumped, ran and skipped. She was always there at the church, ready to do, make and give. Today she has returned home.  My brother and I mourn her passing and celebrate her life. I have such wonderful memories of growing up.////FROM JACK:  Yes, I remember your mom.  What a bundle of energy!  She was a "skipper" in many ways.  May God bless the memories that we have of her.

 FROM LP IN PLYMOUTH:  I seem to have lost the ability to "play Barbies".////FROM JACK:  Maybe that was a preparation for moving into adulthood, while playing at your mother's feet helped prepare you for becoming a "mom."