9/25 - I've got another confession to make........

(stolen from the Foo Fighters - but I digress)

I skipped my 35 year high school reunion this weekend.  Yes, I said THIRTY FIVE year reunion....so I'm old - its not like you didn't already know that - let's move on.

Why didn't I attend?

First off - it was a dinner dance which generally sucks for me without a partner because dancing in a group of women while the men look on isn't cute after a certain age - it becomes creepily like a strip club only without dollar bills being tucked into your bra, doncha think?

And, it was on a Friday night - which made me think that few folks from out of town were going to be able to attend......and lets face it - those are the ones I'd want to see - I run into the local folk occasionally and we'd probably already be hanging out on a semi-regular basis if we were "friends".

The last reunion I went to was my 25th - I went to the "informal get together" which was held, if memory serves, the night before the dinner dance - had pleasant conversations catching up with a few  people I hadn't seen since the 15 year event, and finished up by having a private reunion with an old friend.......and I'll just smile and leave it at that.

 Even though people seem to remember me as much more interesting and cool than I was....I still don't enjoy reliving the past.  I prefer to reinvent myself every decade or so......and what I"m working on for my 50s will get its own blog at some point, I promise.

OK - so I didn't go....

However, thanks to the brilliance of Mark Zuckerberg  (Happy Yom Kippur by the way), my graduating class has a Facebook page that's sharing lots of pictures of the event.

And you know what - I don't recognize most of the faces - and the ones that I do think I might know  look either really old or impossibly young - like I married (or became) a plastic surgeon/personal trainer- young.  This was such a shock to me that I mentioned it at aerobics class - how did these people get so old?  And of course my friends laughed because they are much too polite to point out that I am old as well.

It took me a bit to figure out why I was so shocked.  Its not that I am unrealistic about aging, honest.  I know I look a lot older than I did in high school - even a lot older than I did in my 30s - unless we have incredibly good genes and ridiculous willpower to avoid all the fun stuff in life that ages us - we are going to get and look older.

The shock came because I haven't had any contact with these people for a very long time - so my frame of reference and expectations are skewed.  Classmates that I socialize with either in person or through Facebook may have changed in appearance every bit as much over 35 years, but its been gradual and so really not noticeable.

Or maybe its just that my friends don't age like other people - they still all look amazing no matter what their birth certificates say.

And yes, I'm talking about you ;).....

9/22 - Make new friends, but keep the old.....

One is silver and the other, in this case, is tri-color gold.

One of the most awesome things about my friends is that we can kinda pick up where we left off no matter how long its been since we talked.  Thats part of the reason that my Myrtle Beach vacation was so awesome....we all just kind of  "click".

Anyhow, I noticed a tri-color chain around my friends neck and it made me smile to remember the story behind it - and to smile even more to see that she still treasured the gift.

You see, a number of years ago, this friend was visiting up my way from South Carolina and she fell in love with this gold chain that I was wearing - just a fine twisted tricolor gold chain -- nothing special.  After she'd gone home to South Carolina, I happened to go into the same store and I saw the chain again.....so I bought another one and sent it down to her.  She was surprised and touched and very thankful, and I was glad to have made her happy.  But I never really thought about it again until I saw her and she was wearing that chain......and it was pretty clear that she wears it all the time just the way that I do mine.

Sometimes we have no idea how much impact our actions have.

And then again, sometimes its very clear. 

Heres my back yard three years ago - a couple months after I bought my house.

And here is pretty much the same view today

 

I'd forgotten how it used to look - so right now, once again, I'm smiling with pride at what I've managed....and I think if the trees could, they'd be smiling too.

 

9/20 Old Lady of the Sea

I just got back from a quick trip to visit my best bud, who has been my friend for more than 40 years and now lives in South Carolina.  We have another mutual friend who moved to Myrtle Beach some years ago, and we all shared a mini girls vacation at the beach.

It was wonderful - the weather was good (at least the first couple of days), the resort was nice,  but the best part was just being able to relax and enjoy each other's company.

And it reminded me just how much I love being able to hear and watch the ocean.   Many of my best memories are associated with the beach.......as a teen hanging under the parking deck of a condo complex sneaking cigarettes and beer.....trying to act sophisticated when I came across my first nude beach in Greece..... snorkeling with a manatee in Key Largo and with sea turtles in Hawaii.  Cresting a hill in the Sinai and discovering the amazing beaches of the Red Sea....the list goes on and on.

The ocean is everchanging - just take a look at the difference a day makes.....

Happy Ocean

 

                                                      Unhappy Ocean


Dealing with my fathers disability over the past few months has made me recognize that I need to think about my future and decide what I want while I still have the ability to make my own choices.   I love my house and the life that I've made for myself here in my hometown....but there will likely come a day when I just can't keep up with the demands of maintaining a house and a yard or perhaps I'll no longer find joy in the work.

And when that time comes, I'll be ready to move to a small oceanfront condo someplace where the smell of the salt and the sound of the waves will calm me - and the ocean itself will provide me with everchanging scenery, even if I can't leave home.

9/13 Thursday Thirteen

In the constantly changing internet world, its a relief to find something that remains the same.  There is still a Thursday Thirteen website and meme.

And so, I will use that fact to sanction today's list of random bits and pieces from the week just past.....and perhaps at some later point I'll expand on one or more of the items ;)

1.  I called my XX back - got an automated attendant that gave a different number and hung up - not realizing until a bit later that he probably has calls transferred to his cell and so I could have left a message  But no matter - he'll see my # on the caller ID.

