Author: richardfleming (Page 1 of 7)

By Richard Fleming

March 2026

Photo courtesy of Natalia Blauth

Once a week, I try to do a Facetime call with two of my grand-nephews who live in New York City. During the call I read a book to them – currently we’re ambling through The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown – though we also chat about their life in the big city. I’ll also sometimes check in with their parents.

With the recent heavy snowfall on the East Coast, I was worried about how my niece and nephew would get to work, so I sent them a message of concern. My nephew responded with an assurance they would be fine because they were “WFH during the blizzard” (working from home). He then asked how my wife and I were doing in California. I looked outside at our 56-degree weather, and felt a twinge of guilt. As I was getting ready to respond with “fine” or something similar, my wife quickly said, “Just tell him we are WFH also.”

I paused briefly, then told myself, “WTH, we really do WFH every day.” We may not have typical jobs with set schedules, biweekly paychecks, commutes, and days off. But aging is a full-time job and we work hard at it, day after day, week after week. And the same is true of most old folks I know. Growing old is hard work. And much of it is WFH.

So I messaged my nephew back and told him we were WFH also. He responded, “Is there a blizzard there?” My reply, “No, but you know we’re in our 70s, so we WFH.”

*    *    *

Many younger and middle-aged folks appear to think the silver-haired generation has an easy, slow-paced life. In case any of them are reading this post, let me offer a brief picture. From sunrise to sunset, we seniors are busy beavers. We have to get out of bed, which can be a challenge. We have to complete our morning hygiene activities, and they become more strenuous and complicated as we age. We then need to figure out how to make a reasonably nutritious breakfast.

After our morning meal, our days are consumed with countless activities, including laundry. Cleaning the house. Fixing broken appliances. Trying to prevent houseplants from dying. Keeping up with current events. Discarding clutter. Trying to stimulate our brains by learning new languages or doing word puzzles. Reading books, especially fiction and poetry. Doing some exercise (hopefully). Yard maintenance. Babysitting grandchildren. Preparing lunch and dinner. Remembering to take all our medications, the number of which expands year by year. Keeping track of our increasing number of medical appointments, dental appointments, lab work requirements, and vaccinations. Volunteer work. Paying bills while making sure we don’t run out of money. And many more responsibilities and chores. I haven’t even mentioned the work of scheduling in activities we actually enjoy, like spending time with family and friends.

I hope my abbreviated description of our daily activities makes it clear that old folks set the gold standard for productivity while WFH.

And we do all this work despite having less get-up-and-go than when we were young and vigorous in our 50s and 60s. Our mitochondria, vital little structures inside our cells, are fading, which means we have less energy to draw on. It is not unusual for our medications to contribute to fatigue. Seniors often sleep less soundly than younger folks. And then there is the fatigue induced by the chronic illnesses and conditions we must deal with.

Seniors have to do a lot of work with less energy and stamina than other generations. We do not get days off. Three-day weekends are a distant memory. We are not paid overtime. The well-known saying “There is no rest for the wicked” needs revision. Let’s rephrase it: “There is no rest for the wicked and the old.”

*    *    *

I want to clarify I am not complaining about WFH. While it is true I frequently feel busier now than when I had a real job, I am grateful I have the opportunity to WFH as I grow old. More and more frequently, I learn of the death of a friend, or an acquaintance, or a distant family member. And often they are my age or younger. This is scary indeed. I will gladly WFH for as long as I can.

So when the clock reaches 4:00 p.m. and I start feeling run down, knowing I still have a lot to do before bedtime, I just tell myself, “WTF, you’re so lucky to be WFH. No commute. No parking hassles. You can rearrange your schedule any time you want. You can pace yourself. You can take frequent breaks. If you fail to complete your day’s assignments, you are not called in to the supervisor’s office for a discussion. WFH is great!”

Seniors don’t need a blizzard to WFH. We work from home no matter the weather. Growing old is the quintessential WFH job.

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February 2026

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt

Nature, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As a fond mother, when the day is o’er,
   Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
   Half willing, half reluctant to be led,
   And leave his broken playthings on the floor,
Still gazing at them through the open door,
   Nor wholly reassured and comforted
   By promises of others in their stead,
   Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
So Nature deals with us, and takes away
   Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
   Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
   Being too full of sleep to understand
   How far the unknown transcends the what we know.

Poetry has never been a big interest of mine. I have occasionally tried reading it, yet often found myself mystified and lost. I know poems are important literary forms. But they can be so hard to understand. Poems present with a paucity of words. What is the author trying to say? And poetry often displays an unusual physical form, the lines sashaying down the page, so different from the organized format of prose – sentence, next sentence, paragraph, next paragraph, chapter, next chapter, repeat.

After recently reading some poetry I found easier to understand, an unexpected notion popped into my head. I realized aging can be viewed as poetry, in both form and content. OK, this may be a challenge, but I will try to explain.

*    *    *

Let’s start with form.

Old folks possess a different stature and carriage than younger folks. Our bodies can appear disorganized and altered, as is often true of poems. Of course we resemble the general human form of younger folks, but our body parts can be askew. Our proportions are less orderly, another common feature of poetry.

Something else. Seniors often move differently as we grow older. Where younger folks amble straightforwardly across the land, our gait becomes slower and uncertain. Our hands can tremor. Our progress, even our intentions, can be murky early on. Just as is true of poetry. But once we reach our goal, things become sorted. Both poetry and seniors move in ways that may seem initially obscure, but eventually our intentions are revealed.

