Old So What

  It was not lost on me that I chose to start to write in earnest after my relatives, who were writers, were either in mental decline or dead. I obviously didn’t want any comparisons to turn up. There was one person about whom the following story revolved. About whom my entire world revolved at the time. It was my mother, of course. This particular story began on the morning of The Interview, an ordinary enough occasion for young girls in the 1950s who wished to enter Polite Society. As defined by people who considered themselves to be socially superior, thus allowing them to set standards of behavior for everyone else. I was 14 at the time, just slightly pretty, and exhibiting a beginning glimpse of attractiveness to come. We were late as usual. (I’m certain that when she was dying, my mother told God, “WAIT, I’m not ready yet!”) I never actually called her Mother, but rather, “Mommie” until like a slap across the face, she told me that I was too old to be calling...

  When you use a cane or a walker that you know what you’re doing.  I can tell you that you don’t from personal experience.  BUT there are videos out there (try YouTube) that can help. They can give you tips that will keep you from tripping all over yourself, as I almost did until I watched the demonstration.  Still, it is easy to trip.  So, take your time in this and everything you do.  After all, what's the rush?  You have all the time in your world.

  Have you heard of dead or dying malls? By the time you read this you’ll probably have to look up the word “mall” on-line, on-phone, on something. Malls, those places you used to go to buy things.  Some things you didn’t even know that you wanted. There was a feeling of anticipation, something good was about to happen.  Some discovery was about to be made. I never-ever get that feeling when I order on-line.   I get a feeling of dread knowing that I’ll get something messed up, some code number inverted.   (That’s why I wait for my youngest cousin to come over and ask her to do it for me.   She’s not full of dread.   She likes it! She’s a child of today. But I digress.) There’s no feeling of community when buying on-line. At least none that I can find. No bumping into people. No crowding, pushing, occasional sale-shoving, come to think of it… But now, at the time of writing this, there are tours on-line of dead, or dying malls.   If you e...

  There’s something about a monarchy that… America just doesn’t like. Oh, we ooh and aah about the beauty, precision, and discipline that the British military, for example, displays ceremonially. They are beyond compare, extraordinary, devoted. We’re impressed, maybe even fascinated but that’s as far it goes. What the British don’t see is the America spirit that can’t just go along because that’s the way it’s always been done.  Except for during war, Americans don’t like to just go along. We’re a feisty group. We still don’t want taxation without representation:  although now it comes from our own government. And all those other things that we didn’t want in 1776 at the founding of our nation, but now we have. For us we will always be a free and independent nation, that’s just the way we see it. 

  before we bought everything on-line (as we do now). On one of the most sweltering days of the year… My mom-in-law, my husband and I set out to buy a new car. It was not one of our better ideas. We went to a lot of new car dealers, and wore ourselves out. We were dripping with sweat and generally just frazzled. My husband sat in the front seat of what we hoped was our last stop. And, my mother-in-law and I climbed into the back seat. Suddenly the salesman blurted out, “I know just what you need.” And he reached from outside, down into the car… and turned on the radio.

  In our neighborhood there are a few houses that stand waiting for the owners to return.  Just waiting.  They’re not waiting to be taken over by squatters, ransacked, destroyed or hurt in any way.  They’re just waiting for the warmth of a human touch, their human; a light turned on, in the house, their light; and ownership that takes up where it left off. In our neighborhood, there are a few humans that stand waiting for the owners to return.   Just waiting.   A watchful eye is kept for our neighbors’ homes.

  Until you’re alone with no distractions, thinking your own thoughts…you will never know just who you are.  And if you don’t like that person…improve him(her).

  Stumbling Around The most terrifying thing is waking up and realizing that you forgot that you have someplace to go, or worse, realizing that you forgot you have no place to go. It was the first morning since it happened that I went out by myself. The first of November, and the temperature had turned an unnatural 77 degrees, with the sun glaring so that it seemed to have sucked up all the oxygen until the world fell breathlessly around me. Noises sped past my ears like ammunition and I started and jumped at the most innocent of sounds: an unseen neighbor yelling to someone else, a horn sounding at the intersection. Rather like an alcoholic with a hangover except that my disorientation was not due to liquor but more like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.   I started up the treeless hill toward the Suburban Trolley and waited on the right side of the tracks on a surprisingly clean brown-metal bench. The other side of the tracks had a sign on its bench: "Use the tracks ...

  At this season of the year between Christmas and New Year’s Day…I wasn’t feeling too hopeful being old, mostly alone, and fast going through the little retirement money I had left. I was making my (and my cat’s bed—we share, or really, she allows me to sleep in my own bed on whichever side of it she is not occupying at the moment). I was right in the middle of thinking that things were on a sure track to get worse…. When I heard a sound seldom heard in the house, uttered by a creature who didn’t like humanity very much or so I thought. (Somewhere before we met, she must have had an unpleasant experience with someone.) Then I put a name to the little creature, and a name to the sound. My cat was purring. A very hopeful sign, don’t you think?

