During this time of thoughtful isolation, this octogenarian has found coping tools with the gifts of an I Phone and a Fitbit. Sarah sent me a New York Times article by the writer Dave Sedaris who says on his masked walks all over New York, the smell never changes…it smells like his breath!

Many mornings, when the weather keeps me from walking outside, my view, as I walk in my house, is the same. I am not obsessed, yet, with steps walked, cardio minutes, or calories burned, but it is quite shocking how these tiny instruments intimidate me.

There is one little habit I have consciously practiced that I have found improves my mood, and maybe, just maybe, has kept me positive in a troubling world view. I dress and groom myself as if I am meeting with friends, or going to the movies, or having all my children in for a meal.

So, Ellen, old girl, lotion that dry face, gargle that night breath away, brush that bed head hair into place, put on those earrings, and meet that positive, grinning woman in the mirror! You might like her.

My girls have dragged me kicking and screaming into a new world of technology…..they bought me an I Phone for Christmas! I have clung to my flip phone with the tenacity of a drowning woman clinging to the safe and security of simplicity. But now, with trembling hands, I have been handed with something that Sarah described , as fragile!

“Now, Mom, until we can get a shield for it, don’t dare drop it or let it fall! Sounds a bit like my Doctor’s instructions….”whatever you do, try not to fall!” So now, I have two entities of fragility!

This thing turns on by recognizing my face! I don’t even recognize that old women I see in the mirror daily! There is this girl named Siri that I can order around however I please. I just tell her “because I said so!” I haven’t uttered that since the last daughter graduated and moved out of our house!

This is all in fun, I do appreciate the phone and am sure it will be everything they say it will be. Love the fact I can dictate text messages instead of typing them. Thank you, my wonderful girls for the gift. We got a big laugh when Sarah told me the sales person she dealt with tried to convince her I was too old for an I Phone! Sarah said, “You don’t know my Mama!” Watch out new world, here I come!

A Thanksgiving to remember, at least, and not anything like all the others in my memory. But, looking back on the occasion, my heart is filled with thankfulness.

It probably began Thanksgiving eve with friends ringing my doorbell and hastening to flee to the yard when I answered. I am drinking my morning coffee from the mug they left in a bag on my doorstep that had the word “Thankful” printed on each side.

That message carried forth the whole day as our family called on me in my garage and front lawn and then left to their own celebration. We kept up with each other’s festivities via social media, seeing feasts that varied in menu, but not in purpose.

But there was sometime more about this Thanksgiving, that Sarah and I expressed to each other. Gone is the feeling of feeling our nation sink into a entity I couldn’t identify. Gone is wishing for truth and decency to be the touchstone of our leadership in the world. No matter how hard I tried, not “fake”news but tweets that degraded and divided us one from another filled my heart with sadness

The standards of truth and love for and embracing our diversity, taught to me as a child, were suddenly under attack and I didn’t like this woman whom I had become. I didn’t like her thoughts, I didn’t like not being able to assure my daughters that it would get better. I didn’t like what our nation displayed to the world.

Yes, a different Thanksgiving, but as I shut my eyes last night, thankfulness flooded my soul like never before. Maybe, just maybe, I needed this !!

• Friend or Foe………
  I actually do not know whether the small, rectangular silverfish item I hold in my hand right now is my friend or my foe! Oh the joy of clicking on the message threads of daughters and friends and relishing being able to connect so quickly with the ones I love! But also as quickly comes … Continue reading Friend or Foe……… →
• The Seven Deadly Sins…..
  I got a welcome reminder of right living this morning from a dear friend’s post of a list of Mahatma Gandhi’s list of the seven deadly sins. First of all, a reminder of how another religious follower can speak to us with truth and wisdom. I am giving you the list for your own personal … Continue reading The Seven Deadly Sins….. →
• On Turning 88………
  What a number!!! Beyond one’s ability to think that I could be that old. Supposedly, with age, comes wisdom, and tolerance, and forbearance, and all those good traits we are longing to embrace. But who knew that physically the opposite happens. Please know this will not be a litany of aches and pains, but a … Continue reading On Turning 88……… →
• Odds and Ends Of Aging
  I told my girls once that I had to have an inspiration to jot down my thoughts, and while I wouldn’t call this being inspired, it is what occupies my mind these days. At almost 88 years of life, one can expect a few glitches along the way, and so while not life threatening, they … Continue reading Odds and Ends Of Aging →
• A Thousand Lives…
  Picking up a new book and anticipating what treasure awaits me is one of my favorite life time habits. And never more important now in this more “mature” phase of my life. This love and fascination with books began a long time ago when my Mother saw that love was recognized and fulfilled as best … Continue reading A Thousand Lives… →

The last few unbelievable autumn days made me recall how fall was Bill’s favorite time of year. With harvest and hunting and his invariably daily habit of pulling a Golden Delicious off the apple tree on his way to the barn, it filled his soul with joy.

My mind turns also to my Mother reading, or more likely reciting, James Whitcomb Riley’s poem by the title of this blog. Riley was an American poet whose dialect and common subjects made him loved by people in the late 1880’s. He was called the children’s poet, for his Little Orphan Annie poem and his Raggedy Man poem, which became the inspiration for the Raggedy Ann dolls

If you hunger for something refreshing as a crisp autumn day, and non political, I suggest you get on your computers and read James Whitcomb Riley’s poetry.

Here is my only political comment for the day, quoting Mr.Riley (without his wonderful dialect) from Little Orphan Annie……”You better mind your parents and your teachers, fond and dear, and cherish those who love you and dry the orphan’s tear. And help the poor and needy ones that cluster all about…..or the Goblins will get you if you don’t watch out!!”

