An octogenarian dotting the i's and crossing the t's 25 3 22

Be warned and watch this space ppl like A., born this day in the closing days of the first millenuium AD, my first grandson whose birth we get to celebrate on the occasion of the Spring Equinoxes in the northern hemisphere where I have resided these past few yrs: at least as far as San Fransisco in the West where I failed to take a dip in the Pacific Ocean but later had the good fortune to visit in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Okinawa in the East, where I made good the omission since it is said the two great oceans of the Atlantic and the Pacific don't naturally mix, lol.

More later as I take a break to go for my daily swim in the Baltic Sea, temperature now rising again at +1 degC!

And the thing about crossing t's and dotting i's? Only that as one gets ever older one gets to see the overall perspective of living with longevity in ever clearer focus...Imagine for example becoming a great grandfather 6 months ago when I got to reflect how I could only name my great grandfathers but not all my great grandmothers, viz: JP, WP on my father's side but only JP's wife EM and NT my Great grandfather's on my mother's mother's side and MW married to RK on my mother's father's father's side. LMP as Lucy Maria Price the missing link my father's grandmother on his mother's side.

But also since my heart attack of 23 yrs ago next month when I thank my lucky stars for not having a minor myocardial infarction but a big one because it had the effect of my realising I was not indestructable and that if I wanted to live my time out, I needed to get my life sorted out: so I stopped smoking as did my Missus on the same day it struck 6th April 2002, and eventually I got to kick the alcohol, thereby once again giving me more quality.

So without going into further detail let it also be noted that my greater age has allowed me to observe more real differences in who I am as an ex-Brit living amongst the Finns more than ever before...when I'm getting to appreciate their unique life style and culture!

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