Author Archives: claudiajustsaying

What Are You Reading?

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Official Website for Margot Livesey

What Are You Reading?

There is nothing like a good book. One you look for every spare minute you have. Especially in the pandemic. I haven’t had a really good read in a long time and read The Flight of Gemma Hardy in three days, lying leisurely on a couch in the afternoon and staying up past my bedtime to finish a chapter. The author, Margot Livesey, was born in Scotland but now lives in Boston.

What I especially liked about the novel was it was set in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.

The accolades from several other well know authors are numerous and Livesey is the recipient of grants and winner of awards.

It was a great read and I’m currently reading her latest book, Boy In The Field.

What are you reading?

. . . just saying

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A is for Attitude

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A is for Attitude

Tony Bennett

A recent interview on CBS Morning News with Susan and Tony Bennett revealed his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and the challenges of aging. The discussion highlighted how helpful the disclosure was for the general public. His wife said, “Tony Bennett is battling Alzheimer’s disease, but singing is saving him.”

Well, singing is an option. Remember the songs Get Happy sung by Judy Garland or Happy; written, produced and performed by Pharrell Williams? Both are uplifting and yes after humming a few bars people feel happier. 

The correlation between attitude and quality of life has never been clearer. Books, lectures, magazine and newspaper articles go on and on describing the benefits. We frequently celebrate one- hundred-year-olds who may need help blowing out the candles but nevertheless are recognized for their positive attitude, activity and ability to socialize. Captain Tom Moore published his book, Tomorrow  Will Be A Good Day at age one hundred.   

Having the right attitude matters.

There are more indicators that quality of life can be maintained as we age and questions about the inevitability of dementia in seniors.

Dementia

Attitude can be a challenge and I used to coil at the phrase happiness is a choice.

But now think; happiness may be a choice. . . some days, although maybe not every day . . . even if the sun is shining.

Well, just hum a few bars of your favorite song.

. . . just saying

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The Silent Sound of Snow

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I really miss snow.

Family and friends remark, “Easy to say from Florida.”

They may be right; nevertheless, beautiful winter scenes created by the recent blizzard bring me happiness and serenity.

I found myself reciting Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening.”

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Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Poem by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake the darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Frost found words to express a feeling so special it has ownership. Not his, but one to be shared.

The line, the only other sound’s the sweep of easy wind and downy flake, sparked my poem.

Sounds of Snow

     by Claudia . . . just saying

The sound of snow after falling

A quiet stillness penetrating crisp air

Listen intensely for snare drums not there

The howl of the wind mimics French horns

Stop in soft snow tracks

An acoustical silence alone

An absence of flurry

Close your eyes

Hear the gentle whispers of nature singing

Remember the sound after snow falling  . . . never there

. . . . just saying

A Self Help Look

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The Self Help Look

I’ve thought of writing a self-help series to help myself deal with life and aging. You know something along the lines of; tips on how to get out of a chair or remembering where you’ve parked, and planned to hit the ground running on New Years’ Day.

Today is the first day of the year and the first day of the rest of your life would be the break out sentence. It’s catchy enough don’t you think?

The next day, I woke up thinking; every day is the first day of the rest of your life and readers might be bored. So, I switched to Today is the first day of the end of your life. I thought this funny and was amused with myself. After all, as my golfer husband says, “We’re on the back nine headed to the 18th hole.”

Would readers enjoy my black humor? I needed help and more than likely, unable to help myself. So, I put the self-help series on hold.

Then I found a pair of lost earrings and felt lucky. Perhaps I would focus on a series about luck. The lucky feeling continued when Bernie Sander’s mitten picture was plastered across the news.

Aren’t we lucky to have people like him to lighten the mood?

Perhaps I can help myself. I could call it The Aging Alphabet Series; A is for Attitude, B is for Brain Power, C is for Constipation, D is for Dementia, etc.  

. . . just saying

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Lucky Day

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Black Onyx Earrings

Lucky Day

Yesterday was a lucky day for me. The feeling stayed with me all day and woke me up this morning. Lucky because I found a pair of earrings, I thought were lost. I frequently misplace but rarely lose items. Unless you consider putting something in a very safe place never to be seen again.

These earrings, favorites of mine, were searched for time and again. I hadn’t put them in a secret spot, but I looked in jewelry cases, double checked coat pockets, handbags, toiletry bags. I crawled under couches, shook out bed sheets, used a flashlight around car seats. Eventually, I threw my hands up and said, “When they’re ready to be found, they’ll be found.”  

A few years went by. I still couldn’t believe they were lost and phoned my sister asking, “Did you happen to find a pair of black onyx earrings?”

Purchased at an antique store on Beach Street in Daytona, they had history. Some might reference the jewelry as previously owned. The store identified them as estate jewelry.

Yesterday, while sorting through a basket kept in the bathroom for hairdryers, curling irons, and brushes they appeared, so tarnished I had to put my glasses on to identify them.

They were ready to be found.  

It was a lucky day.

. . . just saying

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Out with The Old In with The New

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Guardian Service Cookware vs Target’s Made By Design

 

Out with The Old/In with The New

Aunt Connie believed aluminum cookware a culprit to dementia and or Alzheimer disease. She was next in line to inherit the Guardian Service pots and didn’t want them. Consequently, they were brought to me. I was more concerned with displeasing my mother-in-law than forgetfulness, so I cooked with them, for many years.

As advertised these hammered aluminum pots are indestructible and still highly coveted. Guardian Service has their own website and the collectable pots are for sale on eBay.

