Grumpy Old Men, Indeed . . .

Increasingly I find myself reminded that I am an old man, and that I am getting older day by day. Just as I am about to fall asleep at night my body tells me that it needs rest, and my mind needs sleep; my muscles are sore and saggy and my joints are creakily stiff; my thoughts are fuzzy and will not focus on a single thought.

When I wake up after seven hours or so, unlike during my younger years, my body feels as if it did not relax and rejuvenate at all throughout the night. It is difficult to push myself up to a standing position, and after I do so, I must stand there shakily, carefully balanced until my body and my mental orientation is achieved.

I don't know if that is a characteristic of old age or not, but that's the way things are.

. . .

New word:
periphrasis
(puh-RIF-ruh-sis)
noun: A roundabout way of saying something, using more words than necessary

No example comes immediately to mind, but I know that I am guilty of periphrasis.

. . .

With my momentary grumpiness out of the way, I will now get back to work on Chapter 2 of my novel.

__________

"America has the honour of being the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without the usual interval of civilisation in between"
--Georges Clemenceau