“Suntan lotion,” I matter-of-factly replied.

Suntan lotion.

It didn’t dawn on me at all until he laughed and commented on how long it’s been since we called it ‘suntan lotion’, how dated my terminology was. Sunscreen, that’s what we call it now, of course. You know, to screen us from the sun.

And there I was… sitting at the kitchen counter instantly feeling a million years old. I may as well get my map out, find a deserted island where I can take my wind-up alarm clock, and give up any hope of ever being the bee’s knees.

Naturally, I’m joking, although I do kind of miss fold-up maps. I liked the challenge of them.

It got me thinking of all the things I do on an average day that my adult children and certainly anyone younger would laugh at. I make grocery lists and most of the time, I write the list out before I go to the store. Pen to paper. I have books; actual, turn-the-page-to-read-them books. And I subscribe to magazines. We do actually have an alarm clock but in my defense, it’s only because it projects the time and room temperature onto a wall or ceiling. Very handy when you wake up in the middle of the night and don’t want to lean over to check your phone for the time.

Good god, that sounds lazy.

Anyway, these are the little markers in my day that may seem old-fashioned (even the word old-fashioned seems, well, old-fashioned) but are small threads woven into this life I lead. And most of the time, I like the charm and simplicity of them.

Every once in a while, though. It feels more like a Homer Simpson level “d’oh” than any sentimental nod to the past.

But such is life. Sometimes you’re a hero and sometimes you’re a Homer.