What about content?

The brains of old people contain vast arrays of knowledge, nuanced and layered by years of lived experience. Our minds are treasure troves of dense emotions, decades deep. As is true of poetry, we often communicate using words, phrasing, and rhythms that are unfamiliar to younger listeners. The meaning we are trying to convey – the full scope of content behind our words – may be hard for those with less life experience to grasp. Our words can resemble poetry, even though we do not speak in rhyme.

*    *    *

In other words, both poetry and aging are complex and often difficult to fathom.

In poetry, stanza follows stanza, eventually revealing meaning, emotion, and wisdom. Growing old follows a similar path. Decade follows decade, eventually illuminating purpose, sentiment, and understanding. Appreciating the beauty and richness of poetry takes time. In the same way, seeing the beauty and richness of aging evolves over many long years.

In a prior blog post I encouraged seniors to read more fiction. I want to also recommend we read more poetry. Grappling with different forms of poetry may help shine some light on the dappled, mist-strewn road we are trying to traverse with some degree of resolve and grace.

*    *    *

It is notable that poetry encompasses a range of styles and forms. Free verse, ballads, haiku, sonnets, blank verse, odes, palindromes, and others. But all are poems.

This is also true of aging. It too encompasses a range of styles and forms. There is no single approach. For some, growing old is more complicated. For some, more abbreviated. For some, more upbeat. For some, more rhythmical. For some, more sentimental. There are so many ways to grow old. But for each of us, growing old is a form of poetry. And we are the authors of our poems.

Understanding aging as poetry can have immediate practical applications. The next time your knees ache, or you have trouble standing up from the couch, or you wonder why you walked into the dining room, tell yourself these phenomena are stanzas in your poem.

I have previously written about how seniors live our lives in analog. I now realize we also travel through time as a form of poetry. Let the young folks live their lives in prose. One day, if fortune shines on them, they will come to understand the beauty of living as poets.

I will end with an excerpt from:

Passing of the Old Year, by Mary Weston Fordham

Ah! the year is slowly dying,
And the wind in tree-top sighing,
   Chant his requiem.
Thick and fast the leaves are falling,
High in air wild birds are calling,
   Nature’s solemn hymn.

In the deep, dark forest lingers,
Imprints of his icy fingers,
   Chill, and dark, and cold.
And the little streamlets flowing,
Wintry sun so softly glowing,
   Through the maple’s gold.

So, Old Year, gird on your armor,
Let not age, nor fear, nor favor,
   Hurry you along.
List! the farewell echoes pealing,
List! the midnight hour is stealing,
   Hark! thy dying song.

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January 2026

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of David Trinks

As the years accumulate, I have recently become aware of an unusual phenomenon predominantly affecting seniors. This curious trend is the fact that hobgoblins often take up residence in the homes of people over the age of 70. There is no question they have moved into our house. I try to be accommodating and would not mind a single hobgoblin living under our roof. Maybe even one couple. But the problem is the hobgoblins are reproducing at a good clip and the creatures appear to be laying claim to every room.

We had none of these creatures living in our house ten years ago. But they’re here now, in force. And their sole purpose is to make the lives of my wife and I more difficult.

Hobgoblins are masters of grabbing things and hiding them. Before mentioning a few examples I want to first acknowledge that everyone occasionally misplaces things, including young people enjoying their care-free lives as 50-something-year-olds. But the hobgoblin taunting of seniors, their dastardly games of hide-and-seek, are far more pernicious.

Multiple times a month I find myself wandering around the house looking for missing items. A new tube of toothpaste I placed under the bathroom sink. A bottle of neem oil spray for plants that I put on a shelf in the garage. A sticky-note listing chores I need to do which I placed on the desk. I recall exactly where each of these items was placed, but they disappeared. My wife’s glasses are often missing from her bedside table. Her purse vanishes from the chair she placed it in.

There is only one possible explanation: hobgoblins at work. I could list countless examples, but I need to be careful about how long this post runs.

For some reason, the hobgoblins enjoy tormenting us by waiting a few hours, sometimes several days, then returning the item they pilfered, but putting it in a different location. So we often stumble across something they stole, but it is not where we placed it. This is a simple statement of fact.

Hobgoblins also know how to make me lose information inside my brain. Over the last few years it is becoming more common for me to walk upstairs to get something, but when I get there I no longer recall what I needed. Ditto for heading out to the garage. What did I need from there? I know it must have been important, since getting to the garage required me to get up from a very comfortable couch in our family room.

In a similar vein hobgoblins are adept at throwing wrenches into the functions of common household appliances. They clog toilets. They love to prevent showers and sinks from draining. They muck up garbage disposals. They mess with windows to allow rain water to leak inside and cover the windowsill.

And do not get me started on what the hobgoblins have done to our house plants. They have executed many of them, including nice plants which were living healthy, unassuming lives for many years.

Hobgoblins regularly invite ants, spiders, and sundry unidentified bugs into the house. And I assume it is the hobgoblins that have advised owls to start hooting loudly outside our bedroom window. Usually at 2:30 am.

Now I can already imagine what some of you are thinking. How could this guy have hobgoblins residing throughout his house but he can’t see them. Fair question. But I can assure you they do live here. The last few years I have started to hear more frequent creaking noises coming from the ceiling or walls while I am sitting quietly, having my morning coffee and reading about the latest assault on our democracy. Skeptics may claim these are common noises from the normal settling of a three-decade old house. But when you combine these noises with all the other nefarious events taking place under our roof in recent years, there is only one possibility: hobgoblins.