It’s Sunday morning, beautiful, frosty,peaceful, and I don’t know how I feel, Yesterday was a day I kept myself busy…pulling up dying tomato plants, cleaning off my deck, helping collect and deliver a meal to a grieving family and in between grieving,myself, for the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsberg

She was sense in a senseless world, calm in the face of discord, a fighter in the face of unbearable burdens, and my hero in the fight for recognition of women as vital and capable decision makers.

So in her memory, I urge my friends to follow truth, decency, courage, and to follow your hearts in every decision you make in the coming days. You know what is right. Just be brave enough to show that you will stand where she stood….on the right side of history, and in doing so you will bless your country.

In our house, we kids were the “sous chefs” for Mom, who was a chef extraordinary. She was the seasoner, the final taster of unbelievable dishes that I cannot replicate to this day. so we peeled the potatoes, we shelled the peas, and we strung the beans made easier and more enjoyable by the corporate efforts of sisters and Mom

Around that circle, Mom would sometimes burst into song, like “Old Dan Tucker” or the “Ballad of Little Doris Dean, a four year old who got lost in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Grotoes. I can’t remember all the words, but I do remember that Old Dan Tucker washed his face in a frying pan and combed his hair with a wagon wheel!!!

I am sure these beans will please my children who come to eat them, but I know I will still compare then to Mom’s seasoned with a ham hock, boiled gently on a wood burning kitchen range, and whatever secret ingredient Mom threw into the pot when we weren’t looking’

As these self isolating, social distancing days drag on, I recall with a bit of humor, but with more understanding, about an inquiry my sweet mother-in-law asked me on my visits. “Do you know anything new and interesting?” I want to shout to the heavens now, “I know what you meant, Munnie!”

Don’t you just hunger for something new and interesting? There is just so much news commentary one can take until it becomes stale with repetition. Golden girls plays over and over, and Hallmark grows sappy with predictable outcomes. IPad word games lose their appeal, and when you start reading books a second time, you know you’re in trouble!

Something new and interesting! That’s a tall order! A lot of the news may be “new” but numbers and statistics are not very interesting. Gloomy predictions sour our moods, and face to face conversations seem to have happened in another lifetime. So, with tongue in cheek, I appeal to you reading my blog, if you know anything new and interesting, would you text me!!

I have always been opposed to naming public edifices or venues for people. The hero of today may not stand up to the scrutiny of history. I know I cringe, as one after another name gets discarded, even though it is a worthy move to correct false ideals and causes, that seen in today’s climate of equality for all, need correcting.

I know we have been guilty of naming things after whomever we want to honor, but maybe another path might be more prudent. I remember my mother-in-law told me that High Street in Harrisonburg was once named German Street, until we went to war with them.

I still think about the day I sat on the front porch of Monticello with my middle school grandson. When our guide started talking about Jefferson and his contributions to country, and we all agree there were great things he did, my grandson held up his hand and said, “ But don’t you think it was a bit hypocritical to declare liberty and justice for all while owning slaves?

The guide then opened up about that part of Jefferson’s life and how that would be a part of the tour information. About time. I don’t think less of our forebears who lived in the culture of the time. I am a product of segregation and took it as a normal way of life. I spent four years at Madison College without a person of color either in the student population or in the faculty. I know that was a wrong privilege of my “whiteness” assuring a elevated place in society.

As Dr. Phil often says, “ When you know better, you do better.” That is my prayer for me and for you in this brave new world.

With apologies to Bill Bryson for stealing his title, I could think of no other title for my adventures yesterday. I have none of his humor or descriptive language, but my experience was every bit as invigorating as he tells his story

The girls and I have walked many trails in the Shenandoah National Park, so Saturday we ventured out once again, deciding on Dark Hollow Falls. Which you veterans of the park know, offers a spectacular view of water falls after a somewhat steep descent. We were rewarded with just what we expected….water cascading down multiple rocky cliffs to reward you with the view you came seeking.

We savored our misty, cool surroundings for minutes until the thought of the reality of climbing back up came to mind. My 82 year old legs were saying,”there must be a better solution” which came in the form of a fire road conveniently placed at the bottom of the falls. A soft canopy gave Betsy and me a leisurely walk out to the Skyline Drive, while Sarah and Jen scampered up the step climb to retrieve our car and meet us at the road.

Not an earth shaking experience, but again reminded me not to stop being bold and eager for adventure. In our present, troubled times, it is hard to combine that desire with personal and corporate health issues in mind. But, keep seeking it.

An additional “ah hah”moment to this day was the realization and the appreciation of our National Park System. Never let it be diminished by political or selfish maneuvering. Better than medicine in a bottle…..a walk in the woods!!

This morning when I stepped outside my front door for my walk, I paused and decided to take my walk opposite on the route I usually took. Anything to add a bit of variety to the routine I have faithfully followed for the many months of social distancing!! Live a little, I told myself!

Who knew that walking clockwise around the lake had directional signs for right behavior concerning the lake and pathway? I had never read “Clean up after Your Pet,” or “catch and release fishing,”or deposit trash here.”

I discovered that my uphill pull came half way during my walk and not at the very end. Laughing at my self for thinking a walk whether forward or backward changes your destination, I arrived safely back to my front stoop refreshed and a bit wiser.

Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, said “Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backward.” I absolutely embrace this as I find I spend a lot of time “remembering .” As I hike, or read a book, or embrace a moment of reflection, my mind immediately turns to a remembrance, sweet to recall, and many times more clear than yesterday!

So, for all of you have aging (I hate that word) loved ones, when they tend to talk about the past, know that they are just understanding how all those past happenings made them who they are today.

Sorry daughters, I know I do this a lot. Know that all of those memories are sweet on my mind. And for many of them, I just now understand how important they were in my life.