seriouslyscorpio

thoughts of the moment and of my life

Category Archives: joy


by >


I read two papers this AM with 3 cups of coffee…..let me say it again, I READ TWO NEWSPAPERS  this morning with 3 cups of coffee.  My kids tell me I’m really ‘out of mainline journalism’…..I’m in ‘mail-line journalism…and that is further out.   I’m sad if it is the truth….that the days of newspapers are fading.  Yes, the word ‘sad’ is appropriate.

The better part of my 68 years I’ve shared with a newspaper…..When I was learning to read….the newspaper was always in my home.  Mother and Dad read, and then I read.  Sure, at the age of 10 I wasn’t all that interested in the front page, but there were always the ‘funnies’.  Kind of like learning to iron…..first you start with the hankies and then you move onward to more difficult pieces of clothing. That’s how the newspaper and I made friends.

Then, in high school, sometimes things in my small brain began to gel….I would read something in the paper and low and behold…we’d talk about it in government or history.  Dang!

And now, after all these years, I’m more of an avid reader than ever.  I learn every day…whether it is a joke, a piece of history, a sale, a divorce, a birth, a death, and on and on. LIFE is the newspaper and the newspaper is life.  It tells me the weather, the high school basketball scores, the time of the July 4th parade, the mass at church, the sale at the local dress shop, the fishing report for the local lake, and the local police beat…often and thank goodness, more humorous than scary.

I would be foolish to say the Internet has not proved to be another great spot for the news….I know we can hear it all on local TV stations as well as  CNN and FOX, but that’s not the news I long for….We all live in little areas..they may be inside large  cities or on farms, distant from neighbors, however, we all desire to be close to one another….The local newspaper, whether it is weekly, bi weekly, in the morning or in the evening, binds our hearts, our lives, our dreams, and it extends the hand of friendship to all.

When traveling thru Tennessee, I read about the lives of folks in Nashville, Knoxville, and all the little towns in between.  I look at their housing, their taxes, as well as their squabbles with local, county and state government.  It truly does my heart good to see that we are pretty much the same, regardless of our proximity to one another.  Soccer might be hot in So. California, but football is the game in Louisiana. High school football barely makes it in some western states, however, in Indiana, and the Ohio Valley, the homes are empty on Fri. night cause they are at the game.   In the assisted care facilities…..everyone is in their room…..not cause they feel bad….but in season….it is basketball and football that keeps the lights on late into the night.

And last but not least…I love the ads…Where am I going to find so easily…..the for rent and for sale section, the used car section, the misc. for sale section, the legal announcement section, the inside ads for carpet, granite, hot dogs. 2 for 1, picking fresh blueberries, and the editorial section, including all the letters to the editor.  So much entertainment, so much knowledge, so much life…..and all  available in the paper.

So go ahead, read the Internet, learn that Tiger won his 74th, that the Supreme Court did or did not make the right decision, and the high in Las Vegas will be 104…..but for me, I’ll use it as backup only…..cause it is the paper…..I truly love.


by

GIVE IT UP FOR………


Here we are, bumping along.  There are ‘up’ days, ‘medium’ days, (normal) and ‘down days’. (Really all three are normal, right)  So here we are, bumping along, and then……there we go.  Exit bumping. Exit normal days.  Exit life..we’re dead!

Now what shall become of us…..woulda, coulda, shoulda thoughts ‘should’a’ occurred prior to the ‘exit’ sign above us, but sometimes our ducks are not just ‘all in a row’, if you know what I mean. 

Wait, what about that little card?  I had that somewhere…dang where is it, my wallet, my purse, my top left drawer in the bedroom, with my passport, dang!

Well, not to worry now……as in ‘Elvis has exited……”. But, for the sake of this article, you do (or did) have that nice card.   This card is way past nice, it is the best of the best, the cat’s meow, the Taj Mahal, lotto, and more.   “Why”, you ask?  Simple……If  you only have one kidney that works, if you are blind, if your liver is shot, if your heart only pumps because of a machine, or heavy medication, this little card will be all the above and more.

You, the one newly exited,  offer the gift of life, with this little card. People and organizations world-wide have come together to offer those in need, a new chance at life, and you, my friend, are the integral part.  It is you who have, at one time, usually when you renewed your driver’s license, made the choice to donate your useful organs. Of course, at that time, death was at least 10 light years away, so it was not thought about prayerfully, but now!!!!!…….as you move on to the beautiful place you chose….that decision made in life is making life for others possible. 

The stuff worked for you while you had it and needed it, but now, it is surplus. For that child needing a new kidney, it is beyond words. For the soldier, blind from serving his country, it is the open door to life and work and family. For these thankful recipients, it is not surplus, it is opportunity………

……to begin to just ‘bump along’.