I have many friends and acquaintances in their 70s and older who describe similar problems, confirming this is a phenomenon linked to the aging process. Why do hobgoblins choose to torment us old folks? They know we are slow of step, our vision is slipping, and our reflexes have diminished. They have discovered over time that living in the homes of seniors is a safe refuge.

OK, I will acknowledge my assessment that hobgoblins have moved into our house and are making mischief may be a bit of a stretch. Maybe there is another explanation. Maybe it’s gremlins. Or elves. Pixies, perhaps. Maybe regular goblins. Gnomes or trolls certainly merit consideration. I’m open to any evidence-based theory. But the existence of these devilish creatures inside our house, running amok, is not open to question.

*    *    *

I am not naïve about the challenges of aging. During my long years in medical practice, I took care of many seniors. I did my best to help them accommodate and adjust to the increasing limitations which accrue as we age. And there are many. Chronic medical conditions of all sorts. Increasing pharmaceuticals. Declining energy. Memory lapses. Traitorous joints.

But at no time was I asked to address the problem of hobgoblins moving into seniors’ homes. For some reason, this never surfaced as a clinical problem.

I suspect the reason is that many seniors, though they wondered about the increasing incidence of unusual, hard-to-explain phenomena taking place where they lived, felt it was not an appropriate topic to bring up with their doctor. I’m sure many of them never considered the possibility that hobgoblins were responsible.

Well, I am here to clear up the mystery. If I was still in practice, I could do so much more to help my older patients better understand the aging process.

But. There is one big remaining problem. And that is how best to get rid of the hobgoblins. So far, I have not come up with any preventive  or therapeutic measures to address this common problem of old age. Hopefully research scientists will be able to provide some answers in the next few years. Until they do, I wish all seniors the happiest new year possible during these trying times.

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December 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Meg Boulden

Growing old is complicated, an enigmatic journey. I used to think Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-hour rule” made sense. He believed it took 10,000 hours of working in a complex field to become an expert. Seems reasonable, right? Well, if old age starts at 65, I have 83,227 hours of experience with this process and I still do not understand it well. Maybe grasping the ins and outs of aging requires a 100,000-hour rule.

One of many confounding aspects of growing old is that it does not happen in a gradual steady way. If aging happened in a linear fashion, we would see a slow continuing decline in our physical and mental functioning as the years pass by. Our aging process would be predictable, unsurprising.

But that is not what happens. Aging unfolds in fits and starts.

*    *    *

Sometimes a reduction in our function and vitality occurs abruptly because of illness. We may be pushing the grocery cart through the produce section, minding our own business, happy we were able to vote to protect democracy last month, when all of a sudden, boom, we fall to the ground and are paralyzed on our right side from a stroke.

Maybe we are sitting on the couch after eating a healthy dinner of fresh halibut, watching “A Man on the Inside” on television, when we suddenly feel a 30-pound weight on our chest. In the Emergency Department our suspicion that we might have had a heart attack is confirmed.

Or we might be peacefully watering our houseplants when the phone rings. It is our doctor’s office calling, saying she needs to see us this afternoon to discuss the results of our recent x-ray.

These kinds of problems interrupt our prior gradual process of aging with a jolt. We suddenly become five years older. Or ten. And there is no going  back. The smoothly-sloping downward trend we had been following suddenly assumes the shape of a cliff. When this happens it is clear that aging occurs in fits and starts.

Sometimes we are presented with a diagnosis which signals a faster rate of decline, but is not a cliff. Parkinson’s, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease – when we learn of having conditions like these, we know we will be facing more challenges sooner. The slope of our aging just became steeper.

Fortunately, through no virtue of my own, I have not yet been given any of these diagnostic accelerants. But of course the phone could ring anytime.

*    *    *

There is another interesting fits-and-starts phenomenon we oldsters can experience while we’re slip-sliding down the slope. Our bodies go through periods when the aging process accelerates for a while before resuming its prior trajectory. Over the course of a few months, we seem to lose a few years. Medical studies confirm this can happen.

I’ve experienced this phenomenon on a couple of occasions. Several years ago, I noticed over a period of a few months that I was having a harder time squatting down and standing up. At first I thought it was temporary. Maybe I’d strained my knees. But after a few months went by with no improvement, it dawned on me that squatting would be a bit of a challenge from that point on. And to think that activity had been a piece of cake, not long ago.

More recently, I’ve noticed a change in my general energy level. Compared to a few months ago, I get sluggish more easily. I get more tired, even when not doing a lot of activity. My sleep pattern has not changed. I’m eating the same as I always have. There is no recent change in life circumstances. My latest annual physical lab work was normal. But my stamina is not what it was even this past summer.

Maybe you have experienced something similar? Some change that came on over a few weeks to months that marked a break from your previous health status? This is another way that growing old proceeds in fits and starts.

*     *     *

Scientists are starting to confirm that changes in our metabolism and molecular structures related to aging do not happen in a steady linear fashion throughout life. A 2024 study in Nature Aging looked at various molecular markers of aging in 108 people. The authors found that at around age 44 and again at around age 60, there was a more rapid decline in function, compared to what was otherwise a reasonably steady decrease. Another study in Nature Medicine in 2019 also found occasional periods of more rapid molecular changes, but they identified these changes as happening at around ages 34, 60, and 78.

So the science on this issue is still evolving, as science often does. But it does seem clear that on a biochemical basis, our aging process is not a smooth downward slope.

