Out of the blue

I know aging isn’t always a lot of fun and that it’s something we should attempt to do gracefully. And I do expect that as I get on in years certain shortcomings will come my way, like my hair will continue turning grey and my eyesight will keep going downhill. But I was not prepared for what happened not long ago, as if out of the blue.

Tony and I attended a very nice dinner party at the home of an associate of his in Owatonna on a cool Friday night. It was a lovely gathering with a variety new people to meet, foods to eat and wine to drink. We returned home early, turned on the television and relaxed on the sofa. During the movie we were watching, I happened to look down at my hands, and to my amazement, both were completely blue. Not a faint, sky blue or a splotchy pale blue, but true BLUE. (No, we were not watching “X-Men”.)

Of course I did what anyone in my Smurflike condition would. I pulled out my laptop and googled it. Turns out being blue is an actual malady that can occur when your hands get cold. Only thing was, mine were not. They were perfectly warm. 

The next evening, they turned blue once again without provocation, although much less shockingly so. Tony, not one to overreact when faced with strange situations, cracked a joke and went back to flipping through the TV channels looking for a game to watch.  

The next day I made an appointment with my doctor and was told it was likely a condition called met-hemoglobanemia (translation: “Old Blue Hands”). Actually, it has something to do with a reaction to chemicals I’d been in contact with, which were probably naturally occurring in the radishes I ate at the party. Pretty weird. 

Apparently, when you age, it comes on without notice –– while eating a root vegetable in a room full of people you don’t know, for instance. Fortunately for me, no one noticed my blueness, or I would now be employed as a side show in a traveling circus. Or maybe Disney World.

I guess the lesson here is to roll with the punches and not be too surprised by what may be around the corner. Aging is a state of mind and something out of our control, for the most part. Oh yeah, and it’s also taught me to always keep a pair of gloves handy.