Focused at Fifty

The funny thing about mourning someone’s death is that it strikes you at the weirdest and most inopportune times. Some times are appropriate. I have trouble dealing with holidays and family birthdays. Of course, the death I am referring to is my mother’s, April 10, 2009. She was just a couple months shy of her 67th birthday. She died on Good Friday that year. So now every year, I will actually mourn her death on two days: April 10th and whatever day Good Friday occurs on. My mother always loved the spotlight, so now she gets two official days for me to mourn her (insert awkward reader laugh here). I mourn on those above dates as well as Mom’s birthday. I mourn on my brother’s, sister’s, and my birthday because my Mom should be here. I think about her on my Nana’s and Grandpop’s Yahrzeit (the Jewish anniversary of death). I wonder if they are together again celebrating their reunion in Heaven. I mourn Mother’s Day and each holiday that my mother is not with us. Thanksgiving is particu...

It’s been awhile since I have written my blog. There have been various reasons, but nothing that I feel or need to get into right now. So without further adieu, let me get started. I worked hard this weekend preparing the yard and deck for the coming winter. I forgot how much yard bric-a-brac that I had accumulated this year. My main goal was to get all of the shells, candles, flags, and lawn ornaments put away. My shell collection from childhood is pretty extensive. Most of it is tucked away in the attic, but I keep the large conchs and whelks out on the deck to remind me of my love for the sea and beach. Each one of these is carefully wrapped up at the end of the fall so that I may bring them out and enjoy them again the coming spring. I noticed this year they are really bleaching white from the years in the sun. Candles and lanterns were next. Carefully wrapping everything in newspaper or bubble wrap, I filled about 4 milk crates with all of my yard and deck "stuff." T...

So it has been just over a month since my last blog. I took some time off to do just putz around for month of August. I worked on the yard, the house, saw relatives, and have tried to re energize for the coming fall. Well, I kind of feel like that didn't work. I have developed a blasted pinched nerve for the last 3 weeks. Time to see a doctor for this I guess. I just haven't been sleeping well because of it. When I wake up at 3 am, I turn in bed and am in pain from it. Motrin dulls the pain during the day, enough so that I can work. When I come home, I am just exhausted from this constant pain. So what am I waiting for??? I don't know. I am possibly afraid it might be more. Time to suck it up and take care of it. August also saw a family reunion which was to be for my Mom's anniversary of her memorial service. Family came in, unfortunately not as much family as we would have liked but people's excuses were valid and warranted. No problem there. Travel is expensive...

1. A flock of one million red wing black birds in early spring, turning on a dime, showing their "red wings" all at once! 2. A sunset in Berks Cty that looked like a Maxfield Parrish painted sky. It was so beautiful it took  my breath away. 3. The birth of a beluga whale. 4. The birth of an elephant. 5. Watching a mother wren teach her 4 babies how to eat from a bird feeder. 6. A baby deer running across our field in Oley to come investigate me. She came within 10 feet until I heard her mother grunt to her and call her back. She ran back to Mom! 7. Saving a birdhouse of baby barn swallows which had fallen down, and I carefully put it back up on the pole. Momma bird came back and took care of them! 8. Six or Seven years old, Dad showing us a nest of baby bunny rabbits in the back yard. 9. Two otters frolicking and playing in a stream in Pacific Rim National Park in Washington state. 10.  The horseshoe crab migrations and egg laying nights in Fortescue, NJ. 11. Se...

My sister celebrates her birthday this next week. She will be turning ??. (Wink Wink). Let’s just say she is my older sister. Sheryl and I have lived in the Philadelphia area for over 20 years. Through these years, we have become close friends … best friends. And as I think as siblings who are best friends, no one knows me better. She knows me better than most of my closest and oldest friends. We are in constant contact, at least once a day, finding out how the day is going, what’s happening, what’s new and exciting, etc. My brother Adam is just as close with Sheryl and I. It is a rare and wonderful thing that siblings can remain this close as they get older and develop their own lives. And believe me, we do not take this lightly. Our vacations each year invariably involve family. That is how we like it. That is what we have always known and wanted. My parents, Robert and Abby, instilled this strong sense of family in us as we grew up. I think we became that much closer when Mom pa...

I am a week into this "natural" diet and am feeling changes which are interesting, uncomfortable, but ultimately satisfying. The first couple days have been a little uncomfortable. I have suffered from mild carb and refined sugar withdrawal.  Just some headaches, belly aches, hunger pangs, and tiredness. But after a week on this diet, I have more energy finally, am eating less, eating better, and actually enjoying new and different food combinations. The drawbacks are that I have to spend more time preparing foods. It takes time getting used to not having the variety of processed food items. I am learning to enjoy fruit more though. Just the juiciness and sweetness of it is so satisfying. And happily, I am starting to loose weight! A couple pounds here and there. But I have to tell you, I am not as sluggish, feel less bloated, and as I stated before, have more energy! On to the second week!