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BIcycle Shoes

I have now heard of it all. Did you know there are shoes for bycycling.  Who knew. When I go out on my bike I wear flip flops and pedal pushers. These are shorter panse that don't get caught in the chain. Now I see for $98.00 shoes to wear on your bike. I am amazed. No wonder everybody buying a house now a days has to have a walk in closet. Its for all those shoes. Golf shoes, soceer shoes,  baseball shoes, swim shoes, snow shoes, rubber boots. clogs, work shoes, casual shoes. We are basically shoe nuts in America. In Europe most people don't have a closets.  Clothes are stored in Armoirs.  This is a giant cupboard for hanging clothes  It is certainly not a walk in closet. Yet we all aspire to being more like Europeans. We seek to go there on exotic vacations. We think of Europeans as more sophisticated than ourselves. The truth is they have less shoes. Maybe we could back off of having so many shoes.
Simplify. Be more European. Look in your closet. I have ten pair of shoes easy. That doesn't count the ones in the mud room I use for gardening. So maybe I am up to twelve. I know it's ridiculous but I have too many shoes just like everybody else in America.

Back At It Again /Adult Kids and Thinking about my 40s

It's been a really long time since I did a post. I heard once that to be a good writer you should write everyday. So I guess I am a developing writer.  Who on earth has time to write everyday? Who in the heck has something valuable to say everyday. I am not even sure I have something valuable to say even once a week. But I will give it my best shot.

I have been giving some thought to my adult children. Since I have two and one will turn 40 it does give one cause to reflect. First of all I thought I was really pretty old when I turned 40. I realized there were somethings I might not do in life. I ruled out sky diving because I knew I wasn't into risky behaviors anymore. I still had lots of energy but I wanted to manage it better. I realized I wanted to spend more time in prayer but Lord the truth is, "I got so distracted".  I still had a gusto for life though and I sure packed a lot into those 10 years.

 Now I think of 40 as young. I think there are tons of perilous times ahead for my adult kids. There is so much to build, win, loose, suffer, experience. Middle age shows visible signs of aging. Skin changes, looses elasticity, graying of the hair, weight gain, decrease of body strength and flexibility.
 It all sounds so terrible. Like a downward spiral. But these are just medical facts.

 I remember being in my 40s as pretty wonderful. There were milestones. Kids graduated from High School and then College. I paid cash for a car I actually liked instead of whatever we could find that we could afford. I went to Eastern Europe to serve the poor. I went to Vienna on my way. I grew in my job skills. I figured out I had a brain. I faced multiple challenges and survive both professionally and spiritually. I grew in my walk with God and my husband. I spent some great times with good friends. I volunteered for relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. I buried both my mom and dad. I got to be there when my mom died. I stayed the course and got a few blessed rewards for it. All in all it was pretty memorable.

I guess what summed up my 40s was the expression "Stay the course". Remain steadfast. This worked for me. Most people have a job by then. So Stay the course. You may have a house payment. Just STAY THE COURSE. Keep on doing those things that are true, honest, of good report, self sacrificing, praiseworthy and based on God fearing principles. Remember it is blessed to give.  Save money instead of spending it. Learn to live frugally but rich in spirit. Walk in the woods for an escape. Go outside at night and look at the stars and moon. Make your home nice with a can of paint. Cook things from scratch for a real accomplishment.  Don't rush into stuff. Trust your gut feelings. Look for friends who you can really talk to about real things. All these ways of life got me through my 40s and all my of life. I just became more aware of how precious time was in my 40s.

