For everything we do, there should be a reason behind it. Today I went with my Mother to see Julie and Julia at the movies. In the movie, the character of Julie decides to cook her way through Julia Child's cookbook and write a blog about it. Hmmmm, a blog. Now there's something I've never done, although I like to write, and as it has been pointed out to me on several occasions by a variety of people, I can and will give my opinions quite freely.
So today, my new thing is starting a blog. A blog about how to go about being over 50 and staying happy with the life I have chosen. Hopefully I've gotten the settings right and these words will be seen by someone out there. But even if no one else sees them, it's OK, because I still would have done something new today. That is an accomplishment in itself.
And if I've done it wrong, that's OK too. Nothing in the universe says I can't do it all over again tomorrow. I will always find comfort in that thought. It helps to keep me brave.
I should have seen the wheels turning in your head when we were at the movies today. If there ever is anything new or different to do, I'm always sure you will make a stab at it - and most likely succeed. Happy blogging!
ReplyDeleteMom
I'm actually surprised you haven't blogged before! Better late than never! =)
ReplyDeleteAbout reaching 100, my Mom just cruised in at 98 early in August and it's not that fantastic being that age - she was still flying as far as Paris in her mid-eighties but time is not kind when the years add up and her friends and immediate family members are all gone, even her younger brothers. Uncle Steillie, who landed at Normandy on D-Day at the ripe old age of nineteen from his undergrad days at Princeton, knew how to translate french and managed to survive the war - but now rests in Arlington National Cemetery - the baby of Mom's family.
ReplyDeleteSo, there are major losses when one reaches that age.
For walking, one idea is to join a running/walking club.
Hiking is also really great for weight watching and climbing to view distant horizons could provide that needed en pleine aire experience you seek - I loved to climb Wilson Mt. in Dedham and see the Boston skyline - where I'd paint in various seasons if I took my supplies along with me.
Creating a huge sculpture will do the trick - it's very labor intensive building an armature and then you have to keep moving - if you haven't, take a look at Anna Hyatt Huntington's "General Putnam descending the steps to escape the British" - at Putnam Park - she sculpted it - when she was 92. I bring my friends to see Putnam whenever they hit five - o. Here's one good luck activity for anyone who is a trooper: rub Putnam's frog. Now, the riddle is simply that, as troopers, we know the "frog" is not green and does not hop. So, find the frog when you view Putnam and rub it for good luck - then hike around the park - and draw from the summit grounds.
Good hill like Hoyt's Hill here in Bethel always works wonders for the quads. It was from the vista witnessed atop Hoyt's Hill where the very first non-native visitors to this area decided, "hmmmmmm, think we'll settle over there - pointing to a nearby section of land - and that became Danbury." Bethel had requested to be named, when it separated from Danbury, "Eastbury" but somehow, Bethel was the chosen name, meaning "house of God". The weekend of Woodstock, many concert goers accidentally arrived in Bethel, Connecticut, still having a good ninety plus miles to drive in order to attend the actual concert forty years ago. Some of us were "not allowed" to attend - our mothers had already viewed the news casts showing what they deemed an inappropriate venue for their young daughters and alas - we all obeyed and stayed home. A pilgrimage is due for those of us who pined for that trip but never made it.
Drinking water is great for losing weight - lots of it. You just stop being hungry after consuming eight ounces. Eight glasses a day does seem to work - hard to do in Winter - cannot bring myself to drink all that water when it is below freezing, it's too chilling.
Anyway, keep painting, you are a tremendously talented artist with wonderful artwork. Your photograph on this blog is really great too. You are hard on yourself, beauty is something that takes into account the whole person. Sometimes I even see those laughing horses of pink and purple in my dreams - and those are on the good nights. On that note, Good Night!
TRPR STRTFRDKVNR