Remembering a long-ago Saturday

The long-ago Saturday that is on my mind today was February 28, 1959.  Let's see, 2026 minus 1959 is 67 years ago.  That's the day I married.  I remember as we left the church, that car-loads of friends were lined up to follow us.  We got into our "getaway" car driven by a friend, but went straight through it to another friend's car going in the opposite direction.  Yep, we almost got away, except for those who happened to be parked going in that direction.  I no longer remember details, but I do remember divorcing him 14 years and three children later (also in February).  The three children, all married now, gave me seven grandchildren.  The first one made me a grandparent on grandparents day.  And now I have six GREAT-grandchildren).  This photo includes four generations (I'm wearing red):

Tornado damage

Tornadoes hit around me in University City and Clayton on Friday, but I was hunkered down in my bathroom with doors closed between me and big things whomping against my windows:  SLAM-BANG-BAM!  My friend Nova took this photo of a damaged building with parts of the walls torn off.  That is less than four miles frrom where Nova and I live at the Crown Center.  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

My friend in Florida texted on Friday afternoon to see if I was okay.  She said that they lost two tree tops a few weeks ago, when a tornado went through a mile from her house.  On Saturday, a friend in Pennsylvania called to check on me, and my son in Tennessee texted to see if I was okay.  On Sunday, a friend in Canada emailed because she'd heard about the tornadoes.  A friend in middle-Tennessee sent an email saying, "Your area and places north and a bit east of me in KY seem to have had the worst of it."

For those of you relying on new posts showing up on this blog to tell you how I am doing, I hate to tell you that I frequently pre-post things for certain dates.  So it is quite possible that posts will continue to appear long after I die, whether of old age (I'm 85, after all) or tornadoes.

Looking at four generations

This family photo was taken in 2011.  I also posted it HERE.  I am standing next to my grandson; my daughter and my son (and his wife) are sitting in the chairs holding THEIR grandchildren.  My grandson's wife (mother of the youngest of my great-grandchildren at the time) is over there beside the Coke machine.  That's FOUR generations, and I'm the great-grandmother.  It's still hard to imagine myself the mother of grandparents.  I have seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren now.

This photo of me with my twin daughters was taken in 2016, when they visited me in St. Louis.  I also posted it HERE.  I enjoy sharing family photos with my friends, who also share pictures of their families.  We're proud grandparents and great-grandparents.

Mother's Day

This photo of Mildred and Bill was taken by Jim in 1976.  That looks like me behind them.  Anyway, it was taken at my house on the mountain, and I'm pretty sure that's David in the plaid jacket in the background.

I took this photo of my mother in 1987, when she lived with me on Avalon Circle.  My friend Donna knew it was my favorite snapshot of Mom, so she had it enlarged and framed for me when Mom died in 2004.  I still have it across from where I'm sitting.

Looking back, on this Easter Sunday

My children on Easter 1967 with their Easter baskets.

  

Same three on April 4, 2010, but he got taller than his sisters.

Books, libraries, WindowSwap, and groceries

My books are always calling me!  I am currently reading the book I shared in my Book Beginnings on Friday post a couple of days ago:  A Tuscan Memory by Angela Petch, 2020, fiction (Italy), 272 pages.

We had a visit from David of the University City Library on March 3rd, meeting in our little library at Crown Center.  Here he is talking to me during his visit.  The University City Library sends books every three weeks to seniors all over the community who sign up for the program.  The library folks choose books based on our general interest or our favorite authors.  Some of us reserve books that we choose ourselves, if we know how to use a computer to make our own reservations.  So I've been talking to Dave (or now, his new helper Loretta) every three weeks for several years.  The next time Dave or Loretta calls, I'll say I'm reading from my own shelves for now, as I posted on Monday.

Dave is on the left in the photo above with Risé, Mary, Sandy, and me (with my hand on Sandy's mobile chair).  Since Donna died, Risé and I are the only ones still re-shelving books.  I really do appreciate Risé a lot; she's doing most of the work culling our bookshelves these days so that we can add recent donations.

