Here it is – Saturday. Another week has melted into the past and it’s been filled with all kinds of emotions. As the days pass, it seems they go much faster as I grow older. One may even dribble into the next and suddenly another week – another month – another year goes by in what seems to be an instant. Bodies also change with time. As we age our skin no longer holds its supple elasticity. Now age spots and wrinkles appear with a vengeance. Along with skin, gravity has invaded every muscle, and sagging occurs in spots we can’t even see. Our clothes fit differently. Our teeth are replaced with fake ones. Our hair is falling out. Our energy is sapped. Like a fading tree in the forest, we are dying inside and out.

To top it all off we sweat less, we pee more and as we dry up in some places, bodily fluids still escape in the form of drool. It isn’t just when we sleep, although I have been known to wake up in a pool of it from time to time. Drool is a sign of sleeping with your mouth wide open. It can be caused as salivary glands go into overdrive when stimulated by something good to eat. We often associate drooling with little babies or animals. When we’re babies, it’s cute. When your 82, it’s not. In any event, it is a sign that you’re losing control.

Maybe this problem is part of the circle of life. I mean, we come into the world drooling and leave it in much the same way. We start out as helpless infants and come full circle at the end. We begin by wearing diapers and may end up wearing them again. Our eating habits change. Our speech changes. Our hearing suffers. All of our senses deem us senseless at the end of life. That along with a body that has lost most of its usefulness shrivels and drools. I much prefer to look at drool like I look at wrinkles. I consider wrinkles to be embedded smiles. Drool is nothing more than sparkles exuding from the corners of your mouth. One good thing about going through this process is that you no longer have to shave your legs.