Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Ring in Another Year!

Do you remember the old comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes"?

Calvin expounded to Hobbes:

"I'm getting disillusioned with these new years. They don't seem very new at all! Each new year is just like the old year! Here another year has gone by and everything's still the same! There's still pollution and war and stupidity and greed! Things haven't changed! I say what kind of future is this? I thought things were supposed to improve! I thought the future was supposed to be better!"

Hobbes response:

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present."

Bill Watterson, the creator of this comic, got to the essence of things in a single strip. We may not have the genius of this cartoonist, but we can mull over his wisdom.

There will always be issues such as conflicts, greed, corruption, bribery. Those things will not change. What will change is our willingness to continue the fight to make the world a better place. Determination, fortitude, and an "I care" attitude do, and will continue to improve our world, piece by piece by piece, bit by bit. We may not see it, but this I believe, that we ourselves during this struggle to better our world, change ourselves. Each year we can become a stronger, wiser, more compassionate person. Some of this wisdom, filled with hope and love, may pass on to our children and those we touch during our passage through the many new years of our life.

Happy new year to all of you from this serene corner of the Black Hills of South Dakota!


Friday, December 26, 2014

Being Spoiled

What a switch! I recently wrote that at our age my husband and I do only token gift exchanging, having too many things to clutter our lives. Well, surprise, surprise. This year Bob requested that we not attend any holiday gatherings, but stay at home. (One exception was one guest included in our quiet holiday at home.)

After early morning skypeing with our children and grandchildren, Bob disappeared into the kitchen, creating a marvelous Christmas dinner. He allowed no admittance to me and managed to create a feast for kings. I did set the table and did the dishes after, but it was a special gift to be banished from the kitchen for the day.(I have never been overly fond of cooking, especially for guests and holidays.)

In addition to this pampering I opened a gift of a beautiful necklace set, fit for a queen, and was escorted to the back yard where Bob had been working all week, out of my view, on a CHICKEN COOP for our garden. We will get 3 or 4 chickens that will enrich our soil with fertilizer, devour all grasshoppers and annoying insects, mice and other unwelcome critters, but, best of all, furnish us and our neighbors with healthy eggs from free-roaming chickens.

Bob is going to purchase Icelandic chickens, hardy and suitable for this weather, as well as feisty fighters against predators. I also received a small incubator to hatch about 4 chickens. Bob remembered that during my teaching days I often hatched chickens in my classroom as part of a science project. It was the highlight of the science unit for the students and also, this very enthused teacher.

What fun! What a husband! What a Christmas to remember! It was my year to be indulged...something I never expected at this senior time of life.

During 2015 I will keep my readers in the "chicken loop" of my life. Keep tuned!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Changing Perspectives

As a child I looked at Christmas with anticipation. What would Santa bring? My help in decorating was minimal. Early on the tree was decorated during the Eve after we children were asleep and all presents appeared magically under that tree. The days before the holiday dragged on. A turtle could have whizzed by them.

As a young adult/teen I was focused on gifts for others....boys and other friends and my family, and what would I receive from them? Holiday parties were wrapped around what clothes would I wear, would I have a date? Time seemed to move at a quicker pace.

As an adult woman pre-holidays passed too quickly. There was work, gifts for co-workers, spouses, children and parents. Shopping and decorating took a chunk of precious time. During the sandwich years it was important to include parents in the festivities in one way or another. As my parents aged that involved lengthy drives to their home for the holidays.

Today, in my retirement years, the focus has shifted to the grandchildren. The search for the perfect gifts starts early. After all, isn't the job of a grandparent to spoil them? Parents are caught in those 'tween years"...work, children and their parents. Grandparents have shed the daily grind, have lost their own parents who once indulged them at Christmas, no longer want gifts from one another, having shed their appetite for things that may clutter their home and so, with the exception of token gifts for friends and one another, the urge for giving spot-lights mainly on those grandchildren.

Giving is a gift of love and caring for another. That never leaves, or, at least at this period in my life still tugs at my heart each time I see something that I think may give joy to another. When that certain item is spotted I tuck it away to be given or mailed to someone in my life for the appropriate occasion. At this stage of the game as parents and friends leave this world and my circle of gift-giving narrows, it is a joy to discover that special gift for the grandchildren, children and friends near and dear.

May all of you faithful readers find joy in giving during this holiday season and may you always have someone in your life that will feel special when they open that gift of love from you.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Back Porch, Front Porch

Meow, meow, meow. Skitty, the calico stray peers into our back door begging for food. Muddy, her black and white offspring, sits on the railing looking into our back window. First thing in the morning when I open the blinds, he sits looking in at me, wide-eyed with anticipation.

Bob and I have become accustomed to the sight, early morning and later in the day. When we drive home, both cats recognize the car and come running to our door, waiting for their handouts.

Last week I opened the front door to let in the warmth of the early sun into our front porch. Meow, meow. Front paws on the screen door was the neighbor's large white cat asking for attention. I opened the door and he trotted in, walked around a bit and sped back out. Every day since he is at the door. He is solid and must weigh 20 pounds. He is not needing food. We don't know what he expects, but whenever we exit the front door, he follows us around. We know he lives across the street but somehow he has the idea that we are his second home. Once in a while he shows up at our back door, much to our alley cat's dismay. Muddy's large eyes grow larger when he shows up, especially when he nibbles on his food. The nerve of that fat cat! He is a well-fed house cat, obviously pampered, and he is infringing on the alley cats' territory.

What can I say? I can pet him (which is fun since the alley cats will not allow the touch), but now, no matter which door I exit, there is a cat or two, looking up at me with that look of "poor me. Take pity and feed me."

We are surrounded. I hate to say this, but we have become the cat house of the neighborhood. Shhhhhh..........

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Once Again, Ho, Hum and Betrayal

Another town hall meeting from the VA. The head honchos, Steve DiStasio and Janet Murphy, director of VISN 23, conducted the meeting. It is all supposed to be about listening to veterans and their concerns and answering their questions. Well, no surprise to those of us who have been at previous such meetings, most questions were dodged or brought refusals to answer.

The National Historic Preservation Trust is opposed to the closure of our VA, as well as all of our representatives in Washington from four of our states, the veterans who use this facility, the taxpayers, and we townspeople who are part of this veteran' town.

On the other side, in favor of closure of the highest quality health care VA, are the few, the closed-minded and the self-seeking. Frustrating? Perhaps a veteran who emails me on a regular basis has expressed himself better than I, in the following email I received from him after the meeting yesterday that he did not attend:

I thought that it would be more redundant as most stories are the same and they all seem to fall on deaf ears. I simply couldn't take any more of the rhetoric from DiStasio without getting more agitated than I already am. After the comments I made last meeting the residual effects stayed with me for several days.

It is so hard for many of our veterans to stay calm when faced with all that is going on. When comments are made to turn our VAMC into storage units, it is nearly impossible to keep out PTSD symptoms in check. We (veterans) have found peace of mind here (in Hot Springs) and now the VA is going to take that away. Once again we feel betrayed and abandoned.


What are they doing to those who served? Will other young citizens enlist when they realize how they will be betrayed by the government they might serve? Will taxpayers revolt when they discover the insult to them?

I don't have answers to the questions at this time. I can only surmise. What I do know is that the veteran who sent me this email this morning has expressed his feelings, feelings shared by many veterans, and his words speak volumes and more eloquently than anything I could ever say.
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