destructible, fallibility, weakness, showing, displaying, affected by it. the long slow slide, the steps back from the edge, no longer leading through example, no longer pushing the boundaries, no longer living on the edge, but more thought, more reason, less ebb and flow, more chart consultation. this is age. This is growing. this is depressing. this was supposed to be the time, the peak, the age specific era of prime quality, and what happens? it's the drop off, it's the diminishing returns, and it's definitely depressing. the incline, the path I was on, the stairs, the escalator, and I just stepped off early, before getting to the top, deciding that hanging out on a landing was better than continuing to climb, and now, gravity has taken hold, the laws of nature establish themselves over a object that lost escape velocity, and now, earth comes crashing up to meet me. ugh.