NEW YORK CITY???

 I’ve been thinking a lot about how far it is from here to New York City. Someone once said to me that they live so far away, they would not have any idea how even to get there. I could only think of Confucius. You remember, Confucius is the one that said, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.”

One of my stops in life: TRAVEL
The Taj Mahal

At the time we were living in a community in eastern Oregon called Ontario. It is found in the Treasure Valley where some of the richest land in our country can be found. It was a beautiful place in the spring. It was green in the summer with truck farms that grew vegetables. It was a place you could easily love because of people were warm and the community wrapped its arms around you.

But occasionally a person wants to get out of town. And so I was talking about going to New York City with this person. I am a day-dreamer and she wasn’t. She said to me that she would have no idea how to even get to New York. How would you do that? Of course, I wanted to convince my husband that we should drive all the way across the country and see Chicago and the great lakes and all of those places that I’d heard and read about but had never actually seen. I’m a small town girl.

This little community of Ontario, Oregon was located on the very eastern edge of the state and to our east in the direction that you would go to get to New York City there were other communities. Nampa was the first and maybe Caldwell and then, of course, Boise, Idaho. When she said what she said, I looked at her and I said “Well, I’d go to Boise” because remember, Confucius said the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step and I saw Boise as the first step. 

They often say that life is a journey. I have left my little community of Ontario. I’m now in New York City. At the age of 81 I’m finding I like New York City a lot, but then I’ve liked Nampa and Caldwell and Boise,Idaho too. The journey of life has many stops, and some of them are beautiful and some are not but when you arrive at New York City, be sure to look around and appreciate the ride. 

I’m not a good swimmer but who knows, I may have a dream about London too.

Where are you in your life’s journey?

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*In case you didn’t know, I am really in Tucson Az. NYC just symbolizes my age.

On Figuring it Out

 

Tohono Chul Gift Shop (OLLI Field Trip…gardens and lunch)

I have never ever really been alone…not alone in a house with myself and the knowledge that this life is what I have. As you can imagine, there is a certain amount of self  examination that has to be done. Being alive is simply not enough.

My mind is so excited to learn more, create more, be more. But emotionally I have had to recover my self confidence. Simply figuring out who I am has turned out to be a real awakening.

Up until now I was always in tune with what my husband was interested in and those he chose to surround himself with. Don’t misunderstand…I did love my life with him. It was a good thing.

But now, I am not the same person. I realize so much about myself that is good and so much that has not been. While the past does not exist, it still is the benchmark that we all measure our future against. As humans we cannot continue to make the same mistakes over and over and expect a different outcome.

When I returned to Arizona in January and I found myself alone in a large house with a small dog to talk to, I knew that if I were to remain sane, I would need to look outside the front door and down the road for things to excite and interest me. Because I didn’t really have any idea how to do that, I was a little afraid. In fact I was a lot afraid. Like so many things in this life, there was not a guide book.

I slept like a baby. Not because I was sure of anything but sleep was the perfect escape. 

This is where it becomes interesting. Simply because I was bored I decided to download Turbo Tax and do my own taxes. Now please know that I did not know what I was doing but it seemed to me that learning to do that was what I needed. It was the ultimate puzzle and I loved  it. 

It amazed me when the life I had before with friends (couples) did not include me. So I also began looking for a place where people gathered. I signed up for a chair yoga class at a recreation center here in Tucson and I went to the University of Arizona to see what they had to offer in the way of adult learning organizations. I quite by accident stumbled on an organization called Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

It has been a miracle for me. I have discovered what I like and what I don’t. There is a difference you know.

I am a kind of Pollyanna and I hate to admit that I don’t like things or even don’t feel well. So admitting that I don’t enjoy a particular activity is hard for me. It is like quitting and I have never done that with something I have committed myself to.

Since joining this group of like minded people, I am feeling more confident. I drive across Tucson to take classes at the OLLI /ASU center and have joined a Walk and Talk group. I have gone to the DeGrazia Art Museum and the Toronto Chulla botanical gardens with different member groups.  I am going to a meet and greet occasion for new member of OLLI that I think with be fun. I am taking a class called Our Brain and one that features famous crooners for the 40’s, 50’s ,60’s etc.

Life it seems does go on…at least for me. For as long as it lasts I am having fun. The anxiety of being out in public is still there…do I talk too much? If I start a conversation am I seen as pushy? And so it goes. I am hoping that I am normal in those feelings but I try not to care. I am doing the best I can with what I know.

