Leave the autumn leaves for another day

 Autumn leaves -- On the Way Out Series -- Vol. 2, Part 3

Retired people may want to forget about raking up the autumn leaves. We may want to reset our priorities. The older residents along the Eastern Seaboard  -- say in Vermont and New Hampshire... or in the South around Charleston and Savannah, may want to sit back and enjoy life a bit more. Take an extra walk or two, throw some pebbles into the pond, or search for that old familiar fresh air to breathe in, deep into the nostrils.

Out West, well we have very few leaves to corral, but right now we have our share of black bugs, all of which can run faster than I can right now. Remember: I have one foot in a boot, nursing yet another baseball injury at the age of 76.

Someday soon, the boot will be off and I'll be back to playing ball in the old-timers league. As for the black whippersnappers, well there must be a hiding place for them somewhere between Bisbee, Arizona, and South America. I mean the Southwest has had its share of rain in the last couple of months, records have been broken, and those little critters must love the moisture.

Of course, those hard-working individuals -- men and women-- under 30...maybe under 40...well, fifty and under, too. Let's stop there. Those youngsters need to hit the desert areas and remove all the buffelgrass so the Saguaros can be saved.

Buffelgrass is a fire-adapted grass from Africa that was introduced to our Sonoran Desert in the early 1930s.

Enough of the above. I'm certainly not an experienced gardener and I'm certainly not an expert on any grass. Well, I know what you're thinking. I know very little about that stuff -- except for an occasional medicated gummy bear. I shouldn't even go there. Heck, I never smoked cigarettes, and as far as chewing on a gummy bear: Not really. Maybe a milk dud or two at the drive-in theatre, back in the 1960s.

I'm a pretty simple guy. Who knows? If my body keeps falling apart, I may have to change my way of thinking.

Now, getting back to the priorities of a senior citizen. The elderly as they call us. That hurts! The media informs all its viewers and listeners that we are vulnerable adults.

That is more nicknames than I ever had as a kid.

The point is, from my perspective. If you haven't figured out just what my perspective is, then you are not alone. People have been trying to figure me out for years. I may be a step ahead of all my friends, currently, as I honestly believe I may finally be on the road to doing that.

In other words, I have stopped to smell the roses.

Photos: A shocker for a visitor from the East Coast...both scenes are near Tucson, Arizona -- the desert floor and what is called Mount Lemmon -- just thirty miles from my home. Us seniors...us elderly...we, the vulnerable adults visit both areas from time to time. That's what we do. We can enjoy both on the same day.