"....And The Old Men Playing Checkers, By The Trees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                            "The birds like tender babies, in your hands,
                                              And the old men playing checkers, by the trees."
                                              --Jimmy Webb, "MacArthur Park"
                                       


                                  Long before Donna Summer discoed it, this song was a part of my life; to my 12-year-old self it was the epitome of romance, and awakened something in me sexually, though I did not realize it then, with its orchestral interlude, which sent me rolling down the side hill of my house, in abandoned ecstasy.

                                    Flash forward, a half century later.  Yes, dolls fifty years later.  Having listened to the song recently, which still makes me swoon, I am forced now to ask myself--Now that I have retired, have I become one of those old men playing checkers, by the trees?  Is that what I am now reduced to?

                                     Observing over the weekend, I came across many parks, with people playing checkers.  There are still even fake cement checkerboards pressed into the pavement.  There are actually more game boards than trees, so finding a shady spot to do this is not as easy as the song would have it seem.

                                       Am I actually ready for this?????????  Do I want to be?????????  No!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Games are fine.  I loved them when young, and still love them now.  But I will be damned if I will be labeled as some old codger, whose days are defined by this.

                                          Personally, I would rather wear that "yellow cotton dress, foaming like a wave, on the ground around my knees."

                                          Coffee and my readers define my days, darlings!  Or, at least, kick it off!!!!!!!!!