It's been awhile since I shared the link to WindowSwap.  Each time you click on the link, you see a new window from somewhere in the world.  I just now looked out a window in Turkey, one in Spain, one in India looking onto a courtyard, and another in France with birds flying past a high-rise.  This link has been really great during the two years of the COVID pandemic, part of which was lockdown and not going anywhere at all.  This photo shows a window view in Switzerland.

Our Circle@Crown Café now has Grab & Go grocery goods:  bread, milk, eggs, butter, cheese, sweets, juice, water, and soda.  It's really convenient to "walk" to the store in the other building, right here on the grounds of our senior retirement center, when all we need is one or two of the basics.  I'm frequently in the Café anyway, having lunch with a friend or three, and can grab what I need.  To get a regular load of groceries, I sign up for one of the weekly bus trips to the store.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Earth Day ~ April 22

I took part in the first Earth Day in 1970 on my college campus.  I came home with information and handouts that day, including one that said "Stop at Two," meaning two children to replace the two parents so we don't overpopulate our earth.  My 6-year-old son nodded and said, "That's a good idea" (or something like that).  I said to him, "David . . . think about it."  I have been pregnant twice, but my first "baby" turned out to be identical twins.  David was born three years later, making him number three.  His eyes widened as realization hit him.

I've celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd every year since then, but I never use the "Stop at Two" slogan.  Never.  David may have taken the advice seriously, though.  He and his wife have two children, a boy and a girl.  Each of his sisters also had two, a girl and a boy.  One twin later remarried and had one other daughter, but that is still only one child per parent.  That youngest grandchild happened to be born on — wait for it! — April 22nd.  Happy birthday today!  What a great coincidence, huh?

Our world is in worse shape now than it was a half century ago when Earth Day was first celebrated.  We need to do more to care for Mother Earth.  I recycle cans and bottles and paper, and I try to avoid anything that may pollute our environment.  What are you doing to save the only planet we have?  Here are a few ways to make a difference.

Click on this image to enlarge it.

Day 266 since lockdown = 38 weeks

This is actually a doormat.  My daughter Sandra had a photo from the mid-1960s of me and my three children put on a doormat for me.  We were at Signal Point that day, overlooking the Tennessee River.  The city of Chattanooga is off to the left behind me.  This surprise arrived in the mail yesterday.

Gotta brag a little

My daughter shared her painting of a Christmas tree on Facebook today.  Click to enlarge it and see details better.

I love her Christmas tree!  Her black phone on the wall around the corner is a vintage phone like the ones I blogged about on Thursday.

Exploring the world

The only way I have traveled since March this year is online.  In July, I discovered WindowSwap and have clicked on it occasionally ever since, jumping to random windows all over the world.  Recently, I learned about View from My Window on Facebook, where over 200,000 of us share a view from our own windows, limited to one post a day per person.  I've only posted once so far, sharing a photo of Clawdia in her favorite window.  Click on my blue links to see for yourself.

Another way I get around is to Google the places where I used to live.  Today, I went back to take a look at the first house we bought just before the twins were born sixty years ago.  The house looks pretty much the same, but the trees in the front yard are different and they've added a deck that we didn't have.  Over the years, I have walked the neighborhood where I grew up, looked at my old school buildings, and visited a friend in the Netherlands whom I've never met.  I've never been in her country, either, except via Google maps.  It's fun; try it.

Face masks

Vincent van Gogh would have a problem in our masked world of 2020.  I hope you are still wearing a mask and staying socially distanced when you go out.  To make your face mask fit better, watch the tutorial video at the end of this short article.

Bookish things

I haven't read much this week, but I did borrow The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult from my friend Donna.  I am still reading a Maisie Dobbs book right now, but I'll share more about this latest book by Jodi Picoult in a Book Beginnings on Friday post.

Bloggers gather in The Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

A Christmas tree and a cartoon (with analysis)

This Christmas tree is in Sharon's room at Vanderbilt Hospital.  She's been there more than two weeks, this time.  Look closely, and what do you see?  I see little signs on the tree.  I see HOPE.  I see JOY.  I see PEACE.  I see NOEL.  I see MERRY and BRIGHT.  And under the tree I see a paper airplane with wings, the paper folded and ready to fly.  I also see a round flying machine, paper folded the way I showed my children when they were young.  Yes, it can fly, too.  Thanks, David, I'd forgotten we could do it that way.  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

 

My English-teacher friend Donna wrote on Facebook:  "And we wonder why so many grow up hating to read."