Saturday Is Mostly a Day Off

Laying in bed I move my feet slowly. I stretch and stretch like Cheshire Cat waking up from his nap. Extend one ankle and twist it around and around and then do  the same for the other ankle. I roll over until I feel the cool part of the covers and then quickly I snuggle back in and sleep another 20 minutes. It's Saturday morning and I don't have to be anywhere. The wonderful thing about  a five day a week job is it produce a heightened awareness of free time. Before I worked five days a week I sometimes squandered instead of savored free time. Not any more! After 27 years of having to be up at O Dark Thirty, five days a week I have learned the art of savoring Saturday mornings like  the last chocolate in a a box of fine candy. Let it melt slowly and turn into energy to use  as I need to make the day exactly as I want to. I can do  laundry and get caught up on my housework and reacquaint myself with my home.  I can have a date with puttering around the house and yard that both feeds the homey, nesting part of me and makes the place glow with my touch. Or I can go for a hike or to the farmers market, or take a long time to cook lunch or dinner. I can wear my pajamas til 11am. I am older now and working this long you get a few aches and pains. Saturday lets my body recover. By Saturday night I will feel like a peach again, ready to enjoy Sunday and to join millions on Monday in the rat race.

Give me SUN

It has been too long since we have seen the sun. I know other parts of the country are having a heat wave and record highs, while we in the greater Seattle regions are just waiting with baited breath for a hot day. We haven't had a sunny truly sunny day since last July. That's 2010 folks. We are longing for sun to dry out our houses and clean up our mood. I want to feel the heat so to speak. Instead day after day it is dreary, rainy, yuckie, and just right not the way I want it to be this time of year. There are no cold Colas in my frig waiting to burst open and quench my thirst. There are no popcicles waiting in the freezer to join me for sitting on the the edge of the porch. There is no watermelon waiting to satisfy that sweaty body who just played volleyball in the yard. It is hot chocolate and warm rice pudding still filling my tummy after all these months. I hope to someday put away my hooded sweatshirts and bring out lovely filmy gauze tops and capris. Until it comes once again I will just take yet another Vitamin D tab and look into the sky and hope the color is not dark gray.

Moody Blues

Moody Blues

Today the South Wind blows outside my window. It's raining, which is no big deal. After all this is Puget Sound. The water flowing through the channel below our house looks like a river instead of salt water. The wind is constant and all the waves move more like the current of a river all running in one direction. It is dreary out. Dark clouds, rain, wind, moody ocean dominate the day. I am dreary on the inside as well. Life has sent me too many storms this week and I am beyond repair at the moment. I am like a spent flower. Wilted over beyond a drink of water. The week was long, exhausting, emotional, thought provoking, and I am empty. I am not sure how to refill the tank. I tried napping and sleep evaded me. I tried shopping but it felt small and empty. I tried eating but the calories just kept looming over me like a shark attack. None of it was fun. In fact I long for night time and sleep. Sometimes you need to just wash the day away and start again.

I think again of the water below my house. It just keeps moving along. I guess this is also a lot like life. It just keeps moving along. We may try and be a log on the beach but in spite of our desire to detach the high tide comes and the current moves us along. By tomorrow my mood will change. A shower will wash me clean. Fresh clothes hopefully will reawaken my sense of readiness. A nutritious meal will elevate my mood. And I will just keep moving along. I know in my heart I want to keep moving along.

Run As Fast As You Can

I have worked at an elementary school for 26 years and for that 26 years I have told the children "Don't Run!" Don't run in the hall or in too fast from recess. All of us staff say this on the assumption that we are trying to keep our students safe.

Today it occurred to me that what I really want to say is RUN! "Run like a deer free and graceful. This will be the best running of your life. Your body obeys you now. So run far and fast with great joy. Leap and gallop across the valleys of life. Be like a pony invigorated in the fresh morning dew. Kick up your heals. Let the exertion feed your limbs with that lovely life giving oxygen that will be your natural high. Let swift movement be your M.O. Revel in how well your body works. There will be plenty of time later in life where you can stroll."

While you are young, run and rejoice in your youth. It only comes once and when it passes it is gone forever. But the memory of racing across fresh mowed grass can last forever. The feeling of running across breaking waves on a sandy beach is like no other. Dashing through the snow is a real experience, so do it as often as possible. Run hard and often so when it comes to your older years you will have no regrets. Life is the greatest of amazing races. So run with all your might. In the book of ITim. it says: "I have gone through the glorious contest; I have run the race. Enjoy the glorious part of the journey. Remember it's fun to run.