Old Age Day by Day September 15, 2013

I had a quiet day yesterday.  I'm feeling better each day from my cold/sinus/allergy thing.  I watched Gone With the Wind last night, and despite the racism, bias and skewered romanticism, the acting still shines.  Vivian Leigh, Hattie MacDaniel and Olivia de Haviland are powerful and brilliant.  They are the whole show.  If Scarlett had been able to have any kind of power in that culture, she wouldn't have become the self deceiving person she is.  She represents women forced to compete between themselves and accommodating men at every turn.  I'm not so sure how far we've come, when in today's paper is an article on a tech convention where the few women present have to turn the other way when presentations are blatantly sexist. 

Scarlet is one of three sisters, each desperate to marry and believing that marriage will solve their problems.  Scarlet becomes the only fully alive and interesting sister because she does a man's work and lives a man's life.  Now, Melanie is the "good" woman, but not because she sells herself, she doesn't have to as she marries the man she loves and they share values, but because she is a rebel herself, breaking the bonds of Southern society to value the truly good people, rather than the people with the right blood petigree.  She sees Scarlet for who she is, and gets to live a little more through vicariously experiencing Scarlett's fierceness and fearlessness.

I always remember Scarlett at the end, is probably still in her twenties, and her life is hardly over.  Rhett, in the end, is a man who takes what he wants, by force at times, and I think she will be able to find a man less timid than Ashley, but more liberated than Rhett.  If not, she now knows she does not need a man at all.

Old Age Day by Day September 14, 2013

I was so sick last night I agreed to watch the last film of Lord of the Rings, though with a caveat that we fast forward the parts where Frodo and Sam are slogging up the mountain.  And we fast forwarded through some of the 7 endings.  Good lord, I'm exhausted when we get to the end.  I like Legolas and the the beasties and the music.  It's an amazing film, but interminable.  All the battling is so manly, I'm just not made of the right material for Lord of the Rings.

This morning I picked up our two bags of mail from the week we were away, since they neglected to restart the mail delivery yesterday.  The bags weighed about 20 pounds and it was mostly junk.  But I was happy to receive birthday cards and a few catalogs I like to peruse.  What a waste of trees!

My husband is going up to the cabin to check on things.  I'm holding down the fort and the dogs.  I think my cold is a bit better today.  Resting is the ticket, I guess.

I'm going to call a few friends and organize a bit at home. 

Old Age Day by Day September 13, 2013

We're back.  It took us longer to get home from the airport than it did to fly from Canada here.  I came back with a cold that had me sneezing and blowing my nose constantly the last 3 days.  I hope it's more allergy and will calm down soon.  It was great to be away and it's even greater to be home.  And while we were away so much happened:  our granddaughter began kindergarten, yesterday our daughter had her first chemo, and a friend was in town. 

We'll get the dogs this morning, and all will be back to normal. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to see a new place and get a sense of a different culture.  The Canadians are super friendly and helpful and kind.  I was so impressed.  The First Nations art was fabulous.  The woods and scenery lovely.  The contrast with the natural landscape and the skyscrapers was disconcerting, but we liked it a little more each day, and the food was amazing.  It was a terrific destination, and our hotel room was great, so we could rest up in the afternoons or swim if we wanted. 

And our birthdays are over, so getting elderlyer was painless!

Old Age Day by Day September 4, 2013

I believe my husband had a nice birthday day.  We had lunch out and saw "The Butler", and he enjoyed that.  I made a nice dinner, and friends had given us a bottle of champagne so we had some of that.  His sister called, and our oldest son.  One out of four ain't bad.  I served him breakfast in bed, so he started off the day right.  We're both excited about our trip, and that makes the birthdays this year extra special.

Today I see my foster granddaughter and will get a glimpse of her puppy, currently called Lucy.  Her mother said my granddaughter's younger sister learned the words "dog" and "no" over the weekend.  So I think they're all having fun.

The fog has lifted and I'll soon be walking the dogs, and figuring out last minute details before we leave.  I'm grateful for this trip and my life and my kids and friends.  I'm a lucky gal.

Oh, and the fire is 75% contained.  That's really good news.

Old Age Day by Day September 3, 2013

Today is my husband's birthday.  I managed to make him breakfast in bed, but forgot a card from the dogs, as is our tradition.  We'd agreed to get something on our trip rather than now, but I'm so distracted these days, that I'm not tying up loose ends.  I actually agreed to have lunch with my friend today, forgetting what day it was, so I'll have to cancel.  I'm going to take my husband to see "The Butler" as he wants to see that film.  A million things are going through my head as we get ready for our trip.  And I'm worried about my daughter and my friend, as well as the fire.  I'm not at my sharpest.

Today is beautiful, and the perfect temperature.  I'll probably walk the dogs then figure out a new place to take my husband for lunch.  I feel like I've been with this man my whole life, and it has been 42 years.  A huge complicated history together.  Four children we raised, and saw graduate and some get married and one have a child.  And his birthday has always been on the same date as my parents' wedding anniversary.  They were married over forty years, and have been gone for almost 30 years.  A lot of connections on this day.

Old Age Day by Day September 2, 2013

We had a terrific time at the baseball game yesterday.  Our team won, and the Breast Cancer Awareness Day events were touching.  There were over 400 breast cancer survivors there, making a giant pink ribbon on the field before the game.  I was teary.

Today I looked at my email and a dear friend has bought a house here and is moving back, and I am so excited.  It will be wonderful to have her close again.  And her house closes on the 10th, so pretty soon.  I'm proud we've kept up our relationship long distance, and through the death of her husband, our dear friend as well, and she is, as she says, coming home.

We watched an interesting movie last night, "What Maisie Knew".  I thought it was beautiful and thought-provoking, as was the Henry James book it was based on.  But this film updated to reflect narcissistic parents of a child at risk of neglect, and the people who come to love her.  The child in it is amazing.

Old Age Day by Day September 1, 2013

Here it is - September.  We're going to a baseball game today.  It's Breast Cancer Awareness Day.  Our thoughts are going to be with our older daughter.  It's a perfect, sunny day, and I'm making sandwiches to take for everyone. 

We could hear the football game last night and were encouraged by the cannons (when there is a touchdown) but they lost in the end, but put up a good fight until the 4th quarter.  Ever heard of following a football game by booms?  That's what I do.

I finished the Louise Penny book last night, and it was terrific.  A real page turner; I couldn't put it down.  She's a beautiful, mature writer with a lot of wisdom and complexity.  Now I'm reading a best seller - "The English Girl" by Daniel Silva.  It seems very readable. 

I hope September brings the beginning of complete recovery for our daughter, a containment of the fire and saving of our cabin and a good birthday week for my husband and I away.  We're all packed and getting ready to go.