"When I'm 64...."
Chris Cimino
5/6/20257 min read
Another birthday has come and gone and I assume you can gather which one by the title of the blog, as well as the lyrics to the Beatle tune, "When I'm Sixty-Four". Some days I wonder how the hell I got here so fast. Other times, I truly feel blessed and fortunate to have had such a fulfilling life to date.
The funny thing about the Beatles song, is the perception of being 64 years old back in 1967. "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?" Seriously? As if you couldn't feed yourself, or be confidently independent at 64 years of age.
Four years ago was the big 6-0. That brought to mind through my musical connections for milestone moments in life, Elton John's song , Sixty Years On. That tune has the line "who'll walk me down to church when I'm 60 years of age?" I guess Bernie Taupin, who's about to turn 75, thought at 60 years old, you're life would be fading into the sunset.
Now, for many, 60 years of age brings some new beginnings and a chance to grow. Armed with the knowledge of experience from decades of life, we are often more equipped to make wiser and more beneficial choices.
Mind you, I am certainly well aware that some of us may not make it this far and have our lives cut short. Others may suffer physical hardships that now limit their lives in some capacity. This is why if you've made it to 60 and beyond, it truly is a time to celebrate every day as a gift. It's a cliche, and might be difficult at times to truly grasp on a daily basis. To me it's all about perspective.
Someone recently posted something on my Facebook feed. I think it sums up the way I try to approach the future at this point in my life.
That brings me to my recent birthday. Back during the Christmas Week we were spending some time in Puerto Rico visiting my wife's Dad. We managed to connect with several friends who were also in Puerto Rico visiting family, for a day at the beach. It was there, through some random conversation, we were led to planning a visit to the Grand Canyon. I had been before with my daughter, celebrating her 21st birthday, ten years ago. Some of the others had not ever experienced this trip. It is something I feel, certainly all Americans, if not everyone on this planet, should experience at least once.
I should mention, over the last few years having visited the Southwest of the country, I have a great appreciation for it's natural beauty and history. I have had many moments of awe and a sort of peaceful inspiration from these visits.
From Arizona to New Mexico the landscape and sheer open sky and spaces can make one feel very small. I will list at the end of this post some of the links to find out more about the beautiful locations we experienced. In addition, as always, I will tell more of the story through some images I captured to give a better understanding of the experience and hopefully inspire you to go and visit.
The one thing I will say about the Grand Canyon is how in one eyeful you are left feeling very infinitesimal. In turn, it also made my concerns and worries feel smaller and lighter.
The first time I went to the canyon, as I previously mentioned, was with my daughter. It was an entire out west adventure she wanted and I planned it out months in advance. It was to celebrate her 21st birthday as she didn't want a big party, but this trip instead. The plan was for me and her mother(Nancy) to share this journey with her and celebrate her coming of age.
As life likes to send curveballs randomly at our heads, such was the case this time as we got closer to the day of the journey. My wife Nancy was beginning to have signs of her illness advancing. Without going into details she was not going to be able to take such a trip involving extensive walking and some hiking. I told her I would cancel the trip and just explain to Carly, my daughter, the situation. Nancy, being Nancy, said no way! She wanted us to take the trip and just take lots of pictures.
This is why I went on that first trip with a heavy heart and plenty of unknowns about what the future held.
We flew into Phoenix and spent some time there, with the highlight being this amazing butterfly park(butterflywonderland.com).
We stopped into another magical town that I truly love, Sedona, AZ. Then we drove toward the Grand Canyon. With limited time on the trip, as we still had Colorado and Boulder to get to, I booked a Pink Jeep sunset tour for the canyon.
This is where I had that amazing experience of connection to the bigger entity(whatever it may be for you). There was just one other family with us on the tour with a small child. They were very quiet and peaceful, which I think allowed for me to feel what I did.
We came into the South Rim of the canyon and at first you only see trees. Then suddenly, as if pulling back the curtain ala Wizard of Oz, going from B&W on a Kansas farm, to the brilliant color of Munchkin Land, the canyon appears in all its majesty. Words don't describe it, nor really do pictures or video. The first time you see it, rest assured your breathing will change.
It's just one of those moments where you realize we as humans are just a small part of something so much bigger than us. We are not as important as we think. We are just visitors, or as I like to say, renters of the planet. At that, we are the tiniest grains of dust in this much bigger scenario that surrounds us. It's why at that moment, dangling my feet over the edge of a cliff looking into the Grand Canyon, my worries and concerns disappeared. That's not to say those issues wouldn't still be there waiting for me when I got back to my life. However, it did somewhat change my perspective about what I could do about them, and how I would respond to whatever the outcome.
The link to Grand Canyon National Park below picture(yes I took it)
Sedona, AZ - Chapel of the Holy Cross https://chapeloftheholycross.com/history
My birthday weekend group of friends....
I want to thank my wife Edmi and our friends(like family) for a fantastic birthday weekend. It was a great time of exploring as well as relaxing and laughing until it hurt. It's what life's all about.
Here are some other pictures from that trip including Sedona, Flagstaff, Meteor Crater and some wine tasting.
Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon
The allegedly haunted Hotel Monte Vista Flagstaff, Arizona
Just getting my kicks.... on........
Meteor Crater, Winslow, AZ
An alien putting the moves on Edmi
Who knew their were vineyards in Arizona......and good ones at that.
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Again thank you to this great group of friends and intrepid travelers.
Not sure if many of you got this far, but I just wanted to end this with a reiteration of how perspective on life can be key to your peace. We can't expect to be happy all of the time, nor attempt to achieve that. Happiness is a moment in time of a particular emotion. Everyone's happiness trigger is different.
What we can strive for, is finding a peace or a centeredness that dominates our feelings. It's not happy or sad. Not angry or mad. It's a condition in which you stay in every moment and steer away from the thoughts and surroundings that bring negativity into your mind, heart or soul. It's not easy to do. At sixty-four I feel like I just entered the school on this.
The point is, no matter your age, there's always time to grow in many ways until our time here is done. Don't miss out on that opportunity and gift.
Sunshine Always!
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