I have been lingering for several weeks now at the foot of the mountain I spoke about in an earlier blog (Top of the Mountain). I’ve been in a mellow, dull state, most definitely uninspired. Days passed, I napped most afternoons. Early to bed, late to rise. My husband requests Alexa play the music from…
Category: aging
RIP, My Friend Betsy
Several years ago I joined a tour group to see a part of Japan that’s relatively hard to get to as a foreigner. I’d requested a single room when I traveled because I’d learned from taking other tours I needed “time off” from the rest of the group when the day was done. At…
Thanks for the Work!
I was feeling close to retirement last year. I got bogged down with some of the less-than-sexy-details of working within a non-profit organization. Occasionally, it has its challenges. I also got overly involved in thinking about my age. My wise adult children refused to consider it. “You’re not retiring!” one daughter angrily insisted. “What, are you…
Watch Your Step!
“Watch where you’re walking,” my husband tells me repeatedly when we’re out for a stroll. For good reason. I’ve paid a steep price for not watching my step. I like to think I’d learned to do so, after a few bad spills over the years that resulted in a badly sprained ankle, a slightly fractured…
The Way Things Were
Father’s Day becomes bittersweet once your father has passed away. Sweet memories are combined with the ache of deep loss. This morning I watched a CBS Sunday Morning segment with the ever-smiling Jane Pauly about a young father who’s committed to splitting half the parenting time of his two-year old daughter with his wife. That…
When was that Line Crossed?
Some shifts in life happen almost imperceptibly. Styles and places that were almost second nature in terms of my likes and dislikes have shifted past the point of no return. When and why and how did that happen? For example: I no longer drool over clothing with ruffles. I stopped lusting after the peasant look….
Bali Hai Redux
Do you know the song Bali -Hai from the musical South Pacific? I loved every musical I saw growing up and knew the lyrics to all of them. When I first saw the Florida Keys in 1958, I immediately began to sing Bali-Hai. Not a perfect fit for the occasion, but close enough to satisfy my attraction…
Blissed out
Being here produces an almost constant high for me. It’s allowed me to appreciate the drizzly days and foggy nights happening recently in Kyoto as being as beautiful and welcome as the sunny bright days. It’s admiring the magnificence of a huge polished wood counter when out for dinner at a neighborhood restaurant and the…
Must be Seen (again and again)
You are familiar with the statement, “Must be seen to be believed.” In the case of cherry blossom season, this is not an exaggeration. It is truly a take – your – breath – away experience to be ingested and savored. The attachment the Japanese and I have to sakura cannot be overemphasized. Weeks before…
Rebounding!
If you’ve seen me recently you might have noticed a new twinkle in my eye and a new springy rebound in my step. It would have been most noticeable if you had also seen me a few weeks ago when I was felled by a nasty respiratory infection and spent practically two weeks vegetating in…
Whatshername???
I have never been one of those persons who can relate every minute of her life since birth. Nor, am I particularly good at recognizing the faces of people whom I’ve met in the past. I’ve suffered through many embarrassing moments when a person will claim to have met me before and I have zero recollection…
Happy Birthday, Dianne!
The Allure of Birthdays Just about every part of a birthday celebration is designed to please. What’s not to like, especially as a child, before you begin to understand the deeper meaning of those higher numbers? The vintage birthday cards I remember from the early 50’s late 40’s were charming and fanciful. The cards portrayed a…
