suebabe

A Great Flik: Secret Life of Bees

2008-11-18T01:42:00Z

On Saturday, Tom and I spent a chunk of the day at Rosedale Mall. Our favorite place after Mall of America. And, because I was really trying not to go on a huge shopping spree (a small, restrained one was all I needed to keep me happy), we decided to go to a movie.

I read "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd a few years ago and loved it. Because it HAD been a few years since I read it, I forgot some of the details, which is good, because then I don't criticize the movie details the producers got wrong or left out. Forgetfulness has its advantages sometimes.

The movie version was fabulous. It stars Queen Latifah, Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Hudson and Dakota Fanning among others. They seemed to have kept the story intact as much as possible, including the mentally challenged sister May, played by Sophie Okonedo. At times, the transitions seemed a bit rushed, but it was truly sob worthy... in a good way. At one point toward the end I was holding back an audible sob. Of course, I didn't have any napkins or tissue handy, so my shirt was a bit wet from tears by the time it was over. But, a good tear jerker of a movie is cathartic.

It's themes of racial tension, voting rights in 1964 South Carolina, were amazing to view after the recent few weeks of our history. I remember 1964, albeit in Minnesota, but it really wasn't all that long ago young people would get in trouble for attending a movie together if one was black and one was white. While I realize it must still happen today in parts of our country, it's getting rarer and rarer. Thank God!

As the credits rolled I discovered that Will Smith was one of the producers, and Jada Pinkett Smith was involved (a director, I think) as well. Good job all around!

Give me $1 million and I'll help get the economy moving

2008-11-16T03:39:00Z

A few days ago, my ears perked up. I listen to talk radio at the office and mostly it's background noise. The topic that day was the economic bail out -- was it working? Should it have happened. A man called in and asked a simple, but out of the box question: instead of giving the $700 plus billion to banks and corporations, why not give Americans $1 million each? Heck, we could give every American $2 million each.

It made me stop in my tracks and made me wonder... why couldn't that work? I was so excited by the idea that I wandered around to some of my coworkers and asked their opinion. It was unanimous support. One coworker said he'd even settle for $100,000.

Now, you couldn't control how people would spend their money. But, it certainly would jump start the economy. It's like every person in the country suddenly won the lottery. You hope people would pay off their credit card debt, invest some of it, save some of it, give some to charity. And go on a couple grand spending sprees, or take that long put off vacation.

I'm not an economist. I realize there's probably a good reason why this wouldn't be a good idea. But, that seems to be the idea behind the recent economic stimulus checks. Except, while welcome, my $600 was sucked into oblivious paying down credit cards. (And, I don't even have that much credit card debt right now, but it still got sucked into the void, and didn't help the economy).

So, come on President Obama, take a risk and give our economy a real kick start. Heck, I'd settle for that $100,000!

The wide range of our species

2008-11-14T05:37:00Z

If you check out my photo gallery, you'll see a newphoto of me. I'm posing at work with five members of the Radio City Rockettes. They made a visit to my workplace last week and, as the communications manager, who also happens to get around in a wheelchair, of course, I made a great photo opp. When I saw the photo, my first response was: "Oh, Lord! I am so NOT a Rockette!"

These ladies were fabulous. They posed with photo after photo without complaint, with clients and visitors, kids to seniors. They even did some high kicks. They were great. I have my Christmas card photo for the season. It will rank right up there with one two years ago, also at work, when I got to pose with my Minnesota Twin baseball idol Harmon Killebrew.

My boss saw the photo of me with the Rockettes, picked it up from my desk at work and commented: the variety in our species is amazing, isn't it? I just burst out laughing. That was a great way to put it. Here I am, squatty, round, red faced me, with tall leggy blondes with sparkly costumes. She was right: the human species; the female species is pretty amazing.in our variety.

It's a good thing I have pretty good self-esteem. If not, the photo would have put me over the edge. I know I'm not in their league, but that's okay. I think the comparison is fun and acknowledge my own unique strengths: stubborness, loyalty, a sense of humor, dependability, wisdom, a sense of fun.... some others also I won't name here.

While I may not be able to kick my leg up to touch my nose, I can get my butt in an out of bed myself, on the toilet myself (a huge accomplishment that took 44 years to accomplish), andam a fabulous cook. Next time the Rockettes are in town, I might just take in their show. They were fun and brought smiles to lots of faces during their visit. A very good visit, indeed!

