We’re all being pushed into longing for a perpetual state of youth and vitality. But that’s not very natural. There are rhythms and cycles. Just like in wine - there is new wine, young wine, ready to drink wine, aged wine and wine beyond it’s time. I’m just trying not to be in the latter category.
But there really are no roadmaps to this aging process. Eating healthy, yes. Taking care of your health, yes. Exercise, yes. Moderation in drinking, certainly. But then there is genetics. And probably top of the list is plain ‘ol luck. I’ve been luckier than my dad and a few other of my male relatives. The woman in my family rock. There are scads of nonagenarians and a few centenarians among them. But they also weren’t living in the last few years, this post Covid landscape we find ourselves rattling around.
Anyway, onward to 2026. I still haven’t decided what direction to take. Should I end it all here after twenty years? That kinda was my plan. Unlike football or ballet, writers can still write into their decrepitude. Calvin Tompkins just turned 100 and he’s still writing. But he isn’t still going strong.
Confession: when a well-known wine writer retired this year, I kept an eye on him. He started a Substack. He still had things to say. I said to myself, “He had a good run, went out on the top. Why does he want to forestall the inevitable?” Not realizing I was doing the same thing. Shame on me. But also, lesson learned.
If one still has something to say, say it. That’s my mantra. Look, there are plenty of wine writers in their 70’s still going strong. More power to the Karen MacNeils and the Jancis Robinsons of the world. They still have an audience that they foster with their seasoned and well-informed perspectives. And in today’s world where everything is tilting towards the youth, the elders can provide for a healthy bit of balance.
They have energy. We have experience. They are the future. Our future is a little more abbreviated. But, so what? Again, I am, not wrestling, but grappling with purpose at this stage. I am not one who wants to sit by the fire and tell war stories. Onward through the fog, that’s my motto. Still, can you sense there’s a “but” there?
Me too. I believe the "but" is: I want to keep writing, but only if it's essential. Only if I'm still discovering, not just reporting. Only if I'm writing FROM something, not just ABOUT something.
Anyway, that’s enough navel gazing for now. I’m going to take a few days off, get on a plane and stick my toes in the waters of the Pacific (and maybe also some naval gazing too). See you in 2026. We'll find out together.
