Friday, September 20
Deer on the trail
Keri and I were deep in conversation while walking this morning. I am sure it was very important. 😏And then Keri spotted young deer very near the edge of the trail. When mama deer tells her youngsters to stay put, they stay put so it was easy for Keri to get pictures.
New art on the trail
There were only two new art pieces on the trail when I took this picture but now there are three. I will be getting more pictures. The placement is super because you can see all three as you drive by on the highway and yet they are nearly lined up. They are done by a fellow from Churdan Iowa who does metal artwork and he does it very well. Here is his website: https://olson-iron-works.myshopify.com/collections/all
Tuesday, September 17
On the trail...
I took these photos this morning with my phone on the bike trail.
The beans are turning.
The beans are turning.
We can see the end from here...
I 'borrowed' this from a friend and thought it worthy of posting.
Many of us are between 65 and death, i.e. old. My friend sent me this excellent list for aging . . . and I have to agree it's good advice to follow.
1. It’s time to use the money you saved up. Use it and enjoy it. Don’t just keep it for those who may have no notion of the sacrifices you made to get it. Remember there is nothing more dangerous than a son or daughter-in-law with big ideas for your hard-earned capital. Warning: This is also a bad time for investments, even if it seems wonderful or fool-proof. They only bring problems and worries. This is a time for you to enjoy some peace and quiet.
2. Stop worrying about the financial situation of your children and grandchildren, and don’t feel bad spending your money on yourself. You’ve taken care of them for many years, and you’ve taught them what you could. You gave them an education, food, shelter, and support. The responsibility is now theirs to earn their own money.
3. Keep a healthy life, without great physical effort. Do moderate exercise (like walking every day), eat well and get your sleep. It’s easy to become sick, and it gets harder to remain healthy. That is why you need to keep yourself in good shape and be aware of your medical and physical needs. Keep in touch with your doctor, do tests even when you’re feeling well. Stay informed.
4. Always buy the best, most beautiful items for your significant other. The key goal is to enjoy your money with your partner. One day one of you will miss the other, and the money will not provide any comfort then, enjoy it together
5. Don’t stress over the little things. Like paying a little extra on price quotes. You’ve already overcome so much in your life. You have good memories and bad ones, but the important thing is the present. Don’t let the past drag you down and don’t let the future frighten you. Feel good in the now. Small issues will soon be forgotten.
6. Regardless of age, always keep love alive. Love your partner, love life, love your family, love your neighbor and remember: “A man is not old as long as he has intelligence and affection.”
7. Be proud, both inside and out. Don’t stop going to your hair salon or barber, do your nails, go to the dermatologist and the dentist, keep your perfumes and creams well stocked. When you are well-maintained on the outside, it seeps in, making you feel proud and strong.
8. Don’t lose sight of fashion trends for your age, but keep your own sense of style. There’s nothing worse than an older person trying to wear the current fashion among youngsters. You’ve developed your own sense of what looks good on you – keep it and be proud of it. It’s part of who you are.
9. ALWAYS stay up-to-date. Read newspapers, watch the news. Go online and read what people are saying. Make sure you have an active email account and try to use some of those social networks. You’ll be surprised what old friends you’ll meet. Keeping in touch with what is going on and with the people you know is important at any age.
10. Respect the younger generation and their opinions. They may not have the same ideals as you, but they are the future and will take the world in their direction. Give advice, not criticism, and try to remind them that yesterday’s wisdom still applies today.
11. Never use the phrase: “In my time.” Your time is now. As long as you’re alive, you are part of this time. You may have been younger, but you are still you now, having fun and enjoying life.
12. Some people embrace their golden years, while others become bitter and surly. Life is too short to waste your days on the latter. Spend your time with positive, cheerful people, it’ll rub off on you and your days will seem that much better. Spending your time with bitter people will make you older and harder to be around.
13. Do not surrender to the temptation of living with your children or grandchildren (if you have a financial choice, that is). Sure, being surrounded by family sounds great, but we all need our privacy. They need theirs and you need yours. If you’ve lost your partner (our deepest condolences), then find a person to move in with you and help out. Even then, do so only if you feel you really need the help or do not want to live alone.
