At various times since I retired, I have found myself searching for a new purpose, a new activity, or a new volunteer opportunity. I talked to people and I searched the internet for the perfect fit and had no success. Twice, at least that I have been aware of, the opportunity was laid right at … Continue reading Crocheting for Charity
As part of a church book study in February and March I was struck by a passage about gifts that has prickled at my mind every since. It’s always amazing, yet maybe not, when I encounter the same thought repeatedly over a period of months in a variety of places. Probably this is not a … Continue reading A Reflection on Gifts
It’s Father’s Day weekend, and, as usual, I have no gift for my husband. I can’t even provide my children with an idea for their father. It is always tough to think of gifts for him. He never wants anything. He never wants any hoopla. He’s that quiet, unobtrusive guy who thinks, way before I … Continue reading Father’s Day Meanderings
Life changes regularly. Some changes are gradual, with fuzzy edges, perhaps, while others are more defined. Before I retired, I found a couple items in the three-dollar bins they had at my local craft store. They had the slogan “Unlock your Dreams & Explore your new Reality” boldly displayed. That slogan became my retirement motto … Continue reading Reflections on Quarantine Past
Yesterday was the last day of the year at “my school.” It’s been seven years since I retired from that school, which is also the school my children attended. It will always be my school, though. Every time I head north out of my subdivision, I pass the building. I look to see how many … Continue reading Ramblings of a Retired Teacher
His latest book is crap—in my mind anyway. Jonathan Lethem’s The Arrest takes place in the near future, some years after everything stops. You know, everything: electronics, motors, hydraulics, solar power, indoor plumbing. Amenities, creature comforts. It all stops, but you never learn why. Witchcraft is my guess. As good a reason as anything else.
The cartoon cover should have been my clue, and it almost was. It drew an eye-roll, but then I read the back cover; they called it a dystopian story. I’m a sucker for dystopian. But here’s the thing, they actually portrayed a utopia. An agrarian society, bicycles as transport, homemade wine, bushels of weed, a community library. It all seemed pretty A-OK to me. But of course, there was the stupid car on the cover. And around that stupid car sat a stupid plot. Whatever. I gutted through the book, the whole way wondering why…
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The answer to that question is YES, I AM REAL! The problem, it seems, is proving it. I turned seventy this week and that should make me real. As the Skin Horse told the Velveteen Rabbit in the popular children’s’ book by Margery Williams, “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair … Continue reading Am I Real?
How would you like to change? I’m not talking about things like losing weight or exercising more. I mean how would you like to change in ways that make you a better person in your dealings with those around you? Or in ways that are important to others? I am confronting that question right now … Continue reading Generosity
It’s a new year. Time for a new bullet journal. \When you read about bullet journals, the idea is that you grab a new blank notebook and begin fresh each year. That’s not the way I roll but it just happened to work out this year. When I began bullet journaling, I grabbed a cheap … Continue reading Organizing 2021
Many of us take time on the last day of the year to reflect on our lives the previous year. Some people make resolutions for the year to come. Do we believe that at the stroke of midnight on January 31 a magic curtain opens and we walk into – a different life? A changed … Continue reading MY 2020 Blessings
Conversations About Autism 