There's a cat licking your birthday cake

Here's the birthday girl, wearing my face mask "uniform" as usual when leaving my apartment.  Notice the tissue in hand for punching elevator buttons, so as not to waste a disposable glove just to take the elevator down once and back up.  Donna had ordered me birthday dinner from Panera — Fuji Apple Salad with chicken and apple chips, and a blueberry muffin for dessert.  I met her where deliveries are left on that table next to me because outsiders may no longer roam the halls of the Crown Center.  We met the delivery guy there and each took food to our apartments to eat, all socially distanced to stay safe.

I'll show you what I ate, and it was delicious.  I shared a few nibbles of the chicken with Clawdia.  Maybe it's because they are trying to be extra good to any customers they can get right now, but it seemed to me there were more of all the goodies in the salad today — more sliced up tiny tomatoes, more feta crumbles, more pecans, even more of the chicken.  It was very delicious.  Clawdia concurs.


Donna sent me a singing birthday card, and I've found it on YouTube for you.  If the video here quits working, click on the link to view it there.  The words are appropriate, since Clawdia would act just like these cats.

Cats on an antique player piano

As if one musical card weren't enough, I got another lively one from Mary Grace (Gigi) entitled "Kit Cat Boogie."  She wrote:

"Happy Birthday!  Hope you'll boogie on your birthday, Bonnie!  Last picture I saw of you, you looked well and happy — hope that is still the case.  Enjoy your special day.  xxoogg"

Yes, I'm doing well and have been doing the boogie all over my little apartment today.  My cat didn't lick my cake when I ate a little Hostess cake for lunch.  For breakfast, I ate a small can of Vienna sausages and the last three green olives left in the jar.  There's a back-story for that.

When I was ten, I went off to summer camp with my cousin Carolyn, who's a year older than I am.  Mother sent me a care package that week, and in it were a can of vienna sausages and some green olives.  She knew I loved those special treats.  So for my breakfast today, I gave myself a treat from my childhood and thought about what my Mom sent me seventy years ago. 

Marie brought me a gift last night and, wearing our masks, she handed off the bag she'd used to bring it up to me and backed off across the hall.  I had a hard time deciding whether to open it last night — who would know, right? — or wait for my actual birthday.  I did manage to wait to discover a wooden box full of Tea Drops.  On the side are directions:  "Pour in boiling water, add Tea Drop, stir and enjoy."  Tea Drops, it says, "are pressed teas made with genuine tea leaves that dissolve in hot water."  And inside are five kinds of tea:

• Citrus Ginger
• Sweet Peppermint
• Blueberry Acai
• Rose Earl Grey
• Matcha Green Tea

I've had so many text messages and phone calls and long conversations that I had to recharge my phone at midday:  Barbara, Sandra, David, Sheila G., Susan, Sandy.  I got Facebook birthday wishes from Sylvia, three books shopped off her own shelf from Donna (stay-home orders, you know), and these birthday cards from Donna, Miriam, and Marie.

When Clawdia woke from her latest cat nap, we ventured out into the sunshine for the walk she's been wanting for days.  Miriam called happy birthday to me from a distance, while she was out sitting in the sun after days of rain.  We're both 80 now, since her birthday was in March.  As Clawdia sat in the lush grass looking around, I decided the pollen count seems to be down.  The mowers and trimmers were working here on this sunny Sunday, even though they usually come here on Mondays.  Maybe they've gotten their days as mixed up as the rest of us during this lockdown, or maybe they're worried about "rainy days and Mondays."

That's not all, yet.  Later in the day I got a couple of other singing electronic cards, both from Sharon.  One was these goats yodeling, and the other was William Shatner singing to me and putting my name in lights as I posted at the top of the page.  Okay, Sharon, how'd you do that, getting both of them to sing my name?  Thanks for the shout out!

