I'm a spring chickee!!

I know I complained a little when I turned f-f-f-fifty. It was a difficult time for me to step 'over the line', which apparently is on the 'other side of the hill'. Last week I filled out an on-line application and had to check the box '50-65'. You have no idea how much that hurt! I mean three months ago I was in the '35-49' group. That group I can tolerate. But to shift over to the 'senior' category is just unfair! They should just have groups up to 48, and then the last group should be '49+'. Think how gratifying that would be for those in their 80's! Perhaps I'm doing all this ranting because my body many days feels more like it's 80! I'm now exercising and drinking a Greens drink every day to build up my bones and get my menopausal joints feeling younger. If you don't shake the drink product good enough it's kinda like drinking green sludge, but hey, it's the antioxidant equivalent of 6 servings of organic salads, along with tons of other wonderful things!

Lately, I've been visiting with older neighbours across the street. They all raised their children on this street, and now their grown offspring visit with kids of their own. I remember when my children were young, watching these parents gather together on warm summer evenings on their lawns and chat...and thinking how 'old' they looked. I had a flashback to that image last week as I visited outside with the now widowed woman across the road and her elderly neighbour shuffled over and joined us. There we all sat - the old ladies.

Last week I made good on a promise to do some weeding for this widowed lady who has been having back problems and can hardly get around. She adores beautiful gardens and hates looking at the weeds she isn't able to pull. As I began labouring in her garden, she eventually came out of her house and was joined by the neighbour ladies from either side of her home. Two women would be in their early 80's, the other, late 70's. They watched me as I crouched over, crawled under bushes, pulling weeds and laying down mulch. My joints were aching. I could hear their conversation about how nice it was of me to be doing this. Then the oldest one in her shaky voice said, 'Wouldn't it be nice to be young like her and be able to do all that?!' I stifled a choke. I chuckled into the mulch. Young!! I am just a 'youngin'!! A spring chicken!!

I realized later that I had actually been put in my place for all my ranting. Age is a relative thing. To my kids, I'm old. To these ladies, I'm young. But we are all alive and breathing. The 20 year old is not guaranteed one more day to live than the 80 year old is. In this moment, we all have something we can do for someone, or something we can say to encourage another, even if all our body parts aren't functioning as we'd like! I can wish to be younger all I want, but it ain't happening. I must be thankful for who I am, where I'm at, and be content with what I have. And today, I can truly say that I am. (and I'm a youngin!!!)

P.S. I have no idea how to spell 'youngin'. It's an old word, and Spellcheck won't assist me. :-)

Good ol' summertime

There is nothing....and I mean nothing in the food category that I love more than freshly picked Ontario strawberries. Yesterday was the first day of summer and today I decided to celebrate the new season. I have a favorite farm I will drive a few miles to several times each summer just because I enjoy wandering around looking at their wares. They have two dollar perennials and three dollar lilies and beautiful hanging pots and garden stuff and bird things and water features and pies and eggs and STRAWBERRIES!!! I have not tasted better than at this farm...and they top up the flat for you with juicy, luscious, mouth watering, heavenly berries. (Not those crunchy, sour berries we put up with through the winter!) I purchase one flat initially for 'freezing'. Of course they never quite get to the freezer. I will admit my gluttonous tendencies....I eat as many of these berries as I possibly can while they are fresh. I mean the strawberry season is usually only about 3-4 weeks out of the whole year. And they're loaded with vitamin C...and fiber, so it's important to eat a lot, right? I will go back for another flat (or two) within the next week or so.


Having the day off work on this perfect summer afternoon, I popped my newly purchased bumbleberry pie in the oven, filled the bird feeders, then brought my tea, reading material, and camera, and plopped my tummy full of strawberries onto the porch swing cushions to sit by my garden and listen to the water splash into the pond. As I lounged, my eyes kept leaving the printed page to watch chipmunks darting behind my swing, birds bathing and eating, baby bunny munching, squirrels scampering, fish swimming, and toad basking.

Yes, this to me is summer. I have no yearning for a visit to a cottage or a vacation away from home. Give me a day off work with some shade on a warm sunny day, an iced tea, a good book (which might never get read for the distractions), my camera, my swing on the front porch, and a large bowl of STRAWBERRIES...and as far as I'm concerned....I'm on summer holidays!!
"All God's creatures got a place in the choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher;
Some sing loud on the telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, their paws or anything they got now!"

A Place In The Choir, by Bill Staines

Top Ten Things I Love About My Daughter

In celebration of my daughter's 21st birthday, I list below the Top Ten Things I Love About My Daughter. What thrills me to no end is that I'm not just making this stuff up to say something nice about her. They rolled off my keyboard with little effort and every single one of them is absolutely true and visible in her life. I cannot believe how blessed we have been to watch these qualities maturing within her from a young age to the ripe old age of 21.

10. She laughs. She giggles. She smiles a lot. She's almost always cheerful. If there are moments of uncheerfulness, there is a reason and she will quickly determine not to let it get her down.... even if she hasn't had her morning coffee yet or is not feeling well.

9. She loves kids...especially ones who struggle with difficulties that are no fault of their own. She sees potential in them and is thrilled with any small breakthroughs in their lives and in her relationships with them.

8. She's a peacemaker. Her brother (unfortunately?) almost always got his way because she would rather have peace, than what they were fighting over.

7. She perseveres. She doesn't allow sickness, tiredness, or disappointment to keep her down for long. She'll have a good cry (like a good female should), then picks herself up with determination to carry on.

6. She uses her failures, disappointments, and heartaches as stepping stones leading her to a much better place, and considers them wisdom for the journey.

