Spider Webs of Life

 Devian Art 

arielundrdasee

If an aging spider were to spin its web

Across my mind

let it be a blanket of

warm remembrance.

If an aging spider were to make a home

In my shoe

Let it be a spider that

Loves adventure.

If an aging spider were to come

To live by my side

Let it be a book spider

Spinning words in the air.

If an aging spider were to

Whisper in my ear

Let the words be

A plan for life to come.

Beautiful loops of

Fanciful dreams

Spun by a aging spider

Just for us.

Written for One Single Impression and Monday Poetry Train.

Writing and poetry are hobbies that I began to pursue after I retired.  Come and join me.

b

The Acai Berry and Me...no miracles here!!!

There are so many dietary supplements on the market today and we are bombarded with the idea that aging can somehow be reversed or stopped.  Products that promise a better night sleep or renewed energy have been around for years. I, for one, am a skeptic.  How about you?  Have you ever taken melatonin to get a good nights sleep after flying across the ocean?  Or how about that new wonder berry the acai (a sigh ee)?  I have tried both.  The melitonin did give me a few hours of rest but I thought it was a waste of my money.  As for the acai I am now taking a tablespoon of the juice in the morning.  I just wanted to share some of the information that has come out on legitimate websites about the berry and it's effects.  Wikipedia has good basic information.  They said:

Marketers of these products (company name deleted) make claims that açaí provides increased energy levels, improved sexual performance, improved digestion, detoxification, high fiber content, improved skin appearance, improved heartimproved sleep, and reduction of cholesterol levels. Quackwatch noted that "açai juice has only middling levels of antioxidants—less than that of Concord grape, blueberry, and black cherry juices, but more than cranberry, orange, and apple juices." Furthermore, the extent to which antioxidants^[2] According to the Washington, D.C. based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) thousands of consumers have had trouble stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they cancel free trials of açai-based products. ^[3][4] health, by themselves promote health is a matter of some debate. No credible evidence suggests antioxidants promote weight loss.

However....(giggle) I do take a tablespoon of acai juice everyday.  Did I loose 15 pounds in the first week as claimed online?  Noooooooo!  Thank heavens for that! But I do think my digestion and lower intestinal track is working better than before.  Really I don't want to talk about bodily functions at all....ever.  So all I will say is this fruit juice is really tasty and if it has a positive effect on my plumbing then I am all for it!  If it has even one of the other benefits mentioned then it is win win for me.   I do not expect that to happen.  Ordinarily I would discuss taking something like this with my physician so I will mention it to him when I go in for a physical.  I am not diabetic nor do I have any other maladies that would be effected by fruit juice.  I just wanted to let you know that it did not make me sick, cause diarrhea or turn me purple.  All of those things are good in my world.

There are a lot of scams (see quackwatch) out there talking about rapid weight loss and feelings of exhilaration/high energy.  Most are very costly.  Some of those products are acai pills sold in conjunction with other supplements.  I don't think that we should mess with our bodies in a way that would cause us to drop several pounds a day or even "cleanse" our system in the way that they suggest.  I personally believe that too much can go wrong, especially when you are a senior citizen.  You should avoid the wild claims made by online scam artists.  Grocery stores with knowledgeable sales people that specialize in organic food and high quality supplements is a good source for this product and one I use frequently.  Please note that you should not expect anything miraculous...sorry!!!!

I just thought you would want to know.

Have a great day!

b

Related Links

Oprah.com (acai super food)
Secrets of the Blue Zone (Oprah.com)

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What do I do all day? Retirement Pace of Life

Back in August US News and World Report files a story called What Do Retirees Do All Day?  A blog called Contemporary Retirement posted the link to the blog along with a comment I found very interesting.

What do retirees do all day?  According to this US News report, they linger slightly longer over food, sleep, shopping and household chores, and watch 4 hours of TV each day, compared to the 2 and a half hours that the rest of us watches.

Not exactly inspirational is it?  And will food, sleep, shopping, household chores and TV be enough to keep you feeling happy, engaged, enthused and productive?  

