I have always looked somewhat young for my age, which was annoying when I was a kid, especially as a teenager when I was in a hurry to be an adult.
I’m sure this has played a part in my not really dwelling about my appearance as I aged. Until 50 came along. That’s when I found myself noticing wrinkles that I swear had appeared overnight.
and hairs on my face that were going grey and seemed to be reproducing.
I pondered what my eyebrows were doing. They seemed to have concocted a mission of their own.
The ever-darkening bags under my eyes became a not-very-pleasant surprise every morning.
old scars that I had forgotten about made themselves known again.
None of the faces above are mine, of course.
The faces of Missy, Annie, Lucky, and Burrito, and those of all chimpanzees, are so full of character. Each one unique; different and special.
Their appearance too has changed in the time I’ve known them. They have more gray hair, deeper wrinkles, more scars, sometimes lumps and bumps that were not always there.
I could examine their faces all day – the delicate folds under their eyes, the wrinkles around their mouths that are even more noticeable when they purse their lips for a kiss or to make a raspberry sound. The tiny hairs on their lips and in their noses. They are all beautiful.
I’m glad that the chimpanzees don’t have our human vanities and insecurities. They are who they are today. They are who they are tomorrow. They don’t need calendars. They don’t count and compare the length of time they’ve been alive. They don’t need to spend time contemplating the passage of time and how that shows up on their faces and bodies.
They focus on the important aspects of their lives, like the sound a jolly ball makes when you bounce on it and the fresh pineapple on the menu at lunch.
