So, apparently our brain, when we hit age 60, deteriorates twice as fast as before. Wow, that’s so scary. Neil and I decided to challenge something new to stimulate our brains, and one idea was camping. We live in such a beautiful land, we should enjoy this grand North American nature and share our joy with our beloved dogs. So we bought an used Toyota Tacoma, then bought a collapsible camper that goes on top of the truck. Our dream came true when we headed out on September 4 for a relaxing, spontaneous, no set itinerary trip toward Saskatchewan.

The first 8 days, Neil and I, Kafka, and Lulu enjoyed and appreciated camping in the settings of beautiful mountains, lakes, and big 360 degrees prairie skies. At the same time I did not enjoy, did not appreciate realizing how much my brain has been already deteriorating! You know, it’s a camper, such a small space. I don’t understand how things go missing so frequently in that tiny space!!

I had to make a big cry that my iPhone went missing 3 times in 8 days!!! When I finally found my iPhone the third time, my activity tracker which I just bought before the trip, which had been on my wrist the whole time, had somehow disappeared from my wrist, for good. Why? Where did it go?

Things I’ve done, then forgot that I’ve done already…I found myself doing the same things over and over…. I swear I organized and put away everything where it was supposed to be, but then how come I am endlessly searching for them??

Is it because I am too used to living in a more spacious place and not using my creative mind to organize differently in such a tiny space? Am I getting too old to do multi-tasking? That’s for sure. When something distracts me while I’m doing something, I immediately forget what I was doing and things constantly end up being unfinished…. I am certainly getting forgetful…. scary….

When I was complaining bitterly about my brain, all of a sudden, Neil’s knee stopped working. He had a knee injury 18 years ago and that left a tiny bone chip floating in his knee joint. The bone chip somehow got stuck in his joint and gave him excruciating pain. Suddenly he cannot walk. So that means…no more camping. This happened in Regina and we decided to head home which is 2000 km away, hopping motels.

So much for that….when we arrived in Okanagan area, we had a serious problem. All the hotels and motels that allow two dogs were fully booked. We had no choice but to resume our camping. Luckily Neil’s knee was getting better everyday. So we were successful in camping another 2 nights, and finally came back home safely. We drove as far as Regina in Saskatchewan, total of 14 days trip.

Yes, indeed, our brain and body are deteriorating twice the speed as before. What could happen next….?

60代になると今までの倍の速さで頭の老化が進むから常に何か新しいことに挑戦しなければ呆けるよと誰かにおどかされ、それは大変と最近始めたのがキャンプだ。前からニールも私も素晴らしい北米の大自然をキャンプ旅行で堪能したい、愛犬達も共に連れて行きたい、と話していたから自然な成り行きだった。まずピックアップトラック(トヨタのタコマ)を中古で購入、上に乗せるキャンパーを注文して今夏初めて気ままな旅行が実現した。

9月4日に出発して8日間。ニールと私、カフカとルル、二人と二匹の旅。素晴らしい自然を堪能しながら、いやはや頭の老化をも堪能する8日間だった。キャンパーなんて小さな空間なのに、何故か常に物がなくなるのだ。

8日間の間に3回も私のiPhoneがなくなったと大騒ぎをした。やっと見つかったと思ったら今度は私の腕から買ったばかりのアクテイヴィテイトラッカーがいつのまにか消えていた。どうしてなの？ やったことを忘れて同じことをなんどもやってしまう。ちゃんと片付けたつもりなのにあるべき所に物がない。

普段スペーシャスな空間で生活するのに慣れてしまっていて急に小さな空間で生活するとなると違った整理の工夫をしなければならないからなのか。老化のせいでマルチタスクができなくなってきているせいなのか。何かをやっている途中で横槍が入るともう何をやってたのか忘れている。物忘れは確実にひどくなってきている。それにしても。。。なんとも情けない…

と嘆いていると何気ない拍子にニールの膝が痛んで歩けなくなってしまった。昔々に膝関節を脱臼した時の骨片が関節のどこかで挟まってしまったためだ。これで私達のキャンプ旅行も一旦休止。帰り道はモーテルに泊まりながら2000キロの道のりを行く。

と思ったらオカナガンに着いたところで問題発生。ペットオーケーのモーテルがどこも満杯なのだ。仕方なくおっかなびっくりキャンプを再開する。幸いなことにニールの膝は日々回復に向かい2日間のキャンプに成功。無事帰宅することができた。14日間の旅でサスカチュワン州のリジャイナまで行って帰った旅行だった。

しかし、いやはや頭も体も確かに倍の速さで老化は進んでいる。これからどうなっていくのやら…