Ann Harrison from the UK writes the blog and bills hereself as a "retirement coach".   She works at helping people plan for and then enjoy a happy fullfilling retirement.  When I began to think about the idea of actually learning how to be retired I found it very interesting.  My one goal when I retired was to never get up in the dark again!  Not much of a plan really!  My husband and I just made it up as we went along. Thank heavens it has worked out for us.

My husband and I have been retired 13 years (I think).  Time flies and stuff happens.  We are very active seniors...at least that is the way I see it.  True we don't rush to shop or eat our meals.  We sleep late and have coffee in bed EVERY morning.  We also golf, travel, take care of grandchildren, read and work at learning more about those things that interest us.  I began blogging a few years ago and spend at least one hour a day writing, sometimes more.  I love the pace of our life.  Unlike Ann Harrison, I think lingering over a meal is healthy.   

But the point here is that we need to remain aware of what we are doing with our lives.  We could easily slip into a life dominated by TV, sleep and food.  While not everyone wants to volunteer or take up hobbies we all need to remain mentally and physically active.  We all need a "job" to be done or a "goal" to be achieved.  Linger over your meals, sleep late if you want too.  Just remember that you will enjoy that leisure a lot more if it is complimented by a task that leaves you feeling fulfilled!

Have a wonderful day.

b

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I don't believe in the GOOD OLD DAYS!!! I believe in the future!

Image via Wikipedia

Did the cave man bemoan children drawing pictures on the cave wall saying, "I remember back before we discovered fire and we actually talked to each other." 

People tell me that back in the "good old days" we did things a bit differently.  That is what they say.  It is not as clear to me as it is to some.  This morning we received an email from a friend lauding the wonders of the good old days.  The good old days it seems were perfect.  We went swimming in clear blue streams, there were no video games, we ate hamburger and lettuce prepared on the same surface with no ecoli illness and you received a good spanking when you hurt yourself goofing off at the neighbor's house.  It all sounds so appealing and simple.

SEX was whispered information and surviving the flu happened without pills and many times without a visit to the doctor.  At least that is the way people remember it.  The reality was we took long rides over slick roads to a doctor that dispensed huge penicillin shots plus narcotic pills to kills the pain. Those that did not have cars went to a local nurse that used the same dull needle over and over for shots that did no good.

The little stream we swam in bore the water the ran near the outhouse.  We got very sick.  Our mothers knew that bad water might make us sick.  when the outhouse tipped over in the river, we were not allowed to swim there anymore.

I just don't believe that the good old days were better.  I saw the neighbor man chased his children around the house with a belt so he could beat them.  Children died in fires and of the flu.  Pedaphiles scared us to death and the doors were locked at night.  "Drugs" were not a threat to our homes but alcoholism was a rampant problem.  Women were beaten by angry men. Infidelity lurked behind closed doors.  If you have ever read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" written before WWII you will see that the more things change the more they stay the same.

It is pure bunk when we think things were so much better then!  Those old houses that we were so proud to own are home to people still.  The way I remember it people took care of those old houses but that might not be true.  I know that those houses are very rundown now.  I don't know why...maybe the people that live there now are sad or beaten.  I know that back when I was a child the people were.  It could be that they are not dissatisfied in those houses today.  Maybe they like where and how they live.  We certainly did.

Child abuse, disease, accidents and dependence on drugs/alcohol are still problems. The fact that we are more aware of these problems is all that has changed.  We live longer so memory's sharp edges are worn smooth...I have some doubts about the value of that.  But we don't throw our arms up in the air and ignore problems like we once did.  I like that a lot.  Humans should be repairing any damage they create and protecting the innocent...other wise they are no better than animals.

Incidentally, I was raised in a very small town in Eastern Oregon.  Everyone worked but many barely survived.  Children went to school without coats.  Many were not clean.  Most people worked in a local mine or for Union Pacific Railroad.  We thought we were very lucky and loved where we lived.  We were proud!  We did not live in the "good old days".   We just lived in an era marked by community pride.  We saw through eyes that ignored the bad and focused on the good!

The good old days are being lived out by children today.  They too will talk about "back when I was a child...."   And so it goes.

Have a wonderful day!

 b

Simplicity...the best medicine of all!

Our senior life style keeps us busy with friends.  We travel to Arizona in the winter where we have founds friends from around the United States, Canada and even Ireland.  We are just in heaven!

