I do believe that I am the youngest member to enter the O-baa-chan Club, an inner circle of old ladies who keep Japan under their thumbs. I'm not exactly sure why or how I gained entry, but apparently the fact that I live in the countryside and have a vegetable garden was enough to convince everyone in my neighborhood that I was an o-baa-chan prodigy.
One day one of the ladies exclaimed, "Amy, you're 40 and still wearing shorts!" This is when I realized, "My God, they're grooming me to be an o-baa-chan!" I must protest.
Shortly after, my neighbor Kazu-chan asked me while I was standing in her "genkan," "Can you reach your left arm over your left shoulder and your right arm around your back, and touch both hands together?" Kazu-chan demonstrated, showing she couldn't do it herself. I tried it. I couldn't do it either. "That means you're old," Kazu-chan informed me with a smile.