Trying to Quiet the Noise

2008-11-13T03:39:00Z

As far back as I can remember, I've been one of "those" people whose brain is always buzzing. It's making connections, pulling random thoughts from observations, daydreaming, thinking about what I did yesterday or will do today and where I need to go tomorrow. It's full of To Do lists, recipes, books I've read or want to read, movies I've seen or have yet to see. Smells or sounds will trigger a memory. Songs will bring back detailed images of where I was back when it was popular.

Needless to say, I've always struggled to quiet my brain. To meditate. I identified with the author of Eat, Pray, Love during her sojourn in India and her struggles to let go and go with the flow of meditation. I had a woman read my astrological chart once; she was also a psychic. About a half hour into our session she stopped, looked me in the eye and said, "can you turn your mind down for a minute?"

I know this quiet inner place is a good thing for which to strive. I've come close sometimes when writing or reading. At least then my mind is focused, mostly, on one thing. But, even while reading, typing or blogging, I surround myself with outside noise -- the TV or radio -- to focus. When I studied in college, I also did best when their was noise around me. A too quiet room drives me batty. I start focusing on the quiet sounds -- the furnace kicking in, the clock on the kitchen wall ticking, my cat's claws tapping along the floor.

When I read, my mind is usually focused on my reading material, but I also "hear" the words on the page. My mind creates an inaudible reading voice, which cadence, volume, intonation.

This Sunday in church I came very, very close to clearing my mind. They always do a meditation, and the last couple times I've been to church, the sermon has been done by an assistant minister and our lead minister did the meditation. When a member of the church does the meditation it's always iffy for me. Some talk too much; some not enough. Some voices are annoying. Rev. Pat's meditations are just right.

One of my goals from now to the end of the year is to try and quiet the noise in my brain for at least 10 minutes a day. If I can do that, I'll work on getting it longer. Wish me luck on calming my incessant inner chatter.

Pull Up Your Pants!

2008-11-07T04:35:00Z

My regular bus stop in downtown Minneapolis is outside City Center on 7th Street between Nicollet and Hennepin Avenues. And, as such, I see lots of young black men waiting for their bus. For more than a decade, young black men have worn their pants down low, around their hips, showing their boxer shorts. My view is these young men tend to be gang members. And, my confusion is with why they wear their pants so low. If another gang member approaches them, and their pants are down aroudn their ankles and they have to run, they'll fall flat on their face with their pants around their ankles.

As I was coming home off the bus last year, my neighbor across the street yelled out at a kid who'd gotten off the bus with me "pull up your pants!" I thought: Let me get home before you start a riot. But I was laughting.

A few days ago, I learned that Barack Obama had told young black men to "pull up their pants" and I cheered. It seems like more than a decade I've been perplexed about the pants down around the ankles fashion for young black men. Someone once told me it's a subliminal message about penis size. It's so large, they need room in their pants. That always seemed a bit lame (pun intended) to me. More recently, I've wondered about the ability to run away from their enemies. And it didn't seem like a good plan.

Obama has spoken up about personal and family responsibility. Telling parents to turn off the TVand to be involved in their kids' lives. And now, he's telling young black men to pull up their pants. And, now that a black man is President, maybe they'll listen. And pull up their pants.

One can only hope.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/news/politics/kick_in_pants_from_o_136815.htm

WooHoo! It Belongs to You

2008-11-05T06:53:00Z

It's a little after 11pm central time and we're watching Obama accept the presidency. We "waa hooed"... my Twins home run yell... earsplitting. Some of my friends have left already. Others are here. Others I've called and others I've emailed. It's an historic night. And an early night.

I left work early to vote. I took the regular bus from work home to vote. I transferred at Broadway and Lyndale -- in the midst of north Minneapolis. A place I wouldn't transfer after dark. As we turned onto Broadway, at every corner, african americans were holding "honk if you voted" signs. And everyone was honking. At the bus stop, all the black faces were smiling. They were smiling. We were all smiling. A man wearing an Obama shirt got a hug from a man walking by. I've never felt so safe and so hopeful.

John McCain gave a gracious speech. He seemed like the old McCain I actually liked and admired.

I cast my vote at 3pm. And, tonight, surrounded by friends, we've celebrated hope and a new direction. We've lived to witness history. It's an amazing night. An amazing, wonderful, historic night that I don't want to end. Everything seems to fit. I finally have trust in the American people again.

President Barack Obama. It's a nice sound. It's a wonderful sound. Woo Hoo!

