Books, broken water pipes, and health

BOOK I'M READING

Five Fortunes ~ by Beth Gutcheon, 1998, fiction

A lively octogenarian, a private investigator, a mother and daughter with an unresolved past, and a recently widowed politician's wife share little else except a thirst for new dreams, but after a week at the luxurious health spa known as "Fat Chance" their lives will be intertwined in ways they couldn't have imagined.  Unexpected friendships emerge, reminding us of the close links between the rich and the poor, fortune and misfortune, and the magic of chance.

BROKEN WATER PIPES

During the cold snap, a major pipe burst in our building, and we were without water for a day.  I keep water in my fridge, but other people were ready to use bottled water to brush their teeth.  I had plenty to drink and enough to wash my hands, and all of us could go over to the other building (connected on the ground floor), if necessary, where we have the Circle@Crown Café and other amenities.  I got out of the way for Tim, Ron, and the other maintenance men dashing from place to place.  Scott's shirt was wet, and he just shook his head and smiled at me as he hurried off after Tim.

When the problem was fixed, it still took time for the water pipes to fill on all ten floors.  The next morning, I had water from only the HOT faucet in the bathroom, both tub and sink — but the water was not warm, much less hot.  In the kitchen, water was coming from both sides, equally lukewarm. When the water situation was back to normal after a couple of days, I ran into Donna on the elevator and she said, "There's nothing better than a nice warm shower!"

BOOK I'M STUDYING

Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne ~ by Wilda C. Gafney, 2017, theology

Alyssa, Betty, Donna, Evelyn, Sheila, Risé, and I are going through this book in small bites.  Wilda Gafney has shown me things in the Hebrew scriptures that I've never noticed before.  We're ready to look at Deuteronomy next Saturday, which will complete Part I about "Women of the Torah."  Then we'll start on Part II about "Women of the Throne."

Click here to see what I wrote earlier about this book.

HEALTH

My blood pressure is high, and my doctor upped the dose of blood pressure medicine I'm taking.  I think I'll go out later and buy a BP monitor so I can check it at home.

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

Wednesday Word ~ jowls

A woman commented on Facebook that her family always ate "black eyed peas, hog Joel, and greens" on New Year's Day.  "Joel"?  I'm pretty sure she meant JOWL, which is "the cheek of a pig used as meat."  This photo shows "sliced jowl bacon" from Wikipedia's article on pork jowl.

The other definition of jowl is "the lower part of a person's or animal's cheek, especially when it is fleshy or drooping."  This photo found online could be Joel's jowls, except Hitchcock's parents named him Alfred.

Cross-posted on my Joyful Noiseletter blog.

Exercise ~ yoga every day

Hosted by Joy's Book Blog

On Wednesday (last week means last year), I met with Risé to do floor exercises in Crown's fitness center.  We plan to continue getting together.  Yesterday (for the New Year), I added these five basic yoga poses to do daily in my apartment.  So far, so good — I managed one day!  Today's another day, and I'm determined to keep it up.

If I do it too late in the day (though NOT on a Sunday morning), I can imagine it ending like this:

Her first pose is Downward-Facing Dog (that's the way I've always heard it).  The second pose looks like a very stiff Cobra.  Then she does the plank, which takes a lot of strength in arms as well as core.  Hmm, what do we call her last pose? Best suggestion wins a laugh from me.

Mindfulness resolutions ~ or are these goals?

Click on the image to enlarge it, or find it here to print a copy.

My friend Jan posted this on Facebook, and I printed it out to use it myself and share with others.  We can take action for happiness for ourselves while improving our communities and the world around us.  Happiness is contagious, this site says, and I agree.  Here's the first week, in case you can't read it the small print on the chart:

Jan. 1 ~ Find three good things to look forward to this year.
Jan. 2 ~ Look for the good in others and notice their strengths.
Jan. 3 ~ Do three extra acts of kindness for other people.
Jan. 4 ~ Make time today to do something kind for yourself.
Jan. 5 ~ Say something positive to everyone you meet today.
Jan. 6 ~ Do an extra 15 minutes of physical activity (ideally outdoors).
Jan. 7 ~ Write down ten things you feel grateful for in life and why.

"Happiness is not something ready made.

It comes from your own actions." — Dalai Lama

To Be Where You Are ~ by Jan Karon

To Be Where You Are: A Mitford Novel ~ by Jan Karon, 2017, fiction (North Carolina), 8/10

This is the 14th book in the Mitford series, set in the very small fictional town of Mitford and centered around Father Timothy Kavanagh, an Episcopal priest who has retired since I met him in the first Mitford novel, published in 1994.  I always use the endpaper maps to figure out where we are in the story, but I'm still not sure which way we go from town to get to Meadowgate, home of Dooley and Lace, Father Tim's adopted son and his new bride.

What can I say about this book?  I saved a few quotes that mean something to me, and I see they are about four different residents of the town.

Character #1:  Esther Cunningham, former mayor (p. 94).

'If you were still mayorin', we might get those people to clean up th' trash in their parkin' lot!'  Though the old mayor was beyond her prime, Lois liked flattering her just the same.  Esther gave her a look.  'Now that th' Muse has pronounced me dead, I don't have to think about such as that'.

Character #2:  Henry 'Pooh' Barlowe Leeper, who is considering a call to ministry (p. 231).

'What is your hope,' said Paul, 'for any ministry you may undertake?'
'To help people love God so they can learn to love themselves and each other.'
'Is that it?'
'Yessir.  Essentially.'
Father Brad looked pleased, even paternal.

Character #3:  Lace, married to Dooley, the vet (p. 288).

How could people let go of their old things, when each told a part of their story?  Old things were a literature, a narrative.