5. She does not envy others. She has come to dislike the masks people wear, but admits her own shortcomings. She wants to be 'real' and is becoming confident in who God made her to be. She has specific goals and she recognizes that dreams don't just drop into your lap. They require prayer, decision making, action, and discipline. She sees the bigger picture, beyond her own desires for the moment. She knows she needs to work hard to reach the goal...and if that means not being careless with money, and sometimes setting aside social times (gasp!)....so be it.

4. She is kind and has a heart of compassion. Her heart tugs at her when she sees the 'down and out' around the big city. She's been known to give away her last 5 dollar bill to the homeless, only to receive it back again the same day.

3. She is grateful. Even in the smallest things we have done for her or given her, she has always responded with sincere thanks. She doesn't take her blessings for granted.

2. She has a sensitive conscience. If she heads down a wrong path or makes a wrong decision, she knows it almost immediately and cannot be peaceful until she gets turned back in the direction she needs to go. There is a risk of being misunderstood by others, but she is determined to avoid that which drags her down or takes her focus away from the peace and contentment in her relationship with God.

1. She wants to grow and learn and thrive with excellence, and is not content with mediocre. It is her number one concern to love her God with all of her heart, all of her soul, all of her mind, and all of her strength. She knows when she focuses on that, there's no room left to be wrapped up in herself. When my daughter had to 'preach' in class, she chose the sermon title, "It's Not All About Me". I think she's on to something here.

Wish I'd penned these words, but Steven Curtis Chapman beat me to it for his daughter!:

Aren't you the little one That hid in my arms afraid of the thunder?

Are these the little hands That held so tight to mine

Didn't we both agree you'd never grow up

And now here we are And here you go

Of all the things I want to say The thing you really need to know is...

I believe in you Yeah, I believe in you

Everything you are Everything you are becoming

And I believe in youYeah, I believe in you

So spread your wings and fly On the winds of knowing

I Always believe in you

So many prayers we've prayed So many dreams to get to this moment

Now this is where we stay While you go change the world

But I'll be where I have always been

Up in the stands cheering you on and

Singing this song A song the very God who made you Has been singing all along

I believe in you Yeah, I believe in you

So spread your wings and fly On the winds of knowing

I Will always believe in you

And when you rise and when you fall I'll still believe in you

Just close your eyes and hear me calling

I believe in you Oh, I believe in you

(I Believe in You, written by Steven Curtis Chapman to his daughter)

Homeless??

What is it with these chipmunks? They live in everyone else's home but their own!! LOL!




This is Chip....not to be confused with Chips who lived in our house for a while. The two of them have chipmunk races outside because Chip does not like his territory invaded. That suits me just fine....one is quite enough! Wish I could harness their energy!

Subway Sandwiches

My daughter phoned me last night to relate her adventures that evening on the subway train. Living in a city of over 2 million...you meet a few 'interesting' people while taking public transit. Yes, she met a couple of 'choice' ones last night! Speaking of weird people who ride in public...

I remember when I first rode the subway train. We've grown up in a relatively small city. Before my (baby) daughter moved to the big city, I wanted to ensure she could find her way around and know what to expect on her first day of college (not to put my mind at ease or anything...). So we rode the subway together a week or so before college began (you know...so I could help her). She was quite confident in where she was going, and always had to redirect her mother who would automatically go west if she should be going east. After I flustered a subway cashier insisting I wanted a transfer even though we didn’t need it (but what IF we did???), we found our way to the boarding platform to wait for the next train. I observed how quickly you have to bound onto the train before the doors automatically shut, and of course there’s a rush of people coming out when you want to go in. It’s great fun. Especially when you’re trying not to lose someone you’re with. We boarded the train and I immediately learned that men no longer give up their seats for women. It was standing room only. So I stood hovering over a young ablebodied man as I dug in my feet and clung to a pole, acting as though I had a good sense of balance as the ‘red rocket’ shot down the tracks. I erased all thoughts of falling headfirst into his lap each time the train jolted. Another thing I observed is the silent rule--- you do not look into people’s faces or smile at anyone. That rule in itself could send me into fits of laughter - it doesn't take much. (My daughter now sometimes rides with a friend who breaks that rule - he takes snapshots with his camera phone of passengers in humorous positions who are falling asleep, while another friend makes interesting poses beside the unsuspecting dreamer. At least it gets a few laughs out of strangers!)

Anyways, on this day, my daughter (holding to another pole) and I chatted about the route map that was posted near the ceiling and took note of how many stops we had left before we would 'detrain'. I continued to attempt to not fall into the lap of the young man who was definitely ignoring me. I noticed again how quickly the doors opened and shut. I had a mental picture of myself being the one whose purse would get caught in the door, and I would be flattened against the train like ‘Coyote’ of Roadrunner fame.... and the train would speed away with my body plastered to the outside of it.

Finally, our stop was next. I turned away from the young man, who was still ignoring me, and I readied myself directly in front of the door which was beside him. With the ‘Coyote’ image seared in my brain, I determined to pounce off the train as quickly as possible. I suddenly had that feeling you get when someone is staring at you. I glanced at the young man and turned away quickly as he was staring intently up into my face. It was rather unnerving. Why now would he suddenly choose to stare? I began to get uncomfortable as he wasn’t turning away his glare. The train stopped, and there was a flood of passengers to the doors as they rushed off…..away from me in the opposite direction to what I was facing. The door before me remained tightly closed. I peered through the window of the door at a brick wall as the young man continued to look up into my face. Ohhhhhh. Another lesson learned. The side of the train you enter, may not always be the same side you disembark. I hugged my purse and turned with an ‘I MEANT to do that’ facade, and exited the train on the opposite side, hoping to never see that man again. The roar of the train speeding off drowned out our peals of laughter.

As we made our way to the college, I realized why the young man had been staring at my face. He had been peering at the word ‘Dork’ written on my forehead! It's why I faithfully wash my face everyday!