Category Archives: Perspective

Looking Up

I just happened to have another one of those oddly moving parking lot experiences. It is a hot, bright August day with a slight tinge of humidity in the air.  Despite the delicious temptation of slabbing out in front of … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Photography, summer, Uncategorized, Weather, Wow! | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

West Wind

Last night the west wind blew down all the cherry blossoms from the tree across the street. They landed on our side of the road, gathering in a lovely line of candy-pink bubblegum bliss along the curb. I was filled … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Spring, Uncategorized, Wow! | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Cheese Puff Bliss

You never know when and where you might discover a moment of contentment.  It feels like a gift when those times happen unbidden and unexpectedly. Having just finished shopping and while loading my groceries into the trunk of the car, … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Spring, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What Do You Do All Day?

Since I have been officially out of the workforce, people who are working full-time or who I have not seen in a while will inevitably turn to me and say “So…….now that you are not working, what do you do … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Bucket List, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Writhing With Guilt

Today I realize my shoe-a-holism has gotten a bit out of control.  I sit here and writhe with guilt. As posted previously in this blog, I have a lot of shoes.  Shoes of many colors. Not “designer” shoes,  just comfortable, … Continue reading

Posted in Fashion, Perspective, Regrets, Shoes, Shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Hiding Behind a Tree

As if my heart could not get any fuller, my first-born grandchild started his very first day of pre-school this morning.  Wasn’t it but yesterday when I had to leave my first child in daycare?  There was no choice…I had … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, kids, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Left Out

There are always challenges in the reshuffling of families, friendships and loyalties when it comes to a divorce.  Over the many years since mine occurred, there have been waves of   problems laced with intense hostility interspersed with moments of peacefulness … Continue reading

Posted in Coping, Divorce, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized, Vent | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Our Lady of the Perpetual Kitchen

My grandmother was Catholic, my mother was raised Catholic, and so she tried to raise us as Catholics too.  I consider myself a “Collapsed Catholic” and will usually check “none” on any form asking my religion.  I never was able … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Meditation in Blue

There is a place I consider somewhat sacred – a place that I have been going to for decades.  It is an orchard farm not far from my home. It has been the place I would go to pick berries, … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Crossing a Line

No stranger to comfortable shoes, one peek in my closet will reveal a significant selection of Birkenstocks, Danskos, Naots, Merrills and Clarks.  I have spent good money on good shoes because I can’t stand it if my feet hurt.  I … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Perspective, Shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A Change of Status

I am unemployed.  Or “retired”, as some people have congratulated me on, although that word doesn’t seem to quite fit.  I feel like I am actually a “retirement imposter” in a sense, because this “retirement” was mostly unplanned, not affordable, … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Accepting What You Do Not Want (or “When is a Brulee not a Brulee?”)

Yesterday I was accused by my daughter of becoming more cranky and less tolerant about certain things as I have gotten older.  This statement was made following the specific incident below, in which I actually was a bit cranky and … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Humor, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Stealth

When it came to a choice of animal companions, my family always fell into the “dog people” category. But there hasn’t been a dog in my life for a very long time.  There are a number of reasons for that, … Continue reading

Posted in Animal Stories, Dogs, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Major Artistic Deficit Disorder

Having grown up the child of artists, it naturally followed that those we interacted with and bonded with would lean towards the creative.  And so, throughout this life, I have found myself  surrounded by an abundance of talented friends. I … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Certain Unalienable Rights

Second section in Declaration of Independence, 1776 – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the … Continue reading

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Memory Box

One of the drawers in my bedroom is filled with socks.  In the back of that drawer, buried behind those socks is a green and orange lacquered box which was carved and painted by my father many years ago.  It … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

That Snooty Woman With All the Fancy Instruments

One of the things I like to do for leisure and sometimes passion is to play percussive instruments.  I like to drum, especially on drums played with the hands – a djembe, a doumbek, a frame drum or riqq.  I … Continue reading

Posted in Deafness, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Displacement

Our office building caught fire.  While we were in it. It seems events leading up to the moment of ignition had been occurring for a few hours, as there had been an electric-like odor in the copy room that morning.  … Continue reading

Posted in Coping, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

I Kissed Rick Danko

I didn’t plan on attending Levon Helm’s wake today. Yes, I had been a fan of The Band for many years, but I dislike crowds and am seriously averse to fan/fame worship. And yet, on some level I was still … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A Matter of Interpretation

As someone who writes essays and blog posts, you would think that there would be a corresponding adeptness to creating written correspondence that would clearly translate my thoughts to the recipient.  It is not as if I am writing in … Continue reading

Posted in Coping, Deafness, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What I Found While Walking in the Woods Today….

