I’m mostly rowing these days but the day before yesterday I went for a bike ride before we went out to supper. And almost killed myself. It was clear it was going to rain but I thought I could get out and back before it happened. Not quite. 

When I was only five miles from home, it started to rain. Fine. But a couple of miles later, I was looking out across fields and the next row of fields, and saw a squall line that was positively scary.The trees and the grasses a mile off started going nuts and the sky went a goofy gray that should not occur in nature. I jumped off my bike just as it hit…a wind so strong I couldn’t pull on my rain shirt. Or, after a moment, stand up. Big limbs started snapping off the trees, the bushes were lashed to frenzy and I was a little scared. Finally, got behind a high hedge in front of a big farm and cowered for twenty minutes, and watched for falling trees.

In fifteen minutes, it calmed to a mere rain storm and I got back on my bike…pedalled home.

Here’s the mildly interesting thing: you get scared a little easier when you get older, and probably should. I was "shaken up" as they say, and should not have biked home. Or gone out in the threat of rain storm in the first place. I tottered home all right, but I didn’t feel nice. And the next day, I didn’t want to do a thing.
If you do all the stuff we push in Younger Next Year, you will be functinally younger. But you won’t be a kid. So stay out of the rain.