Month: June 2023

June 2023

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Bruno Aguirre

There is no single, universally-agreed-upon time when each of us leaves mid-life and enters old age. But there is no denying a qualitative change occurs in those of us fortunate enough to live into the golden years. This transition into old age is marked by profound changes: physical, emotional, social, cultural, and economic, among others. In past articles I have reflected on some of these subjects. And in future posts I will continue examining our journey into and through old age.

But today I want to discuss a different, very concerning phenomenon.

For people living in the U.S., our lifespans are falling. In other developed countries, life expectancy is increasing. But not in these United States. I do not mean to be alarmist, but if this problem continues, consider one of the implications – old age may start earlier here than in other developed countries.

Let me explain. For most of the 20th Century, life expectancy in economically developed countries increased over time. The U.S.’s upward trend closely paralleled our peer countries. But starting in 1980, a gap appeared between us and other developed countries. U.S. life expectancy continued increasing, but at a slower rate than elsewhere. Over the subsequent three decades, the gap continued to widen.

Then something unexpected happened. Beginning in 2010, life expectancy in the U.S. stopped increasing. We plateaued. In 2010 our average life expectancy was 78.7 years. Ten years later we lived only one month longer, on average. Among comparable countries, life expectancy continued increasing. In 2010 it was 81.4 years. A decade later it had improved to 82.6 years.

This trend is worrisome. But what happened next is even more startling.

In 2020, because of Covid-19, life expectancy fell around the world. In the U.S., the average lifespan decreased by almost two years. Among our peer countries, lifespans dropped by six months. In late 2020, vaccines became available and Covid treatment protocols advanced. In 2021, thanks to improving approaches to the pandemic, lifespans in our peer countries recovered dramatically, returning almost to their 2019 levels. What happened in the U.S.? In 2021, life expectancy dropped by another year.

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When I was growing up in the 1950s, common wisdom held children would outlive their parents. As healthcare, nutrition, economic security, and safety net programs improved, increasing longevity for each generation was an expectation. A birthright.

But in our country today, this is no longer the case. If current developments hold, many children born in the 2020s may live shorter lives than their parents. Or even their grandparents. There is little doubt children born in the U.S. will, on average, die earlier than children born in Western Europe or a number of Asian countries.

A country with our resources, knowledge base, and technology should do better. But for the past four decades we have been falling further and further behind comparable countries.

The reasons are not complicated. Good health insurance is unavailable to many people in the U.S. Safety net programs are withering. Economic insecurity is worsening year by year for many swaths of the population, which contributes to deaths of despair. Mortality from drug overdoses, gun deaths, and suicide is climbing.

Life expectancy by county

While the lifespan averages I have cited refer to the country as a whole, longevity in the U.S. varies dramatically depending on where you live. From one state to another, life expectancy differs by up to nine years. From one county to the next, life expectancy varies by as much as 20 years. This should not be surprising. State and local government policies vary on issues like access to health care, availability of safety net programs, nutrition assistance programs, gun safety policies, and access to addiction treatment.

Another mortality difference stems from variability in Covid vaccination rates. On both a county and state level, regions with higher vaccination rates have higher life expectancy.

Mortality rates also vary depending on who you are. There is a significant and longstanding racial disparity in longevity in our country. African Americans tend to die 3-4 years earlier than white Americans. Native Americans have the highest mortality rates, living 7 years less than white Americans.

Gender differences in lifespan are also significant. Women tend to live about five years longer than men in the U.S.

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In the middle of the last century, the average lifespan was about 69 years. In those days, old age began around 60. As decades passed, the onset of old age seemed to be pushed later as lifespans lengthened. Today there is certainly room for debate on when old age starts, but 65 years, give or take, is a fair estimate. By that age, mid-life is definitely in the rearview mirror. We enroll in Medicare. Our vision for the future is becoming murkier and the horizon is drawing closer.

But if current trends continue, we may have to recalibrate our expectations for when old age begins. In the future, I wonder if people will once again feel that old age in the U.S. starts at around age 60. In contrast, Japan and Germany may view old age as starting around age 70.

Will the earlier start to old age in the U.S. be a source of national embarrassment? Will it lead to any policy changes? I hope so. Solutions to our mortality problem are not complicated. Many other countries have systems in place which are proven effective. I fervently wish our kids and grandkids can live longer and healthier lives than us.

