I have decided to take a slight departure from my usual range of subject matter today and offer just a few of my observations on the senior citizen dating scene. Yes it does exist and is only very slightly altered by considerations of age. For those of you who cannot believe that anyone over the age of whatever could possibly enjoy an active love-life, read on and have an epiphany if you would like to be encouraged by valid observations and evidence. For those of you who really don’t give a hoot because you are in complete denial that you will ever get older, refer back to this blog when you realize you are not in the slightest degree exempt from the process of aging. Any way you look at it, it is indeed a fact that intimacy and sex continue beyond…beyond what? Far beyond the age you would guess they would.

There is a sparkling, tumbling, gurgling irridescent waterfall here at the entrance to our Sun City Active Senior Community that falls playfully into a deep teal green pond. We all refer to it as Viagra Falls. Things are suddenly different for our generation of seniors with the advent of the little blue pill. There is now a smile on faces that used to be permanently scowling and a spring in the step of many a resident. I like to compare our time of life as near closing time at the saloon. The music is lowered to a slow dance, the lights are dimmed and everyone is looking around for someone to help them make it through the night. The closer it gets to 2am the more urgent is the energy in the room. We all want someone to love for a little while or forever of what is left – whether it is the right one or the “right now” one. Nothing changes as the years go by. Love and romance are what make the world go around. Divorce happens at any age these days, or people die, and life goes on for the ones left who treasure it and want it to continue.

It’s Saturday afternoon Happy Hour at the Sports Bar.

The silver-haired gentleman slithers almost silently onto the bar stool next to the lovely lady, settles in and whispers in her ear, “Do you like waterfalls?”

“Well, sure I do,” she answers, glancing over at  him, wondering what is coming next. He’s wearing a faded pair of jeans with one knee torn and frayed (how youngish of him), he has a muscular upper body and a wide, mischievous smile deepening the canyons of the wrinkles at the corners of his mouth. His blue eyes are twinkling. Loafers without socks.

“Why don’t we hop in my golf cart and run up the hill to my house. I have a waterfall in my back yard. Had my landscape architect build it for me. I’ll wrap you in a blanket and make you comfortable in one of my deck chairs. I’ll hand you an adult beverage of your choice and we’ll talk, watch the sun go down and just see what happens. It’ll be fun.”

“Is it difficult to build a waterfall?” she inquires, trying to buy some time and keep a grip on the conversation. She is looking cute in her capris and red, scoop-necked summer sweater.

“No! Making a waterfall is easy – not like rocket surgery,” he says confidently.

Humorous, yes, but there are many other fine examples of great friends being made and people finding eachother at just the right point in time, when it is only the Indian Summer or late fall of  life. There is still much to do before winter comes, in the company of a romantic companion who is also determined to remain open minded and enthusiastic when it comes to love. Similar stories play out on every weekend, and usually “she” does not just leap into his golf cart and take off with the wind in her hair, but my point is that the games are the same at the Sports Bar as they have always been – only the ages have changed. The beat goes on. Let the games begin.

The good news is that people are grabbing for the gusto and wringing every bit of juicy living they can out of the time they have left. Imaginative flirting and warm romance are alive and kicking, memories are still being made, and it is not over until it’s over. The bad news? There is none. You just have to appreciate the spunk of it, don’t you? Living creatively is the best revenge against those damn wrinkles. Life is left for those who take it.