When I Get Older

It’s summer, the time of year I give myself permission to limit the many, many, many things going on in the world that I might worry about and, instead, go to the beach, go for long evening walks, sit on the porch. Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday this week. Eighty doesn’t seem so old anymore. Sixty-four looks young. I went back and Googled some celebrities who were 80 when I was ten and the Beatles were just beginning to come on the scene. Of course, these celebrities were all born in the 19th century which, even now, seems ages ago to me. The list includes Coco Chanel, Rube Goldberg, Walter Gropius, William Carlos Williams. To the extent I had heard of them, these were people who seemed old. More interesting to me today, most of the well-known people listed who had been born in 1883, did not live to see their 80th birthdays. McCartney, on the other hand, is still touring huge stadiums. While Ringo, who is older, looks even better than Paul, lucky guy. It’s summer, I am permitting myself some optimism.

Meanwhile, from time to time, like today, we at ALTE remember to share with you details of all things ALTE. For starters, submissions to our print publication are currently closed as we make final decisions about the next issue. Be sure to read our Substack posts, Website and Facebook Group for information about what’s coming next. Also, we are always interested in hearing your ideas for themes or format.

Maybe you haven’t checked out the website in a while. Here’s the link just in case.

https://www.altegettingoldtogether.com

Or maybe you haven’t joined the Facebook Group. Here’s the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/639209340146175. You’ll often find lively conversations even if you really don’t like social media or find an equivalence between Facebook and the devil. If you are reading this you are probably already a subscriber to our Substack posts, but, if not, please do subscribe. Or maybe you’ll consider telling your friends. We’d like that.

We’ve had a lot of fun at out Zoom events and hope those of you who’ve been able to attend have as well. Now that we are kind of post pandemic, or epidemic or pandemic is the new normal, we are planning several live events later this summer and through the fall in the Hudson Valley, Northern New Jersey, and New York City. Watch our various spaces for more information. Can’t wait to see you.

I will admit that I’m sometimes a little slow at getting to our email (Notice how I’ve changed the pronoun from “I” to “we” to make clear that this is my personal short coming) but we do want to hear from you. Write anytime to altegtogether@gmail.com. We also read the snail mail and have sometimes thought about a print issue devoted to snail mail. Mostly we like hearing from you.

Wishing you a happy summer that does not fly by too quickly.