Howdy-Doody Mouth...Modified

I've always been a watcher. People are the most interesting of God's creatures...anyway, for me. Living in a retirement community, I've had the opportunity to observe a lot of us older folks. 

As a young woman, my mother always told me to smile.  "All your winkles will go up, if you smile," she said.  Mom started showing some wrinkles in her 90's...and she was notorious for her smile and laughter.

Well, for those of you who know me well, I have also spent a great deal of my time smiling and laughing...Thank you, God.  And mom was right...the wrinkles, for the most part, do go up.  But what about that area around your mouth...you know, the "Howdy-Doody mouth" that seems to appear around our 60th birthday?  My good friend Carole, as we were walking around Keeler Lake one fall day, first dubbed this part of our anatomy as the "Howdy-Doody" mouth.  It's that part of your face extending from the nostrils to the outer corners of the mouth and down the chin line and into the jaw.  If you totally relax your 60 year old face, the "Howdy-Doody" mouth appears.  It happens to almost all of us.  Some folks even get it in their 50's. 

The  effect can be lessened in two ways.  The first way, and not one highly recommended, however one I have seen often at the community pool, is to fall asleep in the sun.  The mouth naturally drops open in a wide O-shape and, if the head is tilted far enough back, the lines defining the "Howdy-Doody" mouth completely disappear....however, it immediately reappears when the person snorts and jerks awake and is often accompanied by drool.  The second way is more socially acceptable and actually works.  You may want to practice this in front of a mirror.  Looking at your reflection, with a relaxed face in the Howdy-Doody position, just slightly take the corners of your mouth and slide them into the beginning of a smile.  Don't over-do....and no smirking allowed.  When you achieve the erasure of the lines making your puppet mouth, hold it.  Get used to this position, practice it, and employ it.  It will take years off of your face and its a simple exercise...not at all like sit ups or squats.  Try it.  Tell me what you think.