Harriet’s World

By HARRIET BISHOP

Ever heard of an old duffer? In the dictionary it says that a duffer is one who loafs or sponges on others. A dull, stupid, inefficient person.
That has never been my understanding. My cousin says ” Old duffers, geezers, farts, or what have you, are all the same. They come in all colors, sizes, shapes and are over 60 years.
Their main activity is to duff around, give advice, recite experiences, tell tall tales and forget a lot. They are caring, forgiving, loving, mean, spiteful, and forgetful. They are the wisdom of the ages. The fortune tellers and the spirit of America.”
I like his definition better and you probably will too.
See I consider myself some what of an old duffer. At least my cousin’s idea of a duffer. Especially the geezer part. We can throw the dictionary idea out.
Then of course there is my idea of a duffer. See, I have a little more time on my hands now . That’s cuz I’m retired. Yeah, some of us old duffers are retired.
Well, after last night I know I’m an old duffer because I had one of those nights when I couldn’t sleep. You guys that work still get tired at night and that chemcial that releases all those endorphins is still plentiful in your body. It kicks in at the right time. You don’t have to take medication to release it.
Old duffers roam around at night looking for it. We take medication to release it and we sleep but then we wake up feeling like we took sleeping pills. We have that drugged feeling, We try to regulate it but it seems to elude some of us.
Then of course, old duffers get affected by the moon. If the moon is out I can’t sleep. I’m restless as heck. I want to roam around the house and bay at the moon. Just me and the cat, howling at the moon.
So we try to read and we fill the long hours with resting our bones and lie to ourselves about why we can’t sleep but the fact of the matter is, we are old duffers!
One thing old duffers have that you young whipper snappers don’t have is wisdom. Plenty of it. Too bad you don’t listen to us when we try to share our wisdom.
We’re smart! We have years and years of wisdom stored up in us. The wisdom of the ages (we got part of it from staying awake all night).
Next time you youngens are around one of us old duffers ,ask us to share our wisdom. We would love to.! You just might learn something.
So your assignment for this week is: hug an old duffer. We like hugs too.
Well, that’s my world. Until next time remember: “Only a few years separate you from being a duffer.One day you will look in the mirror and staring back at you will be, “an old duffer.”