Took a break today and walked along some winding back roads bordered by deep woods, which then led out to a highway.  During this short journey, I came across these items and wondered about their story. A dead bird lying … Continue reading

Posted in Birds, Perspective, Photography, Uncategorized, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

And We Begin Anew

Here it comes…. 2012, our self-imposed start date to begin anew.  Let’s work to make it a good one.  Let’s all use our collective thoughts to move forward into something healthy, and intelligent, and kind.  Wishing all fresh beginnings and … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized, Winter | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Eye of the Beholder

“What’s the worst Christmas present you ever received?” That was a question put forth to a number of women in an online group I had belonged to years ago.  This same question came up yet again at a party I attended during the … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The New Rules

It has been almost a  year since I put up my first post after waffling about putting up a tree for the holidays, deciding to do it, ending up getting into it in a deep way which had nothing to do with the … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Feral Crap

I will be blunt and maybe a bit vulgar here – yesterday morning I stepped in cat shit, and that is exactly the word I screamed after stepping in it. Since there are no young children in the house at the moment, I did not yell … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening, Perspective, Rant, Uncategorized, Vent | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Whole Lot of Apples

This approaching storm was embraced with a small twinge of anticipation.  I love intense weather –  the scent of change on the wind, the shifting of light, the movement of strange skies.  It is as if every cell becomes alive with … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Hippie Haj

I have a really bad attitude when it comes to the commercialization of those things which represent “my” generation, which is that of The Boomer.  Most specifically, I gag at all this glorifying of the “Woodstock era” – the life and times … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

No Rose-colored Glasses For Me

Two years ago I noticed things were starting to look a little fuzzy, especially in one eye. When speaking to someone sitting in front of a window or back-lit in silhouette, I could not see their face for the white … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

From a Bench on Main Street

I am distracted today as I prepare for the weekend ahead, so I don’t have much to say today, but there is an image that keeps popping up in my head. A few weeks ago I had been walking down … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Shards of Our Lives

The Significant Other is like a bull in a china shop. That is the image that usually goes through my mind when I take a dish out of the kitchen cabinet and see the condition of it. My dishes, which … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Skinny Girl

I was always the skinny girl.  Not the long, lithe, willowy model skinny girl, but the gawkishly thin, angular, hollow-eyed skinny girl.  A skinny girl in school who looked like an X-ray…….with knobby knees, tiny bones, all feet and nose and elbows and spine.  The … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Diet, Perspective, Uncategorized, Weight | 4 Comments

Fences

It has been an adjustment getting used to living in a small city, with neighbors dwelling very close by.  Most of the homes on our street, built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,  have weathered, stockade fences between them.  However, this house came equipped … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening, Perspective, Rant, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Never Mind – I’ll Tell You Later

The group is bantering witticisms back and forth and raucous laughter ensues.  I am standing among them, nodding and smiling, and my brain is working hard and at double time.  I am trying to string together the words I missed with … Continue reading

Posted in Coping, Deafness, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Rant | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Spinner

This Earth Day marks the 12th anniversary of my mother’s death.  A day filled with golden daffodils, warm soil, the haze of soft greening and points of pastel color just emerging – much like an Impressionist painting – essentially the same as it was on the day she left us years … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Door Number Three

After spending the day exploring the Spice Market and touring around in the Sultanahmet district, it finally got to the point where I seriously had to pee, and very soon, so the search for a bathroom began in earnest.  In the middle … Continue reading

Posted in Humor, Perspective, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Resisting the Social Network (is that you in that photo?)

It was through my then fourteen year old that I first became aware of online social networks and blogs like Live Journal and MySpace, where it seemed kids were regurgitating the minutiae of their lives ad nauseum and flaunting their bootie for the … Continue reading

Posted in Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Aftershock and Perspective

In the wake of such disaster as has occurred and continues to occur in Japan, most other issues suddenly become less significant and actually trite by comparison.  The physical shock that has radiated out from Sendai and beyond also translates into … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Color of Angels

The interior of funeral homes generally look tacky to me.  I have yet to experience one that is totally tasteful (in my opinion), although I will say one of the wakes I attended last week was in a lovely old … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Two Wakes and a Birthday Party

Two wakes and a birthday party in one week.  It’s enough to really give you pause for thought.  One woman was the mother of a co-worker.  The other one was a neighbor, not much older than I am now.  A … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Egocentrasana

She came walking into the Yoga I class tonight leading with her chest, the small of her back slightly arched, wearing a teeny tiny yoga tank top and perfectly fitting yoga pants clinging to her tight little yoga butt.  Even though there was plenty … Continue reading

Posted in Aging, Humor, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

These Lovely Boots

Every time I would visit my mother, she would dig the boots out of the back of her hall closet and urge me to take them.  As the story went, Aunt Rose, who had expensive taste in clothing and often … Continue reading

Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments