Blog Archives

Sign of the Times

3/21/2015

Yesterday I was driving home from Connecticut when I noticed a small blue sign on the side of the highway:

IT CAN WAIT
TEXT AREA
5 MILES AHEAD

That was certainly something new! I wanted to see the text area, but, unfortunately, my exit came up before I reached the five mile point. While it was most likely just a pull-off space, similar to a scenic view on some more picturesque roads, I let my mind wander and envisioned something entirely different. Perhaps this space could be a small park with benches and a refreshment area. Maybe it could serve as a welcome respite for weary travelers to recharge. And maybe such a space could be used for other activities as well. Maybe someday we will see signs like:

NEED TO RELAX?
READING AREA
5 MILES AHEAD
(this area could also have a board to post book recommendations)

WANT TO DISCUSS THE PROS AND CONS OF CC?
DISCUSSION SPACE
5 MILES AHEAD
(discussion topics updated regularly)

NEED A NAP?
REST AREA
5 MILES AHEAD
(an upscale version of the common rest area)

I think the possibilities are endless!

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The Necklace

3/20/2015

4 Comments

I was rooting around in my jewelry box the other day and came upon a small pink satin case. Inside I found a treasure, and I remembered…

Allan gave me the thin gold chain for my birthday, the second one I celebrated as his wife. I wore it constantly, and over the years that gold chain became rich with memories.

It was around my neck when my children were born…and when both of my parents were buried. It was around my neck as I walked my son to his classroom on his first day of kindergarten…and the day I waved good-bye as he left for college. It was around my neck for the countless rounds of softball try-outs, practices, games, and tournaments with my daughter…and when she boarded a plane that would take her to Costa Rica for two years. It was around my neck when we brought our yellow lab with the too-long ears home for the first time…and when our vet helped us decide that it was time to let her go.

I remember having the catch repaired a few times, but one time several years ago that thin gold chain broke in the middle. My first thought was how lucky I was that it wasn’t lost! I had it repaired immediately, as if all the attached memories would tumble off if it were left broken. I knew that by wearing it all the time I had contributed to its fragility, so I decided not to risk having it break again and losing it forever. Now it lives in a small pink satin case in my jewelry drawer, holding all the memories.

4 Comments

My Exercising Life

3/19/2015

5 Comments

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my posts. I don't always reply because for some reason the notification goes to me, not to the commenter. Please know that I appreciate all of your thoughts and encouragement. You are a wonderful community of writers. And now for today's post:

I’m not athletic, but I have always tried to remain active by exercising in some way. Lately, because of some back issues, my exercise routine has been altered. I’m doing more physical therapy and gentle yoga, which is helping, but I long to ramp up the intensity just a little. Recently I got to thinking about all the different kinds of exercises I have done during the years. Some were done at home to video tapes, or as in the case of running, in my neighborhood; for others, I went to a gym or fitness class. Here’s a list I came up with as I let my mind wander back through the years:

Running
Walking
Aerobics
Dancercize (or jazzercise)
Morning Stretch with Joanie Greggains (I had to look up her name on the internet)
Pilates
Yoga
Biking
Taebo (tapes with Billy Blanks)
Planet Fitness
Curves
Treadmill at home
Zumba
Golf

There certainly is variety, which I think is a good thing. Different experiences just fit better at different points in my life. I think that’s the way it is with a lot of things in life!

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Disaster in the Dining Room

3/18/2015

8 Comments

Most people know that I have a husband, a dog, and two grown children. And most people know I like books of all kinds, especially picture books. But what most people don’t know about me is that I worked as a waitress in the summer during my college years and that I came close to getting fired.

For several summers I worked as a breakfast and lunch waitress at a fancy motor lodge in my home town. The crowd was mostly business men and women during the week and families on the weekend. During one of my first days on the job I was waiting on a group of business men. They were all well-dressed – suitcoats, ties, polished shoes. I was carrying a large tray carefully balanced with six filled juice glasses and most of the food order. By the time I got to the last two gentleman the tray was no longer carefully balanced. As I leaned over to set a glass of orange juice on the table, the remaining glass, this one filled with tomato juice, slid to the edge. I was helpless as the glass tipped over, tomato juice cascading down the neck and back of one of the men. I was so flustered I dropped the tray, scrambled eggs and sausage rolling everywhere. Needless to say it was a mess! To this day I don’t know why I wasn’t fired! I was so embarrassed I was ready to quit!

