Earlier this month I posted a status on Facebook that said “I swept the porch less than an hour ago, and it’s already covered with leaves again!” The first comment I received said “It’s futile! Go have a cup of coffee and read instead!!” I took my friend’s advice, but her comment got the writer wheels turning. What other things do we do that are the very definition of futility. Here’s my top ten list: (more…)
Last month, I wrote a post called When Does One Become “Elderly.” It was a rather scholarly work, or as scholarly as I get, with references from both the regular and medical sections of Free Dictionary, Geriatrics Gerontology International, and the World Health Organization. But, a few things have happened lately that have made me realize there are much easier ways to tell when you’re getting old. Here are a few of them: (more…)
All of us who live in the South have heard some version of this comment from our friends of a more northern persuasion:
“I couldn’t live down here. I’d miss the change of seasons too much.”
It’s true that we don’t always have the gradual Spring thaw with the first green sprigs peeking timidly through the muddy remnants of the last snow. Instead we go to bed one March night with nothing but bare branches in the yard and wake up with a riot of white blossoms on every pear tree. And we don’t have a month or two to go through a slow transition from long johns to lightweight jackets to summer wear. Instead we go directly from boots and sweaters to shorts and sandals. But we usually get a day or two of beautiful weather when we can open the windows and air out the house before we shut ourselves in for the long, hot summer. (more…)
It’s been an emotional week that started Sunday night with the long awaited phone call telling me that Mom had died peacefully in her sleep. Since then I have helped make plans, contacted friends and relatives, and responded to an overwhelming outpouring of love and support. I’ve posted a couple of tributes, and I’m sure there will be more as I work through my feelings about her life and her death, but this morning I thought I’d share something a little lighter. (more…)
