Thoughts on Rush and Music as I get older

I have been a live performing musician for over 40 years now. I started in my teens, and here I am at 60 still doing it. A couple of things got me thinking about this. First, I am slowing down... big time. A 3-4 hour show locally is usually more like a 7-8 hour show if it is local. I have a gig this Friday from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. that is slightly over an hour away. I play more of these because there aren't very many local gigs to play. This means I'm loading gear at 5:30 p.m. and heading out at 6 p.m. so I can get there at 7 p.m. to get the PA and everything set up. Usually, I’m done tearing down and loading around 2 a.m. Saying goodbyes, grabbing a drink (non-alcoholic, of course), and then rolling gets me back home a little bit past 3 a.m. Unload gear (exhausted) and try to wind down quickly, and it is easily 4 a.m. before I am in bed. Those gigs are almost 12 hours. That is a long day for anyone, let alone a 60-year-old, dad-bod kind of guy. So, I obviously think about this stuff, but…