What Seniors Do In Bed

It is 3:12 a.m.

My sweetie and I are in bed. He is listening to a recorded book on his laptop
I have just finished reading on my iPad about Congress's inability to craft a new budget that
addresses current realities. The possibility of the U.S. government defaulting on
its fiscal responsibilities is being talked about as something that really could happen.

In my mouth I have a piece of sugar free hard candy because it reduces the coughing
that I've been experiencing since early February. The cough is part of the reason I am still awake.
I've seen numerous specialists and think I've finally been given the correct diagnosis. I'll
contact the ENT doc with whom I've previously consulted two or three months ago to work out a treatment plan.
I though my sweetie had fallen asleep but then he commented that I'm coughing more
than usual. I'm going to try again to enter Sleepland. I'll catch up with checking out my friend's blogs in
the next week or so. It's 4 a.m. now.

For Maddie- My Newest Blog

I have just created a new blog entitled For Maddie. This blog is for my 3 year and 9 month old grand-daughter. Some of you may be interested in checking it out. I am not allowing comments on For Maddie, but encourage you to make comments about it on this blog. I will let you know when I publish a new post.

My first post is about the plants and flowers that I recently planted. This is my first foray into gardening. It began with boredom. I had accompanied my daughter, Rachael, and her significant other, James, on a trip to Costco. As it turned out, this was an unwise decision; they took f-o-r-e-v-e-r with their shopping. I started wandering around the store by myself. For a while I entertained myself by snarfing up the goodies from the food samples until awkwardness set in after I'd accepted the "hospitality" from the same people after the second or third time. Then I checked out the books for sale until I tired of that. Ditto playing with my iPhone. As time lay heavily on me along with the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in the wide wide world of Costco, the gardening supplies caught my eye. I ended up purchasing a couple trays of flowers and two bags of bulbs, each bag with 24 bulbs each. I planted the flowers about a week later; after that, a purchase of veggies seemed fitting. Today, I finished planting veggies. The bulbs, all 48 of them, are still in their bags. I intend to plant them in the next five or seven days.

It occurs to me that my emergence as a gardener parallels my entrance into the world of technology. A year ago, I only had a stupid phone. Shortly before my trip with Rachael to China last August, I purchased a Kindle. That ignited my interest (and yes my bravery) to decide to order an iPhone and a portable Bose speaker. At Christmas, about four months later, I acquired a GPS; a couple of months ago, an iPad.

Until these purchases, technological purchases were Matt's purview. I had no interest in acquiring any of the constantly improved offerings of the techno geniuses; if anything, I preferred remaining with the comfortable stuff that I'd finally learned to use. The exception was that I knew I wanted to get a Kindle after Matt's an my trip to Spain in April 2006. With my purchase of one last June or July, I exited the cave where I'd felt (relatively) safe. I was on the path of the New and the Exciting.

This is the link to my newest blog, For Maddie. It's spare on words and rich in pictures. It's written for a (highly cute) preschooler.

Water for Elephants

Water For Elephants, the book, enriched me when I read it eight months or so ago. The vivid and haunting images, the characters, its highly satisfying end, the totality of it took hold of me.

Usually I'm leery about seeing movies based on books that I've loved, but when I saw the trailer, I knew I had to see it. Two nights ago, I was not disappointed. I was ready to stand and applaud.

Water For Elephants, the movie, was spectacular. On the Big Screen it delivered the Big Top to movie audiences just as it had arrived on the rails to the small dusty towns of depression era America. Back then, it was an unparalleled event. It was magic. And beyond the magic was brutality and courage, pain, grime, glamor, the critters - ah the amazing critters - and the people with their many stories.

I nominate this wonderful film for many many Oscars - knowing that it will probably be long forgotten when the summer blockbusters eclipse it and the money folks begin their electioneering for other worthy and not-so worthy contenders. (I'd love being wrong about this.)

See Water for Elephants on the Big Screen. It is a Very Big Movie.

A Rorschach in the Sky

Lots of stuff about which I wanna post. Been meaning to put this one on the blog for some time. I will be back for real at some point. My default world has been a very busy one.

I saw this when driving to a friend's house on Christmas Eve.

A Multi-Headed Gorilla

Today I woke up around 6:30 a.m., much much earlier than my preferred time. My thoughts about a gargantuan photo project kept me awake. How could I ever finish it in the two days that I had allocated for the project. This was a time-line that I'd established for myself in order to take advantage of a mega-discount (67% off) from an on-line photo company.

This morning I finally admitted the obvious. I can't do it. Sitting at the computer for the time needed to achieve the results I am aiming for is too much of a physical strain for me. My back hurts. My neck hurts. And what was supposed to be a FUN project has become a multi-headed gorilla that needs caging. I've decided to trade robotic perseverance for a saner incremental approach. I'll spend no more than 90 minutes at a time at the computer - and only 60 minutes if I'm hurting.

This approach, to throw myself entirely into a project at the expense of other things (eg. exercise) is not unusual for me. Over-all I think I lead a fairly well-balanced life; on a day to day basis not so much. The all or nothing approach is all too typical of the way I live my life.

Pain can be a great teacher. Today it is teaching me that it is time for a fundamental change in how I approach my days.

The Chimpanzee And The White Baby Tigers

My long-time blog friend Mick sent me an e-mail with these beautiful pictures. I revised the captions to create a book for my three year old granddaughter, Maddie. I hope that she (and you) will enjoy looking at this. If you'd like the original or my edited work, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. Merry Christmas to y'all.

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year and beyond to my on-line friends. Click on this link from my long-time on-line friend Nola. It wonderfully catches what I'd like to think the Christmas spirit is all about.