TWOsday ~ saying thank you

Here's the gardener with the green thumb, the one who is growing the beautiful flowers near the gazebo behind our buildings.  I shared two photos of these plants in July.  We appreciate those flowers you have shared with us, Sandy.  Thank you for adding beauty to our grounds.

Having now caught my breath (after a month), it's time to say thanks to some people.  Joan's daughter Beth is an artist, who makes "wearable art."  Thanks, Beth, for the exquisite silk scarf I'm wearing in this photo and also for the beautiful potholders and the times we gathered at your home while I was in Montana.

Thanks, Cari and Roger, for taking me along on your trip so I could celebrate Joan's 80th birthday with her.  Thanks for getting this old lady through all the airports and baggage claims.  Thanks also for the boat trip down the Missouri River to the Gates of the Mountains.  But especially, thanks for the conversations and getting to know you.

Thanks, Donna, for keeping Clawdia that week.  And thanks, Shannon and Risé, for leading the exercise group those two Friday afternoons I was traveling.  I had a great time in Montana with Joan.

Participate with us

I enjoyed sharing ideas for retirement centers with residents at Hunters Pointe, when I was in Montana visiting my friend Joan.  I told them about the Crown Center for Senior Living and learned what they do that's similar ... or very different.  I'll share this sign from Hunters Pointe with my friends here:  "Don't just live with us — participate with us!"  We do that, here at the Crown Center:  participate in events, bus trips for shopping or eating, volunteer work to help others around us, and gardening, for instance.

A slightly different angle shows the entrance to Hunters Pointe (off to the left), with a deer's head on the wall.

We have a group of knitters here at the Crown Center, whereas the residents of Hunters Pointe have a quilters group.  This is the room where they get together, and that's a quilt on the wall that they were in the process of piecing together when I was there.

Looking down from the third floor near the elevator, the stairs and dining room are visible beyond the second floor corridor.  To the left on the second floor is the table for working jigsaw puzzles, and to the right is a small table with a chess or checkers board on it.  And two more deer heads.  On the two unseen walls of the atrium are another deer head and an antelope head.  It is Montana, you know.

A strong-willed girl

Chester's Way ~ by Kevin Henkes, 1988, children's picture book, 8/10

Chester and Wilson had the same exact way of doing things, and they did everything together.  When they cut their sandwiches, it was always diagonally.  When they rode their bikes, they always used hand signals.  If Chester was hungry, Wilson was too.  They were two of a kind, and that's the way it was — until indomitable Lilly moves into the neighborhood and shows them that new ways can be just as good.

Kevin Henkes web site.  My take on this children's book?  Lilly is an excellent role model for little girls, showing them that they can be strong when that's what is needed.  Lilly rescued Chester and Wilson when some older boys started bullying them.  Then they all became friends.  The last line of the book (not a spoiler at all) says:

"And then Victor moved into the neighborhood..."

National Tell a Joke Day ~ August 16

Even though I started this post early in the day, it is now long after dark as I try to finish it while it is still NATIONAL TELL A JOKE DAY.  Most of the "jokes" I tell these days are puns posted on the bulletin board beside the elevators on my floor.  Here are some folks have told me they liked.

Your turn.  Tell me a joke in the comments.  Or link me to a photo, if you prefer.

Partying with Joan in Montana

Three weeks ago, I was in Montana to celebrate my friend Joan's 80th birthday.   We celebrated with TWO parties plus lots of family activities that I got to attend, since I was there from out of town.  The photo above is of Joan and me arriving at her daughter's house in Helena on the Saturday before Joan's birthday.

Here's a photo I took of one of Joan's grandsons and her son who flew in from Phoenix.  Below is another grandson and his fiance trying to get a photo of the several tables of food in the garden area.

I didn't get any pictures during either patio party, but I'm hoping I can get a few from some of the many photographers who were there.

A day for bibliophiles

It's National Book Lovers Day, so tell me what book you are currently reading.  I usually have at least two books going at any one time.  Right now, I'm reading the book I wrote about yesterday ~ A Curious Mind ~ and re-reading a novel on my Kindle ~ Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis, 1993.

Enjoy this bookish quote from Albus Dumbledore:

"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic."

Okay, Dumbledore is a wise wizard, but I guess I should credit the author.  J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series, and Albus Dumbledore was one of the characters.  Yes, books are magical.

Beginning ~ on a Thursday

One Thursday afternoon, the summer after I graduated from the University of Southern California (USC), I was sitting in my apartment in Santa Monica with the windows open, thinking about how to get some work until I started law school at USC in the fall.

Suddenly, through the windows, I overheard two guys, talking just outside.

A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life ~ by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, 2015, psychology (self-actualization)

Peek into the “curiosity conversations” that inspired Brian Grazer to create some of the world’s most iconic movies and television shows.  He shows how curiosity has been the “secret” that fueled his rise as one of Hollywood’s leading producers and creative visionaries, and how all of us can channel its power to lead bigger and more rewarding lives.  This book offers a blueprint for how we can awaken our own curiosity and use it as a superpower in our lives.  Grazer has spent most of his life exploring curiosity through what he terms “curiosity conversations” with some of the most interesting people in the world, including spies, royals, scientists, politicians, moguls, Nobel laureates, artists — anyone whose story might broaden his worldview.  These discussions sparked the creative inspiration behind many of his movies and TV shows.

Yes, this book drew me in. I wanted to know what he overheard, so I kept reading.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click this link for more book beginnings.

National Coloring Book Day 2019

Today was National Coloring Book Day 2019, and I colored this morning with the group that meets every Friday in the Crown Center's art room.

Montana ~ boat tour

Continuing my "series" about my vacation in Montana to visit my friend Joan, here I am last week between Roger and Joan's daughter Cari on the boat tour on the Missouri River to a place Meriwether Lewis called the Gates of the Mountains.

Our boat was the Sacajawea II, which stopped at a picnic area for a short break during our two-hour tour.  Along the path there, I saw this monument to the thirteen smoke jumpers (some mere teens) who died in 1949 during the Mann Gulch fire.

We learned a lot about history from our tour guide, who took the boat from one side of the river to the other to show us pictographs and bald eagles near their nests and how the "gates" seem to close off the passage.  This photo shows the gates upriver "opening" wide for us.

And this is my favorite photo of the boat tour.  Beautiful, isn't it?

Altruistic August 2019

Click on calendar to enlarge it.

I found this month's calendar on the Action for Happiness web site.  Here's what they suggest we do during the first week of August.

August 1
~ Decide to be kind to others (and yourself) all this month.
August 2
~ Leave a positive note for someone else to find.
August 3
~ Treat everyone you interact with as though they are a friend.
August 4
~ Ask someone how they are and really listen to their reply.
August 5
~ Water some flowers or plants in a public part or outdoor space.
August 6
~ Contact a friend to let them know you're thinking of them.
August 7
~ Offer your seat, give way or hold the door open for others.

"Wherever there is a human being, there

is an opportunity for kindness." ~ Seneca