Do Your Ears Hang Low?

 

 

 Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie ’em in a knot?
Can you tie ’em in a bow?
Can you throw ’em o’er your shoulder
Like a Continental soldier?
Do your ears hang low?

 

 

 

I have never given my ears much thought. They sit there on the side of my head and give me music and bird twitters and sweet nothings. I've thought about my little toe much more than my ears. I feel I have been neglect. I mean, the ears do so much and I have just never paid much attention to them.

Oh, I had my ear lobes pierced when I was in high school. I remember admiring them in the mirror. And then I had a second piercing sometime in my twenties or early thirties. I then became allergic to any metal for about 30 years, so earrings weren't thought about; thus, no ear itself thoughts.

But lately...well when I hit the sheets at night and settle my head in the pillow, I find my ear lobes fold over a bit uncomfortably. Here I am, all snuggled in, and I have to move my hand under my head and flip back that earlobe.

I mean, c'mon. After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. Bones may lose some of their minerals and become less dense.

We shrink down while we age. I used to be six foot tall. Now I'm 5'11, maybe even 5'10.5.  I'll never cop to it, but yeah. 

Yeah, we are getting shorter and our ears are getting longer. 

But wait! There's more!

Not only is our ears starting to sag, so is our nose! Noses and ears are made of cartilage, a flexible tissue that’s harder than skin but softer than bone. It wears down over time and doesn’t give as much support to the skin on top of it. Your skin also loses elasticity and firmness over time, and it tends to sag. Loose or sagging skin over a weaker cartilage frame makes ears and noses look longer. 

Well, that's the story. In looking up this information, I discovered when "old age" starts.  Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly. According to AARP, those under 30 believe old age hits before a person turns 60. Middle-aged respondents cited 70 as the start of old age while those 65 and older put the number closer to 74.

Thank gawd I just turned 71...
not old yet!

peace~~~