An extra hour of sleep is a wonder

2008-11-03T02:58:00Z

Last night, my friend Nancy and I saw the premiere performance of Shadowlands at the Guthrie Theater. It's based on part of the life of writer C.S. Lewis, and his marriage to American Joy Gresham. My first two seasons at the Guthrie I had preview tickets and forgot why I changed. When I called the box office to see how long the performance was (so I could book my paratransit ride). They had no clue. So, I guessed at three hours and it was pretty darned good. It was over about 10:15pm.

Anyway, Nancy and I were coworkers back about 20 years ago. She is one of my writing mentors. She's married with one teenage daughter. We still saw each other occasionally, at work functions, but it wasn't until a couple years ago we came up with a plan, to at least get together socially twice a year. I have an April birthday, she an October birthday. So about every six months we get together. Usually just for dinner, but I had Guthrie tickets coming up so we did the "I pay for the tickets, you buy dinner thing."

The play was good, but intense. It's one that I wouldn't mind seeing again, to soak up more of the themes and concepts.

Because I was out last night, it was great to have an extra hour of sleep this morning, turning our clocks back last night for the end of Daylight Saving Time. I know it's probably psychological, but it feels like I'm trying to catch up on my sleep all summer long. Once that extra hour of sleep comes, I feel so much more rested. And, the first day is wonderful because at 5pm, I'd gotten everything done I really wanted to get done: reading the Sunday paper, cutting coupons, laundry, watching most of the Vikings game (finally), reading about a hundred pages of my book, then ate dinner and did my chili prep for my Election Night party. And now I've had my shower, am watching Amazing Race and blogging, waiting for TrueBlood on HBO. It feels like a great, full day. And, the best part is, I'm not exhausted.

As usual, before a party, I'm worried about the house not being clean. Shaunta procrastinates, but does get things done at the 11th hour. I just always hope it's the 10th hour. I'm a fretter about that. Meanwhile, yesterday, my new PCA, who's in part-time residence, decided to clean the basement. It was nice to have the laundry area clean for the first time in about a year. But, my guests Tuesday night won't be seeing the basement and the living room needs vacuuming and dusting. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but my priorities are a bit different than others' are, especially my PCAs'.

Tomorrow night, I'll put together my chili. I have everything chopped, all the canned goods and spices out on the counter. That's half the battle. And, I didn't think about it, but probably a very good idea I did it today, because tomorrow at work I get my flu shot, so all that chopping would have been painful tomorrow night. It'll be tough enough to stir.

I'm leaving work early Tuesday to vote and then get things ready for my small group of dedicated Liberal elites, to we hope, celebrate a victory for the first time in too many years. I hope I didn't just jinx things.

Change is one the way, I feel it in my achy RA bones. Let's hope this is a good change.

Daring to Hope

2008-10-29T01:38:00Z

We're a week out from the Presidential election. I've been here before, the last two elections, hoping for a Democratic win. And, it didn't happen. This time, Obama is farther ahead in the polls, but my trust level, especially after the 2000 election, just isn't there.

I'm hosting an election night get together for a small group of friends. I'm making my fabulous chili (I hope it turns out fabulous this time -- otherwise we're ordering pizza.) I'm also taking off work on Wednesday. My thoughts were that either way, I would be up late Tuesday night -- either celebrating an Obama win or despairing after a McCain win (and making plans on what country I should move to).

It also looks like Minnesota could have both Senators be from the Democratic party. Al Franken and Norm Coleman are running neck and neck. There's a strong third party candidate -- Dean Barkley -- who until recently was a driver for Metro Mobility, one of the Twin Cities paratransit companies. He served for a few weeks filling out Paul Wellstone's term after he was killed in a plane crash. So, he can legitimately be referred to as Senator.

And, my congressional seat, currently held by Republican Jim Ramstad, is up for grabs because he's retiring. He's one of the few Republicans I've ever voted for... he's a moderate who has a great record on disability issues. But the son of Indian immigrants, Ashwin Madia, is leading in the polls. So, there's a chance we'll have a switch in party -- and a man who's a Muslim and an man of Indian descent, serving Minnesota in Congress. From Minnesota!

Michelle Bachmann, the Sarah Palin of Minnesota, kept digging her hole deeper and deeper last week with her anti-American comments. She's dropping in the polls behind Elwin Tinklenberg. I would also love to have a man named Tinklenberg in Congress.

