It is cold today on the Writing Porch! Forty-eight degrees with a chill factor of 43. Fall is here. It is almost my birthday…my Medicare Birthday. If there are any of the Class of 75′ reading this they are thinking…mine too. I imbibed my usual two Grey Goose Dirty Martinis at Bartolinos’ Restaurant yesterday…for an early Birthday Dinner. Aaron bought my third traditional ‘Dirty’ that I only do on my Birthday. When I got up from the table I knew then…that the bartender had made them fully loaded. St. Louis has been my go-to City for my Birthday Dinner. As I walked about our Plaza Frontenac…which is my favorite Mall in St. Louis I saw a lovely Bentley on sale for just over a quarter of a million dollars…I came home without it. MJ and I did purchase two Memory Foam Pillows at Macy’s in the Galleria for $35 dollars each…they were original $140 apiece. What a Country as the Russian Comic used to exclaim.

Old Man Time is knocking on my door…I opened it and he came hobbling in saying that he needed a bit of a rest. I offered him my recliner and he promptly put his footrest up and began to snore. Later he awakened and asked what inning the ball game was in as he said that he could not see the fine print on the television. He asked me where the restroom was and noted that he preferred to never be too far from one. I promptly told him that I walked daily and took photos and blogged…and he smiled and said…’Keep it up…sonny…’

Old Man Time asked if I wanted to hear a story. I said that I certainly did. He told me that the only thing certain about life is change. He noted that in his younger days he had wanted to change the world…now he is simply happy to be in it. OMT noted that he had dear friends…some had died…and others had gone on a separate journey. He told me that he had been a Christian for the majority of his life…and it had been a marvelous adventure. The Old Man told me that the secret of happiness in life is to always put others before yourself…be humble…refuse to be manipulated by those who have their welfare in mind…and not yours.

Old Man Time said that I should pay attention to nature as it has a plethora of lessons to teach us about what life is all about. He went on to say that he enjoyed a little nip of Gin…and that it was good for his rheumatism. OMT said that I should never consider animals dumb…that most of them were much smarter than humans and that they understood what we humans were saying to them…and that they understood love…

OMT said that the journey is the reward and to never take anything or anyone for granted. Everything is a gift and we are deluded if we think that we earned anything by the sweat of our brow.

Old Man Time said as he hobbled out of my front door…’The poor and the hungry and those suffering…are you…treat them accordingly…

As Old Man Time walked down my driveway he called back to me,’

The next time I come…have some Gin…