Do you have any thoughts? AND if anyone is interested, I think you should write a guide book for being alone  Any takers?

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So, what did you expect?

We bought an extended warranty for our dishwasher. Lucky us, I thought. because the warranty on the machine ran out in May. So being the wonderful most expensive best rated kind, of course it began acting up. It would only work on the super duper big 4 hour cycle. 

I called the warranty company and woke a person up from their sleep to ask for help. It was 12 noon so a bit early I guess. I have no idea what they said because I couldn’t hear them and they mumbled for about 30 minutes as they took down all the information, numbers etc. In the end,  I leaned very close to my phone even though the sound was coming directly into my hearing aids and she may have said that someone would call me within 3 to 5 business days to set up an appointment…I hung up.

My dishwasher has been running 4 hours everyday so my dished are REALLY clean. The glasses sparkle and even the food that is left on is sterile. We lived through the weekend and then waited all day Monday for a call. Only 4 more days before I call again.

We are not hopeful they ever will but then we paid for a warranty so there is that.

In the mean time the dishwasher has resumed working just fine. Hopefully it was just a glitch! But I wouuld bet good money that if I don’t get someone to check it and cancel the service it will not work next week. 

By the way, it was the computer panel that malfunctioned…of course.

How’s your week going?

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"Honey, I'm Sorry but You Tube Cannot Tell us How to Fix This!!"

 Now, let me tell you that this business we love so much...well not really a business just a hobby...of restoring old houses is hard! I mean it is really hard. Yes it can be mentally exhausting but physically? It can push you into the wall.

But most of our problems can be solve with a visit to You Tube. We have installed garbage disposals with sketchy instruction and a microwave over the stove using You Tube. My husband installed a tile floor in my bathroom in Oregon using a You Tube video. Not much cannot be accomplished using a You Tube video. We even watched a man building a log cabin last night so there you have it!

We have been officially moved in for 3 week now. We have gotten the furniture in place, hung pictures and light fixtures. The yard (my dream come true) is next to a golf course putting surface and I've got to tell you it makes my yard look very very bad. I cannot have that! But You Tube cannot help me...only hard work and chemicals can do that.

But my husband has problems of his own. The light fixture over the kitchen sink did not light and after looking at the insides of it, we decided to buy a new one...updated and beautiful. You would think that just putting up a light fixture would be pretty straight forward, right? Not true. Now we have eight wires hanging from the opening and the light in the family room over our chairs does not work nor does the switch to the outside light. What does work is totally mystifying. My husband is scratching his head and sighing a lot...we called an electrician.

We had to finally admit that there was not a video for our problem...our house was wired by a long dead electrician that might have been a little untrained! I don't know that for sure so I need to be kind.

After really taking a good look at the electrical panel outside we can see that it may need to be replaced too. Yikes!

So, here in Tucson the building and buying of real estate is very good. SOOOO, we have to wait on an electrician that is worth his/her salt. I guess Monday evening will be fine...we have only been without a ceiling light for 3 days so a couple more won't matter. I get the evening cooking done early but clean up is a little iffy in the dark!

So, that is how life is going. We love this house. I think it is because like us, it is old and a iffy...:)

How's your life going?

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Out of China: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Me

My husband was very concerned about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the very beginning. I didn't want to talk about it! That was back in January. We had ordered visa's for a trip to China and we were to leave next week...March 19th. Tickets were purchased and we were making plans from a side trip to Bali. Needless to say, we changed our plans. As we all know, this disease is about to change more and more lives. It certainly has had an effect on ours. And the beat goes on.

My son and his wife plus our grandchildren live and work in China. Thankfully they are back in the states now.

We are grateful that they are out of Shenzhen and living temporarily in their condo in the Portland, Oregon. But the battle they had getting here was not easy. Getting out of the China without contracting the Coronavirus disease was the big victory. It was very much a worry for all of us.

Chinese back street. by b

I cannot tell you the full story because I honestly do not know it all. But from our end, this is what we saw.

When Chinese New Year came around, one of the
granddaughters went away with a group of her classmates to go skiing. The rest of the family went to Thailand for a break. It seemed as normal as their life can actually seem to us.

They were all good and then all "hell" broke loose. The Coronavirus reared its ugly head in Guangzhou to spread across China and the family was spread to the four winds.

