During the waxing gibbous moon phase, the moon’s illumination is increasing with more than half of its surface being lit up. This is the phase before a full moon.
The waxing gibbous moon signifies the final stretch of completing a project. It is the phase for knocking off tasks and tying up loose ends.
Maybe this is a good metaphor for retirement. Try to go out on a high note—building to your full power. Maybe retirement should be the time when you become the best, fullest, most authentic version of yourself.
My piano is turning 50 this year and I still use it—maybe not daily, but weekly during the church year. I use it mostly to learn and practice my choir music.
Thanks to this prompt, I looked in my piano bench and discovered paperwork documenting that my parents purchased the piano on September 10, 1974. I was nine. They bought it so that my sister and I could take lessons. I took lessons for about six years with a couple of different teachers. I really liked playing the piano. I think I enjoyed it more after I stopped taking lessons. Then I could play what I wanted and nobody was nagging me to practice. I liked playing pop songs and singing along.
When my husband and I bought our first house, my parents gave me the piano because I was the only one who played it. They paid real piano movers to bring it to my house. My daughter took lessons on it.
When we moved to our second house, I had regular movers take the piano with the rest of our stuff and it got slightly damaged, but nothing major. My daughter took several more years of lessons on it after the move.
So here’s to you old friend. I promise to get you tuned for your birthday.
A well-used book of sheet music – nearly as old as the piano. I’m not sure who the “Do Not Remove” was directed at, but I guess it worked.
We were lucky to have close friends with a beautiful beach house while my kids were growing up. It’s near the loveliest beach. The water gets really warm in August. One year, my daughter had a waterproof/underwater camera. Photos from that visit always make me happy.
On January 24, 2024, I tried out the new “journal” feature on my iPhone and I’ve added an entry every day since.
I’m finding it’s a good way to keep track of the notable (and mundane) things that happen in my life.
Apparently, the journal lives only on your phone and is not kept in the cloud anywhere. It’s like an old-fashioned diary. It’s meant only for you. There’s no “share to Instagram” button.
I’m finding it’s a handy memory aid. If my mother asks me what I’ve been up to for the last few weeks, I can whip out my journal and jog my memory. I can look back and see which day exactly I got this manicure, or went to the doctor, or talked to my friend Susan.
Occasionally I put some deep thoughts in my journal (things that I wouldn’t share on my blog), but it’s mostly just a quick photo or workout summary.
Here’s my concern: it doesn’t seem like Apple has figured out how the journal will get transferred to a new iPhone, when the time comes. Since the journal doesn’t get backed up in the cloud, when the phone is gone, the journal will be gone too. At least, that’s my understanding.
Please share your thoughts on this new iPhone feature. Have you tried it? Do you like it? Are you concerned about losing your entries when it’s time for a new phone?
Screenshot of my iPhone journal
This is what the journal icon looks like on iPhone.
This is an easy one for me. I’ve been at the outdoor pool every day that it’s been open since Memorial Day weekend. Starting this week, it’s open every day. The lifeguards are mostly high school students and the seniors are out for summer. Woo hoo!
That’s “my” lap lane in the foreground of the photo.
For most of my life, I lived in homes with no air conditioning. Growing up, we made it through the muggy New England summers with fans and one window air conditioning unit in my parents’ bedroom. Throughout college and my first few apartments, I had no a/c at all. We purchased a window air conditioning unit for our bedroom in our first house.
It wasn’t until we moved into our second home that I experienced the true luxury of central air conditioning. I was 39 years old. Between menopause, global warming, and the extra layer of fat I now wear, I could never go back to A/C-less living.
That’s my tagline for today. This is the last birthday of my fifties. My sixtieth year—my sixth decade—starts now.
That’s right, GenX is gonna be hitting 60 in 2025. I found a couple of very 80s concert outfit pics from 1982ish. I saw both the Go-Go’s and the B-52’s live in Boston. I can’t remember which outfit was for which.
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
I think books, music and art make life worth living, once basic needs (food, shelter, safety) are met.
I got to go to an art show by a dear old friend from college last night. It is her first gallery show. In college, she was a double major in art history and religion. For decades, she’s worked as a museum educator and administrator.
She always had an artist’s eye and soul. We studied abroad in Italy at the same time and traveled together on our fall break. A fellow blogger’s post about the city of Bergamo (Italy) reminded me of that trip. We went to Bergamo, Parma, Verona, Venice, and Milan.
Her artwork involves deconstructing everyday packaging and reassembling in very cool ways.
A large piece by Julie Bernson on display at Gallery Kayafas in Boston
Julie taking a photo atop the Duomo in Milan in 1985.
A year ago this week, we were in Grand Canyon National Park.
Selfies are hard. This is one of our better ones.
We stayed right in Grand Canyon Village. This was taken just outside our hotel—Thunderbird Lodge.
Shoshone Point—a wild and gorgeous spot in Grand Canyon National Park
Shoshone Point
We even took a helicopter tour—scary at first, but spectacular and worth the price.
This trip was motivated by the death of my close friend Carla who loved the Grand Canyon and whose ashes are spread there. (Carla is the person who set me up with my husband more than 33 years ago.) I would consider it my first “bucket list” trip of retirement, even though I didn’t retire until six months later.
I’m lucky to have a kind and hardworking husband who is willing to travel with me (within reason). He doesn’t love it like I do, but he usually ends up liking the trip a lot more than he thought he would.
Thirty-one years of marriage—that’s a whole lot of time together!
The Grand Canyon lives up to the hype. Go, if you can.
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