When is Old?

Knitting is one of my fave fall/winter vacation take-alongs. We normally take a late vacation in the fall, somewhere pretty. Past vacations have been to Taos, the Texas Hill Country and this year we chose Sedona. It is a veritable feast for the eyes in each of these places in the fall. Knitting fits in perfectly, sit, knit, look, sigh…repeat.

In my business, the final months of the year are filled to the max with customers, constantly arriving new product, and whatever issues the staff might encounter personally. It is holiday madness  starting the week before Thanksgiving and ends abruptly at 9:00pm New Years Eve. It is fun, crazy, exhausting and you absolutely have to be ready for it.

This late vacation is the get ready, gear up, sleep as much as you can, get your head straight time. Knitting is a large part of the process. It calms me, makes me centered and is a helluva lot less smelly than hot yoga.




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PS I have these socks!

 I love to pick the project, buy the yarn, make lots of notes before I pack away all my carefully chosen knitting paraphernalia in my suitcase.. This year I made the mistake of leaving the list on my desk at work. I’m the boss and most employees kneel at my feet, quiver and beg my favor, but there is always one who doesn’t. Who picked up the list? The one.

“Miss Cat,” she ventured no kneeling, no quivering, no begging for favor, “what is this list for?”

“It is my knitting project for vacation.” I answer, unaware of the judgment soon to befall me.

“Knitting? That’s for old people.” Her comment was quick, straight forward and right on the chin.

“No it isn’t.” I retort quickly “Plenty of young people knit.”

“Who?” She looks at me and arches her eyebrow in a questioning look.

All I could think of was my grandmother. Crapola.

“Go to work!” I groused at her. She scampered out of my office gleefully telling all the other employees I was old and knitted…on my vacation!

She left me to stew in my senior citizen juices and ponder the questions, Am I allowing my choices to age me? Does knitting on vacation qualify me as old? I had other decisions to make before, reports to write and things to make ready before I bolted out the door to the airport. I put the comments out of my mind.

Three days into Sedona, I feel anything but old. The median age here is about 70 and my 55 qualifies me as a youngster. Sedona is, of course, the Vortex capital of the world. Folks come here to feel the buzz, if you will. There are “old folks” in hiking boots, khaki shorts, white T shirts and the best natural tans I have ever seen. They are fit and move faster than most 20 year olds I know.




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These “old knitters” are rockin’ it! There is no early bird specials here, (for you younger folks, this is the crowd that eats at 4:30 in the afternoon) old folks are seen out at all hours drinking, carousing and enjoying themselves. They sparkle and glitter in smart outfits. No purple hair, just lots of white and silver foxes. They laugh, joke, tend to travel in packs, have earned the right to be irreverent about just about everything, and they are.


A group of four oldsters asked me to take their pictures overlooking one of the many canyons here. The lady in charge of the photo opp wanted them from behind (butts toward the camera) and one facing the camera. As I readied the camera to take the shots, one of the men leaned over, stuck his thumbs in his shorts and began ever so slowly to pull them down. Just as the moon began to peek out, his wife noticed and slapped his butt. He straightened up and they all wailed with laughter.

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So, I think I will knit away…sit, knit, look, sigh…repeat. I will take my cues from these old mentors. I will hike, shop, eat, drink, be irreverent about all manner of subjects. Hell, I might even moon somebody!

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