My son flew to New York City on a job related trip.

My daughter-in-law and our oldest granddaughter went back to China. But the youngest was still in Switzerland.

And China shut down...period.

A couple of days later he youngest granddaughter got off the plane from her trip and was held in quarantine because she had caught a cold on the trip. Even though her mother was at the airport to meet her, they could not connect immediately. The experience scared the child half to death.

They live in very large city that bustles as only China can and suddenly the streets were totally empty. My daughter-in-law who was alone in China with the girls said it felt like Chernobyl must have felt after the nuclear accident there. Total isolation and all that entails with the two girls was mind bending.

Fast forward a week or so. After hunting down plane tickets, they caught the "last plane out". They left the dogs with an ayi (Chinese "auntie") and came to us in Arizona. My son came here from NYC so he met them at the airport. We just hugged the stuffing out of each one of them and breathed a sigh of relief. In spite of colds and exhaustion from stress, they were fine-ish. Sorta! We were elated at the miracle of having them all under our roof. It was wonderful. They were with us a few days before they returned to Portland.

Then reality began to sink in as it continues to do to this day. The girls continued with online learning because they had already begun in China when their school did not reconvene after their bread.  Teachers teach at a distance and the girls are spending endless hours learning on the computer discovering what would have taken a short time to learn in the classroom.

With each news cast we are beginning to wonder if this is the new reality of life for the foreseeable future.

It is not apparent yet if they will ever go back to their home in China. Eventually someone will have to go to to Shenzhen to direct the move to their next job. (Yes, there is a next job.)

The reality is the girls may never connect with their friends again. In the meantime, my son who is school head for Avenues of New York Shenzhen school and my daughter-in-law who is working for an international school in Shenzhen are now working from home. All day, 5 or 6 days a week.

After the shock wore off, we are all back in step with what is real now. They have gone back to Portland where they own a condo. We remain in Arizona doing what we do. All is well...almost.

My daughter-in-law broke her knee skiing on Mt. Hood but other than that....sigh. We are beginning to be a little jumpy as you can well imagine!

But, life goes on and what is, is! I feel very grateful at this particular point in our life. They are healing and we are fine. Life is good!

Enough already! Any drama in your life?

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Are You In My Way?

My husband and I were downtown here in Portland. We were having breakfast in a restaurant called Tasty and Taylor...located, you guessed it, on Taylor. I was facing the restaurant full of people. My husband was facing the window. He loves watching the world go by.

That particular corner is busy with pedestrians. The homeless, people with babies or dogs in strollers, upscale tourist walking, bicyclists and runners.

To set the scene you need to know that free orange bikes are parked everywhere and there is the occasional motor scooter. I think those might be free to those who want a quick ride too.

The streets even have a big green stripe down the middle in some places to accommodate all of those vehicles.

On this particular day someone had parked an electric scooter near a lamp post over just across the street from our restaurant.

Got the picture?

So I will give you one guess as to who intentionally knocked the scooter over...the homeless, people with babies or dogs in strollers, upscale tourist walking, bicyclists or the runners.

It was the woman with the stroller and a baby on board.

I guess it was in her way. It seems being in the way is a big problem these days. We need t-shirts...don't get in my way...they should say.

We have traveled around the world and in those cultures where women are less valued, I might get pushed into the street if I don't get out of the way. Women are in the way a lot in those places.

In San Miguel Allende, MX any one facing the traffic is expected to step out into the street because the walkways are only one person wide. If you don't, I discovered, you will be bumped into or pushed aside.

I am seeing all of that here in the USA. In fact, being in the way is a sign of the times.

What do you think?

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Following the Cow Path

The Path of Least Resistance

I’m sure you know why roads are as windy as they are. Back in the beginning when the world was younger, people walked or rode an animal. They took the path of least resistance. Hence the winding road across the landscape. Houses grew up along those path and communities and farms grew but the path remained the same. Streets and back roads followed in that same manner making the villages and countryside that grew around them look like jigsaw puzzles.

Times have changed but in a way that is the how we all live...taking tha path of least resistance. Humans have not changed it seems.

My husband and I are not alike in anyway. We have moved out lives around each other and live a twisted and windy life.

I had never really seen that in us until just recently. We bought a townhouse last year and built a new life here in a townhouse development in Tucson. The floor plan is different, our small backyard is not the same as anything we have ever had. And the list goes on.

