My colleague and friend, Ward Hindman, multitalented meteorologist, sailplane pilot 
and singer turned 60 and gave a great party, for which I wrote this roast. 
Now that I have turned 60 it doesn't seem so funny.


Blessings at Sixty: A Sonnet and Some Extra Thoughts
To Ward  28 Sept 2002


Sixty is a milestone
Anybody would postpone
But if you asked an optimist
There would be blessings on his list
Here by chance are just a few
Let me read them out to you

Getting older ain't no fun
When your life is almost done
When the best things you can find
Are only real inside your mind
But just because there's nothing left
We don't want you to feel bereft

A ray of hope's been left for you
By sixty we forgot what's true.

Sixty is a regal age
At which you've reached a lofty height.
With blood pressure way off the gage.
And eyes too weak to see the sight.

Your status is without a peer.
You've mastered each and every art.
Thank God that you no longer hear
The beating of your failing heart.

You've learned at long last to have fun
And cast aside all troubles weighty
Because by long comparison
You know that life's much worse at eighty.