Out of respect for Don, I didn't want his OP to go off track ...

zuki, be thankful you can still do all that work ... I did all my own landscaping up until a few years ago when I started hiring a small landscaping company to do weeding and major clean up ... I'm 79, but I still do my own lawn, planting of flowers, etc.
Now I take additional pleasure in watching my 30 something neighbor do all the stuff I used to do ...

I just remembered one time when I was building an 8 step stairway on the side of my house with real railroad ties (not the treated Home Depot kind) ... I'm wearing my 'construction' shorts and boots, and the sweat running down my body was like rivers of mud ... it was 4pm and we had a 6pm start for a wedding ... I thought to myself, if the bride saw me now she would faint ... ... fortunately the catering hall was about a mile from my house ...

I hear you about missing the gigs ... I'm missing them a lot also, and now at my age, with just about all my work being AL/NH and Senior luncheons, I'm not even sure if I will ever get back to it ...

The book I read was about seasons – seasons of your life. The season of being a teenager, the season of being a married man, and the season of being a Dad. I have to add, for my fiend; the precious season of being a grandfather.

As you enter a new season, those who embrace it and give all they have, are the happy ones. Those who resist, deny, and will not let go of what once was, struggle to find happiness. We do have a choice.
John C.

John lots of wisdom in your post.

From a musical standpoint your post reminds me of Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year."

That is so true. I have a long time singer in my band and a trio I once had, that was a diva in the forties and fifties. She appeared with Hope,Crosby,and Sinatra. She would bring her photo albums with her,in case there was someone that hadn't seen her gorgeous assets. She has performed with me for over twenty years,and retained her voice and figure pretty well for her age 75-95. At 95,she had a slight stroke and lost her vocal quality.

She cries and recounts her hay day,and is totally destroyed. She now is in the first stages of dementia. I tell her to be happy with what she had,and turn the page,as we all have to do eventually. So sad--

I,at least,will never have that problem,as having never risen to those lofty heights,I haven't that far to fall.

I hear ya Tony. I am grateful for my health. I've done 15 straight months of house remodel, including electric, drywall, mudding, you name it. I'm not real proficient at plumbing, so I hire the tougher jobs out and do my own little ones. I absolutely love projects and particularly the outcome

It's one project after another and my wife is active in the outside projects, even though she keeps busy with her own too.

We will have a lot of fun kayaking this year, as things open up.

Music> not ever sure if these facilities will allow us? That's the next chapter, because I surely will never retire, as long as my health remains.