Adjusting to a younger scene

It won’t be the old folks running you off the road or scooting ahead of you in the grocery line. It’ll be the teenagers.

hikeThat’s the deal when you move from the oldest state in the country to the youngest one (according to the most recent US census).

It’s been an adjustment.

Approaching 50 years old, I felt relatively young in Maine. It was a feeling heightened in my hometown of Brunswick which ranks 19th in the country for “Best Places to Retire” according to CNN & Money Magazine. More than a third of Brunswick’s population is over 50. There, I was used to holding the doors for seniors and slowing down for all those elderly pedestrians and drivers.

In my new hometown of Herriman, the average age is 24 (twenty-four!) and just 10 percent of the population is over 50. I now hold doors for new moms. And they never seem to have just one child. More often, there are three or five in tow.
In stores and restaurants, the background noise isn’t canned music. It’s kids and babies crying, yelling, laughing, begging, and pleading. The youthfulness around here cannot be overstated. I’m so self-conscious about my age that I try to smile more and walk with extra jaunt in my step when I’m around town.

No wonder the out of doors is so appealing. Here, I’m still reminded of my mortality; the wind, sun, and terrain dole out more wrinkles and sore muscles. But, in exchange, I get fresh air, peace of mind and no sass from the young ‘uns.

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Posted in Meeting folks, Of Utah Interest, Utah Wilderness.

18 Comments

  1. Average age 24! I’d have to stay at home and hide in the root cellar. The older I get the less tolerance I have for the younger generation. Pants crotches hanging way below it’s intended location drives me up a wall. We have breakfast at a local place and a bus girl has huge holes in her ear lobes; makes me want to give up my bagel! I’m nearing 68 and I doubt I could cope and if I went into town I’d have to bring bail money 😉

  2. Age is just a number, Maddy! I’m sure you could work circles around many of those 24 years old. Wear those wrinkles with pride, you’ve earned everyone one of them.

    • Too kind, Robin! It doesn’t bother me too much, but sure is noticeable. And I haven’t written about how much more healthy the general population tends to be… Utah folks are wicked active.

  3. Age is just a number, Maddy! I’m sure you could work circles around many of those 24 years old. Wear those wrinkles with pride, you’ve earned everyone one of them.

    • Too kind, Robin! It doesn’t bother me too much, but sure is noticeable. And I haven’t written about how much more healthy the general population tends to be… Utah folks are wicked active.

  4. Greetings from the oldest county in Maine-Lincoln. I’m supervising 80 + year old volunteers building hiking trails. I tell them they’re what I want to be when I grow up.

  5. Greetings from the oldest county in Maine-Lincoln. I’m supervising 80 + year old volunteers building hiking trails. I tell them they’re what I want to be when I grow up.

  6. Fabulous write-up, Maddy! You make me chuckle with your wit and descriptions. Yes, age is all in how you feel and not what the calendar says. I never thought about how “young” I am in this great state of Maine, but you have made me think about the population age. Except when I met my son’s teachers, who seemed like they should be high school students themselves (I felt very old)!

  7. Fabulous write-up, Maddy! You make me chuckle with your wit and descriptions. Yes, age is all in how you feel and not what the calendar says. I never thought about how “young” I am in this great state of Maine, but you have made me think about the population age. Except when I met my son’s teachers, who seemed like they should be high school students themselves (I felt very old)!

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