My husband has always been very ergonomically correct. He never pushed his golf cart one step further than he had to. He figured out the direct route right away. I always admired his way of doing things in that regard.

I am all about the esthetics. I never have considered whether a piece of furniture was in the way if it looked good in place. If we had to walk around the end of the couch to get to the back door, I thought that was okay. You can see how my ergonomically correct husband might be put out with that way of doing things.

Once I hooked into what was going on, I realized that I just needed to put the furniture in the room and see where it ended up. If the chair kept moving across the room that is where it needed to be. Our deck now has the two chairs close to a fire pit table and not in the corner with flowers around it. I thought it looked beautiful when in actuality it did not function like it should.  It is just fine. In fact, it is better, more ergonomic and we both like it.

Lessons learned:

• Remember, if you are going to share a space whether it be at an office or at home, compromise is the key to a happy life.
• Happy wife, happy life is not necessarily the best way.
• If you think a dog would be better, I am so sorry. Get a dog and see what I mean.

I know that there more lessons in life here. What do you think they are.

Have a wonderful day.

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Dying: The Subject We All Avoid

This lady was very old and could
barely walk but she put on all her jewelry
and traveled around the west. I was
 fascinated with her attitude.

Aging is not easy. Getting old is a frame of mind. Young people try to wrap their mind around what to do and what it is like but fail. Old people like to ignore it. It is the subject we all try to avoid but sooner or later must face...dying!

My husband and I lived in a RV Resort in the winter for many years. We and our friends gathered very much like college students to reconnect and party or dance or play golf. We laughed and had happy hour every night. It seemed that we lived so close that we wanted to yell "Good Night John Boy" when we went to bed.

It was a very happy time, all-be-it much too short. But it did have to come to an end.

Year before last my husband and I decided to leave the park and find a small home with families and children and traffic. We were not ready to live with ghosts.

Within that time almost everyone in our RV neighborhood was gone. Some did not return because of ill health or simply by choice. Some died...one friend committed suicide. One couple in their eighties divorced. Some, like ourselves, found a new place to visit in the winter.

But in the end, the reality was that our community of people was gone. New owners have moved in and not one original owner was left. The specter of the ghosts was too much for us.

In the end, our family members are
 our "real" friends. We count on them.

Aging is not easy but getting old is a frame of mind. You can move on if you are not ready to sit down and watch the world die around you.

And is is a subject not even I want to discuss. No candy glazing can change what reality is like. I miss those friends and neighborhood community.

I do need for you to know that I have good memories and my husband and I are continuing to grow and built new communities of friends. Many of our old friends remain close so that is good. We are happy.

Many of our friends are our children's age.
They are very important to us.

So, what do you feel about the way your life is going? Have you sat down to wait it out or are you going to make a few new beginnings?

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But what I love most of all is watching the
children take on the big tasks...like eating
the whole drumsticks in life.

More and More Like a Pregnant Mother

Am I getting ready to have a baby? Honestly, I am going through a period where I want to clean out that extra bedroom and put in bunk beds and make it beautiful for children.

It started with the closet in our dining room. That closet is our "basement" of sorts. We don't have a real one so it has to do.  In the past week I have gone through boxes of art supplies and laid my hand on all that I own. I love owning that stuff.

Then I opened a kitchen cabinet and began dragging out antique kitchen stuff that was gifted to my husband (of 80 years) when he was a little boy by a long dead sister. I just set it on the kitchen counter wondering...why?

Last night I was telling my daughter-in-law that we needed more beds.

What is going on here. I am not pregnant and there will be no baby. Do all people my age go through this need to get ready for heaven only knows what?

I wonder.

How is your life going?

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Aging and Medicare: The Wonders of the Preventative Healthcare Exam

I had an aunt that did not tell the doctor about her problems. Her thinking was if the doctor did not ask about things, then it must not be important. She depended on a mind reader to help her. She died of a heart attack at the age of 65.

The State of Denial is not a
healthy state to live in!

It turns out that in her case it would have been a wonderful thing if there were a list of questions that might have inspired her to open up a little.

But now, because of  Obama Care, a yearly preventative health care screening is available free. That visit to the clinic is all about a professional asking the right questions.

The simple fact that those of us on Medicare are given the access to a yearly preventive healthcare check-up is a miracle in itself. It took me several years to figure out how wonderful that is. As it turned out it is was less than I thought but more than I needed, if that makes sense. (Medicare provided preventive healthcare exam guidelines listed here.)