I have many, many friends here.  Several are close friends, others dear to my heart.  I cannot separate the two.  Today I decided that I could not wait to give my gift to two of my walking, golfing, talking, girl friends.  Mary and Carole are just a miracle for me...late in life I actually have found women that could have been sisters.  My friend, Virginia is spending Christmas in Portland with her family.  Her apron is waiting on her.  I am an only child so I am sure you can understand how amazed I am.

My gifts were aprons I made this summer.  Now let me tell you, I am not a seamstress...my sewing is very imperfect but every stitch has a little bit of me in it...and there were lots of stitches put in, torn out and then put in again.  Mary and Carole were so thrilled it just made me want to cry...how could any two people make me feel so special?  It was wonderful.

My friend Carole is recovering from back surgery so we walked this morninng.  Her right hip had hurt all last winter.  Today, when we walked, it was her left hip that hurt!  The "walking wounded" is what we are now.  We laughed, shared stories and enjoyed the cool but sunny day.  Then, when we returned to my home, my husband made coffee, served pumpkin bread donated by Mary and we talked for a very long time.  Gosh, I love my life! 

If you are reading this and wondering where I am going, here is the bottom line...come on down and heal in the sunshine.  Bring a trailer or what ever you have, join in the fun.  I even told a friend to come and live like "trailer trash" for a while.  It is good for the soul!  For the "walking wounded" simplicity is the best medicine of all.

Have a great week.

b

Tucson, Arizona Day on the Golf Course

Sometimes the ghost of the moon peeks over the top of the Rincon Mountains during daylight hours.  When you click on the image and it appears in full scale, you will be able to see the moon in the middle just above the horizon.  Today it was just too beautiful not to photograph.  I would love to catch it at sunset when the mountains have that beautiful pink hue.  Erika Jean has one on her blog and I am very envious.

In Tucson the mountains that surround us are listed in alphabetical order going clockwise around beginning with the Catalinas in the north.  The list reads like this:  Catalina, Rincon, Santa Ritas and the Tucson Mountains.  The views are gorgeous as the sun goes down.  The mountains turn from pink to purple.  Even though it may be very warm in the afternoon, by the time the sunsets this time of year, it will be in the low 60s. 
Today we played golf at the Forty Niner Country Club on the east side of Tucson.  This course was once home to the Tucson Open. While not a pristine resort course like that found at Arizona National, it is still a wonderfully challenging course.  We have a Wildcat Card and the one we purchased gives us 7 rounds of golf plus one for my husband's birthday.  We can use the card at a number of courses in Tucson and in Green Valley during November through January and again later in the spring.

The pictures I have posted here today were taken on the golf course.   Houses that have been built on the course are for the most part in the Santa Fe style.  The one your see pictured above was  beautiful.

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday week...Happy Thanksgiving to all.

b

Happiness Paradox: When less makes us happier!

Nancy Gibbs over at Time.com asked the question:

So why is it that at least some aspects of the Great Recession of 2009 appear to have made people feel better.

Gibbs posted an article yesterday saying that people are feeling very positive about their lives!  It seems that bad time are not dampening the spirits of people.  Could it be that when the "expectation bubble" burst people were relieved?    Even though people might be spending less for gifts this Christmas, it may be they are ready to return to the true meaning of our holiday spirit .  In the past expectations for more and more "things" under the tree had put pressure on the pocket books of families and credit cards had become their only choice.  Now they may find that expectations are less and therefore the pressure to spend more than they have has decreased.  I loved what  Gibbs had to say at the end of her article on the Happiness Paradox and the American Dream:

It [happiness] gets bigger when we don't care if it [American Dream] gets smaller; we stopped buying all the stuff we didn't need that was supposed to make us happier, and we seem to be happier for it. And who would have expected that.

Those if us that are senior citizens feel the same pressure to keep grandchildren happy and live up to the expectations of our family.  While the seniors I know are less likely to spend more than they have, they are more likely to sacrifice in order to give gifts to family members.  In today's climate of lessening expectations they will feel more comfortable with what they are able to give.  Hopefully, this year of reality check will bring about more appreciation for personal contact and less emphasis on financial rewards.

We can only hope.

b

This blog was posted on Right Health.com

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