Monday, February 26, 2024

Age of Reflextion

 Two days ago I attended a Celebration of Life for a very good friend. The next day (yesterday) marked one year since one of my very, very best friends died.

I started thinking of all the women that I have shared space with; it's a long list.

I think, well, I know, I appreciated their friendship at the time.  Most of them but not all, I didn't realize until many years later how very grateful I was to have known them. 

I'm leaving family members off this list because - I loved them all and miss them a ton so . . . enough said.

I'm also sure I'll miss a few but in my way of keeping my blogs short-ish, here goes.

My kindergarten teacher, Miss Adams, was so kind and encouraging.  I remember her soft voice and presence.

Mary Hearn and Elnora Simpson.  Hard working women and possessed patience from the gods.

Pat Ankney.  She expected your best and got it - if it killed us.

Sue Johnson Lange who still rides along with me most every day.

Pat Higgs Miller who showed me how to tell the funniest damn stories -  about myself. She deserved an Oscar for her tales.

Kathi Proper - who filled my life with joy every nano-second we spent together.

Gwen DeBruyn who encouraged me constantly with my jewelry.

There are more but I promised to keep it short-ish.

Take a moment and reflect on the gifts left behind by people you loved and admired.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Glasses

 Not the ones on the dinner table.  I'm talking about the ones on your face.

I always say I've been wearing glasses since I was 9 years old and I'm pretty sure I'm right but I've been known to confuse dates and times. It's kinda my "thing."  I'm famous, I mean world famous for it.

So, anyway.  I've had them riding on my nose for decades.  

I tried bifocal contact lenses several years ago and it didn't go well.

I actually don't mind wearing glasses.  My first pair of red frames set me on a "snazzy" path.  Hey, if ya gotta wear them, might as well have fun.

Along with advancing age (I'm a hair's breadth away from 75) other fun stuff happens to your eyes: dry eye, glaucoma, cataracts, etc.

Petey and I both have cataracts but we're hoping to out-live the surgery. Neither one of us have started to exhibit symptoms - yet.

But if, in fact, surgery happens I decided I'm not going to go with the corrective lens option.  

Why, you say?  Don't you want to toss those specs and run free?

No, I don't.  Glasses to me are like "face jewelry."  They cover up stuff.  You know what I'm talking about - bags and wrinkles.

I need to distract attention not call attention.

I've also seen people after surgery that are still carrying around "cheaters or readers" when they need help up close or far away depending on what they had corrected.

What's the point?  I'd have to always make sure I had that back-up assistance as opposed to now when I don't have to look in my purse or pat my pockets looking for the dang things.

Nah.  I'll stick with getting new frames every 3-5 years (hopefully) just to keep life interesting.

Monday, December 4, 2023

Pics: the good, the bad and the ugly

 I love taking pictures with my cell phone.  I don't think I did much of that when I had a Tracfone - maybe because I couldn't?  Can't remember.

Well, life opened up in a big way when I moved up to an iphone.  Thanks, Lisa.  

I recently upgraded from a #7 to a #14 and I feel like the picture quality is much better.  I'm sure there are a lot of super cool things I can do with it but I'm happy at this point with the results.

I love saving memories.  I love getting screen grabs from my nieces' FB or IG accounts. I love sending pictures of my bruised knuckle to my sisters.

Probably the biggest benefit for me right now is that I can record (video) myself playing my ukulele and singing songs to send to a group of friends living with serious health conditions.

The other plus showed its self today while we were decorating the house for Christmas.  I'd forgotten that I'd taken pictures of where everything went.  Whew.  Saved some time there.

The ugly happened when Peter thought we elevated the tree a bit last year - using a stool.  I was like "no, didn't happen."  Then I started to doubt myself so I went back to the pics from last year.

Dang it!  There it was.  The stool we used to make the tree more visible so all our neighbors could take joy in our elaborate show of the holiday! 

Did I mention it's a Charlie Brown tree?  

Now for the ugly.  Last week in downtown Holland there was a contest.  The deal was to take a picture of yourself at one of the local stores or restaurants and submit it to the city.  The prize was a gift certificate to one of the shops or eateries.

Dining at our favorite - Hops at 84 East - I grabbed the menu, held it up to my face and took a pic.  I didn't look at it until after the menus had been taken away which was a huge mistake.

Why you ask?  Because with my white hair and having the light behind me the result was freakish!  Not to mention way, way too close.  EEEEEEEEEEK!

I was too embarrassed to ask for a menu again and was pretty sure the result was going to be the same so I just shot the wreath above the door and submitted that.

I didn't win.

The pictures are still a gift.  I love going back, often with tears, and look at the people I miss and taking joy in seeing new and old friends and of course, family that are still hangin' around.

I'll be happy if your "take away" is to photograph your decorations if nothing else.

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Music buddies

 I like to sing but I'm not a musician.  Yes, I picked up the ukulele a few years ago and I'm really enjoying it but there's nothing natural that's happening on that instrument. My goal, from the start, was to accompany myself in my little den here at The Red House.  I missed singing so the uke has helped me fill that void.

This time of year has me really reflecting.  Many experiences and people have been running through my mind like crazy little rabbits lately.

One category that's at the head of the memory train is: Musician friends that are no longer here.  I had the pleasure of standing on the same stage as the men I'm going to mention.

Fred Gibson:  I first met Fred when he was in elementary school and hung out at the playground I was working at for my summer job.  I pumped him daily for info on his older brother.  I had a big crush going on back then and needed some insight.  

After that summer I didn't see much of Fred until my Cabaret days.  He was like magic on the stage.  He tore it up.  He owned it.  There were times I considered trying to talk him into running away with me.

His life ended abruptly and way too soon.  He left a big hole in everyone's heart.