In the sense that it is less, I had believed that the yearly physical exam was a part of the deal. Like so many others, I was surprised that a yearly physical was not included. But, in the end that did not turn out to be a bad thing.

Obamacare, cover[s] free preventive services and so-called wellness visits but [does not include] free annual physicals. (LA Times)

The "more" is what I really appreciate. A nurse practitioner can do so many things in that time they spend with us. Medications are discussed and can be updated if needed, a small memory test is given and other simple preventative measure are taken care of by a nurse practitioner. Lab tests can be ordered by that person if they are necessary too.

There is no complete physical in the sense that we experienced years ago. The healthcare profession realized that it was a costly process and didn't do much good. To many people were slipping through because the doctors weren't asking the right questions while they were looking up our nose and into our ears.

The doctor is given more time to deal with bigger issues. The cost is less for the insurance company I think.

I went to the doctor today so I could get acquainted with my new general practitioner. She asked all the right questions and took the time to discuss existing conditions.

So it turns out that it is the conversations that have made all the difference. Not only have those inquiries made the health care professionals more aware of what to ask, it has also forced someone like me to face what is wrong or bothering me. I forget that I need help until the question is asked.

At my age (almost 77) issues with aging are bound to pop up. Luckily for me everything can be fixed but even if they couldn't, just talking about what is needed does help so much.

My husband and I both agreed in our "after doctor appointment breakfast" that we go in the doctor's office  thinking to ourselves "I am fine. I feel great. I am so lucky. I honestly don't know why I am here."

We are in denial. That attitude kicks in the minute we walk through the clinic door.

We both have major health problems that need addressing but, because our doctors have things under control, we forget.

So when the assistant asked me if he could check my feet for numbness because I am pre-diabetic, I was surprised...I feel just fine! When my doctor suggested a visit with a specialist for joint pain, I was delighted that she saw that I was in pain. When she let me know that testing for blood sugar was a very good idea, and that I need to keep a record so she could see what was happening, I noted that and will do what she asked.

Grateful could be the only word I would use to describe how appreciative I am for all those people that worked to make our healthcare system better.

Living in the state of denial is not smart. There you have it.

I hope you are finding the positive in our health care specialists and are proactive if you feel you have a problem. Take good care of yourself.

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Coming Up For Air

I do  know that there are words we can use that will get us a lot more traffic. Cuss words work as do anything about being a snowbird.

Yes that is me in the left lense!

Knowing that, I just want you to know that I will not be cussing or talking about retirement today. Keywords be damned! (Opps)

Here is the deal. My husband usually move a lot. We do not paint a house the second time for ourselves. We paint the second time so that someone else that enjoy our really clean and fresh house. Then we move and repeat the process because no one else does what we do!

I just need to let you know...we are not moving. The question is, "Will I actually clean and paint just for myself"

There are other options and I seem to like them a lot more than cleaning and painting.

• I could change the header on my blog. I have some very cool new pictures.
• I could go outside.
• I could to Ace and choose paint samples and never buy new paint.
• I could invite friends in and ask their opinion.
• I could invite my daughter in and ask her opinion.
• I could just keep moseying along and not change a thing, even though I am bored to death.

What would you do if you were a little bored and considered moving just to keep yourself entertained? I am interested
...and a little nuts!

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Retirement Lifestyle: New Computer Requirements

I have always had an Mac computer...since the beginning of Steve Job's computer life we have owned a Mac or Apple or iMac or an iPad or an iPhone, an iWatch, etc. (Is there more?) I don't think it is a religion but it might be. I do feel compelled to scoff at PC users as they do me. But that is not a religion is it?

Anyway, times they are a-changing for me. I am not that fired up about change most of the time and it is not necessarily welcome. So that "changing" did not happen overnight. There was a big bang that started it all. The chain of events went like this:

My computer (the big iMac) was smashed on the way home of Arizona and now has a big ouchy on it's upper right hand corner. In this particular case, the Gorilla glass just couldn't take the punch it received. In hide-site, I think that the security people at the airport opened my bag, unpacked my bag and then repacked my bag and did not secure the computer the way it was secured when we packed it. There was a note inside telling me they had taken a look but I think they did more than that. The suitcases shifted in the back of the van so when we arrived home and my grandson opened the back hatch door, the suitcase fell out. Thankfully it did not hit and kill the grandson. It did hit the concrete on it's corner. The suitcase was just fine but the computer was not. The suitcase cost less than $100 but the computer was well over $1000.


