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 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| It's a concept begun in England but adapted by many American churches of different denominations. A couple walking around England earlier this year saw the sign and investigated. They have their own logo and rules about advertising. So now my church has begun Messy Church. It's a little longer than the usual one hour. We're only doing it once a month. It's not traditional by any means. Autistic and other challenged children and adults are welcome. It doesn't matter about crying, squirming, chattering, or loud talk. It involves toys, puzzles, talking in groups, singing, sign language, crafts, bean bag chairs as an option, etc. The point is to make everyone feel welcome including family members of noisy congregants. No need to be embarrassed or restrained. We've only just started, so we are on a learning curve. We may alter the routine every month. So far, we had Lego city on a big rug. We did a few simple songs with ASL. I was in a group doing mosaics with glue sticks, colored paper and scissors. All the mosaics were different. Everyone had a unique perspective. We hope in time to get the word out and have more people attend. Maybe it will appeal to people with ADD. We might paint, or dance, depending on how leaders feel led. Fruit and cheese are offered since we meet in late afternoon on a Sunday. It's a good place to take family members without worrying about disrupting others. I was pleased to see so many supporters show up, ready to help, or just smile and be friendly to visitors. |
| Years ago, I ran into a medical technician who claimed being our age was a good thing. We had lived through a lot of important history and were aware of it. Every now and then I think about that and list some events that have occurred during my time on earth. I can recall where I was when I learned John Kennedy had been assassinated and who told us. I was watching TV at work when the space capsule exploded. We all looked at each other, asking what was that? On 9-11 I was at work, but someone who had just come in told us the news from the radio. I remember the small talk at my first job was about men walking on the moon. That's the big dramatic stuff. We mourned the death of John Lennon, watched the news about a little place called Woodstock (if we didn't go), and and saw Marilyn Monroe sing Happy Birthday to the president. We saw the rise of personal computers (I used an IBM system 3 with the big hard disks). We watched cell phones go from mobile things the size of a large walkie talkie to flip phones that fit in our palms. Photographs went from Polaroids which could develop while you watchED (and fade in a Year) to cell phone photos that could surpass the quality of traditional cameras. CD's replaced VHS and floppy discs. We have now accepted that all computer devices, including laptops and I-pads are constantly evolving and won't last long or be supported by the makers or "the cloud". At the time, I couldn't afford an electronic organizer or blackberry, Just as well, they're already passe. Fashions have changed, even jewelry. Dance moves are new. Music is another evolving concept. During my lifetime, the first heart transplant took place in South Africa. Heart valves are now replaced. People are living longer. Dentistry has improved. Hip joints and knee joints can now be replaced. Cloning of plants and animals is possible. Crimes can be traced through DNA. Information, as well as misinformation, is available in seconds. On the flip side, insurance is more expensive, government waste is more rampant, and then there was COVID. The world as we knew it changed with that pandemic. Maybe Dickens had it right for all ages: "the best of times. . . the worst of times." Maybe it's always been this way; the human race just didn't have the media keeping them up to date. Yes, the world is changing. In some ways for the better, in some for the worse. Human nature remains the same. The earth stays on its course. We are blessed to have witnessed so much and to endure. |
| The rolling hills where I live offer some spectacular scenery. Coming from the east into town always gives a little thrill if I'm not too self-absorbed. In my college days, I would come home once a month or every three weeks or so. Usually, I came by bus. Whenever we hit that highway on this rather small mountain above the town, I felt that exhilaration. I thought it was just the idea of coming home, and the familiar sights were welcome. Now I have returned and taken up long term residence. I live on the lower side of that mountain near the river. (I grew up on the other side of the river in the city limits.) One of the hospitals and many of my doctors are on that mountain. I bank and shop there whenever possible. So I see that road frequently. Today, I came into town from the bank and once again I was smitten with the view. It may be the weather. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue with lots of fluffy white clouds. The ridge of blue evergreens lay far off to the west miles beyond the town. The new businesses and parking lots had not lessened the beauty for me. It still is a glorious sight that makes me feel good all over. Society with all its concrete, asphalt, glass, and brick cannot erase the aura of Mother Nature. The deer might ruin my plants in the yard and leave little deposits all over, but civilization does not cover up the beauty of the earth. It comes through no matter what we try to do to it. If we just open our eyes and look about, we can experience peace in our environment. Mankind and nature can abide with each other throughout the decades. |
