Inspiration
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GENERATION (wh)Y NOT?
I love meeting new people. Since the pandemic began, I’ve met more, younger ones than usual. Perhaps it’s because the older folks are sheltering indoors. It might also be that our youth are reaching out more. Such was the case with the smiling fellow above. I ran into Josh in the parking lot of the gas station. He was doing… Read more
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DANCING GIRLS AND CLOWNS
Recently, I stumbled upon this lesser known Lautrec. The poor girl looks like she has listened to one, too many pandemic horror stories and been subjected to one, too many whiny diatribes from You-Know-Who. Turns out I wasn’t far off. Toulouse painted this exhausted, brothel girl after one of her clients left. He normally painted dancing girls and clowns. Frankly,… Read more
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A BIRD IN THE HAND
Recently a juvenile cowbird sat squawking on my windowsill with its mouth wide open. Suddenly, a smaller bird of a different species altogether flew in and stuck food in its’ mouth! I was shocked to watch this happen several more times. Clearly, the bird doing the feeding was not its’ ‘real’ mother. It was a… Read more
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ALL IN
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.” Marie Curie (1867-1934) 10 years ago, I was so terrified of dogs that I rarely visited friends who had them. Then this little one came home. Skylar weighed less… Read more
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100 STEPS
Since lockdown started, I’ve been walking a three-mile loop in my neighborhood. In the middle of the walk, there’s a very, steep hill. My iphone says it’s 5 stories high but it feels more like 10. The first time I tackled it, the temperature was 90 something, my heart was pounding and my legs felt… Read more
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STOP….LOOK…LOOK AGAIN
On my walk today, I happened upon this sight. It seems a perfect metaphor to our present situation. We’ve been stopped where we are but as we pause, let’s notice the beauty around us. Life will never return to the way it was before. Ultimately that may prove to be a good thing. I’m not… Read more
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PEACE OUT!!
As someone who’s often made her living entertaining others, this isolationism has been torturous. Yesterday, while standing outside Trader Joe’s in a long line, loud music began pumping in the parking lot. Prince’s, “When Doves Cry” came on and I instinctively began to dance. Now, this is not unusual behavior for me but simply how… Read more
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WHAT, ME WORRY??
I hope no one in my town has to pee. There’s not a store for miles with a roll of toilet paper. I just watched several, young women load up their carts with hundreds of rolls of the stuff at Wal-Mart. Some even backed their pickups up to the front door and carted off entire… Read more
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WARMING UP
Last week, my 94 year-old, friend left me this voicemail: “Helen, would you please write my obituary? And could you come over today?” Since I’ve never written one before, I looked up a few before heading to her house. Reading them made me wish I’d known the people themselves: “Walt was preceded in death by… Read more
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ARE YOU YEARS YOUNG….OR OLD??
I met this lovely gal at Trader Joe’s this morning. She was such a knockout in all blue that I asked her to, “Stand right where you are because I MUST take your picture!” She had just finished her 2 ½ mile daily walk, was grabbing some groceries then headed off to one of… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 