Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Age is just a state of mind

Yeah, tell that to my aching joints and my fading eyesight.
I remember when I was in my thirties.  I thought I would never get old. Then came the forties, the fifties, and then the sixties.  A couple of decades after that, reality set in.  In dog years I would be dead.
Conversations with friends are mostly about knee and hip replacements, health care coverage, doctor comparisons,  or when our social security check is due, scintillating stuff like that.
Our sphere of world events has narrowed to clogged arteries or gastric reflux or whatever else is relevant to our age. If someone asks us how we are or how we’re feeling, we are more than willing to tell them.
Birthday cards that are meant to be humorous are sometimes cruel reminders of how age has snuck up on us. On my last birthday, I received a card from a well-wisher that said in large capital letters, “YOU’RE HOW OLD!!!” I laughed, but only on the outside.
No longer can I sit in a recliner without reclining. I drive in the right lane of the highway because I’m in no hurry to get where I’m going, sometimes forgetting to turn off the turn signal until I’ve driven several miles down the road. In the meantime, the driver behind me is going bananas.
I put off going to the kitchen for a drink of water, coke, or a snack. Is the trip really worth it?
I have become a frozen foods gourmet.  Stauffers is my idea of haute cuisine. Six minutes in the microwave and it’s done. No cleanup, no dirty dishes.
Most of my conversations with my college-age grandson start with, “when I was your age.” His eyes glaze over. He’s zoning out, but I don’t take the hint.
A good night’s sleep is just a pleasant memory. It’s three a.m. and you stumble to the bathroom for the second time, take a couple of pain relievers for your aching back, legs, shoulder and hope they begin to work before it’s time to get up in the morning.  
And, the most common complaint many of us have about the aging process is the time we spend thinking about the hereafter. Like walking into a room and asking ourselves “what am I here after?”
Still,  when all is said and done, when we consider the alternative to growing older, it’s really not such a bad thing after all.

Mandarin oranges and pineapple makes for a wonderful cake that is light and refreshing and moist.

Orange Pineapple Delight Cake

1 (18 oz.) yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 C. oil
1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges and juice
30 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 sm. box vanilla pudding mix
9 oz. Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges and juice; pour into a 9 by 13 inch greased and floured pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Pour 3/4 cup juice from crushed pineapple over cake while still warm. Mix pineapple with pudding mix and Cool Whip. Spread over the cooled cake.