Here's hoping the next week flies by quickly, I survive the last surge of political ads, and that it's an early night next Tuesday, with Obama a clear winner early in the evenng. Party on Democrats. But make sure you get out and vote.

Thriving, Not Just Surviving

2008-10-27T02:37:00Z

Over the past few weeks, a common conversational thread has popped up in many layers of my life. At its core, it has to do with how we deal with life and what life throws our way. Whether the circumstances we face make us throw up our hands and give up, or whether they make us stronger and even help us thrive.

This came up at work, in a general conversation about how people, when faced with a situation that causes them to be disabled, have a positive outlook and move forward or focus on what they can no longer do, and despite myriad supports and resources, just never deal with their newfound disability. It's not just disability that causes people to stumble though. My coworker told me a story about her husband's grandson. His parents, solidly upper middle class, she a stay at home mom, were devastated recently by the news that their five year old son needs glasses. It was all my coworker could do, as someone who works in a rehabilitation facility, to be even slightly empathetic. Hell, if the fact of needing glasses throws them for a loop, what happens if this child ever ends up blind or in a wheelchair?

Then, there another coworker, who has MD, and was in a car accident a few years ago, which causes her to start using a wheelchair for the first time. This same woman has a son who is in the military who just got back safely from Iraq. Then this summer, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. But, she's back at work and seems to be her old positive self.

I count myself as a thriver. No matter what life has thrown my way -- RA at age 4, the death of my dad at age 7, a summer spent in the hospital when I was 16 for total hips and knees joint replacement surgery, a brother who served in Viet Nam, the death of my mother at age 26.... Wayward boy numerous times... Despite all this and more, I remain pretty darn positive and seem to be thriving. No, I'm not rich, but I have lots of great friends, a wonderful support system of friends and family.

At church this morning it got a bit New Agey... they're working through the Eckhardt Tolle book A New Earth. And, the sermon was about our pain body and how all the hurts and emotions we've never expressed or released get bottled up and become toxic. Yes, she went there... implying disability could be caused by our pain body. I will talk to her at some point about this exaggeration. But, I do agree partly. That our outlook and positive energy can help us keep our bodies, immune system and minds healthy. I don't go so far as to see we can avoid all disease or disability, but how we can make a huge difference on how we live with the bodies we have.

My chubby, round stiff little body has served me well over the years. I'll continue to thrive as long as I have the breath in my body to live. Life's too short to be a bitter, negative soul. Now, that doesn't mean I don't get angry or sad or even depressed at times. But, I snap back to happy pretty quickly.

So, go out and thrive this week!

My Grocery Delivery Almost Back to Normal

2008-10-26T01:26:00Z

A few months ago I mourned the sudden loss of our local grocery delivery option, SimonDelivers. During the past few months I've used another delivery from another local grocery store chain, Lunds and Byerly's. While the food was just fine, their website is horrible to navigate and unlike SimonDelivers, you had to be home for them to make a delivery, and the only coupons they'd accept was their own store coupons.

In late August, it was announced that Coborn's, a family-owned grocery chain, headquartered in St. Cloud (north of the Twin Cities about an hour) had purchased SimonDelivers and hoped to be up and running in October. My coworkers who also used Simon were as overjoyed as I was. Only one of the group of four regulars actually plans to stick with Lunds and Byerly's. While I'll probably use them occasionally, especially for special meat or cheese items, I'm looking forward to my first grocery delivery with Coborns.

This past week I got an email rhat said I was one of the first customers who could order. They wanted to test their systems before going full throttle. Unfortunately, I'd just done my biweekly shopping less than a week previous, so I didn't order anything. But today, I was able to go online and start building my grocery list. The website looks the same, acts the same, they're delivery policy is the Simon policy -- we don't need to be home unless we're ordering alcohol or cigarettes. And, I think I can use coupons. Plus, they dropped down the delivery fee to $5. I'm guessing it'll go up eventually, but hey, every little bit helps.

What this says though, is SimonDeliver's president really hadn't tried everything she could to keep service going. If she had tried everything, she would have sussed out that Coborn's might be willing to buy them out. And, they could have avoided a disruption in service.

But, the bottom line is, my life just got a little bit easier. I'll take every little bit I can get.

The Heck with Bifocals!

2008-10-21T02:58:00Z

I've written before on the challenges of aging eyes, especially when working with a disability that makes neck movements difficult. My first pair of bifocals just didn't work out. I couldn't move my neck up and down to the correct levels to work with the bifocals. So, for the past year and a half, I've gone back to wearing my funky purple Baby Phat glasses, which I'd turned into readers, as my main glasses. They never worked well as readers (I just take off my glasses completely to read), but I can see the computer screen fine, and the TV okay (it's a bit blurry, but not bad).

