Did That Viejo Just Outrun Me?

It's amazing to me how active the over-the-hill population is in this region of France. As I walk to school every morning, the majority of speedy bike riders zooming past me are 62-year-old ladies with calves hard as a rock pedalling with the power of a 15-year-old over the many hills. Insanity! You would NEVER see that in America. The elderly just stay at home, watching TV and sipping slowly on soup. It's a chore to walk from one room to another.

At the rock climbing gym on Wednesday, I saw a man that I SWEAR could not possibly be a day younger than 75. He climbed the inverted wall in less than 2 minutes. This is the same wall I was working on for over a half hour and ended up not being able to finish. From a distance, I could admire every one of his tight leg muscles outlined with each sharp move, as well as his shiny old hairless head and poofy white beard. And then I looked around me. The majority of the people climbing were adults or the elderly. None of this college and high school student thing you see at GRG (the rock gym in G-Ville). So weird.

I want to be like these people when I reach retirement. I don't want to be an old heap of wrinkles and gray hair slumped over a bed. I want to be able to walk everywhere in a cute skirt, showing off my experienced and muscular legs, despite my ripe age.