the last quarter of 2009.

tights by sparkipuss at ebay

just before my 10am meeting, the elastic waistband failed on my tights.

a superior court judge i know, told me the story of how the waistband on her slip failed in court. she was a DA at the time & she was walking towards the bench to speak to the judge. since there was no escaping the situation, she simply carried on with things, stepping out of the slip & picking it up, all the while making her case to the judge & opposing counsel. it's a hell of an impressive story & she's a hell of an impressive woman. i remembered her today.

i actually thought the failed waistband was a perfect metaphor for what's going on with me these days. there was no time to go buy a replacement pair & it was too cold to take them off, so i hitched them up when no one was looking &, when i couldn't spare a moment to do that, kept the knees together as best i could. i spent the entire day with the tights clinging for dear life to the bottom edge of my ass cheeks, but i made it & someone even complimented my shoes.

the last quarter of 2009 is when i reached a point of bewilderment, dismay & wtf. i started arguing daily with myself about how this sure as shit wasn't what i signed up for.

i used to say that, failing all else, i would make aging gracefully a top priority & win at that. but then the doctor told me my blood pressure was elevated, i had to get bifocals, another one of my teeth crumbled & my feet started hurting.

in the last quarter of 2009 i was unable to stop aging gracefully from going right the hell out the window.