*    *    *

So what are the take-home lessons for us old folks? Your guess is as good as mine. I am unaware of anything we can do to avoid the fits and starts of aging. Of course eating well, exercising our bodies and our brains, socializing, getting enough sleep, and avoiding stress can help. But even so, there will be times when it seems the speed of aging is increasing for a period.

When I was starting to plan my post-retirement life, I never thought that at age 74 I would find myself thinking, “Wow, I felt so much healthier at age 72.” I never imagined I would tell myself, “I would love to feel 73 again.”

But nowadays such thoughts do cross my mind.

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November 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo by Richard Fleming

My favorite hours are during the gloaming, the time of day when the sun eases down into the horizon. Shadows spread across the hills. The chirping birds of daytime grow silent, settling into their nests. A luminous glow spreads across the twilight sky.

Eventually the stars claim their due and vanquish the fading light, but during its brief and fleeting time, the gloaming creates an aura of magic. As I look out our back window or occasionally sit in the yard watching the gentle dusk take over the land, I am filled with a sense of calm. I feel I’m living in my designated time. Another rotation of the earth completed. Another day done. Another night of peace and renewal at hand.

*    *    *

And my favorite season is autumn. In many ways it reflects the gloaming. Just as each day grows old, so too does each year. In the fall, the colors are warmer and deeper than during the rest of the year. Leaves catch fire, then fall. Flocks of birds grace the sky, disappearing into the south. The air in autumn feels different than in other seasons. Winter’s air is biting and sharp. Spring’s is bracing, brisk. And summer’s air beats down with a hot intensity. But in the fall, the air becomes soft and gentle. It feels smooth on the skin. I enjoy the embrace of coolness, and the way my jacket brings warmth and comfort.

Autumn, too, sounds different than the other seasons. It is quieter. The noise of children playing outside after school subsides. Nature’s creatures are settling down, with less squawking and cooing. But the silence is not complete. It is broken by the crackling sound of dry leaves skittering down streets and sidewalks, blown by fitful winds, adding a percussive note to the diminishing days.

The season of fall feels like the culmination of everything that transpired in the seasons before. Winter’s barrenness gives way to the new growth of spring, which evolves into the maturation of summer. Then comes autumn. Growth stops and nature pauses, in preparation for the emptiness of winter. Autumn feels like a season of settling, a peaceful period between beginnings and endings, a linkage between openings and closings.

*    *    *

In autumn, the gloaming is a unique and special time. It is a charmed combination of the best months of the year and the best hours of the day. Twilight in the fall is a tranquil time. It is not so much a season filled with joy, as it is a time filled with serenity. It is rich in meaning and it induces reflection. It is wrapped in a sense of mystery and sweet melancholia.

In many ways, the gloaming in autumn reflects the circumstances of human aging. As we grow old, we reach a pensive stage of life in which we must acknowledge the reality that our growth and maturation have ended. We know that ahead lies diminution and a process of wrapping up.

But growing old need not be a time of despair. It is a time of acceptance. It is a period of seeing the world unambiguously. We reach the point where we can better understand the significance of where we are, where we have come from, and where we are headed. There is so much richness around us. During the gloaming of our lives, we can find serenity, and we can marvel at life’s beauty as well as its inevitable finitude.

Mornings, like springtime, are for the young. Afternoons, like summer, are claimed by those in the middle years. But the gloaming, like autumn, is the province of the old. It is a rich and complex tapestry, filled with beauty and uncertainty, stillness and sadness, but ultimately, acknowledgement.

For me, living through my 75^th year, the gloaming in autumn feels like the right place to dwell, for now. This time provides me a sense of settling, acceptance, grace, and peace. But I know at some point the glow will fade, and it will be time to move on.

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October 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Alan Jiang

Boomers and the Silent Generation are old souls. We earned this venerated status over many long decades. We weathered difficult storms, and we celebrated moments large and small. We hiked challenging mountains, and we learned and we taught. We navigated unfamiliar trails, and we captured small strands of wisdom on our journey forward. Most importantly, we offered love and we received love.

This rich web of experiences is what produces old souls.

Defining what constitutes an old soul is difficult. There is no single archetype. Old souls encompass qualities like understanding, empathy, an acceptance of uncertainty, a tempered curiosity, wisdom borne of complex life experiences, patience, and grace. Every old soul possesses qualities like these, though in varying measure.

It is hard to imagine Boomers or Silents who are not old souls, though I know such people exist. They are the “young at heart,” folks who somehow dodged the full impact of our travels through time. They continue living their lives much as they did when they were in their 20s or 30s, oblivious of the gathering clouds, refusing to accept the social and physical realities of old age. We all know people like this. Their approach to life is unusual and uncommon. But if they can pull it off without looking absurd, more power to them.

*    *    *

There is also an inverse phenomenon, one which may be harder to comprehend. Young people live among us who have old souls. Their old soul characteristics are not fully developed, but they manifest a wiser and deeper outlook on life than their peers.

I want to mention three examples of young people with old souls I have personally encountered.

Several years ago, when I was working as a medical director for Medi-Cal, one of the quality assurance staff was a 30-year-old woman whose favorite movies and TV programs were those featuring old people. She preferred books written by old authors about old topics. The culture and interests of others her age were of little concern for her. She had an old soul.

