Kick the Can − 4 August, 2007
There was this episode of the original Twilight Zone series called "Kick the Can." Maybe you've seen it; it was even remade when they did the TZ movie. Basically, it's about a group of senior citizens and a strange path back to youth, through a childhood game.
Certainly I get the point. You're only as old as you feel. I sort of dreaded when my parents retired, because in my family, that's usually the start of the long roll downhill. I know Things Fall Apart . . . but they seem to fall apart much faster when you put yourself on a shelf.
Well, they're doing fine. Mom is recovering from her recent problems with the blood clot. Dad, well, he's dad. Like me, he's always working on a dozen projects at once, and gets into them so much he defocuses from the outside world. He's chugging along with two "bionic knees" -- he had knee replacement surgery a few years ago, a legacy of his Marine Corps years. He tries to walk 3 to 5 miles a day.
Mom still isn't feeling well, however. She thinks its her blood pressure medication.
I can understand that -- I was put on blood pressure medication several months ago. There are sometimes side effects. Mine, for instance, were a lot of dizziness, and a horrible feeling of nausea at about 3 pm every day.
But of course, my problems were all coming from a single source -- sleep apnea. In an earlier post about it on Wordpress, I said:
And I did. So, oddly, there I was, in my own Twilight Zone.
But things change. I got help for the sleep apnea; I stepped up my exercise program.
However, suddenly, the other great love of my life returned: music. When I was suffering from the apnea, even practicing was a struggle. Today -- well, I'm back, but better than ever before.
Something changed. Maybe it's all the time I spent in "The Woodshed" this spring; maybe it's all the music theory and rhythm studies I've been doing. The music I'm composing and playing now is just . . . beyond. In D&D terms, it's like I went up about 5 levels. (Now, if only I can get a Fretless Bass +4 . . . .)
Case in point: yesterday, I was at the gym. I usually do weights, then finish off with cardio. There's a song I've been working on called (for now) "Set 4". It's beautiful. But it's only the "A" part -- the verse, the introduction. I knew it needed to go somewhere, but the song wasn't speaking to me yet.
Would you believe . . . while I was on the treadmill, the whole "B" part (the chorus, I guess you'd say) came to me. I could hear the bass line clearly. I knew each element in the bass line harmonized a sustained note in the next octave up, and the keys were playing color tones in the octave above that. The bass line was in 11/4, and grouped, to use my terminology, in 3:3:3:2 -- like a chain of 3/4 units with a 2/4 at the end.
What I didn't know were the note names or the chords. I rushed home afterward, plugged in the bass, and transcribed what I was hearing.
It fit with the "A" part perfectly.
But where did it come from?
Yeah . . . the Twilight Zone.
I'm writing all of this because this morning, when I took my blood pressure, it was pretty low. Well, no surprise, right? I said I was taking blood pressure medication.
That's right. I was.
I've been off the medicine since last Monday. The numbers I've been seeing for this past week are all in the healthy range. I couldn't believe it at first -- generally, when there's good news, I think it's a temporary situation. I thought, nah, the medicine is still in my system. But here I am, nearly a week later, with no sign of the problem.
Time has run in reverse.
I kicked the can.
Certainly I get the point. You're only as old as you feel. I sort of dreaded when my parents retired, because in my family, that's usually the start of the long roll downhill. I know Things Fall Apart . . . but they seem to fall apart much faster when you put yourself on a shelf.
Well, they're doing fine. Mom is recovering from her recent problems with the blood clot. Dad, well, he's dad. Like me, he's always working on a dozen projects at once, and gets into them so much he defocuses from the outside world. He's chugging along with two "bionic knees" -- he had knee replacement surgery a few years ago, a legacy of his Marine Corps years. He tries to walk 3 to 5 miles a day.
Mom still isn't feeling well, however. She thinks its her blood pressure medication.
I can understand that -- I was put on blood pressure medication several months ago. There are sometimes side effects. Mine, for instance, were a lot of dizziness, and a horrible feeling of nausea at about 3 pm every day.
But of course, my problems were all coming from a single source -- sleep apnea. In an earlier post about it on Wordpress, I said:
See, I thought being tired all the time, snoring, and having high blood pressure were just the general gripes you got for being an old geezer. Now, back up a minute — I’m 38, the same age as Neil Armstrong when he landed on the Moon. 38 isn’t so bad.
But I feel like I’m 98 most of the time.
And I did. So, oddly, there I was, in my own Twilight Zone.
But things change. I got help for the sleep apnea; I stepped up my exercise program.
However, suddenly, the other great love of my life returned: music. When I was suffering from the apnea, even practicing was a struggle. Today -- well, I'm back, but better than ever before.
Something changed. Maybe it's all the time I spent in "The Woodshed" this spring; maybe it's all the music theory and rhythm studies I've been doing. The music I'm composing and playing now is just . . . beyond. In D&D terms, it's like I went up about 5 levels. (Now, if only I can get a Fretless Bass +4 . . . .)
Case in point: yesterday, I was at the gym. I usually do weights, then finish off with cardio. There's a song I've been working on called (for now) "Set 4". It's beautiful. But it's only the "A" part -- the verse, the introduction. I knew it needed to go somewhere, but the song wasn't speaking to me yet.
Would you believe . . . while I was on the treadmill, the whole "B" part (the chorus, I guess you'd say) came to me. I could hear the bass line clearly. I knew each element in the bass line harmonized a sustained note in the next octave up, and the keys were playing color tones in the octave above that. The bass line was in 11/4, and grouped, to use my terminology, in 3:3:3:2 -- like a chain of 3/4 units with a 2/4 at the end.
What I didn't know were the note names or the chords. I rushed home afterward, plugged in the bass, and transcribed what I was hearing.
It fit with the "A" part perfectly.
But where did it come from?
Yeah . . . the Twilight Zone.
I'm writing all of this because this morning, when I took my blood pressure, it was pretty low. Well, no surprise, right? I said I was taking blood pressure medication.
That's right. I was.
I've been off the medicine since last Monday. The numbers I've been seeing for this past week are all in the healthy range. I couldn't believe it at first -- generally, when there's good news, I think it's a temporary situation. I thought, nah, the medicine is still in my system. But here I am, nearly a week later, with no sign of the problem.
Time has run in reverse.
I kicked the can.
