This is an OK prompt for a younger person, but for people pushing 60, ten more years is not a given. I hope to be alive and in good health in 2034. I hope the United States is still a functioning democracy.
By the time you make it to my age, you’ve lost people too soon (and by “too soon,” I mean younger than 80), primarily to cancer, but also to other diseases, accidents, and the so-called “deaths of despair” — addiction or suicide. Memories flood up. People share their stories. Those who remain must carry on. You help as best you can.
Love hurts, love scars Love wounds and marks Any heart Not tough or strong enough To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain Love is like a cloud Holds a lot of rain Love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts
I’m young, I know, but even so I know a thing or two I learned from you I really learned a lot, really learned a lot Love is like a flame It burns you when it’s hot Love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts
Some fools think of happiness Blissfulness, togetherness Some fools fool themselves, I guess They’re not foolin’ me
I know it isn’t true I know it isn’t true Love is just a lie Made to make you blue Love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts
I know it isn’t true I know it isn’t true Love is just a lie Made to make you blue Love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts Ooh, ooh…
One positive change I made during the pandemic was in my kitchen. I finally had my 1980s wood grain kitchen cabinets painted Benjamin Moore Linen White. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I spend a lot of time in and near my kitchen (it’s one of those kitchen/family room combos) and having it be light and bright makes me happier.
I don’t know what took me so long. I kept thinking I had to have the cabinets ripped out and replaced. Painting was so much cheaper.
I forgot to take a “before” picture, but believe me, they were dark and depressing.
We had a good eclipse! We headed out to the back yard about 2:15pm with some wine, weed, and snacks. We put Alexa in the window and asked her to play “eclipse songs” which she did.
We could clearly see the eclipse with our special glasses on, but we discovered that it was very difficult to get a picture of it, even with the glasses covering the camera lens, but we tried.
Failed attempt, but weirdly you can kind of see the reflection of the eclipse in that tiny green dot to the left of the sun
The temperature dropped noticeably as the sky darkened more and more. It was strange.
We could still clearly see our shadows, but the light was eerie. A sunset from above.
We decided to shut off Alexa at the point of maximum coverage (about 94%, I think). The last song she played was “Walking on the Moon” by The Police, which was perfect (a GenX classic). The animals got really quiet too. But then suddenly, a Barred Owl hooted really loudly. It startled us. And then another owl answered. It was pretty wild. I pointed my video camera towards the woods and I caughtthe sound when it happened again. Listen:
The owls really added to our eclipse experience, making it quite magical and mystical. I thought about how this is a time of transition for us.
All in all, a fun afternoon. Something different. It was also fun getting pics from the rest of the family in various locations and seeing all the posts online.
My daughter and her boyfriend managed to get this nice pic about an hour southwest of us:
About an hour after the eclipse, our woodchuck appeared for the first time this season. He’s been living under our shed for several years now. Hello friend.
I recently attended a “live literature” performance. A wonderful actor named J.T. Turner brought Robert B. Frost and his poetry to life. Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874, but his mother moved the family back East after Frost’s father died. He graduated from Lawrence High School (about 30 minutes from here) and spent most of his life in New England. He died in 1963 at age 88 in Boston.
Of course, I was familiar with many of Frost’s poems. They are especially well known here in New England. However, I was unaware of the many tragic events in Frost’s life. While achieving great success in his lifetime, including an unprecedented four Pulitzer Prizes, Robert Frost suffered unfathomable losses and a strong family history of mental illness.
After losing his father from tuberculosis at age 11 and moving to Massachusetts, his mother died of cancer. In 1920, he had to commit his younger sister Jeanie to a mental hospital, where she died nine years later. Both he and his mother suffered from depression, and his daughter Irma was committed to a mental hospital in 1947. Frost’s wife, Elinor, also experienced bouts of depression.
Elinor and Robert Frost had six children: son Elliott (1896–1900, died of cholera); daughter Lesley Frost Ballantine (1899–1983); son Carol (1902–1940); daughter Irma (1903–1967); daughter Marjorie (1905–1934, died as a result of puerperal fever after childbirth); and daughter Elinor Bettina (died just one day after her birth in 1907). Only Lesley and Irma outlived their father. Frost’s wife, who had heart problems throughout her life, developed breast cancer in 1937 and died of heart failure in 1938.*
During the performance, I learned that the cause of death of Frost’s beloved son Carol was suicide. He was 38 and a poet, like his father. The actor portraying Frost said that Carol had chosen the woods. Lovely, dark and deep.
I’ll never hear that poem in quite the same way again.
Frost believed, as many do, that poetry is meant to be read aloud and I agree. Here is a recording of Robert Frost reading his poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.”
When I was growing up in the 70s, there were not many exciting female book characters. There was Pippi Longstocking, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Heidi, Jo March from Little Women, and the dutiful daughters of The Little House on the Prairie series.
I wasn’t a tomboy like Jo or a sleuth like Nancy, and I didn’t want to be a nurse like Cherry, or be motherless like Pippi or Heidi. And the prairie sisters (though I loved them) had far too many chores.
That leaves all the princesses, witches and bitches, plus the occasional fun nanny, and a fairy or two.
Ugh. No good choices here.
Honestly, maybe Tinkerbell is the best choice. At least she could fly and was a bit naughty – when she wasn’t in her cage.
If someone would pay for my airfare, hotels, and daily spending budget, I would gladly write reviews of my accommodations and travel adventures for free. That’s right – I’ll let you know what I think for free! (Also, I’d want to be able to bring a companion on my trips – also for free.) I’m sure Condé Naste will be calling any minute.
Speaking of travel writers, I happened to receive an e-mail with this review of the maiden voyage of “Icon of the Seas” (the world’s largest cruise ship) as I was writing this post. It’s written by the novelist Gary Schteyngart, who didn’t exactly love the voyage (as you might imagine), but it’s a funny, in-depth look at the most anticipated cruise ship experience since The Titanic.
Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas
I once went on a cruise (from Bayonne, NJ to Bermuda). Although I liked it better than Gary liked his, I could relate to many of his observations. Here was our ship (and one other) docked in Bermuda.
Time spent off the ship was my favorite part of my one & only cruise.
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