Scholars are studying the issue. One research paper, Dating in Later Life, explored the courtship experiences of women over 60. It was written by Kandi L. Walker, an associate professor of communications at the University of Louisville, Fran C. Dickson of the University of Denver and Patrick Hughes of Texas Tech University.

Fifteen Louisville, Ky., area women ages 60-75 were interviewed for the study, which appeared in the January 2005 edition of Western Journal of Communications, a quarterly magazine that publishes scholarly research on behavior and communications.

The interviews were confidential, but three main themes emerged: The need for companionship, the need for independence, and gender conflict with dating partners.

Joan Hardin, a 60-ish widow who has been single more than 30 years and has a different take on the dating scene says: "Most men I meet don't want to just have dinner; they want to start out with the sex."

Hardin confesses she's old-fashioned and says, "I would rather get to know a person. At the age I am now, I'm not interested in the sex. I'd rather have more companionship. ... I have to be in love with somebody before I have sex."

The last man Hardin dated, for about five years, she met at a class reunion. Now, she says, she's thinking about going online, where many older singles are seeking others. About one-fifth of visitors to the online dating site Yahoo Personals, for example, are over 50.

"I've already met, here recently, a wonderful lady, a very striking individual, and we're trying to see if that works out. But there are some not-so-nice people who fraudulently post other people's pictures on their profile, and when you meet them, they're 80 to 90 pounds heavier." It's a jungle out there, and the single life isn't reserved for the young. More than 40 million Americans over 40 are single - divorced, widowed or never married. Not that all of them are seeking mates, but many are.

Hardin wasn't part of the study but can identify: "I don't think I want another husband, but I do want somebody close to me, somebody to go out with, a dancing partner, someone who can afford to do the things I like to do."

"I'd never been on a blind date. I didn't think this woman I was going to lunch with would be the one. I had given up on ever being married," Timmons says. "I'm amazed at how easy it's all been. I'm incredibly lucky."

For singles of both genders, the dating game is more complex once you mature. Potential matches tend to have a past - children, former spouses, maybe old flames that haven't quite died out. The need for understanding and compromise may be greater.

"When you're younger, you're a party hound chasing skirts," Parish says. "You're older now, wiser, more in tune. But the head games are more severe, and the baggage people bring."

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