| I attended a party for a 10-year-old yesterday before it poured rain. All the kids were on the trampoline when I got there. I was late, so I missed the usual birthday party routine. I got the scoop on what grades at school, which sports, and commented on how tall they were getting. We adults did our usual jokes and gossip. Then my baby brother, the only one I have left, and is a senior citizen, passed out whistles from the Dollar Store to every kid there. There were about 12. The mothers in the front yard came running around, thinking the kids were hurt and screaming. I told my brother our nieces, not to mention the neighbors, were going to hate him. Let's just say after a few minutes of that they were not pleased. Surprisingly, the father of 3 of the children, told me he had been without alcohol for 30 days. As far as I know he didn't have a drinking problem. He just wanted to be healthier. I asked if he felt different. The answer was yes. He started his days off wide awake, no morning fog. He claims it really pays off in the gym. He works out regularly, so he has noticed his pace and endurance has improved. He can do more reps when lifting. So that is a positive experiment for him. Too bad he waited for his 40's to discover this. It is good for now. It always feels good to be with family, even briefly, to catch up on the news and see with my own eyes that everyone is well. I'm set until the next birthday or holiday comes up. (Labor Day is not a family day now that my parents are gone.) I wish the middle generation would come get their stuff out of my house. I may take some Simpson posters out to the kids who live half an hour away. I don't want to store them any longer. All the stuff we have collected just isn't wanted by those who come after us. |
| In July, my niece married for the second time. She became a widow while pregnant with her third child. She met a wonderful man with two kids of his own. They have a blended family. The only attendants were those children. Each had a daughter who were bridesmaids, age 10 and 12, in coordinating dresses, but not identical. Her two sons were the "ring men", age 9 and 7 and a half. His son, almost 14, was the best man. And yes, for those who follow such things, the bride did wear white again, with a long train. No tuxes for the men, just suits and ties. The best man is usually seen wearing shorts, so this was a feat all by itself. It was to be an outdoor event with the reception in a picnic pavilion. The place is a working farm that boards horses, but brings in extra cash with a B&B and wedding venue. They don't cater or do any service. Because it rained all afternoon and drizzled off and on at the appointed time, the ceremony was moved to the pavilion. The 7-year-old standing to one side, kept slipping over to the candy table, out of his mother's sight. All the audience had the giggles and tried holding back their smiles as he replaced the top with a bang several times. Personally, I think he's adorable even when he is not in navy blue with an ironed white shirt. When the bridal party was called in by the DJ for the reception, he made a rock star entrance bent over with his hands up in the air behind him. He just doesn't know how not to be the center of attention. All five kids went with them on the honeymoon to St. Thomas. Does that make it a familymoon? Two families were joined together. It's been a struggle for my niece to raise these kids alone. She deserves a solid family now. |
| It's hard to believe I went over a year without migraines, but this year, I am on my third round, which will last 2 to 6 weeks. Take too many prescriptions for any pain killer stronger than Tylenol. And I'm limited on those! There are other kinds of headaches, too. I've been paying probate taxes for several years because we haven't sold my dad's house. I'm living in it, per the instructions of his will. I can't afford to buy out the others, and my share won't get me another place to live in my state. I hired a lawyer to take the house out of probate. He charged me a lot of money and said I could do it myself. I think he misunderstood something. I can't find an accountant experienced in computing probate taxes to let me know what to pay, and the county is not helpful. I'm having solar panels installed, but that is in stages and will take about a month. I'm leasing, not buying. It might help the sale of the house once I see whether it really reduces my electric bill. I'm all about saving money now that I am on a fixed income. Everything costs more than it did last year. In two years, my auto insurance doubled. Everyone is in the same boat on paying out more than they have coming in. So we all have that headache. I'm trying to help my church plan a first time ever community event where we provide food, music, a bouncy house and games. We'll have door prizes for anyone willing to give us an email. We'll also have face painting and beer pong, make that church pong, with small prizes. It will be outdoors with several popup canopies, chairs, and porta-potties. There are so many details. It could be a big flop or we might not have enough space. But it's an exciting kind of headache. On the other hand, I've been reading Walt Whitman. Page after page of depressing stuff, no matter how beautiful the language or the great imagery from nature. Then my head hurts too much to keep my glasses on, so I stop. At least with a headache of some kind, you know you're still alive. |