Yes, I called everyone imaginable but no one could/would help. Sooooo. I was in the market for a new computer. That was on April 25.

I have been thinking about this since. Because the really broken Mac still works fine, I had the luxury of time. But, my husband and I both knew that the Mac could not take another trip on the airplane. If I was going to write for the six months we spend in the desert in the winter, I was going to need something to write on.

Yesterday, we went to the local mall and we visited the Apple Store. It wasn't until I stood in front of the computers that I realized I did NOT want another computer. I wanted more.  I wanted the luxury and portability of an iPad and its touch screen plus the functions of my computer.

Bottom line, we bought a 12 inch iPad Pro and a keyboard that attaches. It is absolutely beautiful and will do just what I want it to do. When I opened the online Blogger App it was exactly the same as my computer. I felt right at home.

I did struggle a little bit setting it up. I forgot the passcode, had to learn to restore the device, forgot to write down the passcode a second time but I finally landed on my feet. We are set to go. So here I am writing on an iPad and not noticing any difference. Isn’t that wonderful?

Have your needs changed at all? Are you still using the same computer as always? How old is it? Is it a PC or a Mac? Keep me posted.

Have a beautiful day!

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Aging: A Story about Love

Terra Vina Vineyard

Young love is somehow pushed aside as we grow older. It gets harder and harder to remember what that was like...well at least for me.

But, there are people out there that have such a powerful story to tell that the look on their faces tells me that they have not forgotten and never will.

Yesterday my husband and I attended a wine dinner set among the vines with the misty valley spread out below. We sat across the table from a couple about our age. His name was Peter. I have never know a Peter so the visit began.

Then he introduced his wife. Minila she said when I asked her to repeat her name. It flowed off her tongue with an accent I didn't recognize. I'm a Czech she said quickly.

Are you a Czech too Peter? I asked. No, he said. I come from Portland. 

But how....?

We were pen pals was his response. He asked Do you really want to hear this story?

Well yes I did...yes I did!

Pen pals? I have never know anyone to marry their pen pal. I have never know anyone named Peter. I have never know anyone that got married when one of them lived in Portland and the other in Czechoslovakia. How did that happen?

The wonder of it all was that he was not in the military He was going to Lewis and Clark when he decided that he wanted a pen pal that spoke German. He read a magazine called USSR and came up with the idea that maybe a magazine could help. How about a magazine from Poland? That was close enough. So he wrote to a magazine called simply "Poland" suggesting they add a pen pal column to their magazine.

But there was no answer, he changed colleges and gave up on the idea. It was about that time he decided to go to Vienna to study that Lewis and Clark began getting mail for him from Europe...lots of mail. It came and came...so many letters he could not keep up with them.

But he did open them and finally selected one from a girl from Czechoslovakia. She wrote beautiful English. It was Minila. The year was 1965. He began giving all the other letters away to friends until he ran out of friends.

She was barely out of high school when she decided to find a pen pal from the United States so she could practice her English because she wanted to study the language in college. She saw the pen pal column in a magazine.

Two prospects popped up...one from New York City and another from Portland, Oregon. Her father wouldn't let her answer the NYC fellow...he will be over here in a flash he told her. The guy from Portland was selected. He will never make it here from that far was her father's thinking.

When the first letter from her arrived in Portland, Peter answered right back and told her he would be in Vienna in a month. Could he come and see her? Needless to say, her father was worried.

After Peter visited her on four different occasions, one bringing along his father and mother, they became engaged.

They are still in love, share the food off their plates and finish each other's sentences. They have been married for 53 years. I am in love with their story. Wow!

Life is good!

Have you ever had a pen pal?

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Sometimes all the Important thing are in your own Front Yard!

My Own Front Yard

It's a Wonderful World!

My Irish

My Library Box

In My Library Box

It's a Wonderful World

Have a wonderful day!

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When the Jehovahs Witness Come to Call...

"No, I'm not interested in salvation... but 
can I interest you in a glass of wine?"

I know I am living in the real world. The Jehovah's Witness ladies came to call this morning...before I was even dressed. It has been so long since that has happened that I was surprised they still did that! We exchanged a very few words and we were done. It was kinda nice!