14. Don’t abandon your hobbies. If you don’t have any, make new ones. You can travel, hike, cook, read, dance. You can adopt a cat or a dog, grow a garden, play cards, checkers, chess, dominoes, golf. You can paint, volunteer or just collect certain items. Find something you like and spend some real time having fun with it.
15. Even if you don’t feel like it, try to accept invitations. Baptisms, graduations, birthdays, weddings, conferences. Try to go. Get out of the house, meet people you haven’t seen in a while, experience something new (or something old). But don’t get upset when you’re not invited. Some events are limited by resources, and not everyone can be hosted. The important thing is to leave the house from time to time. Go to museums, go walk through a field. Get out there.
16. Be a conversationalist. Talk less and listen more. Some people go on and on about the past, not caring if their listeners are really interested. That’s a great way of reducing their desire to speak with you. Listen first and answer questions, but don’t go off into long stories unless asked to. Speak in courteous tones and try not to complain or criticize too much unless you really need to. Try to accept situations as they are. Everyone is going through the same things, and people have a low tolerance for hearing complaints. Always find some good things to say as well.
17. Pain and discomfort go hand in hand with getting older. Try not to dwell on them but accept them as a part of the cycle of life we’re all going through. Try to minimize them in your mind. They are not who you are, they are something that life added to you. If they become your entire focus, you lose sight of the person you used to be.
18. If you’ve been offended by someone – forgive them. If you’ve offended someone - apologize. Don’t drag around resentment with you. It only serves to make you sad and bitter. It doesn’t matter who was right. Someone once said: “Holding a grudge is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” Don’t take that poison. Forgive, forget and move on with your life.
19. If you have a strong belief, savor it. But don’t waste your time trying to convince others. They will make their own choices no matter what you tell them, and it will only bring you frustration. Live your faith and set an example. Live true to your beliefs and let that memory sway them.
20. Laugh. Laugh A LOT. Laugh at everything. Remember, you are one of the lucky ones. You managed to have a life, a long one. Many never get to this age, never get to experience a full life. But you did. So what’s not to laugh about? Find the humor in your situation.
21. Take no notice of what others say about you and even less notice of what they might be thinking. They’ll do it anyway, and you should have pride in yourself and what you’ve achieved. Let them talk and don’t worry. They have no idea about your history, your memories and the life you’ve lived so far. There’s still much to be written, so get busy writing and don’t waste time thinking about what others might think. Now is the time to be at rest, at peace and as happy as you can be!
REMEMBER: “Life is too short to drink bad wine and warm beer.”
1. It’s time to use the money you saved up. Use it and enjoy it. Don’t just keep it for those who may have no notion of the sacrifices you made to get it. Remember there is nothing more dangerous than a son or daughter-in-law with big ideas for your hard-earned capital. Warning: This is also a bad time for investments, even if it seems wonderful or fool-proof. They only bring problems and worries. This is a time for you to enjoy some peace and quiet.
2. Stop worrying about the financial situation of your children and grandchildren, and don’t feel bad spending your money on yourself. You’ve taken care of them for many years, and you’ve taught them what you could. You gave them an education, food, shelter, and support. The responsibility is now theirs to earn their own money.
3. Keep a healthy life, without great physical effort. Do moderate exercise (like walking every day), eat well and get your sleep. It’s easy to become sick, and it gets harder to remain healthy. That is why you need to keep yourself in good shape and be aware of your medical and physical needs. Keep in touch with your doctor, do tests even when you’re feeling well. Stay informed.
4. Always buy the best, most beautiful items for your significant other. The key goal is to enjoy your money with your partner. One day one of you will miss the other, and the money will not provide any comfort then, enjoy it together
5. Don’t stress over the little things. Like paying a little extra on price quotes. You’ve already overcome so much in your life. You have good memories and bad ones, but the important thing is the present. Don’t let the past drag you down and don’t let the future frighten you. Feel good in the now. Small issues will soon be forgotten.
6. Regardless of age, always keep love alive. Love your partner, love life, love your family, love your neighbor and remember: “A man is not old as long as he has intelligence and affection.”
7. Be proud, both inside and out. Don’t stop going to your hair salon or barber, do your nails, go to the dermatologist and the dentist, keep your perfumes and creams well stocked. When you are well-maintained on the outside, it seeps in, making you feel proud and strong.