Character #4:  Lew Boyd, owner of Lew Boyd Exxon (p. 320).

Until he married Earlene, he had no idea where Missouri was.  And then he learned that even the people who live there couldn't pronounce it — some sayin' Missourah an' some sayin' Missouree.

Why did these quotes stand out for me?  I thought the first was funny.  The second says a lot about my idea of ministry being compassion and caring.  The third reflects the thorn in my side:  the clutter I need to get rid of now, this year, this month, this week, this day.  (Yes, I plan to declutter more often, starting today.)

The fourth relates to my move to Missouri in 2014; since then, I've learned the difference between those who say Missourah and those who say Missouree.  I live in St. Louis, where the natives say Missouree.  Those who are originally from Kansas City and the western side of the statesay Missourah.  In case you wonder, I'm from Tennessee and have always called the state Missouree.  I guess that means I settled in the right part of Missouri.

Hygge Holiday Challenge ~ third update

Dec. 15 ~ make a new friend

This one was easy-peasy.  I found a new friend named Amy on Facebook and got to know her.  She lives in North Carolina, so I haven't met her face-to-face.  On a slow day, I also got to know Sue in the Circle@Crown Café and "friended" her on Facebook.  Two new friends!

Dec. 16 ~ treat yourself to an at-home spa day

Two quotes from Albie, who came up with this Hygge Challenge:  "keep calm and spa on" and "a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind."  When I think of "spa," I think of a hot tub.  Or hot water in my bathtub at home.  So I filled my tub with warm water, lit a candle, and read a book while adding more hot water whenever it cooled off.  I also did a bit toward a less cluttered space by sorting another box or two of "stuff" I need to get rid of.  (Yay, me!)

Dec. 17 ~ enjoy some hot cocoa or tea

I had hot chocolate at the party for Crown Center volunteers.  I'm weird — I asked them to leave off the whipped cream.  (I volunteer as an "ambassador" for new residents, and I re-shelve books in our little library.)  Another time, I had tea with someone who couldn't understand why I let it cool, but I don't like tea to burn my tongue.

Dec. 18 ~ cook a new recipe with family

I live alone, unless you want to call Clawdia my family.  Her idea of food is "hurry up and open that can of salmon paté!"  New recipe?  Okay, the grocery store was out of one of her favorites in the Friskies brand, so I got her the Fancy Feast tender liver and chicken feast classic.  She gobbled it down.  Does that count as a new recipe?

Dec. 19 ~ get cozy and watch your fav movie

Now, see, this is the sort of thing that derails me.  Having to watch a movie is not hygge to me.  I'd rather read.  I prefer the movies in my mind as I read a good book.  Nope, not interested.  This month, I returned to the fictional Mitford with Jan Karon's Father Tim.

Dec. 20 ~ have a game night

Donna and I decided to play Scrabble and invited a couple of other residents of the Crown Center.  Not as "hygge" as we had expected, since the other two are SERIOUS about this game and don't waste time thinking about their next move.  Donna and I tend to laugh and talk and enjoy the game.

Dec. 21 ~ let in natural light

Every morning, Clawdia runs to watch me open the blinds and "let in natural light."  Mostly, she wants to see if that sunny white spot comes in so she can chase it.  Imagine this:  turning and turning my wrist so the spot "runs" across the floor and up the wall, with Clawdia turning on a dime to catch it.  Can you imagine such fun?

Dec. 22 ~ have a dance party

Only in my mind.  I do regularly get together with a friend or two and eat together.  Close enough for elderly women?

Dec. 23 ~ bake your fav holiday treat

I got all the ingredients to make "daisies" for friends, but still I procrastinated.  I never did get those daisies made and put inside tin gift boxes for a few friends living here at the Crown Center.  I taught Varvacille how to make a large Daisy three years ago.

Dec. 24 ~ pray, meditate, or just breathe

Probably none of these happened on the date chosen by Albie for us to do these things, but I can say that breathing in and out — in through the nose and out through the mouth — in through the nose and out through the mouth — happened consciously when I started exercising with Risé in the fitness center.

Dec. 25 ~ It's Christmas!  Give yourself a break!

Done!  I was supposed to take Barbara out to eat that day, but her back pain scotched that.  Today, we had lunch together at her table at home.  Whenever she feels up to it, we'll go out to eat.

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

Update 1-2-18:  There's a different Hygge Challenge found by Barbara, my friend who wasn't up to eating out on Christmas Day.  Click the link to watch the video.

Words of the Year ~ 2017

Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2017:  Feminism

Look-ups for the word feminism spiked following news coverage of the Women's March on Washington, DC in January and again when Kellyanne Conway said during an interview that she didn't consider herself a feminist.  There was more interest after the release of Hulu’s series The Handmaid's Tale" and the film "Wonder Woman" and, later, in conjunction with the many accounts of sexual assault and harassment in the news and the #MeToo movement.  Today’s definitions of feminism read:  “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.”

Dictionary.com's word of the year for 2017:  Complicit

The word complicit came up in conversations in 2017 about those who spoke out against powerful figures and institutions and those who stayed silent.  It was a year of real awakening to complicity in various sectors of society, from politics to pop culture.  From our 2017 Word of the Year announcement:  "Our choice for Word of the Year is as much about what is visible as it is about what is not.  It’s a word that reminds us that even inaction is a type of action.  The silent acceptance of wrongdoing is how we’ve gotten to this point.  We must not let this continue to be the norm.  If we do, then we are all complicit."

Merriam-Webster's definition of complicit is "helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way." It comes from the Latin word meaning "to fold together."  This word is one of Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year, and you should click on their link to go read about each one:  feminism, complicit, recuse, empathy, dotard, syzygy, gyro, federalism, hurricane, gaffe.