A dear friend is coming today for a few days visit, and we are celebrating her birthday by having a little overnight trip away. I'm excited and pleased with myself for organizing things. It's also delightful to have the break between Thanksgiving and the holiday rush. We've been close through a lot of years and events. Around forty years of heartaches and joys, misunderstandings and loving support. She feels like family to me.
So I'll roll out the prosecco, cook up a storm, we'll see some art, do some wine tasting and have mud baths! We're only going about an hour and a half away, but it will be an adventure, and I expect to be laughing quite a lot in the coming days.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 27, 2011
I finished "1Q84". Now if only my wrists recover from holding up the book. It is an extraordinary book, and I'm just going allow the images and ideas to simmer before I guess what the meaning is of much of the book. But if I had to hazard a guess right now, it is about the acting of reading and engaging in a work of literature. If so, it's the best description of the effect of literature I've ever seen. But I'll be glad to be reading small, light less strenous books for my next several. I feel like a marathon runner who has just crossed the line (and, of course, Murakami is a marathon runner).
Today is another crisp autumn day with trees in glorious color. We have a maple in front that has turned fiery red, and a big beech that is golden yellow. Up and down the street and in the neighborhood are gorgeous trees. Nature's show - always the best.
My friend and I saw "The Descendants" yesterday afternoon, and despite all the hype, it really is a terrific film, and well worth going to see. The acting is excellent and the story and characters true to life and touching. It's also funny. And it does not flinch from the painful aspects of the story, or simplify things too much. I didn't like Sideways much, but this is a much more mature work from director Payne. It's a movie with a lot of resonance.
Today is another crisp autumn day with trees in glorious color. We have a maple in front that has turned fiery red, and a big beech that is golden yellow. Up and down the street and in the neighborhood are gorgeous trees. Nature's show - always the best.
My friend and I saw "The Descendants" yesterday afternoon, and despite all the hype, it really is a terrific film, and well worth going to see. The acting is excellent and the story and characters true to life and touching. It's also funny. And it does not flinch from the painful aspects of the story, or simplify things too much. I didn't like Sideways much, but this is a much more mature work from director Payne. It's a movie with a lot of resonance.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 26, 2011
Half our pansy plants are missing. The dogs evidently either find them tasty or don't like the landscaping design. They have flattened most of the back yard to the consistency of concrete, and now they have decided they don't care for the color green or leafiness. If they could gnaw down the trees they'd do it I'm sure. They'd do well in Palm Desert or Death Valley. I have pretty much conceded the back to them. Next the house will resemble a kennel, and then the front yard will go. It's like having my own private bulldozers.
I made a list yesterday. It wasn't much, but it's a beginning to preparing for the holidays. It can be checked off, and consulted and worried over. I'm waiting for my cards from UNICEF, then I will address them, buy stamps and slowly write in them. My daughter helped me with Snapfish, so I have pictures of the dogs looking ridiculous coming soon. I'm thinking of garlands and narcissus bulbs, which can be bought ahead. My mind is getting in the old groove, and slowly but surely, I'll be prepared. It's reassuring. Even though, so far, I only have a list.
I made a list yesterday. It wasn't much, but it's a beginning to preparing for the holidays. It can be checked off, and consulted and worried over. I'm waiting for my cards from UNICEF, then I will address them, buy stamps and slowly write in them. My daughter helped me with Snapfish, so I have pictures of the dogs looking ridiculous coming soon. I'm thinking of garlands and narcissus bulbs, which can be bought ahead. My mind is getting in the old groove, and slowly but surely, I'll be prepared. It's reassuring. Even though, so far, I only have a list.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 25, 2011
We had a mellow Thanksgiving, and the weather cooperated as well. I ate bits and pieces of all my forbidden foods, and enjoyed every bite. It's fun to have various people bring dishes and not be eating all my own concoctions all the time. But I'm tired, because the holiday itself has such huge import that I feel like a hurdle has been jumped. It's the downhill skiing from Thanksgiving to New Year's that is brisk, scary and joyful at the end, when all are gathered and the work is done. A lot of generosity and good will is generated on the way, and I like to focus on that aspect.
Today I have set myself only one task, getting to the store to buy a few things, and I leave the frenzy of black Friday to other hardier souls than me. I don't even have a shopping list yet, so it would be pointless. There are holiday traditions I refuse to participate in, and the shopping mania is one. But I respect those who must do it when they are off work, or so scrunched for time that strategic battle plans must be orchestrated. I wish them well, those Pattons and Eisenhowers of the front line of "Merry Christmas, ho, ho, ho".
Today I have set myself only one task, getting to the store to buy a few things, and I leave the frenzy of black Friday to other hardier souls than me. I don't even have a shopping list yet, so it would be pointless. There are holiday traditions I refuse to participate in, and the shopping mania is one. But I respect those who must do it when they are off work, or so scrunched for time that strategic battle plans must be orchestrated. I wish them well, those Pattons and Eisenhowers of the front line of "Merry Christmas, ho, ho, ho".
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 23, 2011
Today is prep day for tomorrow. I'm making everything I'm bringing today, so I do not disrupt my daughter-in-law's kitchen during turkey chaos. It's so lovely to be going somewhere else where we will be guests. I've cooked a lot of Thanksgivings in my day, but I'm happy to concede to the newer generation. All my kids are better cooks than I am, and not having the leftovers is good for my diet. I'd hate to have to look at a pumpkin pie in the refrigerator and stare it down. Actually, the thing I love most is turkey sandwiches and cranberry sauce. Sigh.