8. Don’t lose sight of fashion trends for your age, but keep your own sense of style. There’s nothing worse than an older person trying to wear the current fashion among youngsters. You’ve developed your own sense of what looks good on you – keep it and be proud of it. It’s part of who you are.
9. ALWAYS stay up-to-date. Read newspapers, watch the news. Go online and read what people are saying. Make sure you have an active email account and try to use some of those social networks. You’ll be surprised what old friends you’ll meet. Keeping in touch with what is going on and with the people you know is important at any age.
10. Respect the younger generation and their opinions. They may not have the same ideals as you, but they are the future and will take the world in their direction. Give advice, not criticism, and try to remind them that yesterday’s wisdom still applies today.
11. Never use the phrase: “In my time.” Your time is now. As long as you’re alive, you are part of this time. You may have been younger, but you are still you now, having fun and enjoying life.
12. Some people embrace their golden years, while others become bitter and surly. Life is too short to waste your days on the latter. Spend your time with positive, cheerful people, it’ll rub off on you and your days will seem that much better. Spending your time with bitter people will make you older and harder to be around.
13. Do not surrender to the temptation of living with your children or grandchildren (if you have a financial choice, that is). Sure, being surrounded by family sounds great, but we all need our privacy. They need theirs and you need yours. If you’ve lost your partner (our deepest condolences), then find a person to move in with you and help out. Even then, do so only if you feel you really need the help or do not want to live alone.
14. Don’t abandon your hobbies. If you don’t have any, make new ones. You can travel, hike, cook, read, dance. You can adopt a cat or a dog, grow a garden, play cards, checkers, chess, dominoes, golf. You can paint, volunteer or just collect certain items. Find something you like and spend some real time having fun with it.
15. Even if you don’t feel like it, try to accept invitations. Baptisms, graduations, birthdays, weddings, conferences. Try to go. Get out of the house, meet people you haven’t seen in a while, experience something new (or something old). But don’t get upset when you’re not invited. Some events are limited by resources, and not everyone can be hosted. The important thing is to leave the house from time to time. Go to museums, go walk through a field. Get out there.
16. Be a conversationalist. Talk less and listen more. Some people go on and on about the past, not caring if their listeners are really interested. That’s a great way of reducing their desire to speak with you. Listen first and answer questions, but don’t go off into long stories unless asked to. Speak in courteous tones and try not to complain or criticize too much unless you really need to. Try to accept situations as they are. Everyone is going through the same things, and people have a low tolerance for hearing complaints. Always find some good things to say as well.
17. Pain and discomfort go hand in hand with getting older. Try not to dwell on them but accept them as a part of the cycle of life we’re all going through. Try to minimize them in your mind. They are not who you are, they are something that life added to you. If they become your entire focus, you lose sight of the person you used to be.
18. If you’ve been offended by someone – forgive them. If you’ve offended someone - apologize. Don’t drag around resentment with you. It only serves to make you sad and bitter. It doesn’t matter who was right. Someone once said: “Holding a grudge is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” Don’t take that poison. Forgive, forget and move on with your life.
19. If you have a strong belief, savor it. But don’t waste your time trying to convince others. They will make their own choices no matter what you tell them, and it will only bring you frustration. Live your faith and set an example. Live true to your beliefs and let that memory sway them.
20. Laugh. Laugh A LOT. Laugh at everything. Remember, you are one of the lucky ones. You managed to have a life, a long one. Many never get to this age, never get to experience a full life. But you did. So what’s not to laugh about? Find the humor in your situation.
21. Take no notice of what others say about you and even less notice of what they might be thinking. They’ll do it anyway, and you should have pride in yourself and what you’ve achieved. Let them talk and don’t worry. They have no idea about your history, your memories and the life you’ve lived so far. There’s still much to be written, so get busy writing and don’t waste time thinking about what others might think. Now is the time to be at rest, at peace and as happy as you can be!
REMEMBER: “Life is too short to drink bad wine and warm beer.”
Sunday, September 15
It has been awhile
I try to read Colleen's writings every week but sometimes I get behind. I especially enjoyed the one that follows, maybe because she is a good writer but maybe because she is my friend and I miss her now that she is in Florida. And in several instances, I was wishing she was sitting across from me and I could respond readily to what she was saying. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it too.
Have a newspaper day
~a column by Colleen O’Brien
This column is going to start off sounding political but read on. It will swerve to something more palatable: breakfast.
