It's never too late to enjoy living life

But these days, it seems like 40 is the new 25, and at least some folks are staying more active as the decades roll by. Case in point is Savage resident George Markopoulos, a 43-year-old CPA, husband of Janis Markopoulos who has been recently mentioned here for her work in organizing the recent National Night Out events and in reviving the Savage Community Association. Janis told me that George is an avid windsurfer and skateboarder, and proudly pointed me to her husband's blog at www.

live2sail.blogspot.com.

I checked it out – and found some marvelous shots, taken by Janis, of George windsurfing at the Hatteras Loopfest last June. In windsurfing, a "loop" is a controlled somersault or catapult in which the windsurfer, standing on his board and maneuvering a single clear-plastic wing-shaped sail, propels his or her board off the water then rotates the rig forward, hopefully landing back in the same position after completing the rotation.

A windsurfer for 20 years, George did his first looping at the Hatteras event, reported in a July 9 article in the Hatteras Island Free Press. "Looping - it's this big, mystical thing of windsurfing," says windsurfer Bill Bell of Nags Head, who organized the Loopfest. Certainly the photos of George suspended in the air above the waves have a certain mystical quality.

And also beneath the waves, there is also mystical beauty, available even to sedentary folks such as myself. A couple of weeks ago, in the clear turquoise waters of Bermuda, I went snorkeling for the first time in my life – and what a revelation! I put on a simple little mask with a tube sticking up, plunked my face down in the water, and saw marvels. Brightly colored fish as big as platters cruised tranquilly around the rocks, on which the arms of purple anemones languidly waved. It was a little magical kingdom just below the surface of the water. I have found another excuse to go to Florida this winter.