2.  Which brings me to how easy but at the same time difficult it is to stalk someone these days.  Sure, if they haven't blocked FB you can see all sorts of things, but I "think" there are widgets that let the page owner see who has viewed them - just as caller ID lets them see who has called.  There are surveillance cameras everywhere, so you can't get away with following them.

3.  None of the above is meant to suggest that I've ever stalked someone.  I did have a stalker once (well actually for a number of years and some pretty scary encounters)  - but that's its own blog someday.

4.  Work is actually pretty easy at the moment but I'm frustrated with all the drama - if people would just spend their time doing work instead of complaining about it - they would discover its not such a burden after all.

5.  Last night there was an actual herd of deer in my backyard - five of them - tonight only two - and they didn't come up close enough to get a good picture.

6.  That's actually a positive as the spray nozzle on my deer repellent seems to have broken so I can't properly protect my hosta - and because I'm a neat freak - I don't have any empty sprayers laying around - I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.

7.  I'm fighting a mole who has taken up residence in my yard - ironically right next to the Solar Mole Spike I installed a couple of months ago.

8.  Why is spellcheck questioning my use of the word "hosta" in #6?

9.  My summer bowling partner apparently had a seizure last week - his son says he stopped taking his medication.  If that's the case- its the fourth time that I can remember this same sequence of events - stop taking anti-seizure medicine - have seizure.   What is it with people who keep doing the same thing over and over thinking this time the result will be different.

10.  Which is perhaps a good segue into my XX.  We had great physical chemistry and made some great memories - but it was always me pushing him to go out and do things....he'd just as soon sit at home and get drunk.  I've told him a number of times that I just couldn't be in a relationship with an alcoholic but in hindsight, that really wasn't and isn't the problem/

11.  The problem is that in the 11 years since we broke up, I've gained the confidence to be able to do what I want on my own, instead of waiting for someone to join me.  Granted, I'm still not much for going to sporting events or concerts alone (witness me skipping Richmond last weekend) - but each time I overcome my fear and just do something - its a good experience that helps moves me forward.  I don't want to be held back by a partner that only shares my physical, not my mental passions.

12.  Back to shallower thoughts.  I had an appraisal this week - hopefully it will come in high enough that I can refinance - the lower rate means I could spend the same each month but pay the house off much sooner. The appraiser mentioned that if I added heat to my enclosed sideporch, it would count as living space and increase the value of my house a good 5K if not more.  All that would involve is cutting a hole in the wall and flipping existing ductwork outward....something I might even be able to do myself.

13. Which reminds me - wonder if XX is still handy with gas engines?  My lawnmower hasn't worked since early spring and I'm not comfortable taking it apart to try to figure out the problem.

Hope all of you are having a good week......I'm off to Kerfuffle with my friend Steph on Saturday, and then Myrtle Beach with my BB and another close friend on Sunday.......life is sweet these days.....

What is time?

This isn't my picture....but this morning I looked out and saw a butterfly enjoying breakfast at my hummingbird feeder.  I'm glad it got some use - this year I only saw a hummingbird out there once.

But I was thinking - we're into September now and so this butterfly doesn't have long left to live.

Which led me to wonder - do butterflies have any sense of time, and if so, how does it work for them?  When you only live for a few months, does every day stretch out like years would for us?

And at the opposite end of the spectrum giant tortoises can live for two hundred years or more (though Lonesome George was only estimated to be a hundred when he passed on earlier this year).  So I wonder, how does time work for them?   Lonesome George got his name not only because he was the only one of his species, but because he mated so rarely......and maybe if we knew we'd still be "active" fifty years from now -we might be choosier about our own partners ;).

I remember my grandmother once commenting about how all of her friends had died and she was the only one left.  I know it troubled her at times, but she still kept on keeping on until her 90s. 

And now, sometimes I look at my life and worry that I only have "a few" good years left.....and regret that I didn't use those earlier ones as well as I should have.  But then again, I think about events in my past and am amazed that they happened so long ago.

I hope that butterfly is able to just exist in the moment......and that's something I need to work harder at myself.

9/8/12 - Weekend XXXX Beer - Woody Creek White

I like to support local craft brewers, and that's easy to do with Frederick based Flying Dog Brewery.  Not only do these folks have a sense of humor (as evidenced by the name of my favorite IPA, Raging Bitch),  but they make some really good beers.

I was in the checkout line at Corridor (soon to be changing its name to Total) wine when I spotted this cute little bottle sitting on the shelf.........and it jumped onto the counter.  Actually, I helped it a bit - but still - I was curious about wit beer, which is described by Beer Advocate as

"A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due to it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other oddball spices or herbs in the back ground"

I happen to love wheat beers especially in warm weather - in fact my current stash is heavy on the Sierra Nevada Hefeweizen which has become my alcoholic warm weather beverage of choice  if I'm not feeling winy.

And I absolutely adore this Woody Creek White- so much so that I'm going back to the store tomorrow to see if they have any six packs left.

 I'm not very good at explaining what I am tasting, so let me give you the "official" word..

"Completely cloudy from the yeast, very pale yellow color as well. The lace has no problem sticking around, even after a few big sips. Big and balanced aroma of coriander and orange peel, with a soft graininess and nutty yeast in the back. Thick layers of citrus and coriander hit the palate hard up front; a mild hop bitterness and a toothy graininess help keep everything level. A bit of bitterness from the coriander toward the end, with a harder citric tone. Finishes dry with a nearly clean aftertaste."