See, I have lived in upscale condos, 55+ neighborhoods and even an RV resort with a guard. The Witness people don't usually visit in those places.

Now we live in a middle class neighborhood with townhouses and people, young and old, that work hard. There are no gates or any upscale anything. It is just real people living in a real place.

I like that a lot. The real world works for me...even when the Jehovah's Witness get me out of bed. I probably sleep too much anyway.

Where do you live?

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Golfing: The Art of Composure and More

Thoughts on the Game of Golf

I play golf  and I am not very good at the game. But still, hope springs eternal and I keep trying to get just a little better at the sport. I have played the game for almost 20 years now, I have taken lessons, been instructed by my husband and his friends but still the whole thing eludes me. In spite of all that, I have managed to learn so many things that have nothing to do with the game. I suppose it has become worth the exercise in the impossible for me.

I keep a list of thoughts stored away in mind...some of them are swing thoughts but most are thoughts on patience, composure and waiting. If you are even a little interested you might take a minute or two to read:

1. The longer the list of swing thoughts the worse the results. Keep it simple.
2. Golf is a game played with rules and a person that is relaxed and comfortable in their own skin plays a better game that one that is tied up in knots.
3. Golf truly is played in the 6 inches between our ears.
4. The game of golf is not about you. If you are throwing a temper tantrum it ruins everyone's game...not just yours.
5. Golf is about momentum. Keeping on the move does help one's game.
6. Keeping one's focus will help everyone around you. No notice taken of a bad shot is better than pity.
7. Waiting is good for one's soul. It takes patience and composure to wait with grace. Impatience just makes you crazy! 
8. Forgiving oneself is hard but necessary. A slight by a playing partner is not important but what we think about our self is.
9. In the game of golf we always compete with our self. If we are keeping track of someone else's score, something is wrong.
10. Even though we play against our self, I always remember that if we also compete in the game with others, trust is involved. A cheater only cheats them self and the person that calls someone else a cheater is an unhappy person. 

Just add these thoughts to the game of life. No wonder the 1st Tee program for young people is so important.

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In the Next Booth

As you have all suspected, I am a bit of an eavesdropper. If you are sitting in the next booth I will know what you are talking about, whether I am interested or agree with you and will even sneak a peek to see what you look like and how old you are. I am interested in you even when I shouldn't be.

So today (Sunday) my husband and I headed to downtown Tucson for breakfast at The Cup cafe located inside the old Congress Hotel. The Cup is a local favorite. We were told we would have a 50 minute wait so we just wandered around and I took more pictures of the interior. I have been doing that very thing for many years.

The old Congress Hotel was the place where
John Dillinger was found and captured in 1934

I always wonder how our next booth experience is going to work out no matter who is sitting beside me. This was one of those Sunday morning experiences that make me smile.

We were seated very quickly inside near a window next to a family of four. Mom and dad and two boys aged around 9 and 5. The older boy was inching over away from his mom very near to my husband because that is what 9 year old boys do.

Isn't he a cutie?

As most parents will do, the mother apologized for the little boy's behavior and we struck up a conversation. I like children and find myself talking to them without even realizing what I am doing. We told them how we missed our grandchildren when we came to Tucson to stay...all 12 of them and plus one great-grandchild. It was not long before the parents offered to lend us their children (jokingly) adding that while we may be wanting to go back to Oregon soon, a few minutes with a 5 and 9 year old would bring us to our senses and we would not go home to our grandchildren at all. That made me laugh.

The littlest boy offered me his coloring page. It was such a sweet gesture He had heard me say I missed my grandchildren like him.

He had written "pretend" words across the top of his coloring and I "pretend" read them back to him. His amazement at what he had written showed on his face as did the pleasure at being affirmed in his efforts.

"The cactus is on the mountain and the sun is coming up!" I read to him.
[Squint your eyes and you can "pretend" see the sentence. :)]

Have a wonderful Sunday!

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I Invented the Computer! he said.

I wrote this article back in 2012. Russell Kirsch is a hero of mine. He called me on the phone what day many years ago so I wrote about it. I will never forget that conversation. This is a follow up for that article.

If you love Dilbert, you will understand why I loved the reappearance of Russell Kirsch in a article written for BoingBong. In case you don't know, Kirsch was the man that took the very first digital image and it was of his son. That was back in the 1950's. Kirsch loves a good laugh I think. That is why he says things like "I invented the computer"!  Not that the statement is untrue but just because those kind of statement do get your attention. 