This past spring I taught a class on EKG reading to a group of 10 energetic young medical students. They had to record their attendance by signing in on a piece of paper, but only one of the ten students carried a pen. The others had no use for a pen, since they rarely if ever interacted with physical pieces of paper. The pen was passed around so everyone could sign in. The student with the pen was also the only one who came to class with a printed packet of sample EKG’s. The other nine viewed the EKG tracings on screens on their tablets. Learning EKG’s is much easier using paper tracings than looking at a screen, and the pen-carrying, paper-utilizing student was far more advanced in EKG interpretation than her classmates. When I complimented her at the end of the class about her use of pen and paper, she smiled briefly and said, “I’m just an old soul.”

For my last example, I want to talk about my granddaughter, who is 2 years, 9 months old. My wife and I get to babysit frequently and have a very close relationship with her. She often talks and acts in ways that give me pause. A few weeks ago, she walked up to me and said, “It’s a beautiful morning,” then asked, “How are you, Papa?” And she listened to my response attentively.

When her cousin had a bad headache several months ago, she was very concerned, almost tearful, showing on her face she knew the pain her cousin was feeling. The next time she saw her cousin a week later, she asked her how she was doing.

Recently, I told her a very bad joke. She listened to it, glared at me, rolled her eyes, and said very sarcastically, “You are so funny,” then walked away. This past weekend, my granddaughter was chatty and making constant comments and asking frequent questions. I was distracted with something else and kept saying, “Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.” Finally she came over, shook my shoulder, and said, “Stop saying ‘Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm’ to me. Use your words!” On another occasion she responded to a comment I made, saying, “That doesn’t make sense.” There are many other examples of her saying things amusing, thoughtful, and empathetic.

I know that toddlers develop mental and physical skills at different speeds and different ages, but I find it a bit unusual for my granddaughter to sometimes sound like a 40-year-old.

*    *    *

What accounts for young people having old souls? Some feel it is confirmation of reincarnation. They believe that after a person dies, their soul enters a newborn baby. I find this hard to believe. But maybe I will have a different perspective on reincarnation in a few decades. For now, I look for reasons which are more easily verifiable.

It is fairly easy to understand how a person in their 20s or 30s becomes an old soul. They have a deeper level of empathy, understanding, and introspection than their peers. They incorporate life experiences easily and are less distracted by many societal trends which buffet the lives of young people.

But can a toddler truly be an old soul? What makes a child under age 3 empathetic? What leads her to understand and reject the occasional nonsense offered her by adults? Will she retain her old soul as she moves forward through life, or will it fade, and perhaps reappear in 30 years? I do not have answers.

Life is full of mysteries, conundrums, and unusual phenomena. But one of the more fascinating is discovering old souls among the younger generations. They enrich the fabric and embellish the tapestry of our lives, and confirm that age is not necessarily just a number.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider forwarding it to friends who may be interested or posting a link to your social media feed. Also, if you are not yet a subscriber, it is an easy way to be notified of future posts, which I upload once or twice a month. Just enter your email address below, then check your email for a return message that requires a confirmatory click to complete the process. Subscriptions are free and no advertising will come your way.

September 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Antonio Vivace

OK, after several years of ruminating on some of the good and some of the challenging aspects of growing old, the time has come to delve into one of the more sensitive topics about aging. Do old people smell? To cut to the chase – yes, yes we do. It is an intrinsic part of the biology of aging. But we need not despair. If you read to the end, you will see there is a silver lining to this story.

It is a well-known fact the human body emits odors. In this post, I will not address the smells which occasionally emerge from our gastrointestinal tract, nor the aroma coming from people who do not shower regularly or don’t like using deodorant. I will limit my observations to the typical scents released by normal, clean human skin.

The quality and nature of these aromas evolves as we age. During each stage of life – infancy, childhood, young adulthood, middle age, and old age – our skin produces an evolving set of odors. And as we proceed deeper into the realms of seniorhood, the intensity of the odors tends to deepen and the quality becomes more distinctive.

I still remember times when I was young, standing in line in a store, and smelling what seemed like a weird odor coming from an old person in front of me. It was not the typical pungent smell of someone who did not use deodorant, as was true of many of my male classmates in junior high school. The odor I sensed from old people was kind of a dusty, musty scent. Many other observers have also noted a distinctive smell when old folks are close at hand.

*    *    *

What accounts for the aromas emerging from human skin, and why do they change over time? To explain briefly, our skin cells produce anti-oxidants to help maintain their health. As we grow older, our skin cells’ anti-oxidant activity declines, along with so many other bodily functions. This leads to increasing oxidation of fatty acids in our skin. The degradation of fatty acids not only contributes to wrinkling of our skin, it also leads to increasing production of a chemical called 2-nonenal which builds up on our skin surface.

Nonenal is a substance with a grassy, somewhat greasy smell. It is not water soluble, meaning it is difficult to remove with soap and water. The more nonenal on our skin, the more we smell musty or stale. So, there are clearcut biological reasons for old people’s normal skin to smell different than younger people’s skin. The culprit is nonenal.

*    *    *

Two follow-up questions naturally emerge.

First, is there an evolutionary advantage to old people smelling old?

Frankly, I have no clue. Some aspects of growing old have no apparent benefits in the process of human evolution. My best guess is that the increasing production of nonenal in seniors is simply a byproduct of the loss of our skin’s anti-oxidant capabilities, which happens because our skin starts to grow tired after decades of service. After all, it is the largest organ in the human body. We cannot expect it to function at peak performance until the very end.

Second, how distinctive is old people’s smell? Is it significant enough to affect our community interactions?