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June 2023

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Ales Krivec

We older folks have a hard time with many activities young and middle-aged people take for granted. I have discussed several previously, like household repairs or driving. With warm weather upon us, now is a good time to examine the challenges gardening presents to folks traversing their golden years.

My wife and I live in a house with a small yard, less than a tenth of an acre. During our 30 years here we have had average success cultivating trees, bushes, shrubs, succulents, and various flowering plants. We kept putting off the concept of vegetable gardening until “next year.” But after so many “next years,” I doubt we will ever venture into that realm. The reasons will be clear shortly.

Three decades is sufficient time to witness many plants growing old and ending up in the yard waste container. Some age more rapidly than others, especially if they are mismanaged. I have learned that plants do not enjoy being over-watered or under-watered. They can succumb when infected with fungi, powdery mildew, aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, and assorted other infections. Over many years my best efforts to treat plant diseases rarely proved successful. I’ve come to the realization that I am not a good plant doctor. Actually I’m not a good plant nurse, physical therapist, pharmacist, or orderly either.

Fortunately we have a landscaping service. They come every two weeks and perform some basic upkeep but much remains to be done. These tasks are becoming more challenging as the years pass by. The bending movement required to pull weeds or trim dead flowers is increasingly taxing. Climbing a tall ladder to clip dead tree branches is becoming a  bit dicey. Two weeks ago, my wife and I undertook our annual ritual of stringing Bhutanese prayer flags between trees in our back yard. Suffice it to say that next year these colorful flags will be strung from lower branches. Though they look peaceful and protective, prayer flags provide no guarantees against trauma from falling off high ladders.

I am coming to learn the key to successful golden years gardening is tempering my expectations. Why should I be bothered by some weeds growing in our artificial turf? Or between paving stones in our backyard? Or other weird places? They are living objects doing their best to survive in a hostile world and I suspect they play a positive role in our yard’s ecosystem. And those dead branches 20 feet up in the sky? Well, birds don’t seem to be bothered by them so why should I?

There is a weed growing out of the gutter on the second floor of our house. How exactly am I supposed to deal with this? Should I even try?

Photo by Richard Fleming

But there is one aspect of yard maintenance where tempering my expectations is difficult. I’m referring to what happens when a dead tree or plant needs replacement. Now that I’m in my 70s, the horizon grows closer every year. The reality is that new plants can take many years before they attain a pleasing size. And most nurseries only sell young plants and trees. Several years ago we had to replace the 25-year-old maple tree in our front yard. It was never large and the poor thing had become very ill. We asked some tree experts about replacing it with a mature tree that already had some height to it. This request was met with some not-so-subtle eye rolling. We were told mature trees are very expensive, hard to find, and they often fail to establish their root systems when transplanted. Such trees are more subject to disease and may not survive. “Besides,” the tree guy said, “trees grow, and in 10 or 15 years it will be starting to look nice and tall. And it’ll be healthy.”

I tend to defer to experts in fields I know little about, but the 10-15 years concept stuck in my craw. It is easy for a 30-year-old tree guy to casually talk about so many years in the future. But for me, that time frame is questionable. I may not be around when the tree is starting to look “nice and tall.” I’m all for planting trees my grandchildren can enjoy when they become adults, but I would not mind enjoying them also. Our ultimate decision was rooted, so to speak, in the lack of mature trees available to buy. So we planted a one-year-old pistache. It is now a six-year-old tree, cute, filling out, and maybe 8 feet high. I hope my grandkids will appreciate this tree as they grow old.

Succulents are supposed to be easy to care for. But I never got that memo. This plant will soon find itself in the yard waste bin.

Photo by Richard Fleming

Shortening time frames come in to play with other plants. Last year we had to take out a hedge that was a hedge in name only. Each plant was seriously infested with some kind of disease that could not be eradicated. At our request, the gardening service replaced the sick plants with ten rose bushes that will allegedly grow into a hedge over the next five years or so. Currently, after a year of growth, the bushes are a bit larger. They look nice, but it will clearly take some time for them to link together into a hedgerow. I keep telling myself to remain patient. And I keep reminding myself that five years is much better than 10-15.

So, when it comes to gardening during the golden years, my recommendation is to keep your expectations low. Remember that deferred gratification is a virtue. I am learning that enjoyment can be found in small trees and tiny bushes. When I look at them, they spur my imagination to think of what they will look like in the distant future. And having an active imagination is an important key to graceful aging.

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