Story A Day

Down and out with a fever and stomach bug since Monday.  Yucky, yucky, yucky   Send me good health vibes telepathically everyone!!!

I’ve been absent for a few days.  Catching up with friends in away-from-computer places   But, I’m back.  And I come bearing stories.  This time not my own.  I want to share a story that a friend of mine told me this weekend.  My friend works out at a gym everyday at the same time.  She has noticed an elderly man that is there everyday as well.  He walks hunched over, comes dressed is black slacks and a white shirt, very clean cut, probably in his 80′s.  He occasionally uses a walker.  Everyday he “shuffles” around the track for a full hour.  At times she observes him struggling.  Stopping for a while to rest, using his walker for a lap or two.  But each day, an hour.  Shuffle, shuffle.  And many hellos along the way.  He’s quite a popular fellow she notes.  He walks through the equipment area to say good morning, and greets those along the track as well.  She is inspired by his perseverance.  His commitment to walk for an hour, even if it’s tough.  So as we each shuffle through life I guess we can learn a lesson from him.  Even if we struggle, even if the steps are small, even if we need sometimes need something to lean on, even if we need a rest now and then, we can journey on.  Keep on shuffling… 

Literally.  Marshmallows nearly made me crazy this last week.  It all started with the fall party at our house where we had a whole bag of s’more goodies.  Marshmallows, graham crackers and many yummy chocolate bars   Well, somehow during the clean-up the bag got misplaced.  I have been asking myself all week – “How is it possible to misplace such a large quantity of sweet, yummy goodness?”  No answer.  Wednesday comes.  Time to put out the recycling.  Usually if I forget in the morning I can get it out after work, just in time before they come.  No such luck this week, I was a bit bummed.  How does this relate??  Well, I happened to reach into the paper recycling to smoosh the papers down in preparation for another week of cramming paper and cereal boxes in there.  I felt an oddly smooshy object – marshmallows!!!  I dug further and found that the paper recycling was piled on top of all the sweet, yummy goodness.  I suppose Tim or I was fooled because the graham cracker box was on top, covering everything else.  Plus it was sitting right in the place where we usually put our paper recycling.  I don’t think I have ever been so excited to miss recycling day.  If I hadn’t missed it all that goodness would be gone and I would still be questioning my own sanity!   Instead I got to enjoy a scrumptious piece of a Hershey bar!!  YYYYuuuuummmmmmyyyy!!!!

It was such a nice day today that I decided to take a stroll around the lake.  The sun was shining, the lake was like glass and the Coots were taking a rest on their long journey.  I decided to take a rest myself and soak up some warm sunlight on a lakeside bench.  I was quite happy to be entertained by two ducks in a tree.  Yes, two ducks in a tree.  They looked quite odd.  Their large bodies balancing precariously on the flimsy branches of a cherry tree.  Their webbed feet certainly not made for hanging on.  And it showed.  I giggled a number of times as they swayed back and forth, I narrated in my head – woah, woah, hang on, woah, ahhhh! or should I say quaaaaaakkk!  When they were able to hang on long enough they pluck the cherries from the tree and swallowed them whole   As the gees flew over in a large “V” I was reminded why these ducks go through such challenging acrobatics to eat the cherries.  It takes a lot of energy to fly south!  Hopefully they are less clumsy when flying than they are when sitting in a cherry tree

In one day I got two emails with big news.  One from Tim’s brother and the other from Steve M.  Their wives are both pregnant!!  And they are both due in May.  It’s that time I guess, where lots of people start having babies!  Anyone else have news for me???

Busy day on the real estate front.  Plus night class.  Too sleepy to write much more.  Until tomorrow… 

Goofy, goofy rodents.  I walked outside yesterday and glanced over at the two pumpkins we have sitting on our front patio.  There was a chunk out of the side of one of them.  Hmmm…I thought.  Someone got hungry?  I found this especially amusing because it was onyl one chunk.  As if a squirrel took a bite and decided it wasn’t so tasty afterall.  The resident squirrels in our yard like to munch on things. Their new hobby is chewing on the wood brace under our front door.  I will often be in the living room in the afternoon and hear a chewing sound from the front door.  Sure enough, every time I open the door there is a squirrel looking up at me with a startled expression.  I can only hope that they munch to wear down their teeth and that they are not making an attempt to chew their way in to our house! 

I am starting the feel my computer’s age.  It was born in 2002.  It is old for a computer.  To figure out a dog’s “age” we multiply by 7.  I think to figure out a computer’s “age” we have to multiply by 20.  That would make my computer 80.  It acts like it sometimes.  Like yesterday when I was up late hours into the night trying to finish a photo album.  Now granted, it was 2 years worth of pictures.  It was certainly a lot of data to process.  But, come on – over 30 minutes to load the final preview!!  Argh.  80 is old (no offense to my elder relatives who probably aren’t reading this anyway).  And then today I tried to watch Grey’s Anatomy and Six Degrees on abc.com because I missed them on Thursday.  Only to have it stop a few times to reload.  Bummer.  That’s worse than commercials.  Oh well.  My computer does pretty well for 80 actually.  But I think it will be time to retire soon… 

Tonight was the 35th anniversary celebration dinner at Belwin.  The evening was intended to celebrate the 35 year relationship between Belwin and Saint Paul Schools.  It was a delightful evening concluded with a speech by Will Steger.  As I looked at this man standing in front of me I could hardly fathom the places that he has been.  Imagining that same human form on the ice of Antarctica.  His speech was incredibly inspiring.  Not just in the stories of what he has done, but in the hope he holds that it’s not too late to slow global climate change.  Some of the images he showed were unbelievable.  Images of dwindling ice, of melting permafrost, of straving polar bears.  Images that certainly make global climate change undeniable.  But what I found most inspiring about his speech was his hope.  His hope that through a coupling of a change in attitudes and trends in market economics we can and will change this course.  Hope that by innovating, owning our own sources of energy, and embracing new technologies that we will lower our carbon footprint.  Inspiring.  If you want to learn more about his educational endeavors or expeditions visit www.globalwarming101.com. 

Many of you know that I really like photos.  I make scrapbooks and photo albums for almost everything.  Today I decided to try and do some catching up.  I discovered that I have a backlog of photos that goes back to Christmas 2004.  Yikes!  I think I have some work to do!  It’s amazing as I look back at all the photos how things start to blend together.  Thank goodness for the date stamp on my photo album program because otherwise I wouldn’t know which Christmas was 2004 and which was 2005!  Does that mean I am getting old?  They say as you get older the years seem to pass even faster.  I never really understood that, but based on my experiences lately I can see how it might be true! Agh!  I’m aging!!  Folks, I found my first wrinkles a few months ago.  Scary!  Is 26 old enough to have wrinkles?  There are two of them, on my forehead, they never go away.  I call them my “expressive wrinkles” – they are only there because, of course, I am such an expressive person!    I’ve heard that we age with our expressions so I’ll say this – I am okay with aging gracefully, embracing my wrinkles, as long as they are smile wrinkles rather than frowny face wrinkles   I guess if I keep smiling I should be okay!