  The dumbest cat is still smarter than anyone else in the room. A cat may not always know what you’re saying, but she’s willing to listen.

Unlike some people my age (in my 70’s), I do not like  going to the doctor.  I can think of better ways to socialize.

  When you live in a house with lots of people and pets, and you walk into a room that’s a total mess, you might ask the question: “What happened here?”   I was strolling through a cable channel video with no particular place to go. The subject was ghost or near-ghost towns, based on stories without happy endings. The town I zeroed in on was literally being swallowed up by its own vegetation. Sometimes a porch or a roof would stick out in protest. (You could look at a clump and think: Is there a “there” there under all that ugly, non-specific greenery?) Sometimes someone had seemed to sneak back into town to plant a few flowers or mow a lawn (showing that relatives of the original residents, or more than likely, other residents were still around), but you could see that this was a very sad place in a very sad situation, in the aftermath of some unhappy happenings.   Some place you don’t want to think about. Some place you don’t want to be.   A place you don’t e...

  Candidate Number One Yulie and I were friends. You could even say, best friends. She would cook hamburgers for us on Saturdays when her mother wasn’t home. They were really tasty and I think it may have been the only thing that Yulie knew how to cook. There used to be an expression:   Tall, Dark (meaning dark hair), and Handsome. Well, on Saturdays when her mother wasn’t home, this man would come by with his little boy, who I always found annoying. But that’s neither here nor there (another old expression). How he knew Yulie I’ve long forgotten.   I think he had started out as a friend of the family or of her mother’s. Anyway, he was short, dark of hair and, I thought, ugly. He looked as if he ought to go for a good scrub down and bathe in an astringent. He was married, but always kidded around, touching and flirting with Yulie, and to my dismay, she flirted right back. Yulie was, what we called in the 1950’s, well developed for her age. He treated her as...

  I do not enjoy being called by my first name by little children who don’t even reach my knee in height.  Who gave you permission to do this? It wasn’t me.

  Look around for pricing for cell phone service.   The rates can really vary.   I am now paying half of what I paid previously for better service.

There is nothing better for the soul,  than the quiet serenity  of watching snow fall. 

Sorry, but at my age I’ve heard every Christmas song about 2 million times. I can no longer listen to one of them without squirming.

Now showing on Netflix Starring and directed by Bradley Cooper with Carey Mulligan A movie is very much like a train. It leaves the station, and through dialog and other controls, (including the actors, the screenplay, sometimes the costumes and set design), winds itself along on the tracks of a story. With a successful film, the viewers of the movie also participate. They are right there with the director, cast and camera crew.  They are all in. But the “train” called “Maestro” leaves the station without the passengers. They are left still sitting alone on the waiting room benches. They are not taken along for the ride. This is a movie that wants to get your attention, and it does to a certain extent. Its method is a sharp, quick and innovative style. It wants to show you how different it is from other movies.  It wants to break through, to became a new genre.  Maybe it tries too hard.  It’s exhausting.  All the effort shows.  We don’t want to see “the lit...

I will admit up front that I love the melancholy sound of a Cello. It stirs the soul and takes the listener on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.  2CELLOS exemplifies the artistry, grace, and range of this timeless instrument. They cover songs from famous soundtracks to hard rock classics, while never altering their style or passion. They truly have a unique sound that can be appreciated by everyone.  My personal favorites are "Despacito," "Smells like teen spirit," "Seven Nation Army," and "My heart will go on." I now am the proud owner of their collection of cds, and stream their videos for added visual fun. My only regret is that I did not discover them until the week before they retired from touring. I will continue to support both the band and the individual artists. Do yourself a favor and give them a listen, you will not be disappointed. 

  is the glowing optimism of Cecilia Blomdahl, the host.   She looks at all glasses as being half full. She glories in the Arctic cold and wind and snow in the winter months, and in the yellow Arctic Poppies in the summer. She smiles and draws a kind of life force from the Northern Lights (Those exquisite undulating waves of color that float so high above in the sky; technically the aurora borealis.) Frankly, Cecilia is a life force all her own; seeing the adventure in life as something to run toward, something to enjoy.   She expects the best and makes the best of whatever the results turn out to be. Her optimism is contagious! Cecilia is a life force of positive expectations that just like dreams in a Disney movie, really do come true.  

  Svalbard does not allow cats because of the potential for them to escape their indoor homes, and run loose on the tundra; then perhaps stalk and eliminate the local bird populations, of which there are many during the warmer months, including: Common Cranes and Purple Sandpipers. Also, the island does not allow anyone to remain when they can no longer financially or physically take care of themselves. There are no services or care homes for the elderly, or any form of public transportation. I personally find this discrimination in its worse form:   Age-based instead of ability-based.   But would I want to live through the rough conditions, including carrying a gun to scare away (and try not to actually kill the polar bears unless absolutely necessary)? No thank you!   I pass on that one.  

  How is it possibly fair for a person to have arthritis AND acne at the same time?  I ask you!