And as you know, it was the Wampanoags who brought the meat to the Pilgrims, who were incompetent and starving, so I do have a long tradition. Maybe the Pilgrims were giving thanks, but that didn't stop them from waging war and wiping out the people who helped them years before. It is awfully hard to owe somebody something. Easier to eliminate them rather than continue the gratitude route.
Well, I'm grateful for larger issues: health, the health of my family, the fortune of birth and abundance in this country, even the contrariness of the American people, which mirrors the conflicts of the Native peoples before. We're feisty, determined to our interests but with a streak a mile wide that relishes our differences, diversities, and the mirroring vast diversity of our land. I celebrate not the several hundred year recent history, but the history of the Americas, rich and crazy and full of dance and music and singing and celebrating anything and everything. And our ability, when it seems all hope is lost, to come together and appreciate each other in peaceful rituals that remind us we are bound together by land and cultures and common interests.
And as you know, it was the Wampanoags who brought the meat to the Pilgrims, who were incompetent and starving, so I do have a long tradition. Maybe the Pilgrims were giving thanks, but that didn't stop them from waging war and wiping out the people who helped them years before. It is awfully hard to owe somebody something. Easier to eliminate them rather than continue the gratitude route.
Well, I'm grateful for larger issues: health, the health of my family, the fortune of birth and abundance in this country, even the contrariness of the American people, which mirrors the conflicts of the Native peoples before. We're feisty, determined to our interests but with a streak a mile wide that relishes our differences, diversities, and the mirroring vast diversity of our land. I celebrate not the several hundred year recent history, but the history of the Americas, rich and crazy and full of dance and music and singing and celebrating anything and everything. And our ability, when it seems all hope is lost, to come together and appreciate each other in peaceful rituals that remind us we are bound together by land and cultures and common interests.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 22, 2011
This is the anniversary of JFK's assassination. I had just turned eighteen, and was in my freshman college dorm when I heard a radio in the bathroom, and walked in to hear Cronkite. I walked down a few blocks until I found a church and sat down in a pew. It was unbelievable news, and though I was not crazy about JFK after the Bay of Pigs a few months before, when we high schoolers were drilled in huddling under our desks in case of nuclear attack, I knew it was a horrible event, and I thought of his children and young wife. My then boyfriend was not upset. He didn't like Kennedy. So I stayed away from him. I had no religion anymore, but being in a church was comforting, as I'd spent so much time inside one until I was a senior in high school, when one day it just all peeled off me like an old skin. I searched every church and religion, and found that Buddhism appealed to me the most, but it would be many decades before I turned towards that practice and made a commitment.
It was many years before I saw video of the event, or knew specific details. I think my first viewing was in Oliver Stone's JFK. So I did not have graphic images. My images were of Jackie with the blood on her pink suit, JFK Jr saluting, the horse drawn carriage carrying the body. I felt a great deal more when RFK died, and I was in Fiji, where my Marist Brothers fellow teachers were satirical about the ultra violent U.S. And MLK died while I was half way around the world as well. I was removed from images and detail until years later.
But such events are indelible to those who live through them, and the anniversaries occasions for the sadness of all loss, especially the loss of idealism.
It was many years before I saw video of the event, or knew specific details. I think my first viewing was in Oliver Stone's JFK. So I did not have graphic images. My images were of Jackie with the blood on her pink suit, JFK Jr saluting, the horse drawn carriage carrying the body. I felt a great deal more when RFK died, and I was in Fiji, where my Marist Brothers fellow teachers were satirical about the ultra violent U.S. And MLK died while I was half way around the world as well. I was removed from images and detail until years later.
But such events are indelible to those who live through them, and the anniversaries occasions for the sadness of all loss, especially the loss of idealism.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Old Age Day by Day November 21, 2011
I'm getting caught up in errands and holiday planning. I also watched a few movies during the rainy bits of the weekend. It's sunny now, and I'm getting excited just thinking about Christmas. The radio station is playing Christmas songs 24/7 and I'm a happy camper. I have so many sewing projects half done, but I'm very positive about accomplishing them, even though a few are left over from last Christmas. I tried not to go crazy at the fabric store yesterday, but I'm not sure I succeeded.
I still think it's a miracle when pieces of material get attached and become a tablecloth or runner or curtains. I love making quilts. I have fun picking fabrics that look good together, and adjusting what I have to make something that works. Of course, this process includes the times I feel like taking a hammer to the sewing machine, and how frustrating it is when I've missed a seam or have to add thread to the bobbin when I'm on a roll. Perhaps the recipients don't appreciate the results, but I'm proud as a peacock.
So let's see if I can make these darn placemats and napkins I've cut out, and devise a tablecloth quilt. I'm ready to take it on!
I still think it's a miracle when pieces of material get attached and become a tablecloth or runner or curtains. I love making quilts. I have fun picking fabrics that look good together, and adjusting what I have to make something that works. Of course, this process includes the times I feel like taking a hammer to the sewing machine, and how frustrating it is when I've missed a seam or have to add thread to the bobbin when I'm on a roll. Perhaps the recipients don't appreciate the results, but I'm proud as a peacock.
So let's see if I can make these darn placemats and napkins I've cut out, and devise a tablecloth quilt. I'm ready to take it on!
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