Get Out Of My Way

Pilanesberg game reserve, South Africa

Makes we wonder what was so important that the driver in the Volkswagen attempted to overtake the elephant. The elephant was obviously not having any of it, no one was going to get around him. Maybe the elephant was just having a bad day.

I tried to go around a large pickup truck in my very small car several years ago. The driver of the truck tried to push me off the road and his sneer in the mirror was on my mind for a long time. That was the one and only time I tried that. I was late to work and he, how dare he, was holding me up.  So I am not an innocent. I learned how easy it is to get caught up in the road rage  conflict.

Express Lane

Great sign for the people who can't read, are only able to look at the pictures like half the drivers on the road.

Sharing The Ride

One of my friends was telling some of us about the unique way her son and his friend checked off an item on their bucket lists.

My friend's son, who we will call Alex, apparently always wanted a Ford Mustang, one of the older ones in good condition. He and his wife, who we will call Cindy,  each have cars and the strain on the budget would be too much if they bought a car for recreation not just transportation.

Alex and Cindy have good friends, John and Liz, and Liz let it be known that she always wanted an older Mustang. The two couples decided to buy one car and share it. When the perfect car was found online, Liz flew out of state to drive the car home.

This has turned out to be the perfect solution. Each couple has the car every other month. They shared the purchase price and they share maintenance costs. Each couple has a car they can afford. Isn't that a great story? A car is a major purchase. I admire these two couples for finding a solution and honoring a commitment that brings joy to all of them. Wonder why other things in life are not solved this easily.

For many years it was a dream of mine to buy a 1965 Ford Mustang, install thick fluffy carpeting, have pin stripes down the side, and a sparkly clean engine. When I heard this story, I could so relate! Now I have to get an invitation to see this car.

Getting Through Life Or Living Life Fully

At this point in my life, my favorite part of this poster is "Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences." When I consciously made an effort to reach out to people several months ago, it changed my life and it also made a difference in my viewpoint on life. To overcome fears to step up and take chance after chance and speak to people I didn't know, and find out about them and risk befriending some of them has been helping make me stronger, wiser, more content in my life.

Single But Not Separate

 Single is not a dirty word
Table for one is justifiable
Dinner and a book are adequate

Liking my own company
Having time to ponder and reflect
Finding varied interests

No emotion based responses
Making decisions based on reason
Maturing gracefully

Alone but not lonely

Words Once Spoken Cannot Be Retrieved

It was a hard lesson for me to learn to engage my brain before I put my mouth in first gear. There have been so many times that I would blab something out to the universe without thinking. That has been one of the most difficult lessons for me to learn. Taking a few seconds to think before I speak has helped me grow into a calmer, slower person. I am not running a word race. Hurrying through life in words and in deeds has not given me time to appreciate things around me. Slowing down does not mean slow minded; it gives me moments to snap mental pictures and record some mental audio to replay later.

Balancing The Scale

Can You Tell I Am Liking Cats

A Pure And Single Heart

As wounds heal

I forget myself

To care for others

"Single" status

Is not being unattached

I am one of the clan

These are some of my 
Healthy Thoughts.

Please Don't Hate Me

After reading this post on Brian's blog Waystation One, I wrote this post. 

Don't write me off when you read this post. This subject is important to me. Sharing my thoughts here are just that: My way of thinking. No preaching or advising in any way.

It has been almost eight years since I switched off the television. It is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. At the time that I made the decision to stop watching television, I had a large plasma TV on the wall with surround sound and all the bells and whistles. I got rid of all the equipment and never regretted it. Raising my kids revolved around television much of the time. Each time we moved, the decision on where the TV would be placed was the first decision before picking our bedrooms. The importance of everything to do with the television climbed as the years passed until there was little time for family visiting and talking and playing games.

All the hours spent in front of a television screen being bombarded with other peoples opinions instead of actual news are now my hours to do with as I want. I am well informed of world news with all the online news sites available.

No longer am I influenced by in-my-face ads. I don't feel the need to purchase things I don't really want. I don't feel compelled to keep up with the neighbors or participate in things that are a waste of time and money. I don't rush to the phone to order the pizza tempting me on the TV screen. I am free to make wise decisions based on my particular circumstances.

It is amazing how people I talk with do not "get it" that I really do not watch any television. I do not have access to it, no cable or satellite. In fact, there is not a television in my house since I stopped watching DVDs from Netflix and only use their streaming service and watch on my large computer screen. I watch movies and sometimes past TV series on Netflix. Commercial free. Works for me!

As much as people get to know me, the conversations still revolve around television. "Did you see such and such last night?" is a perfect example. It amazes me how much enthusiasm that question can set in motion. For people like me, the non TV people, it is like watching hypnotized zombies. No offense, remember, this is just me voicing my opinion. What is still surprising to me is that it does not register in other peoples minds that I would not have a clue about the shows they watch, even when I remind them that I don't have television, a few minutes later the conversation is again about a particular TV show. It goes to show the shortness of the concentration span of the average television viewer. From my vantage point, it looks like so many people do not have a real life. What did people do prior to television? Sit around glassy eyed with nothing intelligent to say?

I can't tell you how many hundreds of times I have been told that someone wouldn't know what to do if they didn't watch television. And they are serious. I am not out to change the world. As I see it, it is too late for that anyway. We all make our own choices. I choose to have a fulfilling, interesting life. For me, that means not watching the mind numbing stuff on television. People understand the concept of "you are what you eat"; why then, can they not see that "you are what you watch". What you allow into your being is more than just food.

Little Love Book

Cinner gifted me with a little Love Book. Her neighbor made it and I admired it in one of Cinner's photos and she sent it to me! Am I spoiled by my blog friends? YES!

Here is a closer look. The colors go with the colors I painted my bathroom.

Thank you, Cinner! You are a generous blogging friend and I appreciate your sharing with me. Visit Cinner at her blog Things About Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

Cute Hat

The director of the senior center told me a funny story.

She is a young woman in early thirties. She is not a senior. She loves the seniors and runs the center like a home, cooking for us, learning our different needs, encouraging us.

Each day she has a routine. She arrives early and dons the white hair net that looks like a shower cap. She has long hair that is in a twist or pony tail when she arrives at work. She starts the commercial size coffee maker with three pots. She prepares the lunch and does her paperwork in her office. She works for the ten member board of directors as well as the Eastern Nebraska Office On Aging.

When she leaves the senior center for the day, she is usually hurrying to get errands done so she is home before her daughter.
One day she ran in and out of the post office, a couple other stops, and then a sprint into the mini mart, our only market in town. As she was carrying her purchases to the counter, someone remarked "Cute hat". She reached up and felt the hair net/shower cap. She had been all over town with it in place. This woman takes her job seriously but that day as she pulled the "cute hat" off her head, she was giggling and told me the story the next day. I asked her for permission to share the story in my blog.

We all get used to things to the point we don't know we are doing it. Habits become mechanical, so automatic we don't think about them at all. I will be listing some of the things I do unthinkingly in another post; what are some of yours?

More about the director of the senior center in other posts.