Young Bamboo Bends, Old Bamboo Breaks
My good friend loves that phrase. We run a work trade program on our farm, and every time we get a request from someone past forty, she’ll shake her head and say, “well, you know what they say, young bamboo bends, but old bamboo breaks.”
She means that life on the farm is a lot different from what most people are used to, and it’s often hard for older people to adapt to a new diet, a new schedule, and a new environment. Never mind that she’s past sixty herself, and one of the most adaptable people I know. She’s a young-at-heart bamboo stalk, but those are few and far between.