And at the end of the day, more birthday wishes on Facebook from Gina, Toni (who included another birthday cat for today's collection), Annette, Judith, Charlotte, Bonnie M, Jimmy, and Terri.  Thanks to all.

Update 4/27/2020:  Birthday wishes keep pouring in, like floodgates have opened.  Facebook friends continue to send belated good wishes ~ Nancy, Jess, Alyssa, Cindy M, Jean L, Dora, Sharon L, Sylvia, Diana, Laurie, Mary Virginia, Cindy Z, Carol H, Ginger, Rosemary, Vickie, my brother Jim, Pamela, Ginny D, Candy, Sheryn (who added a dog to celebrate with us), and Rosie (who added a cat flying around in a small bi-plane to my cat collection).  And I forgot to include the twenty-plus who have clicked "Like" or "Love."  Feeling very blessed by all of you.

LOCKDOWN ~ humor

For more fun during our lockdown, here's a short video from a music teacher, who has composed a sweet little song.  In her viral video, Liz explains:

"As some of you guys might know, I'm a music teacher, and I've found that one of the best ways that I can process the whole transition to online learning and teaching is to write a song.  So, I wrote a song, and I'd like to share that with you guys now.  Here we go."

 What follows quite succinctly sums up the collective feelings of many, many teachers, parents, and students around the country.  And I'd say, it applies to the rest of us, too.  Shall we sing it with her?

Blogging, getting outside, and looking at swag

Today, Google posted this image.  When I scrolled over it, these words appeared:

Stay Home.  Save Lives : Help Stop Coronavirus

Look at the letters.  The first G is reading a book.  The two Os are making music, one singing and the other playing the guitar.  The second G is talking on a cellphone with the final E, and the L between them is exercising with two weights.  Thanks, Google.  What are YOU doing to keep busy and/or entertain yourself?

GETTING OUTSIDE

At 2:00, the temps here in St. Louis reached 73, so I opened the windows for Clawdia (and me).  She jumped up on the windowsill to look down at the budding trees below our windows, and I went to shower (finally, in mid-afternoon) so I could take her out for a breath of fresh air and a walk in the grass.

DR. FAUCI SWAG

No, really!  You can now buy Dr. Anthony Fauci swag, like mugs, socks, fan club buttons, lawn signs, candles, cushions, and tee-shirts.  Fauci is now saying he doesn't know why the United States hasn’t instituted a nation-wide stay-at-home order amid the spread of COVID-19.

VIRUS ECONOMICS

"Virus economics" is a term I heard today, uttered by Austan Goolsbee on CNN.  He's an economics professor, who says (I'm paraphrasing), "We have to fix the virus problem before we can fix the economics problem."  I don't have to tell you how many people have suddenly lost their jobs because we're staying home and not shopping and traveling and meeting in large groups.  We are all either feeling lost in the middle of so many changes or feeling that lots of folks around us THINK they are experts.  Let's listen to the experts.

CONNECTING

The lobby in my building is now COMPLETELY empty, unlike the day I discovered the "shocking" almost-empty lobby a couple of weeks ago and took a photo.  Instead of two chairs and a few table, there are no pieces of furniture at all except the little table with hand sanitizer and a lamp on it.

So now we call each other.  My neighbor Faye came home from the hospital Wednesday, so I called her yesterday and talked for almost half an hour.  Tiny, Susan, and Pamela called me, and I called to wish David and Sharon a happy anniversary yesterday.  I read what a neighbor has written on her Beverly's Notebook blog (she's not as wordy as I am), and showed Helen how to solve the visual puzzle I'd posted (click the link to do it yourself or read the comments for the long, convulated way to get the right answer).

I've been in touch with several people on Facebook and by texting, like Rosy and Lauree, who sent pictures of her cats.  While I was typing this, I got a text from Sharon down the hall:

"Fresh cornbread outside your door."

And it was still warm!  I ate it immediately, with a glass of good cold milk.  Clawdia thought I should share, until I put a crumb in front of her and she changed her mind.  She was trying to take a bite (or maybe just sniff) before she noticed the camera aimed at her.