BoingBoing had a story the other day about a man that had an encounter with Mr. Kirsch in a coffee shop. The encounter started with Kirsch saying, 

"That’s the problem with a lot of people”, ...“they don’t try to do stuff that’s never been done before, so they never do anything, but if they try to do it, they find out there’s lots of things they can do that have never been done before."  

When the much younger man asked what the old man had done, Kirsch said simply "I invented the computer." WOW! I am sure the young man wondered if that was true? I expect this incident to appear in a cartoon one day soon much like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet. But here is the truth...Russell Kirsch is a very interesting and important man in the world of "inventing the computer".

As it turns out, I talked with Mr. Kirsch back in 2007 after I wrote a blog post about him (I had spelled his name wrong but really he just called to say thank you). He told me his story of being a young man involved in the thermonuclear weapons calculations. This was during the cold war era in the 1950's. As I understand it, that program was the impetus for the building of the first programmable computer here in the United States. Kirsch had been a part of that program and he was the young man. An article published in the Oregonian in 2007 tells us:

Russell Kirsch with the 
image the first digital image.
2007 edition of the Oregonian

In 1957, Kirsch was a computer programmer -- a job category that, at the time, must have seemed closer to magician than to engineer. Kirsch and an elite team worked with SEAC, the Standards Electronic Automatic Computer, the federal government's first electronic programmable computer.

As he was telling about his work on thermonuclear weapons calculation (programming?), I think he mentioned the International Ballistic Missile program. He told me how he played with the computer on his own time...without the knowledge of his superiors probably. We all know that Dilbert's boss would have gone ballistic over something like that...no pun intended. Kirsch may have spent a little bit of the company's time playing too but he didn't say that. Sounds familiar doesn't it? He laughed softly as he told the story. I had read an article in the Oregonian the day before (2007) about him. They told about the first digital image taken with a device he created using the the government programmable computers. That first snapshot was a picture of his son, a small baby at the time. The Oregonian told how that image was chosen by Life Magazine as one of the pictures that changed world. We all know digital photography is a wonderful addition to our world.

When I last talked to Mr. Kirsch he and his wife, an art historian I believe, were working on an Apple program looking at replicating art on the computer. I hope that research has been used somewhere in our cameras or computers today.

So did Russell Kirsch invent the computer? Well yes and no. Was he a man on the list of people that helped accomplish that task? Yes he was. Was he a man that changed the world in a very big way? I think so. But best of all I think he has a wonderful sense of humor that leads him to watch the face of a young nerds as he blows them out of water when he says, "I invented the computer." I love that a lot! And you might like to know that Russell Kirsch is in his 82 year of life...amazing!

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Note: the original article is not available on Blogger anymore. I do have it printed somewhere but it is probably in Oregon and I am in Arizona. Darn.

On A Lighter Note...

Don't hurry me, I did know you are waiting....it will come soon.

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On Sharing With Ants, etc.

 Somewhere in this yard, an ant
colony is hiding. I don't know what I would
do if I actually found it. I have a hard time
murdering ants! Sigh.

I suppose I wrote last year about sharing my life and my house with ants. If I didn't well here is the way it is. Ants crawl everywhere and are impervious to almost every formula to rid the house of them.

They mock me at every chance. A stray crumb can become a big reminder that they have no respect for the clean kitchen. If I drop ONE they are just waiting to gather around and do a big crumb dance before toting it back to the ant hill where they will spread the word and a thousand more will come in search of more.

They don't like mint very much so I spray a mixture of essential mint oil on the counters and let it dry. That does keep them at bay but, because I don't use mint perfume, they crawl up my arms at the speed of lights and wander willy nilly around my neck. Just telling about it makes me itch.

Yet, I somehow find the little creatures charming. They form a line to and from the nest. They kiss every ant they pass going back and forth passing the secret of the crumb quest. It is really is so fun to watch.

I have not been sick so I don't think they are carrying anything that I will be affected by. Still, it just doesn't seem right to share my house with ants.

Like the squirrels we watch every day yet don't want to share anything with, the ants would be very welcome if they would just stay out of the house. They really are their own worst enemy.

As for the squirrels, I was fine with them until they tore my deck furniture apart to build a nest. But that is another story!

Have a wonderful day!