| It's the start of the tropical season. No hurricanes or other storms yet, except for one out in the Atlantic, no where near land. But we have had our warnings. Fortunately, I am not in a disaster area now. I grew up in the flood zone, but the river waters always came just short of our yard. There is a small town, very quaint, near here that has been flooded completely several times in my life. But they always rebuild and carry on. Meanwhile, the oppressive heat has let up, and we enjoy cooler temps even on sunny days. It's good for catching up on weed pulling and invasive plant pruning. I had some beautiful red zinnias this year, which are now fading. I know what I want to plant next year: more red zinnias. I have rose of Sharon everywhere. The individual blooms are not that pretty, but a whole shrub covered with them is quite lovely. And this year I've noticed hummingbirds going to the blooms. However, the shrub grows very fast and gets out of control It also multiplies. Every day I pull stray plants out of flower pots and from between the slates on the patio. I have heard it is almost impossible to hurt a Rose of Sharon; now I believe it. They take a lot of work and time to keep them from taking over the entire yard and house. They don't require watering or fertilizer; just pruning. So as the days get shorter and summer starts to fade, we know the hot weather is not gone completely. It will continue possibly into early October, even as the leaves start to fall. Tropical storms, fading flowers, earlier sunsets are all just reminders that life goes on and our lives are getting shorter. Let's enjoy the weather while we can. |
| I'm reading a dumb romance novel. I thought it was going to be a western, and it does start out at the end of the Civil War. It quickly moves to Southern Indiana before going to Texas. However, it's really about falling in love with the wrong person, who probably will end up being the perfect person if this romance is true to form. Some cliches stand out. In the midst of war battles, two people find comfort in each other's arms. Six months later, after another peacetime trauma, they find each other and discover their bodies fit perfectly together. When have two bodies not fit perfectly together? One could be dead and lying on the floor; a second one trips and falls on the cadaver and their bodies would mold perfectly to each other. Nothing romantic about that. If two people want to be together, they will find a way to justify it. Maybe I'm just cynical or I've seen too much of this stuff. A lot of genres just have set formulas, so that when we see them, they just make us gag a little instead of sympathize with the characters. In fact the characters in this book are just too movie star-ish to be believable. I find myself being more sympathetic to the cold-hearted brother with a battle scar on his chin than the handsome, perfect doctor. We'd like to believe someday "my prince will come" or Santa will bring what I really want this year or this time I'm gonna win the big lottery. Reality doesn't fit into romance, no matter how many harsh scenes you create, or how many obstacles the hero and the beautiful maiden confront. And when one of them thinks, "Our bodies don't meld perfectly together," you can be sure that one is already moving on. |
| I like driving. I do. Managing this big machine like it's an extension of myself. Handling the curves on the road. I do enjoy it. However, there are many things about driving I do not like. I don't like heavy traffic, whether it's rush hour or not. I don't mind sitting in traffic as long as I have plenty of gas and no time limits I don't like crazy drivers who think they own the road and don't have to watch out for other vehicles. I really don't like the price of gas. I can't stand the people who ride your bumper, particularly on country roads where they do not have the option to pass and I have no places to pull over. Just because they know the roads well and have lots of experience driving 15 miles over the posted limit, does not mean they can ride so close to end up in my back seat if I brake suddenly. I don't like GPS. Traffic circles are not my favorite. If it's evident which way to go, I'm okay. But don't make me read the signs for North or South in heavy traffic. I don't always know which direction I want to go. I just know the map said Rt 15. It didn't say N or S. I drove South on I95 through Miami about 40 years ago. It was exciting to see so many cars and what seemed to be a spiral of roads. My eyesight and nerves were much better then, I think. The last time I changed a tire on my car was in the Everglades. I was traveling alone and I did it successfully. Today, I don't know if I can even get the spare out of the car. I think I can do the rinky dink jack and screw the bolts to get me to the nearest mechanic. But I don't want to. I just like feeling the power of controlling this mobile unit. But I won't object if you want to drive for me. |
| I am in the library again, until I find a new ISP for my area that I can afford. We don't have fiber optics yet, and the one I've had cut me off when I had the land line removed. It was terrible service anyway> I can accomplish in less than 2 hour what it used to take 4 or 5 hours to do with all the crashing and outages. I can tolerate the noise of children. The library is a great place for them. My mother used to walk us to the library when we were young, and it was a thrill to get new books. I don't like the adults who carry on conversations at full volume. There is a lady behind me who even has her phone on speaker. She's broadcasting her phone numbers and passwords loudly to everyone in the big room. She has no idea how disruptive she is or that her privacy is gone. A librarian is helping her, in a softer but audible voice. Whatever happened to whispering? We used to be afraid to talk out loud, much less give personal info. My college library, full of young people, was never this noisy. We never had to listen to anyone's financial transactions with her banker. Oh no! I heard her say "Calling you back. . ." Hopefully, I won't be here. She did tell the banker that she was old enough to be the grandmother of the person helping her. Maybe they're excusing her because of age. But rude is rude. And only scammers want your personal data. Now, someone is playing music! Ssh! |
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I marvel at the things I'll be able to tell my grandkids about someday. Life is accelerating - or maybe it just feels that way!
I completely sympathize with your desire to declutter. I have more stuff than you can shake a stick at that didn't actually belong to just my wife or myself throughout the house.