I remember the hostess taking over and offering dry cleaning services. Later, after I calmed down, she reminded me that mistakes happen and that I would get the hang of it eventually. That little bit of understanding stays with me today. I have always been a believer that we learn from our mistakes and I always tried to instill that in students as they tried out new reading and writing strategies. The learning is in the confusion.

8 Comments

The Age Reminder

3/17/2015

9 Comments

I am sitting at my computer answering emails. The phone rings. I look over and don’t recognize the number. I let it ring. Soon I hear an unfamiliar voice. It is my local congressman inviting me to participate in a “seniors” live chat. What??? Yes, I technically am a senior in most circles (but not 65… yet), but the message annoyed me.

Why do I feel that way? I certainly don’t mind taking advantage of senior rates at the movies and golf courses, and I have been a member of AARP for several years (did you know an AARP card gets you a free Dunkin’ Donut when you purchase a large coffee?). I guess it’s just that I don’t want to be reminded that I am fast approaching a “qualifying life event” unless it’s on my terms.

The other day I commented to my husband that there are mostly older people at the physical therapy location where I go for treatment on my back. He just looked at me, then answered with a “Well…?” (rising intonation). I guessed it was because I go during the day when most people are working. But one day I was excited to be the first appointment. I expected to see all the “young” people with sports related injuries squeezing in therapy before their day began. Wrong. In fact, I was the only patient there for about a half hour until the older crowd started arriving.

I complete the daily Jumble in the newspaper and enjoy jigsaw puzzles. Last week my daughter commented that she was glad those games were part of my daily routine as it will help keep my mind sharp. Really? What about the professional reading I still do, the twitter chats I engage in, the writing I try my hand at. There’s so much more to learn and do! Hopefully she will be able to keep up!

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Celebrating a Life

3/16/2015

4 Comments

I’ve been a member of a book group for twenty-five years. A few friends and I started it when our girls were in kindergarten together. Others have come and gone, but we have always kept it going. Over the years we have shared births, graduations, divorce, marriages, grave illness, addictions, and deaths as well as many, many wonderful books. Of course through all of that we have come to know each other’s extended families as well. Over the weekend I learned that the mother-in-law of one of our members passed away. She was someone I had gotten to know since we shared a love of flowers and gardening, and also because she had worked with my husband many years ago. In the past we have acknowledged the death of an extended family member by purchasing a book for the community library. But this time her daughter-in-law suggested that perhaps we visit a garden and each purchase a plant for our own gardens to celebrate her life.

I thought that was a perfect idea! All of us in book group have gardens of one type or another, and we have shared cuttings and freely given advice and help to each other when needed. One of our book group members commented once that looking at the different flowers in her garden always reminded her of the friends who gave them to her. She said it was like margin notes in a book – she could hear their voices. I wrote that down in my writer’s notebook.

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Memories From a Junk Drawer #2

3/15/2015

5 Comments

Today is the almost half-way point of the March slice of life challenge. My biggest fear when I decided to take the plunge was running out of ideas, so I started to scribble thoughts down at the back of my journal whenever something hit me – a safety net of sorts for those days when I could do nothing more than stare at the blank page. When was interesting to me was how reading the posts of other slicers gave me ideas, and when I did begin to write, ideas fueled other ideas. But this morning I found myself facing the blank page. Thankfully, my notebook saved the day. I returned to an exercise I used earlier in the challenge about looking through a junk drawer for ideas, but this time I used a junk drawer in the bathroom.