So, even thinking about replacing the Dutch Oven felt like abandoning a childhood friend. Nevertheless, I went shopping. But similar ceramic pots were heavier than what I was replacing. The new pot, Made by Designs, is a ceramic non-stick stockpot purchased at Target. It is light weight, easy to clean, oven safe, and reasonably price at forty dollars. I bought the damn pot but came home feeling guilty and happy.

Online, I discovered there are several songs with the title Out with the old in with the new. All were maudlin and depressing. I was still conflicted. Perhaps this was about change.

Change is difficult because change triggers fear and the natural instinct to fight or flee. The information and research done on the topic is extensive but to sum it up; in the aging brain, the parts that light up during a deemed deviation/change are not unlike encountering something life threatening. So, replacing an old pot can signal the alarm of a house invasion.

After mulling it over for a few days I came up with a compromise. The new pot will get the easy to reach spot in the kitchen cabinet, but I won’t throw out or give away the old valuable Guardian Dutch Oven, yet.

I’ll put it on a garage shelf and see how much I miss it.

. . . Just saying

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Blursday A New Weekday

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Blursday . . .

Well, we survived 2020 and the holiday season has ended. So, it is time to look ahead, in spite of the pandemic. Not to what was previously called normal, because like the printing press, the corona virus has changed the world, remember both originated in China.

We look forward to everyone getting vaccinated, and no talk of the corona virus.

Thankfully, since 1976, Lake Superior State University compiles an annual Banished Words List, “to uphold, protect, and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, clichéd, illogical, nonsensical—and otherwise ineffective, baffling, or irritating.”

2021 Banished Word List

  1. COVID-19 (COVID, coronavirus, Rona)
  2. Social distancing
  3. We’re all in this together
  4. In an abundance of caution (various phrasings)
  5. In these uncertain times (various phrasings)
  6. Pivot 
  7. Unprecedented
  8. Karen 
  9. Sus
  10. I know, right?

You may have heard about that horrible incident in Central Park with the woman named Karen, and why it is on the list. But Pivot and Sus? I had to look up. I personally think the expression whatever should have been included.  

The word Blursday, is a horse of a different color. Rumor has it, the word is irritating and trending for the 2022 list.

Defined as: An unspecified day; the loss of the ability to track one’s week because of the knockdown effect on time. For many people, the pandemic has created a long period of time without their daily work and school schedule. Without a schedule, it has become hard to remember which day it is”

Hard to remember what day it is? Wait until they are my age.

However, the days of social distancing, frequently hand washing, and isolation won’t disappear fast. It takes time for the body to build immunity after the vaccination and two shots are required.

So, what are we going to do in the mean time?

We’ve already installed a blind on the glass sliders, swapped out a two-bowl sink for a one bowl. Connected a filtration system, upgraded the irrigation system, improved the landscaping and had the outside of the house painted. The picture above is our front door painted in the new color, Cyberspace.

I guess I could clean out the closets or finish my first novel.

. . . just saying 

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I look forward to your comments.

New Year’s Eve 2020

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A Favorite book of mine

Sing a Song of Seasons, the book was displayed in the children’s section of our county library and I fell in love with the pictures and poems and promised myself to read each daily poem. Of course, I didn’t. The year has passed quickly for me and I find myself with the same goal for 2021.

Poem December 30th

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December

A magical thing

And sweet to remember

We are nearer to spring

Then we were in September

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December

by Oliver Herford

Poems; a daily joy to ponder what life is really about.

May you duck in time to avoid life’s mishap or reinventing yourself if you fail.

. . . . just saying

Happy New Year

Chilly In Florida

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It’s cold in Florida. So cold I had to bring my Christmas cactus inside. The wind howled through the front window reminding me of our home in Newton New Jersey. Each window of the one hundred plus Victorian had it own melody, some more big brass than others.

We planned to drive north for the holiday, but my husband woke up with the stomach flu and I rushed him to the emergency room. The good news? It wasn’t the corona virus.

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We changed plans. We’ve had to do so many times and I’ve gotten good at doing it.

Christmas Eve Lemon Chicken Soup

I thought, of all the past Christmas gatherings, which one would I choose to have again. Well the obvious one is when our children were little.

Christmas 1977

Our daughter, Janine, her personality shining through.

Tony reading with Santa.

However, the year there was a blizzard was special.

Both our kids were home for the holidays, and many family members were expected for Christmas dinner. It started snowing in the morning, lightly. Then became blinding throughout the day. Around midnight we watched the flakes morph into large snowflakes, the ones we cut out of paper and hung on a tree. It became quiet. The quiet that had a noise of its own. We made angels in the snow and ate dinner in our pajamas.

It’s the Christmas I picture, again and again.

Every person, young and old, will remember this Christmas, the pandemic Christmas. Probably for what they didn’t get to do, and that will make it special.

. . . . just saying

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I look forward to your comments.

Photo Challenge

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This is the last picture I took with my cell. We swapped out the mirrors in the master bath for mirrored medicine cabinets. I sent a photo of them to a consignment store.

Brian, at Bushboy’s World had the great idea of posting the last photo of each month from his SD card and phone. He offers no explanation and does no editing.

Lots of us have joined in, sharing our own last photos.

Here’s what to do if you’d like to join in as well:

1. Post the last photo on your SD card or last photo on your phone for July 2020.
2. No editing – who cares if it is out of focus, not framed as you would like or the subject matter didn’t cooperate.
3. You don’t have to have any explanations, just the photo will do
4. Create a Pingback to Brian’s post or link in the comments
5. Tag “The Last Photo”