Knowing that scientists are eternally inquisitive, it was predictable they would look into this question. A fascinating study of old people’s aroma was published in 2012. Researchers collected scent samples produced by three groups of people: 20-30 year olds, 45-55 year olds, and 75-95 year olds. This was done by having absorbent pads attached to people’s skin for five consecutive nights. All smell donors were instructed to shower every day and eat similar foods.

After the samples were collected, a different group of exclusively young people was asked to smell the pads from the three age groups. They were asked to guess which age group each scent came from.

And what was the result? The smell testers were able to identify the scent coming from old folks with remarkable accuracy. They had a harder time distinguishing between the scents produced by the younger and middle-aged folks, but they knew which skin pads had been worn by the elderly.

But the inquiry did not stop there. The scientists also asked the smelling group to identify which skin pads had the most unpleasant scent. Here too there was remarkable agreement. The worst scents came from one group: middle-aged males. Gen Z men, take note.

The scents produced by the old folks were distinctive, but not particularly unpleasant. Oldsters smelled kind of musty.

*    *    *

So what are we to conclude about this phenomenon of aging? We can confidently say the commonly-espoused belief that old people smell different is true. Even when we maintain good hygiene, our skin emits an odor which clearly defines who we are. But we can also state that our “old folks aroma” has been scientifically proven to not be unpleasant. (Forgive the double negative. Unfortunately, assessing the benefits of aging requires frequent use of double negatives.)

We have no reason to be embarrassed or bashful in the presence of young people. I look at it as a parallel phenomenon to how the scent of good wine improves as it ages. In similar fashion, we seniors acquire a unique smell as we age, an aroma we can claim as a measure of our excellent vintage.

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August 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Afif Nur Fahmi

Today’s post addresses one of the more minor irritants of aging. Considering the myriad challenges we old folks face, television watching must rank close to last in importance. But since we’re in the midst of the summer slow season, why not take a quick look at some small annoyances seniors can experience while watching TV.

Television is an enjoyable distraction. It can be relaxing to sit on the couch in the evening and watch the tube. My wife and I typically start with some news programming, but after our blood pressure rises too high, we switch to entertainment shows. Cooking contests, singing competitions, movies, mini-series, all are fun to watch and help bring the blood pressure back down.

But, as with many other activities of daily living – like driving, shopping, sleeping, remembering people’s names, safely stepping down from sidewalk curbs, and others – watching TV presents some unique challenges to older folk. Some stem from biology. Others are generational in nature. The problems for seniors are minor annoyances and of limited import. But they illustrate and echo some of the ways our connections to the larger society evolve as we age.

Biological factors

My hearing is diminishing year by year. Every six months I visit Costco to have the volume on my hearing aids adjusted upwards. Even so, listening to television programs can be challenging. I usually crank the TV’s sound up to a level my wife finds mildly uncomfortable. But at least it is not so loud the neighbors complain. Not yet anyway.

But my hearing difficulties go beyond simply the volume. I also sometimes find it hard to understand the dialogue. It seems my brain’s auditory processing center is aging more quickly than my ears, which still look normal. A number of my friends experience similar auditory challenges. These are not uncommon problems for old folks.

Subtitles are a godsend to help me with both volume and comprehension, and we keep them on screen most of the time. But I notice they are starting to speed by more quickly than a few years ago. I’m not sure if it is because the characters on screen are speaking more rapidly, or is the problem that my reading speed has slowed?

My memory can also create small problems. When watching a series with weekly episodes, I sometimes can’t recall important details from the prior week’s show. Who exactly did Kathy Bates’ “Matlock” character expose as a liar last week? Which cook did Gordon Ramsay boot out of the “MasterChef” kitchen in the prior episode? Thank goodness for recaps, which most shows have.

I often browse recommendation guides to find something to watch. But it can be challenging to remember which shows I’ve already seen. Some of the program synopses seem familiar, but I just can’t recall which ones I’ve already seen.

Generational factors

Most television programming – though not all – focuses on people from younger or middle-aged generations. This is understandable. These folks are more active. They are working in interesting jobs. They are solving crimes. Their inter-relationships are dynamic and often fraught. Certainly programs about these generations are much more interesting than shows dealing with the boomers and the silents. Let’s be blunt. Our lives are less glamorous, less exciting, and often… boring.

While watching shows about young generations, it is fascinating to see how their lives unfold, their relationships evolve, and their families develop. But I must confess I am starting to have trouble understanding some of their language. Not because they are speaking too softly or too fast, but because of the words they speak.

As an example, a few months ago we decided to watch the series “Industry.” It was well-reviewed and was supposed to be similar to “Succession,” an enjoyable show loosely based on the business intrigues of the Rupert Murdoch family. But the folks climbing the corporate ladders in “Industry” are all Gen Z’ers.

Parts of “Industry” were interesting, like the way social media dominates every aspect of Gen Z’s lives, and the different approach Gen Z takes to work-life balance than was true when boomers dominated the workplace.

But I kept getting confused by the jargon the characters used. One person said something along the lines of, “I’m going to crush that guy, no cap.” A young banker said a business plan was “lit.” Another character said a coworker had “serious drip” and her shoes were “fire.” Call me a fuddy duddy, but I got tired of having to pause the show and look up these terms in an online urban dictionary.

After three episodes, we switched to “Elsbeth,” a series about a quirky older-age detective. While it can be cloyingly cute, at least I understood the words being used.