To know what‘s really going on, I listen to or read online all the news sources – MSNBC and FOX, The Beast and The Guardian, Epoch News and the NYTimes, National Review and The New Republic, NPR and Rush Limbaugh and of course GreeneCountyNewsOnline.
Not all of it is easy. I listen to some of the news for a long time; other news I read for a little bit to get the gist of the point of view. Some days I ignore the “other side.”
So far, I have not been influenced by broadcast or print news to change my political leanings. I assume, therefore, that suggesting a switch to unfamiliar stations or periodicals now and then to hear what the other side is saying probably is not going to convince anyone to switch party affiliation. It is interesting to see different points of view, however.
My very nonpolitical friend asked me why I have to listen to the choir singing the same song every day. This friend is the same one who years ago, when I was complaining about trying to find my morning newspaper in the snowdrift, asked me why I would even think about trudging out in the cold for news that was going to be the same as yesterday’s.
She just didn’t get it, the addiction to news, especially in the form of newspapers. I ignored that what she meant was that I was never readying anything NEW anyway.
The older I get, the more her points make sense to me. But the older I get, the more habitual I seem to be, the routine of perusing the news early in the morning a comfortable piece of business that goes along with the joy of my favorite breakfast. You might know this feeling — looking forward to your coffee and toast or your tea and oatmeal, day after day, year after year.
Breakfast may be the most nostalgic meal of the day, accumulating over the decades to a favorite, beloved continuum in the accumulation of otherwise pointless experiences.
For many years, my breakfast was shredded wheat with milk and sugar, plus black coffee. I don’t know if it was the long-term effect of lack of variety, but when I began to have digestive problems, my doctor told me I had to give up wheat and dairy. This was a mighty hardship, my morning repast being wheat and dairy. Along with the removal of a kind of childish anticipation that this breakfast engendered in my dawn mind, I became childishly whiney about having to change it.
Had I only known. My altered breakfast routine was the first wedge in ensuing insults having to do with the aging process.
I have been in search of THE breakfast ever since. My trying to land on something as pleasant as shredded wheat with milk and sugar has been a vain endeavor. I’ve been through peaches and cream, oat muffins, non-dairy smoothies, bacon and eggs, non-gluten waffles (a truly awful waffle).
The other sadness relating to the passage of time was when I had to give up the morning newspaper. I’d been reading a morning newspaper since before kindergarten when I discovered one Sunday after Mass that I was READING the funnies. I’m not quite sure when I really began reading the morning news, but I pretend it was then. Sixty years later, when the price of print news began to skyrocket – about the time I realized what it meant to be on a retirement budget – I gave up the increasing monthly price of a delivered newspaper.
Ever since I’ve been trying to figure out what to read while I’m trying to figure out what to eat. Novels are for the evening, or perhaps a slow day’s afternoon. Magazines are for lunch, not breakfast; maybe while waiting for somebody to show up. Poetry is for the onset of moodiness. TV doesn’t figure in at all.
Each day since I had to give up newsprint and shredded wheat with milk has been a hunt for something illusive – nostalgia, the good old days of doing what I wanted, a decent digestive system that growled for a stellar breakfast. Anything but the actuality of the misnamed “golden years.”
I do read GreeneCountyNewsOnline at breakfast once a week. Some days I peruse one or two of the four free articles a week I can access from The New Yorker until they shut me out for not subscribing. Or the free access to the Manchester Guardian, which is a revealing look at us from the advantage of not living here but in Manchester, England. Sometimes I read the Huff Post, although they focus a little too much on entertainers I never heard of.
Reading a computer at breakfast – which is how I get the above news – is kind of revolting to me because it is NOT print news; and really upsetting when I spill the oatmeal on the keyboard. It is not as bad, however, as having a television on – the morning people on TV are too yakky, too petty, too shallow and too happy. I am happy at Happy Hour; I prefer no talking during the breakfast hour.
Sometimes I just munch on toast and gaze out the window at the trees. This is satisfying but lacking in substance. It’s morning and I’m supposed to be informing myself for the coming day, not dawdling and daydreaming about squirrels.
The dilemma continues. If you got this far, thanx for reading. Hope you’re having a newspaper day…and eating just what you want for breakfast.
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