 


by

FRIENDS


Friends….they come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and years.   I find in my case, most of my friends, didn’t start out day 1 being, what I call, a ‘friend’.  I knew them in grade school. Their desk was beside mine.  It didn’t matter if they were male or female. Either we clicked in second grade, or we didn’t.  Maybe we shared recess and that was all…..never knowing anything else about each other.  It wasn’t really important, was it?  Maybe we played musical instruments together in the band….remember those ‘flute’ things we all started on…..before choosing the ‘instrument of choice’.  Maybe we walked to school together and then went our separate ways to different classes. I remember how we would meet “at the corner’ and share our lives, as we knew them, til we got to school.  Yes, we did walk to school, a mile one way, and we came home for lunch too.  How wonderful it was, and still is, to grow up in a small town.

My grade school friends have become my life long friends……there were birthday parties, slumber parties, and chili suppers, and basketball games. We  marched together  in the band on the coldest of football Fridays, and sweat up a storm in the July 4th Parade.

In our neighborhood we had all ages of friends….some were 5 years younger and some were 5 years older.  We all had come to the neighborhood at the same time when the little National Homes were being built in the early 50’s. Everyone had younger brothers and sisters, who were definitely in the way, so we  girls had our private times sitting on the curb under the street light, taking walks around the block, sitting under the maple trees catching lightning bugs, and laying on a blanket underneath the stars before the dew fell.

From late spring til late fall we played ‘kick the can’ until our parents called us in…..or in my case, rang the bell.  My mother had a school bell and we all knew that when the bell rang, that ment ‘come home and come home now!’  I think if someone would ring a school bell now, at age 68, I would suddenly become 12 again.

 Later on the friendships seemed to solidify, and we all felt comfortable venturing outside our town to Girl Scout Camp for 2 weeks and then to church camp for a week where we met ‘boys’. I don’t know who was the most scared.  Oh, thank goodness for friends.

As I continued on this journey, thru school, and jobs, and marriage, and kids, and divorce, etc, etc…..there are many acquaintances who have come and gone.  The neighborhood I grew up in, transformed to the first apartment, and then house I shared with 4 other girls.  My marriage brought me to a new town with our first  home, and, as if in some  large orderly plan,  a friendly street, where my children would come to repeat the process.  And so it goes.

My Christmas card list is full of friends. Even today there are those I meet who may become part of this precious list.  As I address each card,  thoughts of how we came to share our lives, some by mere coincidence,  come to mind. Our babies are long gone, our work in the Jaycees,  long forgotten, our church suppers and Sunday school teaching, turned over to the young adults, but our friendship, our memories, our defeats, and our successes, remain as bright and clear as if it were yesterday.

 Friends…….I am so blessed they came to enrich my life….


by

at the chemo store….


leaving with my friend for more chemo today..last day for a month…..joy, hope, God, prayers, and sadness walk among us there.


by

FALL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA


Today is a beautiful day…..of course, in my mind, all are. I am a lucky girl.

Fall in California has to be searched for in the south…..it is not bright with reds and golds as in the midwest.  It is subtle, kind of like a treasure hunt.  There are sycamores and elders and maples who like to show themselves as much as possible in this warm and dry climate. They try very hard and I promise I will go out and compliment them tomorrow.

The Santa Ana winds tend to blow in the spring and fall and this week is bringing us a very light Santa Ana.  The hot winds from the desert blow thru the passes and down to the sea where it is usually very chilly (in my opinion). Actually, the temps are very wonderful, especially for plants.  They love the cool mornings and the sea mist that sometimes hangs around til 3 in the afternoon.  The further one goes inland, the warmer and clear it gets.  The ocean is wonderful, but chilly, hence the fog  that comes in the evening and quietly retreats off the coast til the warmth of the desert retreats too.

So  Fall…..in California, time to clean up and clean out.  Brush the yard with the rake to keep the grass tidy, clip the plants with long leaves so they will look neat for winter, and pull out the dead leaves from the season before.

Then  there are those plants who have chosen to live on top of each other. Their seeds flutter to the warm ground and their bulbs and roots reach out over one another to touch the food of the earth. Because bulbs are not ment to live 5 deep, it is up to their caretakers (me) to break them up and apart and find new homes for them in the yard which is all they ever know, unless I give them to a friend to grow up in  their yard/home.

Today it was yard cleaning, pulling here, snipping there, and all the time enjoying the wonderful weather called Fall in California.  Tomorrow the yard work won’t look so daunting, so I might just sit out there with my trees, my plants, and domain and soak up another beautiful day in my life.  I am a lucky girl..and I know it!!    later