Saturday I finally had a check up with the eye doctor. We decided to skip the bifocals, and since I don't drive, hence don't need to worry over much with distance, we worked to get a prescription that worked well between computer screen and TV screen distance. At some point, I may need two pair of glasses, but for now, I think it'll work okay.

My friend Tom, my fashion consultant, helped me pick out an equally funky new pair of glasses. Green this time, and a bit more oval than my current rectangular frames. I never really liked the frames in my bifocals.They were light blue, oval and too large, hitting my cheeks. The last couple times I wore them, I broke out in a rash where they came into contact with my cheeks. Not a good thing.

My contact prescription is a bit iffy, though. We're trying mono vision -- a test pair -- with my left eye corrected for distance, my right for near vision. I tried them yesterday and it was a struggle. I took them out after only about two hours. I'll try them again when I'm not doing close work or reading. They actually may work well for sporting events, movies, shopping. I'm taking the day of work on Friday and Monday so will wear them a bit more to see if I adjust to them.

It's heck getting old. At least when I was younger, my vision was consistently near-sighted, so one pair of glasses did it all -- reading, computer, distance.

A Trip Into Hell Can Be Mouth Watering

2008-10-17T03:21:00Z

The Nicollet Mall Thursday Farmer's Market is winding down for the season. Most Thursdays this summer and fall I've cancelled my paratransit ride home from work and hopped the bus downtown. Often, I'll meet friends for happy hour, or just browse the produce stands for whatever catches my fancy that week. This week, it was a couple decorative goards for my cool, hand foiled bowl I picked up at a silent auction recently. Some cucumbers, tomatoes and brussels sprouts (which we washed and froze). And catnip. I've been stocking up on fresh catnip for the winter. Duncan and Busy, my cats, love, love, love the fresh stuff.

And, while I was downtown, I checked to see if Hell's Kitchen had reopened. This former breakfast/lunch wonder of a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis recentlymoved a block away, into greatly expanded space, I've been to the old place quite a few times for breakfast. It's one of those places you take out-of-town visitors, for the food and the fun. It was decorated in red and black, and their slogan is "Damn Good Food." Well, about a year ago they opened a place in Duluth which included dinner service. With their new digs, they've done the same, expanding into Happy Hour and dinner.

So, after my market shopping was done, I stopped into the lounge. An elevator takes you to the lower level, where you wind through a corridor filled with comfy couches, overstuffed chairs, coming to an intersection -- dining room one director, bar/lounge the other. As with their old place, the lounge was a wonder of black and red. A huge marble angel was in the corner of the raised stage. It looked like something they picked up from a demolished church. Ralph Stedman illustrations adorned the walls. The one directly across from me, in my line of vision, appeared to be a skeleton, smoking a cigar, with a huge penis. Two things I didn't realize were common skeletal appendages: cigars or penises.

My food was wonderful. A Jamaican jerk bison burger and sweet potato fries. House wine was $4.50 during happy hour -- a chardonney and shiraz. I had the shiraz. Snooping at the table across from me, the warm pretzel looked terrific -- something I wouldn't have ordered just from seeing it on the menu, but it looked yummy and lots of heads were nodding as the group at the neighboring table pulled it apart and shared it.

I'm thinking, since Halloween is on a Friday this year, that it would be fun to get some friends together for Happy Hour at Hell's Kitchen. So, if you're reading this and want to join me, give me a shout. The more the merrier.

A Vibrant, Rainy Fall Morning

2008-10-14T02:19:00Z

Fall is a bittersweet season for me. October is the death month of both my parents, and it signals coming to the end of my spontaneous outdoor travels. Once the cold and snow hits, I must plan my errands and trips on paratransit -- which means planning four days out.

But fall can also be beautiful. This year, the colors in the Twin Cities are breathtaking and due to be more so in another week or so. We've been a few weeks behind all year -- spring was late, summer arrived just a week before July 4th and now fall colors are about two weeks later than normal.

While spring and summer mean warm weather, they're "colors" are cool: the greens, blues and purples of the season. As crispness creeps into the mornings, out come the warm colors of nature's palette. The reds of the bushes in yard and roadsides are amazing; I now know why Golden Valley got its name; and the oranges mixed with the green of leaves yet to change, well, it's just utterly gorgeous. Even this morning, with grey skies and a light drizzle falling, the colors of nature broke through the bleak skies.

