Virility
Virility:
I get a lot of mileage out of being this old and being in this shape. At the end of my shift at Lowe's and I'm walking my bike out to the front door, I will say something like "Gotta get back to the nursing home" to guaranteed gales of laughter.
Most of my audience, even in their twenties and thirties, could never survive my ride home. For me there is no there way to live.
Which reminds me...
In the summer of 1965, a group of us young punks were standing out in front of Lindell's Bakery in Ball Square on a Sunday afternoon, making a general nuisance when this old gentleman tried to toddle his way through our crowd with his tiny little chihuahua.
He would not get through unscathed.
Byron Cherry yelled "Hey, look at the trained rat." The old man's heart was broken. He looked down at the dog and then at Byron.
The shot came so fast we almost missed it.
He punched Byron so hard in the face that he lost consciousness immediately and was splayed out in the Broadway gutter. The Somerville Fire Department would have to use oxygen to bring Byron back to earth.
The old man, expecting to get it on, ripped his jacket off and assumed the position. He was jacked. He had massive forearms and bulging biceps. Years as a longshoreman had fortified his frame and his resolve.
He might have been old but he was ready for anything. As we should be.
I never forgot that day, as you can tell. :)