Another generational change which impacts TV watching stems from the fact text messaging has replaced voice mail in much interpersonal communication. In many current TV shows the camera briefly shows a text message exchange on a character’s phone, then switches away. I have no idea what the text messages said or who they were from because they flashed by too fast. I have to pause the show, hit reverse, then press the pause button at just the right instant so I can read the messages. A minor annoyance, I know. But I never had this problem when TV characters left voice mail messages for each other.

*    *    *

OK, enough bellyaching about small inconveniences brought about by aging. TV is still an enjoyable distraction. And fortunately there are a few entertaining programs dealing with old people. The new iteration of “Matlock” with Kathy Bates is fun. In the first episode, the Bates character was having a hard time figuring out how to tap her credit card at a coffee shop payment terminal (been there, done that). Finally a nearby man helped her out. What made the scene cute was that Matlock fumbled her credit card on purpose as a ruse to gather information from the guy standing nearby. After that scene, I knew the show would be a keeper.

Another good show is “A Man on the Inside,” which tells the story of a retiree (played by Ted Danson) who is hired to move into a nursing home to investigate a robbery. It has a captivating story line and shows that even nursing home residents can live full and interesting lives.

Bottom line, watching TV remains a good vehicle to learn more about the world and an enjoyable way to relax. And now that I have finally learned how TV apps and streaming work, I’m less frustrated with the whole experience.

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July 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Cal Gao

The new tax and budget bill signed into law July 4 will have substantial negative impacts on almost everyone in the country, except for the wealthy. Lower-income people will take the biggest hit. The bottom 20% of families will lose about $700 per year, while the top 20% of families will gain $5,700 per year (data from Yale Budget Lab). The new law orchestrates one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history.

While the new law will have widespread economic, social, and political effects, I want to focus this post on several ways seniors will be impacted. The consequences on our lives will likely be big, and they will not be beautiful.

For decades, we old folks have been able to rely on helpful government programs as we navigate the challenges of our post-retirement years. We have been able to count on benefits we earned through decades of hard work. In particular, both Social Security and health care – especially Medicare and Medicaid – have been programs we could depend on to provide a measure of stability in our senior years.

Well, those days appear to be over and the support we receive from those programs is on shaky ground. Let’s look at what we oldsters are now facing.

Social Security

The Trump administration proclaims that its new law “eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries.” Simply stated, this is not true. The new law actually makes no changes to taxes on Social Security. What the law does is temporarily increase the overall personal withholding amount for people 65 and older. Individuals who earn less than $75,000 per year or couples earning less than $150,000 can claim an extra $6,000 or $12,000 personal deduction. These amounts taper down to zero as income rises. So, for people with moderate incomes, they will see a temporary reduction in federal taxes on total income, not specifically on Social Security payments.

But a closer look shows how limited this tax change really is. Currently 64% of seniors pay no tax on their Social Security benefits because their income is too low. So they will experience no benefit from the new law. Some seniors earn more than the income limits, and they too will see no change in their taxation levels. Only 24% of all seniors on Social Security will benefit from the new law (data from the White House’s Council of Economic advisers). And it will be modest and temporary. Three quarters of seniors on Social Security will see no tax reduction.

But misrepresenting the new law as “no tax on Social Security” is not the worst problem. The law actually inflicts serious damage to Social Security itself. It reduces the money going into the Social Security Trust Fund by $30 billion per year, meaning the program will run out of money earlier. In 2032, unless something changes, everyone’s Social Security benefit will be reduced by 24% across the board. This is mandated under current law.

We seniors have been around the block a few times. We know the carnie barkers and fancy-talking shills promising us no taxes on Social Security are just blowing smoke.

Medicare and Medicaid

Almost all seniors get their health insurance through Medicare, and about 10% of seniors have what is called dual coverage, receiving benefits through Medicaid and Medicare. Both programs are seriously threatened by the new budget law, and seniors will probably suffer as a result.

The law reduces Medicaid spending by more than a trillion dollars over the coming decade. The most immediate impact will be on people who rely on Medicaid for their health care, and it is predicted over 10 million people will lose their health insurance as a result. Seniors with dual coverage will remain insured through Medicare, but will have much less coverage.

But here is an important fact that is not receiving much attention. The adverse impact of the drastic cuts to Medicaid will not be limited to Medicaid recipients. All seniors, as well as younger people, will be affected. Why do I say this? Many rural hospitals are primarily funded by Medicaid and are at risk of closing. The impact on everyone living in rural areas, including all seniors, could be devastating.

Even in urban and suburban areas, every hospital receives substantial funding from Medicaid, and this income will be reduced by the new law. What will be the result? Hospitals will feel pressured to increase billing charges across the board. Copays for insured patients will likely increase. Seniors will end up having to pay more for their health care even if they are not on Medicaid. Quality of care and service could also suffer as hospital revenue declines.

Long term care facilities will face similar financial pressures as Medicaid funding is slashed. Many old folks reside in these care facilities, or will need to as our years accumulate. The new law also allows nursing homes and long term care facilities to reduce staffing levels. Having fewer facilities available, at higher costs, with less staff, is not a prospect most people would describe as “beautiful.”

While Medicare is not explicitly targeted, the new law forces a $490 billion reduction in Medicare spending between 2027 and 2034. This decrease is not optional. It is mandated by a 2010 law known as S-PAYGO. What will happen when Medicare spending is reduced? I’m not a rocket scientist, thank goodness, and you’re probably not either. But we learned how to do subtraction in grade school. We know that when you take money away, you end up with less.