April foolishness? Not much of that around here

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)

ACTIVITIES

Google has assembled links to many, many museums all over the world in their Arts and Culture collection.  You could spend days exploring the world.  Even just looking through the list of places could take hours.  Pleasurable hours.  Take a look.  I noticed that the World Chess Hall of Fame here in St. Louis is on the list.  Clarence House in London may be of interest to my Brit-loving friend Joy.  One called Frogs and Friends in Germany may intrigue a child bored by having to stay home all day, every day — and it may be fun for the inner child in each of us.  You can choose to visit museums in the Netherlands, Croatia, Mongolia, Israel, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Italy (yes, it's safe to visit Italy online), Slovakia, Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Japan, Sweden, and (oh, yes) the United States.  And that's just a tiny sampling of what Google has put together.

View from one of my windows in 2014

CONNECTING

Once again, my neighbor Galina and I talked across our hallway when David delivered three meals to each of us.  The 2-page information sheet he also brought gives tips for getting through this time of isolation.  Here are a few, summarized:

• Washers and dryers are now free for us to use, but please take turns being in the laundry rooms in order to practice social distancing.
• Take turns using the elevators, too.  Not all jammed in together.
• Allow only one crucial caregiver to visit, not family or friends or other guests.
• If you have gloves and a mask available, use them when you must go out.
• Even if you're not already part of Crown's meal delivery program, this is a great time to participate.  It isn't exactly "room service," but you can sign up for it and start getting it from now on.
• The pages also had cheery notes from some of the staff working from home:  Theresa ~ "Isn't it weird that you can trust your dog to guard your home, but not your sandwich?"  Megan's 5-year-old ~ "Hi, everybody at mama's work!  I miss the cookies from your cafe.  I hope everyone is safe.  Miss you, love you, bye!"

Jenn and Bonnie

I love the shout-out from Megan's child.  I also chatted with Donna and Jenn on Facebook, two conversations going at the same time, with one person in the same complex with me and one who used to live in St. Louis years ago.  The only time Jenn and I ever met in person was at the end of 2010, when she and her family were returning to St. Louis from Florida and stopped to visit me while they were passing through my town.  It feels like yesterday.

Marie phoned and we chatted for over half an hour.  Susan called while I was on the phone, but didn't leave a message and didn't answer when I returned her call.  Faye Stickney "has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet," so I didn't get through to her.  Even while "sheltering in place," I'm in contact with a lot of people, including Laura, who called me earlier.

I've been chatting on Facebook today with Laurie, who was working on the puzzle I posted yesterday.  Then I got a friend request from Gina and chatted with HER for awhile.  She now has children about the age she was when I last saw her.  More people are home, and we have more time to reach out to folks we haven't seen in awhile.  And while talking to Gina on Facebook, I got an email from Joanne, which said:

"Trying to get in touch.  I hope this reaches you and that you are well!  It has been over 2 years since the last email I received from you, Christmas 2017.  Please forgive me for not keeping in contact.  I retired from the library in May 2018 and have been quite content in retirement.  If you receive this email, I would love to hear from you!"

I called and left voicemail for Joanne and also emailed her.  She called while I was still "talking" on Facebook with Gina.  And now it's almost an hour and a half later, and I'm finally going to post this on the blog.  I enjoyed talking to you, Joanne.  Catching up was fun to do.

Jane Eyre from the National Theatre in London

MORE ACTIVITIES

After Laura and I talked by phone, she sent me information to share with everyone about National Theatre at Home.  The website says, "Enjoy world-class theatre online while we're closed."  Click here for more about the shows being streamed.

• "One Man, Two Guvnors" ~ April 2-9
• "Jane Eyre" ~ April 9-16
• "Treasure Island" ~ April 16-23
• "Twelfth Night" ~ April 23-30

What have you been doing today?  Have you connected or re-connected?

