by Kelly Jackson

How midlife grocery shopping differs:
The first thing I do is look for a parking space in the shade as close to the front door as is humanly possible. I have a handicap tag which I borrow from my ancient mother and I try very hard not to abuse it, but if it's raining, it's every handicapped for him/herself. I'm not above feigning a slight limp on my way in either, just in case I run into someone in a grocery scooter who is legally entitled to park in these spaces.

Next up is getting all germs and bacteria off the shopping cart handle before I touch it with bare hands. God knows how many small children have wiped their drooling, snotty, little noses and then asked Mommy if they could push the cart. And, I'm always appalled whenever I see an even smaller tot with its little bottom sitting in the front section of the cart which is so obviously constructed for women's' purses. I would never ever ever put any fresh produce, for example, in that section of the cart for fear of cross contamination from those little, diapered human butts.

No more endless chit chat when confronted by someone I either know or knew and haven't seen in years. These people always seem to turn up at the grocery store when I do. I have no idea why. It's manspeak for me, "Hi, Genie, great to see you, planning a party, gotta run. Ciao." They usually haven't spit out their own salutation before I've rounded the corner from aisle 4 to 5. No time, not interested, looking for important items.

I just returned from San Francisco where I attended the BlogHer conference at the request of a client. Over the weekend I met, or at least was in the same room as, maybe 1000 women bloggers. Yeah--there's a boatload of us/them. The largest contingent by far was the group known as MommyBloggers, a designation I'm pretty much over, if I was ever there at all. No doubt I adore my children to the point of idiocy, but my days of full-time mommyhood are long gone and I'm old and cranky enough to no longer be fascinated by first words, first steps, and which are the best car seats.

My favorite 45 minutes by far was spent in the 'Boomers and Beyond' breakout session, moderated by Virginia DeBolt who looks all the world like a 3rd grade teacher and, now that I've read her blog, I've realized is a kickass technology ace.

The women in this group seemed to range from mid-40's to late 60's and all of them are online writing blogs and pretty much putting to rest the silly notion that we old folks don't 'get' technology. Many of them use Twitter with the ease of a teenybopper.

It was downright relaxing to be among peers. Maybe we have a little of the been -there-done-that attitude, but all of them had ideas as fresh and interesting as tomorrow's technology. The session was way too short. Could've done with less long breaks and more long break-outs.

So, here are a few fellow boomers you might enjoy:

A Boomer's Life After 50
Yes, there is life after 50.

Menopause, the Blog
Pretty substantive stuff--great title.

The Geezer Sisters
Been reading the Geezer Sisters now and again for awhile. It was fun to meet one.

Out On the Stoop
Thought provoking, literate and welcoming

Purse Stories
Lovely site, lovely stories.

There were several more whose cards I didn't get, but they're listed on Virginia's Web Teacher site.

Not long ago, we were interviewed for a New York Times article about AARP's attempt to become the hipster destination for music. We scoffed. But let's face it---there have been decades of new music since we last bought a Bruce Springsteen album. This article from the Seattle Times reviews some excellent sources on the web for discovering new music. I'm a huge fan of Pandora and have found some really interesting new artists by setting up channels of music I already liked. Try some of the other suggestions too--there's definitely life after 'Hotel California.'

A recent Pew Research Center study finds that Baby Boomers are the most dissatisfied generation. This comes on the heels of a University of Chicago study reporting that it's not a sign of the times, we've always been this way.

A recent article by Monica Hesse on washingtonpost.com takes a pretty tough view of what may end being called Generation W(hine).

Growing up in New Jersey, you were sure to either know some surfin' Beach Boy blonds or be one. Well, it seems the Jersey shore is seeing more surfers than ever and some of them are likely to be the same Jersey boys of summer one knew in high school.

According to an article in the in the NY Times, "in New Jersey, people who follow the sport say, a quarter to a half of the surfers may be middle-age or older."

They may be a little creakier but you'll know them by their long boards and by the fact they may just as easily be in the water in winter as summer. Some have been surfing since they were kids; others have taken up the sport in middle-age.

Something to add to the 'never-too-late' list.

If there's one thing that can remind us how time flies and yet how some things seem to stand still, it's a local community tradition. For us, it's our annual July 4th carnival, a major fundraiser for our volunteer fire squad.Held on a small field that spends most of the year overgrown and open, (and an excellent place to let dogs run), the carnival anticipation starts when we see the volunteers out there mowing. The banner goes up over the bridge, the rides seem to show up magically and suddenly it's carnival time again.

For an event with few rides and a layout you can walk in five minutes, it can generate up to 6000 visitors on a good night--the good nights being 'bracelet night,' when kids can ride all night without using up their college funds, and fireworks night. And for a teeny town, they put on a damn good show. One thing that never ever changes is the food. Believe it or not, aside from the usual fare, our landlocked carnival is known for its steamed clams.

Now here's the thing about time. I've been visiting the carnival for 23 years-- from the time my older son was in a stroller. With only a few exceptions, I've been there every year. I watched my kids graduate from the kiddy rides to the big boy rides, from us winning stuffed animals for them to them winning stuffed animals for me. From very long bracelet nights of ride after ride to keeping a watchful out for roving bands of young thugs---yup...my kids and their friends.