Spring Break

I have been on my spring break to Florida.  Florida is flat. Very Flat.  It has beautiful hispanic people, old or cold people spring break people and visitors like me.  It has miles of beaches, great bird watching, (The Miami Sewage treatment plant is a good place for this), snorkeling, orchids, food, the Sony Ericsson Tennis Tournment and Mojitos  This is a good tournament because the stadium is quite small.  You can see the sweat on the players brow and tell what they say when they throw their rackets.  I stay with my very best friend.  She is my vbf because years ago she came to stay with me for two days and stayed for two years.  We had SO much fun.  We also eat stone crab They are very pretty and it seems a more humane way eating crab than eating our crab.  Just the claws are eaten and then they grow a new claw.  Better than ending their days being boiled to death.  A fact I never have adjusted to since I had hysterics at Fishermans Warf and my father had to take me home. Lower forms of life feel no pain he said. 
Air travel is gross unless of course you are flying first class.  But not to fear the world is there to help you. I can't read the sign that tells me my gate.  So far there has always been a kind person more than ready to help me.  This time as I made by way to the gate I remembered I wanted to buy a Snickers  bar.  I turned around and a nice lady said "Oh are you confused by dear?  Do you need Help?"  I was embarrassed.  I can now board the plane with the old and infirm people so my only remaining problem is the dreaded overhead bin.  someone has alway offered to help me put my bag up.  I even had two men both trying to take it down for me.  So fear not seniors somone is there to help you (well maybe)

-Louise

Forgetting to Pay Attention

As a growing up person I am especially embarressed when I forget something.  Not  like a dentist appointment but perhaps the movie I saw last night or the book I just finished.  Friends smile (smirk) and say "Oh she is just having a little senior moment" In my opinion that is not it at all. A senior moment is when something good happens because you ae OLD.  Forgetting occurs when one does not  to pay attention in the first place. Take an art museum for examble  Take the Tate.  When there I have been accused of drifting along thinking "Oh that's a pretty picture"or "Wow did he really look like that" and later not being able to identify the painting or much less the artist.  Just not paying attention.  I should think about the year it was painted , the importance of the brush strokes or the use of symbols, all that  kind of thing.  I'm sure if oue of my grandaughters showed me a photo of the man she was sleeping with I would remember every square inch.  That and any details I could manage to pry out. Although I might, in the long run, be happier if I just remembered the dentist appointment. 

It is the same with reading.  I often find I have read an entire page while thinking about my dinner menu.  I can look at my watch and 30 seconds later wonder what time it is. Oops, I didn't pay attention.  So if it seems your friends and family are fogetful  perhaps they are just not paying attention.  Try talking about subjects that are more interesting, That is if you don't forget.

-Louise

Going to Church?

Last Sunday I went to church, a pleasure I usually reserve for Christmas Eve only. This special occasion came about because I had wanted for some time to go to the Toxic Waste Dump. Please don't get the idea that I feel some connection between organised religion and toxic waste. Not So. I had many times invited my daughter-in-law to accompany me to the dump- Almost as many times as she had invited me to visit her Unitarian Church. At last I told her I would go to church if she would go with me to the Toxic Waste Dump  She agreed and I had to keep my half of the bargin.

We were both surpised to find it was a special service to honor those folks who had managed to survive for over eighty years.  There were perhaps twenty people who filled this catagory including several over ninety.  Each old person was presented with a  lovely long stem rose.   I liked the rose but not the concept. I think longevity is just a genetic anomaly.  Not something that requires much serious thought or effort.  What matters is how one spends their years, what they accomplish what they leave behind.   I don't believe you deserve a rose just for hanging  around.  The sermon was given by smashing 87 year old lady.  She was a great speaker.  I'm sure she accomplished plenty and has many years to give more There was a lunch which I insisted on skipping and then it was all over and my garage was free of toxic waste as well.

-Louise

The Instruction of Comments

The best thing about writing a blog are the comments  It has been suggested that I deepen my passionate  affair with chocolate.  I should delve more deeply into milk, dark, white, Belgian, 60 percent, healthy, nonfat etc.  How better than to start with cacao trees?  Also a wise person thought I might find the answer to my question "Why is it" by returning to a farm.  Why not combine the two?  I could live on a Chocolate Farm. 

First I need land.  I may buy a defunct housing tract.  Plenty of buildings for the chickens, cow, farm manager and me and the dog.  Still there will be room for the vegetable garden.  The cow can glean the remaining vegetable greens and fertilize the garden while she munches away.  Sustainable farming!

 Any excess produce will be donated to the orphans at the nearby orphanage.  The little children will be able to visit the farm and learn the joys of working with their hands and doing farm labor.  Lucky!

For a small charge there will be chocolate factory tours (available on request).  The factory will be located in one of the larger vacant houses.  I have already visited some small chocolate factories-  Jajoba for one and I believe chocolate production will be a fine way to spend my declining years.  Now to get started on digging holes for the cacao bean trees. Great exercise. E-mail if you are interested to join.

-Louise

Why is it?

Why is it?  If little Susie goes potty all by herself she is rewarded with kisses and hugs. If granny goes too the necessary comments are" how many times today" or "perhaps she is becoming incontinent"  If Junior gets a speeding ticket three days after receiving his drivers license he may be grounded but they all think it is humorous.  On the other hand if Granny has a little fender bender in the grocery store parking lot,  the whispering sounds like "should we consider taking her car keys away?"  If Mom gets lost on her way home from Book Club. A few jokes about too much wine..  If grandma gets lost we may soon be headed for Chez Geriatrics  If Junior replaces the ceiling light bulbs in the kitchen he is a hero.  If Grandma replaces them she is in big trouble for climbing the ladder. If Dad can't work the new state of the art can opener the can opener is defective  If Grandma can't program the new DVD player she's stupid.  If junior can't think of a word it is because it is not on the list he is studying.  If Granny can't think of one she is may be senile.  Perhaps Granny just has a bad attitude or not?

-Louise

Chocolate Post

Chocolate will be the death of me.  Or will it?  MD's are divided in their opinions.  But what should the average chocolate addict do?  Look for chocolate Chip cookies and you will receive only a few chips.  Or try Phish food ice cream.  Only a smattering of the good stuff in those little fish.  Or perhaps just stick with cocoa.  Chocolate toothpaste is also available.  Or just buy a Chocolate Lab and be content with just walking it.

-Louise