I am now a month into summer vacation 2019. As is the case with everything these days, I have no idea where the time has gone. Thus far my break can be summed up as…random acts of…. Today I find myself examining these last four weeks more intentionally, trying to identify in concrete terms exactly what I have done, what I haven’t done, and what I want to be doing with my days. This exploration will hopefully lead me to…
One thing that I think most of us have learned by the time we reach “a certain age” is that there are no guarantees in this life. Thus, we should take nothing for granted, not the big things and not the small things. Our lives can be turned upside down in an instant. Over the weekend, I was out-of-town visiting a friend and participating in a bowling fundraiser. Despite cold, sleet, ice, and snow, it was a great weekend. This…
So what’s up with old, older, old-ish, people over fifty and their fascination, or maybe it’s an outright obsession, with the weather? When my dad retired from the Navy, my parents moved back to their home state of Delaware where, at the time, my grandmother still lived. Almost every evening from 1985 until 2012 when my grandmother passed away, my dad, the the dutiful son, would call his mother to check on her. Inevitably, the conversation always began with, “How’s the weather over…
I realized that when I started this series about making my way from age fifty-six to age sixty, I never explained why I chose the name that I did. Names are important. I always tell my music composition students that they must give their work meaningful names. This lets me know that they have taken ownership of their creation. So, why am I calling these posts Sailing Toward Sixty? One of the reasons that I started writing about my journey toward…
I was out of town last weekend at Click Away, a photography conference primarily for woman, but there were a few brave men who attended, Weber being one of them. We met several of my Capture Your 365 photography friends in Amelia Island, Florida for some fellowship and some sessions to hopefully help our grow our photography skills. As I was packing to go, I realized that I was excited about the photography element of the trip, but I might…
According to Facebook, today is Friends Day. It is really Facebook’s birthday. Since Facebook allows friends to stay it contact with one another over space and time, they have dubbed it Friends Day as a means of celebration. That makes a great tie-in to the post that I intended to write several weeks ago, before the flu so rudely messed up my plans. The week before I got sick, my friend, Becca, came to visit from Illinois. Having a…
And I’m already a week behind with these posts, sort of, but I can explain! I had a great post working in my head last Thursday afternoon as I sat down to write. After I typed about three words, I realized that I ddn’t feel well. I sat for a moment and decided that I did not feel good at all. I abandoned the keyboard and went to rest on the couch for a few minutes. That few minutes turned…
So, let’s talk about knitting. Why is knitting something that is associated with grandmas, which are associated with being old? Neither of those things is a given. All knitters are not grandmothers and all grandmothers are not old. I’ve known women who have become grandmothers by age forty. Forty is not old by anyone’s standards. Nonetheless, the stereotype of an “old lady” is a grandmotherly-type woman spending her day in a rocking chair knitting the hours away. You know…this doesn’t…
This morning at 12:37 am my 56th year of life ended and my 57th began. With this day comes feelings of gratitude, joy, amazement, and a need for some quiet reflection. Age has never really been a big deal to me. I have no problem honestly telling someone my age (except the young cashier at the movies who kindly gave me the senior discount, presumably because of my white hair, when I was 49) if they ask. I always tell…
Today’s Capture Your 365 photo prompt was Be Thankful for Who You Are. We were urged to take a self-portrait that shows who we are. This is my photo. For many years, I tried to achieve perfection in everything that I did – from school, to relationships, to parenting. I thought that I had to be perfect in the eyes of everyone around me to be worthy of being be loved. Needless to say, I fell way short of my goal….