The Over the Hill gang is making a statement.

Or, at least certain news reports are indicating that a large chunck of the population that has put 50 or more years of living behind them are seeking a positive change of life.

Apparently, those folks have become jaded and bored with life in the "business as usual" vein and are sniffing around in quest of new fields to conquer.

In other words, they would reinvent life much as the federales in the nation's capital would reinvent government.

What the over-50 group would like most of all is a career change that might afford them an opportunity to shed the old routine and launch themselves into newer, more exciting life-styles.

This group would turn back the pages of history to an earlier era, to a time like when DeSoto thirsted for and sought the elusive Fountain of Youth.

As a matter of fact they would embark on an ambitious search for zest that has eluded humankind since the Big Bang purportedly gave birth to the dawn of civilization.

So, what's wrong with those people reaching out into other fields to satisfy the inner man? Nada, we say.

It's one of the best laid plans for mice and men as our Scottish hero Bobby Burns might allow.

Their reasoning goes something like this: if the government is going to metamorphosize itself, how could we go wrong in striving for the same goal?

The people who are wedded to the life-reinvention theory have more in mind than simply becoming identified with the younger generation.

What they seek is a more meaningful existence than they have experienced in their first half century.

They'd

like

nothing better than anything else, apparently, to actively pursue an activity that would produce a marked sense of accomplishment and meaningfulness.

On a more personal note, it may be remarked here that this writer has had a patchwork career that would be the envy of a practitioner of the old quilting bee, and has enjoyed every minute of it.

The latest career change for me came at age 61, providing self and family with many moments of fulfillment, thank you very much.

And, the old boy ain't dead yet. There remain many fields to plow and many crops to gather before the final trump is sounded.