You are probably thinking that looking through a bathroom junk drawer could be dangerous, but the one I chose held mostly half-used cosmetics, samples from Estee Lauder and Clinique, and some travel-sized bottles of shampoo and toothpaste. But I also found a small gold-plated heart-shaped box engraved with “To Mommy Love Brian.” It was a birthday gift from my son when he was two. I suddenly recalled his chubby-cheeked, toddler face with his fine blonde hair looking up at me with pride and love, and I melted.

Inside the box I found a broken gold bracelet, a pony tail holder, and a small round lapel pin – CEA Volunteer. “What’s this?” I wondered. The image on the pin was an outline of a mother and child. My mind went back and back and I recalled the time I volunteered as a nursing mothers’ counselor, trained by the Childbirth Education Association of Philadelphia. It seemed to me like a lifetime ago. It was an experience that not only was rewarding, but that gave me the opportunity to meet other young mothers and share ideas as my teaching career took a different path for a time - I coached, counseled, and became a trainer myself. It was also my first experience of belonging to a volunteer organization, and that has remained a constant in my life. I thought about all the experiences that combine to make us who we are, but that may manifest themselves differently at various points along life’s journey. Deep thoughts for a Sunday morning.

5 Comments

Happy Pi Day

3/14/2015

7 Comments

My grandmother baked great pies. Mostly I remember her cherry pies – fruit with just the right tartness surrounded by a sweet filling within a flaky crust. Back then I was more interested in the bowl-licking than the crust-making, so Pillsbury helps me out a bit with that now. Allan ordered up a blueberry pie to celebrate Pi Day, and since I can’t invite you over for a taste, I thought I’d describe it in a haiku.

Blueberry Pie
plump, sweet blueberries
fill a crust of golden brown
wait to be enjoyed

7 Comments

A Seagull Convention

3/13/2015

6 Comments

Yesterday I was sitting in my car at a local shopping center when I noticed a gathering of about thirty seagulls. At first I wasn’t even sure they were seagulls since I live at least a hundred miles inland from any beach. But then I heard that familiar Caw-Caw. I was immediately transported to the shore on a summer afternoon. I could almost taste the salt water.

I wondered what the seagulls were doing and why they had gathered. I studied them for about fifteen minutes. Some were sitting on the macadam, and some were standing. All of them seemed to be looking about, their feathered heads poking in different directions. I watched as a few took off, black-tipped wings flapping, soaring higher and higher. Even more fun to watch was the landing some of the newcomers made. I found myself scoring the landings as if I were a judge at a gymnastics meet. Some nailed it with a perfect 10 while others touched down and then took a few steps. Those were more an 8 or a 9, I decided.

As I watched, lots of questions came to mind. Why were they gathering in a parking lot? Where would they be if the lot were full? Were they sending out scouts for food sources who would come back to report? Then all of a sudden, as if on cue, they all took off at once! Off to find food, I hope…or maybe the beach!

6 Comments

Back on the Trail

3/12/2015

1 Comment

My Rottie mix, Cyrus, loves to walk on the trail close to our house. It’s an old railroad track that was converted to a walking/biking trail a few years ago. We have not been to the trail in over a month for a few reasons. One, it has been super cold or icy. Two, and probably mostly, I have been sidelined for several weeks with a back issue. Not an injury exactly, but my body reminding me that there are parts I might need to care better for. Yesterday, as the temperature rose to just above 60, I could resist no longer – we were back on the trail!

There is always activity on the trail, even when it is cold. Dogs of all sizes and shapes run or walk with their owners. There are runners, walkers, mothers with strollers, dads with strollers, bike riders, and roller bladers. On really nice days, and especially on weekends, you might see all those various forms of getting around on the same afternoon!

Yesterday, Cyrus was especially happy to get back to seeing a few doggie friends. Although the trail was clear, melting snow lined either side causing trickles of water to flow, sometimes forming puddles. Of course Cyrus wanted to walk in the snow with his nose to the ground, smelling the good smells. I was happy to get back to the trail because it gives me time to think. Yesterday I was thinking about ideas for future slices. By the time we got back to the car, Cyrus was a wet and muddy mess, and I had a few writing ideas – a fun and successful outing for both of us!

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