Bobby VanStee:  I met Bobby (a lot of people called him Gus) many years ago through a mutual friend. That friend (Mary Spreitzer) and I were rehearsing a song (Desperado) at her house.  She sang it and I interpreted it in American Sign Language.  

There sat Bobby on Mary's couch with his dog, Emmy Lou, with tears running down his face.

Bobby didn't read music.  He sat down at his keyboard and stuff just happened.  His ear was finely tuned.

I was lucky enough to have some meaningful phone (Facetime) chats with Bobby toward the end of his life.  His death still caught me off guard.  I sure miss that big man.

Mitch Wooster: "Rooster," the one-man band.  I remember going into Mitch's record store in downtown Allegan looking for, what I thought, was an obscure musician's Blues music: Delbert McClinton. Mitch knew exactly who I was talking about and ordered some tapes for me right away.

I saw/heard Mitch play many, many times but I didn't appreciate what an outstanding musician he really was until years later.  It was like I was seeing him for the first time and he blew me away.

He helped me out on some recording problems I was having and we also had several private Facebook chats about politics and life. We shared "the same page."

Last time we talked in person was a quick chat at the Eagles.  If I'd known he was going to leave this life soon after that day, I would have stayed longer.

Noah Smith:  Noah was a force to be reckoned with.  He paid me the highest compliment when I sang my first solo ("Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," the Big Maybelle version) at Cabaret many years ago.  "Who were you channeling for that?"

Noah's body took a real blow by some weirdo disease and movement was limited.  The last time I saw him perform he couldn't lift a glass but he could still sing.  The man was determined.

When I started playing the ukulele, Noah gave me some great advice during one of our phone calls.  Some chords were difficult for my old fingers and he said "oh, hell, you don't have to play all the chords.  Just skip the one that's hard and pick up on the other side."

Thanks, buddy.

These men all left wonderful memories behind.  Great stories that will hopefully be shared for years to come.


Monday, November 20, 2023

Cell phones

 I've written about cell phones before.  There are so many things I love about them.  They have opened up a whole new world but lately . . . 

We watch a lot of movies and series on Netflix and sometimes Prime and I've noticed over the past few years that cell phones are playing a big part in the entertainment field.  So much so that if you see someone pick up a "real" phone then you know you're watching a really old flick.

We've seen actors record confessions from unsuspecting bad guys and many, many funny scenes where cell phones are pivotal to the plot.

Here's my complaint: when a message comes in it is sometimes shown in the air so WE CAN ALL READ IT.  Super cool idea.

Most often, though, you only see a shot of the phone itself with the teeny tiny message displayed. 

Who do they think is able to read that???  And you only get a nano-second to decipher! If it could be frozen and I felt like getting up off the couch and crawling up to the TV, then I'd be able to see the message. But I'm all comfy, you know, so I let it pass me by with some grumpy mumbling under my breath.  

When they're making a movie isn't there a time, like maybe at the end of the day, where someone sits in a room to see what the day's shooting looks like?  Didn't that person realize the text can NOT be read by anyone without binoculars at the ready?

Often times that unreadable text is important!  Like where the body is buried or when the lovers are supposed to meet and run away together.

So, who to I write to so I can lodge my complaint? 

I'm not going to send a text.  Maybe an email.  Or maybe, just maybe,  I'll go old school and put pen to paper.  

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Who Are They???

 So I'm doing a little "light" cleaning.  I'm pretty good at it.  I do, at times, go for a "deep clean" but I'm not sure my style is the same as everyone else's.

For example:  I noticed the canisters on my kitchen countertop needed a swipe with a damp cloth followed by a dry cloth to make the streaks disappear.

I began to wonder if the people that really want to hit it actually empty out the container and actually wash it.  Like with soap and water.

Are there people out there that do that???

I know someone, Lisa, that had a really narrow walk-in pantry.  It was so narrow that you really couldn't walk straight into the thing if your shoulders were wider than a third grader.  Well, the person who lived there like a thousand years ago thought it should be wall papered! 

We spent an inordinate amount of speculating how that job was accomplished. Had to be an over-achiever or a contortionist. Or both.

Remember when people used to mop their floors?  I mean on their hands and knees???  Can you imagine?

How about the concept of spring cleaning.  What does that really mean, anyway? Does that mean you move the couch and vacuum behind it? Or completely remove all the clothes in your closet and dust and vacuum?  

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

As you can tell, I don't ascribe to that style of life.

I am a bit better, though, since we live in a house with all kinds of direct sunlight screaming through the windows now.

Didn't see that coming.  Caught me totally unprepared.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

The Sky!

 The sky is amazing!  I have a new found appreciation for the sky.  I think it has to do with my age and my location.

When I was a kid and probably up into adulthood I didn't give the sky a lot of thought except to maybe check to see if the sun was out or if it was raining or snowing.

I do remember seeing a shooting star for the first time and it blew my mind but I would have to say that since moving to Holland the sky has left me breathless at times.

I've mentioned before in a blog that having direct sunlight has been wonderful because we didn't have that in Allegan since we lived at the base of a hill surrounded by very big trees and a large Victorian house next door.

Well, the same goes for access to the sky.  Going for a drive yesterday I practically had my nose pressed to the windshield.  The cloud formations were so dramatic and it looked like you could see forever.  The horizon looked endless.

And then we were treated to this:


And then this morning - this:


Another plus to being on flat land is driving on secondary roads lined with trees.  They're huge!  We had huge trees in Allegan but driving along curvy roads bordered by those big guys feels like driving through a tunnel.

I love looking at the sky - whether it's chocked full of clouds or crystal clear.  I won't miss a day, if I can help it, for the rest of my days.