One man's comments on everything


Friday, May 22, 2015

Spiders, Snakes and Heights

Now what on earth am I on about?  What has spiders snakes and heights have in common?  These are the 3 top phobias in the world.  That is things that people are afraid of.  There are some lesser ones and the one that did not reach the top 100 is called Gerascophobia.
This is the fear of growing old and is the one no-one can escape if you do not die young.
I would like to redefine this phobia by calling it the fear of the knowledge that you cannot turn time around

Once you get to a certain age and you know you cannot turn time around the phobia seems to disappear.  I have not been able to define this certain age in any way.

This morning I interviewed a client who has lived alongside a large open space on a race course facing the course and loving the openness. The time is coming that they will have to move off this beautiful spot and buy something else - the property is not theirs
They have bought a unit in a retirement village and the husband at 65 is not ready to move there.
He might never be ready
Does he have Gerascophobia ?  Probably not - or maybe he does not realise it
Growing old (older) implies a lot of different things to different people.  This change is not an immediate thing - it creeps up on you and one day you are old. That is if you have not planned for the consequential changes this brings on

But the reason for this post is that when you do get old ( and if you are still alive you are on your way there or have reached that dreaded stage called ELDERLY!) the brothers and sisters of the Gerascophobia tend to come visit you and here is some of them that did make it to the top 100 list:

  1. Claustrophobia – The fear of small spaces  If you are used to a massive house make friends with the smaller one in the retirement village .
  2. Carcinophobia – The fear of cancer.  new diets seem to creep in 
  3. Thanatophobia – The fear of death.  Those guys in the rugby club in the retirement village has a way of starting conversations about this bringing on panic attacks
  4. Monophobia – The fear of being alone. This is a fact of life - one partner is due to die before the other.
  5. Enochlophobia – The fear of crowds, which is closely related to Ochlophobia and Demophobia. The irony is that there are nearly 700 people living in our retirement village and their are NEVER crowds.  You make your own or join one - the choice is yours
  6. Aphenphosmphobia – The fear of intimacy. Involves the fear of being touched and fear of love. Bound to happen with 700 people around you
  7. Trypanophobia – The fear of needles. If this is a problem - don't grow old !
  8. Anthropophobia – The fear of people. People tend to want to make friends with you in a retirement village - so it should not be a problem if you end up there ! 
  9. Autophobia – The fear of abandonment. This phobia will also soon disappear in a community where everyone has made peace with growing older.  Just watch the 5 o'clock dog walking club......................

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Fun on the farm-Busisa family adventure farm Apr 2015

Die plaashuis - 

Inni bos 

waar is my appel?

Opm pad huis toe - watter huis?

Hier is nie vis nie !

Waar is my appel ?

Jy moet vir my ook een gee

Nee loop nou - die appels is klaar !

Gedra jou nou !

Fun in the sun

More fun in the sun

Hamburger time !

Breakfast ( at last!)

Skool werk

Oor die rivier

Swing along

This is the life !

More fun and this is the life !

Hier gaan ons !

Pa-krag

Sussie-krag

Skaap oppas

Hier op die plaas wil ek bly!

Ma en seun