Mirrors don't lie, but they can mislead. Mine, for example, will sometimes offer unkind reflections upon my age. Especially in the morning.
Yet, those red orbs, veined temples and that desolate scalp do not represent the feelings within. And within I remain a much younger man, one -- I imagine at least -- with a colt's lively prance and a little boy's oversize eyes for the world and its wonders.
This "young at heart" outlook I attribute to one thing: my years of residency in Japan. For something about Japan that has roped in Father Time and kept me believing I am not that much older than when I first arrived here, now nearly three decades past. Japan has been a magic elixir of youth and the reason -- to me -- is obvious.