*    *    *

I have just scratched the surface of how old folks will fare under the new law. Almost 5 million seniors are dependent on SNAP food benefits, and this program is being scaled way back. In-home care services will become harder to access and of lower quality. And other problems are waiting in the wings.

So, my fellow seniors, we have our work cut out for us. We need to speak up and speak out, in defense of our future. And in defense of our children’s and grandchildren’s futures. We old folks carry a certain air of, shall we say, gravitas which enables us to speak more powerfully than the volume of our voices.

The cuts made by the new law do not go into effect until after the 2026 midterm elections, which confirms the architects of these cuts knew how unpopular they will be. Our job is to make sure the new Congress elected next year will put a stop to these cuts before they start. We need to make sure the legacy we leave the future generations is not a return to the 19^th century.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider forwarding it to friends who may be interested or posting a link to your social media feed. Also, if you are not yet a subscriber, it is an easy way to be notified of future posts, which I upload once or twice a month. Just enter your email address below, then check your email for a return message that requires a confirmatory click to complete the process. Subscriptions are free and no advertising will come your way.

June 2025

By Richard Fleming

Photo courtesy of Natalia Blauth

As I look back over my blog posts from the past few years, it seems I may be whining excessively about growing old. Complaining. Bellyaching. Moaning about the challenges. I do not mean to come across that way. There is much to celebrate about aging. It is far better to grow old than to not grow old, if you catch my drift.

And we do enjoy many nice perks. We get lower ticket prices at the movies, if we can forego our afternoon nap to go in the middle of the day. We get senior discounts on public transit and when entering national parks. It is fun to play with our grandchildren, knowing our responsibilities will end at 5:00 pm. And it’s even more fun when we indulge their requests for cookies and ice cream, then return them to their parents just as sugar-fueled hyperactivity takes over.

There are many such bennies available only to the older generations. As time goes by, I am coming to realize that one of the nicest advantages is we no longer need to “sweat the big stuff.” When we were young, say under age 50, a common piece of wisdom from the experts (today they’re called influencers, I suppose) was, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” This advice implied we should spend more time and energy on life’s most important matters. We should focus on the big stuff. Things like jobs, and whether to stay in our job or look for another one. Who to marry and how to make the marriage successful. How best to raise responsible and loving children and help usher them out into the real world. What kind of home to live in, and where. Assisting our aging parents as they moved onwards.

These goals and challenges certainly do constitute the big stuff. And when we were young it was appropriate to spend more time on these matters than on items of less consequence, like why we weren’t invited to a friend’s party or which summer blockbuster movie was the best.

But the years pass by, we grow old, and the tables turn.

For seniors, at least for many of us, the big stuff gradually recedes in importance. For the most part we no longer need to spend time and energy on life’s major challenges. Questions around marriage are largely off the table. Ditto for responsible child-rearing. What to do as far as job and career – non-issues. What kind of home to live in, and where – these might still require some temporary attention, for example whether to move into a supportive living community, or downsize, or move closer to children or grandchildren. But once these questions get answered, they typically require little subsequent attention. Seniors move less often than young folks.

To sum up, old folks no longer need to dwell on the big stuff. And this sure takes a load off. The one notable exception is health problems. Those can take over our lives at any moment, driving everything else into the background. In this post, I am talking about seniors who are lucky enough to not yet be in that situation.

So what should we seniors be focusing on? We don’t want to appear to be aimless souls, drifting around with no purpose or goals. In our golden years, I feel it is appropriate for us to switch to “sweating the small stuff.” Like whether to cook tonight or order from a takeout place. Whether to clear out and organize the bathroom drawers today or tomorrow. Or is next month perhaps a better option? How much longer can we go without cleaning the car before driving around town becomes embarrassing? Whether to watch the fourth episode of “Adolescence” tonight or tomorrow. Small things like these.

(Side note: Adolescence, on Netflix, is the best thing to appear on television in years. The acting, the story, and the ideas it explores are amazing, and its one-take one-camera filming technique is breathtaking. The icing on the cake is it consists of only four one-hour episodes. That is an ideal length for us seniors. Our attention span and memory limitations are way too challenged to watch programs like Game of Thrones with its, what, 400 episodes and 38 major characters to keep track of.)

The nice thing about sweating the small stuff is we can do so without actually breaking a sweat. The little everyday challenges we face will not make or break our days. Nor do we lose sleep over them. And it can even be fun to make small decisions about small stuff, because there are rarely wrong choices. Either way we decide, things will be fine.

Sweating the small stuff can even be rewarding. When I decide to go to the hardware store tomorrow instead of today, it opens up new possibilities to explore. Maybe I can sit on the couch and finish my book club book this afternoon. Or if it turns out I get distracted and don’t read the book, well, no big deal. Maybe I can use my free time to knock down cobwebs from the plants in our yard instead. Or should I spend more time trying to learn another language? So many options. Like they say, nothing ventured, much gained. Let’s see, did I get that right?

For us seniors, our decades spent in the workplace, raising family, and making important life decisions, earned us the right to shift our focus to easier matters. Thank goodness there is plenty of small stuff we can focus our limited energy on.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider forwarding it to friends who may be interested or posting a link to your social media feed. Also, if you are not yet a subscriber, it is an easy way to be notified of future posts, which I upload once or twice a month. Just enter your email address below, then check your email for a return message that requires a confirmatory click to complete the process. Subscriptions are free and no advertising will come your way.