  The father had been a minor player who had come up through the ranks by virtue of his sheer availability.   It was certainly not because of any moral fortitude or advanced level of thinking on his part. The son had been a popular college student, and then, minor entrepreneur, getting ahead whenever and however he could, who now worked on behalf of his father in whatever capacity was required. But now the work started to bother him, some of the loathsome work that he had performed on behalf of his father had left an indelible mark on his very soul. Some sins do not disappear and just go away, no matter how hard you wish them to. In order to forget the more troublesome issues, the son had slipped into some bad habits including drinking too much and too often.   Evaporating quickly was the self-delusion that the more loathsome deals he was dealing, and the wrong turns he was taking in life, were really alright. It would turn out OK in the end, he had told himself, ...

On the streaming channel that has videos on absolutely everything, there lives a channel hosted by Cecilia Blomdahl. She is Swedish but. I think that it is Norwegian that she’s speaking to her boyfriend, Christopher, and her fluffy, furry Finnish Lapphund dog, Grim. As someone who has some Norwegian heritage in her somewhere, I really enjoy hearing the language. It has a happy lilt to it! Grim is always smiling and so it seems is their spoken word, There is a happy relationship, too, between Cecilia and Christopher, both in their relationship to each other and the frozen world they inhabit inside the Arctic Circle, 500 miles from the North Pole.   But they’d be the first to admit that the true star of the show is Grim! He is a phenomenon of beauty, grace and affection.  Watching him is a total treat and you never have to worry about his care (which I always do when viewing animal shows.)  Grim is cared for superbly by his human companions.  This is a total love...

  A documentary produced by Netflix about the 2015 series of tragic events… Looking for something substantive to satiate your brain? Well, look no further, Net flix has done all the work for you! Here is all the pathos and drama of true stories that will grab your attention and not let go!   Compelling television at its best that documents the earthquake which left 3.5 million people homeless, and 9,000 people dead. N ot just individual stories but unexpected events such as the outbreak of violence that happened with the perceived favoritism of just who would be rescued by local government first, from the small village of Langtang (in the earthquake zone). The final outcome had the dramatic heroism of the Israeli military, who helicoptered in and proclaimed that everyone (not just its citizens who had called for help) had a ticket out!

Chaos first; creation coming up. The only way to create anything is to organize it out of a mess. I’m sure this is not a new theory. I had reference books, papers, dictionaries, library tomes, pets, scraps of paper, shreds of notes crinkled up and strewn all over the bed, with my husband’s photos and layouts balancing precariously from the nearby drawing board. We really got inside our work, together.  Sometimes yelling at each other to make our point.  Criticism occasionally showing it’s face with a curt: “that stinks!”  But for the most part, agreeing and encouraging; on each other’s side, each other’s best critic and even better supporter.  Filling in when creative gaps appear, shoring up, honing and enhancing our respective crafts:  graphic design, photography and copywriting.  It was sweet. Then to see the finished product, hold it in your hands, view it, read it.  Deliver it to the client and feel the kind of praise that comes from doing somethin...

  Perfume, freshly cut grass, just baked cookies? I think BACON tops them all, doesn’t it? (With apologies to all with dietary restrictions who can’t eat it.) You can just have eaten BACON, left the room, come back later, savored the BACON scent once more, and then still want more BACON!    

  Cole Porter was a composer and lyricist, and genius! He wrote this in 1935 during a pacific cruise aboard a Cunard ship traveling from Indonesia to Fiji. (Jerry Gray is also listed as a composer on this song.) To do this song justice you must, of course, listen to the melody. A sample of the lyrics to The Beguine: When they begin the beguine It brings back the sound of Music so tender. It brings back a night of tropical splendor. It brings back a memory ever green. I’m with you once more under the stars, And down by the shore an Orchestra’s playing And even the palms seem to be swaying When they begin the beguine…   …Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play Till the stars that were there before return above you, Till you whisper to me once more, Darling, I love you! And we suddenly know What heaven we’re in When they begin the beguine   …Even the palms seem to be swaying!

Let's face it, at some point we will all be faced with a doctor's appointment that will change our lives. This can be scary and completely overwhelming, but this tip can and will make things easier. Choose a close friend or family member to go to the doctor's office with you and be in the room when you hear the news. This "second set of ears" matters! While you are focused on the questions, "will I be okay," and "what do I do now," the other person can focus on what the doctor or nurse is saying. They can even take notes! While explaining the next steps in the course of action, most medical professionals will use examples of how others patients adapted to their new way of life, and those examples are important too and will not appear in the visit summary. "What did they say could help?" "What foods should I avoid specifically?" The other person can help you fill in the blanks of any parts you missed. Together you will have a...

  I had a brilliant idea the other day. But you’ll never see it. Why… Because I didn’t write it down, and forgot it. This has happened annoyingly often to me. That’s why I urge you to keep pen and paper near by both during the day and at night. Don’t lose those pearls of your wisdom.