Sunday Salon ~ booked and unbooked

Booked

Here's a brand-new novel I put on reserve at the library, since I've been reading all nonfiction lately:

Grief Cottage ~ by Gail Godwin, 2017, fiction (South Carolina)

After his mother's death, eleven-year-old Marcus is sent to live on a small South Carolina island with his great aunt, a reclusive painter with a haunted past.  Aunt Charlotte, otherwise a woman of few words, points out a ruined cottage, telling Marcus she had visited it regularly after she'd moved there thirty years ago because it matched the ruin of her own life.  Eventually she was inspired to take up painting so she could capture its utter desolation.  The islanders call it "Grief Cottage," because a boy and his parents disappeared from it during a hurricane fifty years before.  Their bodies were never found and the cottage has stood empty ever since.  During his lonely hours while Aunt Charlotte is in her studio painting and keeping her demons at bay, Marcus visits the cottage daily, building up his courage by coming ever closer, even after the ghost of the boy who died seems to reveal himself.  Full of curiosity and open to the unfamiliar and uncanny given the recent upending of his life, he courts the ghost boy, never certain whether the ghost is friendly or follows some sinister agenda.

Here's my library loot for this past week:

• Do One Thing Different: And Other Uncommonly Sensible Solutions to Life's Persistent Problems ~ by Bill O'Hanlon, 1999
• The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person ~ by Judith S. Beck, 2007
• The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living ~ by Meik Wiking, 2017

Here's what I'm in the middle of reading with my study buddies:

• Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America ~ by Chris Hedges, 2005
• Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne ~ by Wilda C. Gafney, 2017

Unbooked

What's going on in my life outside of books?  I swiped a photo off Facebook of my son holding his youngest grandchild before her sister's dance recital.  Baby Shiloh's hand is blurred, but I think David is digging Cheerios out of a baggie for her.  That's big brother Jaxon sitting beside his grandpa.  So you want to see the little ballerina, right?

Here's Shelby after the dance performance.
She'll be four years old on Wednesday.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Hygge Holiday Challenge ~ first update

Dec. 1 ~ start a gratitude list

• Three children ~ Barbara, Sandra, and David.
• Seven grandchildren ~ Kendall, Cali, Brandy, Kenzie, Chase, Jamey, and Cady.
• Six great-grandchildren ~ Raegan, Jaxon, Shelby, Jonathan, Micah, and Shiloh.

Dec. 2 ~ add relaxing scents

I lit a vanilla-scented candle and bought a new hand soap scented with coconut water and mango to use in the kitchen.  I'm already using hand soap in the bathroom that's lavender-scented.

Dec. 3 ~ more gratitude

Since I'm retired, the challenge on the list makes no sense for me:  "sleep in 15 mins or more."  I can do that any day.  Instead, I'll add to my gratitude list.

Randi Schenberg

I'm very grateful for the Crown Center for Senior Living for being the great place for active retirees that it is.  That means being thankful for the wonderful people on the staff and the board.  Randi Schenberg, the Community Relations Director, was the first person I met at the Crown Center, when I applied to live here.  In February, Randi was given the 2017 JProStl Pillar Award, and I posted a 2-minute video about it on this blog.  Thanks, Randi, for your smiles and all you do for the Crown Center!

Dec. 4 ~ learn a new skill

I'm still trying to learn how to operate my new computer.  I've been very annoyed trying to use Windows 10.  Oops!  Being annoyed is not very "hyggeligt" ― it doesn't create a cozy environment.  I'll get someone to help me with the new laptop, but not today.  I'm going to get comfy, instead, and read a book.

Dec. 5 ~ get the Hygge book

I went to the University City Library and got a copy of The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking.  Loosely translated, hygge is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.  It's about an atmosphere and an experience, like being cuddled up on a sofa, wearing cozy socks, and covered by a soft throw during a storm.  And don't forget to light a candle or two.

Dec. 6 ~ "unbook" yourself

Too late!  I had already agreed to drive my friend Barbara somewhere today.  Watching her enjoy old friendships was also joyful for me, so it worked out perfectly.  On our way back home, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for Barbara and for another Crown Center resident, since we were going there anyway.  She and I also had lunch together in the Circle@Crown Café and visited with several people, including Judy and Marianne.

Dec. 7 ~ send a thank you note

I looked through my cards and found this one that says "Thoughts of you..." on the front and on the inside "...are the happiest kind!"  Who and why shall remain between the recipient and me, but the card is on its way.

The challenge
Click this link to see the complete Hygge Holiday Challenge calendar.