Most old coots are balance challenged. Not all the time. Some days we hardly totter at all. But, when it hits, we go reeling. For me, it\u2019s to the left \u2013 an awkward step or two before I right the ship. I found a secret solution the other day, while walking into town. Walk faster! My slow pondering pace has me wandering side-to-side and tottering every once in a while. Then I sped up the pace, and presto, my line straightened out and the tottering subsided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, I stubbed my toe, and went reeling again. \u201cPick up your feet, stupid.\u201d I scolded myself, remembering my mother often saying that to me when I was a kid, minus the \u201cstupid.\u201d Back then; the issue was being too excited to get somewhere, shooting here and there, my body ahead of my feet. Now it\u2019s the opposite \u2013 my body comes lumbering along after my feet choose a route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My friend Don is balanced challenged too, even more than me. We are quite a pair, reeling around on a golf course (at least when we\u2019re having a bad balance day). My favorite image out there is when he gets off a huge drive. He\u2019s the longest ball striker in the group. Zing it goes and then he staggers back several steps to the edge of the tee nearly toppling over. \u201cWhere did it go?\u201d he asks, never getting to see those great shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, on a super \u201cunbalanced\u201d day, he sports a cane. I\u2019m less obvious; I just hang on to my club after a shot and lean on it if I need to. George (the young guy in the group) usually chides me, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you put your club back after you take a shot? Tom (the oldest of the group who doesn\u2019t appear to have any balance or other issues) cleans his clubs and puts them away, making my \u201chang onto the club\u201d habit stand out. I don\u2019t care. I just say I like to maintain a close relationship with my irons. That\u2019s about as lame as the excuse I give when I go reeling down the sidewalk in the village. In that case, I blame it on the uneven sidewalks – especially those old slate ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Us old guys don\u2019t mind these balance issues. We spent our childhood on spinning rides and turning circles on the lawn until we got dizzy and then staggered around, laughing our heads off. Dizzy was fun! We had to work to get it then. Now, it comes for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n