And, it's not just the trees and bushes that are in full color. The Farmer's Markets are lush and vibrant with deep purples and reds of eggplant, beets, radishes and onions; the greens, yellows and orange of squash and pumpkins; oranges, reds and green pepper (heck, I even picked up a chocolate brown pepper); and the whites of leeks and turnips.

Fall colors are our final gift of nature until spring. Winter can be beautiful, but it's color palette is a stark one. Whites, blacks, browns, with some blue skies thrown in to remind spring is coming. Every season has its beauty. I'm simply enthralled with Fall at the moment.

Bill Ayers: Will His Mistakes Follow Him for Life?

2008-10-11T02:42:00Z

All of us probably have done things, maybe even some really despicable, illegal things, in our lives. Some of us have paid for them by spending time behind bars. Others, who haven't been caught, may have lived with guilt and shame for years. Most religions have some way to forgive us our "sins." I've been thinking about this a lot this past week, as the McCain/Palin campaign again surfaced Obama's connection in the 1990s with 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

Today, Slate.com ran a great piece about Ayers,written by David S. Tanenhaus, and how the writer met him in Chicago, about the same time as did Obama. By then, Ayers was a college professor, an author on juvenile justice whose expertise has helped shape best practices with juveniles today, and a man who practices what he preaches by teaching poetry to at-risk kids. Ayers sounds like the kind of guy I'd like to know.

So, how long do we pull our baggage along behind us? The Republicans have made great noise about being the party of family values, religion, ethics. Yet, if you're a Christian, isn't one of the main tenets to learn to forgive? I don't know everything about Ayers, so perhaps he's not been repentent, which could hurt him. But, he's living a good life, bringing value to the community. Yes, Ayers messed up. Broke the law. Put people in danger. He was a 1960s radical protesting the Viet Nam War. Lots of good people crossed the line during that time: their passion caused them to cross a line. We shouldn't forget, but can't we begin to forgive?

Why, keep beating a drum that no one wants to hear? The first time around this topic, once people learned the truth: that Obama was in elementary school when Ayers was setting off pipe bombs. That he served on a board of a community agency with Ayers, and Ayers had hosted a fundraising breakfast. None of these things in my view equates with conspiring with terrorists. If Ayers was a terrorist, he wouldn't be living in Chicago, teaching and doing community work. He'd been in Pakistan or the Middle East, or in a host of other places where terrorists are plotting against the U.S.

So, Sarah Palin: get over it. You're beating a dead drum. Move on and start talking about the economy. Or better yet, Troopergate.

A Visit from Mother Earth

2008-10-09T01:51:00Z

Last night after dinner, as I was waiting for the Presidential debate/town hall to start, I looked out my front window and saw an odd sight. An old woman, in a wide brimmed straw hat and overall walking up my front ramp. Since this is door knocking season for all the campaigns, my first thought was this was someone supporting the bicycle man, a retiree whose a Green party candidate for our state legislature.

I opened the door and got a better sight of my visitor. The brim of her straw hat was festooned with fall leaves and flowers, several leaves hanging down. She was wearing overalls with green, earth-friendly messages taped all over, and she was wearing ripped white tennis shoes. She started talking, using my name, and said she was Mother Earth come to visit. She starting in on an earth woman spiel when suddenlyit clicked. This was an old friend and neighbor of the family's, one of my mom's best friends. I burst out laughing and invited her in. Now, Val is probably well in her 80s. (I didn't ask, but my mom would have been 85). She's still driving, and stopped by after making a visit to the nursing home her niece works at, to entertain "the old folks" as she said.

Duncan, my cat, who loves everyone, really loved her. He jumped up in her lap and began batting at the leaves hanging off her hat, and after amusing himself for a few minutes that way, started eating them. Mother Earth seemed to love cats as she just let him play.

Boy, do I hope, if I even live to be in my mid-80s, that I'm halfway as with it as she is today. This is a woman who was born and raised Catholic, raised 12 kids (our family had just seven), and who lost her husband probably two decades ago. She's totally with it, was talking politics with me, and promised to call her friend and get me an Obama/Biden sign for my yard. I came home from work today and it was already in my yard. She works fast!

So, be friendly to good old Mother Earth, eat your fruits and veggies, and keep your mind active and alert and maybe we'll have the good luck to end up like Mrs. Z.