Checkin' in on TODAY

TODAY  I am mindful of my "one Word" quest.

I read another blogger's advice: 

"And what do you do with this one little word?

You live with it. You invite it into you life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads."

 TODAY I am going to the symphony. TODAY I am going to enjoy beautiful music no matter what else happens. 

Here's to TODAY!

Cleaning the car to pay for gas

No fog, no rain, just sun, sun, sun.

 It was a 1970 summer San Francisco day so perfect it insisted my friend and I hop in her car before our afternoon work shift, and ride up and down the hills to the beach.

The windows were down, and our glossy long hair blew back off of our faces. We sang "Here Comes the Sun" along with the Beatles on the radio.  I beat out the rhythm on the outside of the car door ignoring Mother's habitual warning that my arm could be cut off if we were in an accident. She was a thousand miles away and couldn't see me! My smile was as big as a giant slice of watermelon. 

This was before reserve gas tanks and blinking icons on the dash board, and without notice the car just quit. My friend glided to the side of the road. THEN she noticed the dial registered the big E.

We had neither cash nor a credit card, so it was time to scrounge for change. The glove compartment was crammed with stuff but only coughed up $0.07. We jerked out the wide back seat and sifted through dried snack bits, a couple of chewed up pencils, and scraps of paper to find a nickel and five pennies.  We had enough for a half gallon since gas was only $0.35 a gallon.

Giggling at our great fortune, Megan ran across the street (more good luck) to a service station. The attendant,  "Chuck" according to his uniform, carried over the gas can and poured it into the tank. 

We gave him a wave, slid into the front seat from opposite sides and slammed the doors at precisely the same time.  Back over the hills to work, we had to run from the parking lot to the time clock. We were  a few minutes late but the adventure was worth the scolding we received.



I was nearly giddy at this price for gas today. 









But buying it has never again been as much fun as it was that day. 

Road Vanity

If you had too much time on the roads during the holidays, you can probably add to my collection of vanity plates.

Watching for them was better than playing the alphabet game. Here's what I spied between home and Newark, Delaware. See if you can match the vehicle with the plate.


CLSYLADY                          1980's black small Toyota pickup

GODNGUN                          10 year old blue van

K8SGRAM                           big black pickup with a snake painted
                                                             on the side

MYCEDES                           Ford Taurus

Violin 1                                red BMW convertible

DAVZGRL                            Toyota sedan

LORYDER                            red Mustang

BIBLS4U                             silver Mercedes

           

One Word for 2015: Today!

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It's time to think about the new year. Reflecting on my 2014 journal entries, I noted a negative pattern: too much emphasis on trying to manage my future.

Four months before the event, I fretted about summer vacation plans.







I catastrophized during an up and down business negotiation.



I dreamed about a teacher training that wouldn't happen for another two months!

But how to change it?

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I don't believe resolutions work.   Newton told us a body at rest (or perchance an entrenched attitude) tends to remain in that state unless an external force causes it to change. And even then, the body at rest (me) exerts a counter-force, kick-back. So it doesn't look promising that I can expect to change myself by my will.

Instead, this year I'm going to try the "one word" approach.  I will focus on one word throughout the year, making it a constant prayer: Teach me to concentrate on today.

I have a plan. I'll study what other bloggers say about practicing being present. I'll read what the Bible has to say about this day, versus tomorrow and yesterday. Before bed I plan to review my waking hours and be grateful, instead of fretful. I thus hope to preempt my mental wandering through the future and the adrenaline-producing anxiety it causes.


The theory is that concentrating on a theme, like today, will heighten my awareness and begin a gentle process of change.

You know how it is when you hear about about a hot new book. Reviews show up in every newspaper and magazine you read. Or you look up an unfamiliar word and suddenly you hear it used everywhere.

I'm going to tune my antenna for a focus on the present, turning it toward the strongest signal, like the old metal contraptions that sat on our rooftops and had to be adjusted to bring in a good picture.







How would you like to be different next year? What one word would sum it up?

Grandma's Christmas Wish

Most any grandma will tell you all she wants for Christmas is time with her grandchildren.

This grandma (and grandpa) relished a visit to Washington, D.C. with one of ours. We crammed as many new experiences as we could into four days.
 
We were eye witnesses to Sam's first cab ride and time on the Metro. He licked his lips after his first crepe, nibbled at a buffalo burger. He piloted us through loop-de-loops in a flight simulator.





Together we were awed by the White House, hoping to spot an Obama family member. (Somebody left the White House in a short procession of black SUVs, but we don't know who.)  


We toured the Capitol building, and Ford's Theater. He listened carefully. He had his photo taken standing where MLK stood at the Lincoln memorial. 








Grandpa-the-historian fed Sam snippets of information and answered his questions.

I think bits of history now ricochet around his brain like balls on a pool table. Eventually he'll place them in the right contextual pockets. 

All of Sam's maturity, curiosity, energy, audacious auditory memory, and   mimicry were ours for those days. 

We are so blessed. Our adventure has woven our lives more tightly together.

 I wish all of you Nanas, PawPaws, Mimis and Gampys some of the same! 

Tackier than chewed gum

I shouldn't be pointing any fingers on this one because I have mixed results as a decorator and crafter--mostly on the down side. 

My Christmas tree is not color-coordinated, does not have a theme, and some of the ornaments are 60 years old. At least. And cheap looking.

One year I tried to string the old fashioned giant bulbs around my front door frame and down the metal hand rail on the steps. 

From the sidewalk it looked like someone had thrown glowing red, green and yellow eggs at the front of the house. 

We stashed them back in the basement.

There was the time I shellacked chestnuts and glued them to a styrofoam Christmas tree form. It weighed about ten pounds, was out of balance, and kept tumbling over. I tossed it in the brush for the squirrels.

I'm relieved to have found proof that I am not the only member of the tackier-than-chewed-gum club. 

 I must applaud their effort because they are older and slower than I am.

But what were they thinkin'? 

Mixed messages at Christmas

Where do you stand in the cultural tug of war between secular and sacred winter observances?  

It's not a new phenomenon. I bet the Druids took sides when Christians slid Jesus' birth into a competing time slot with their mid-winter rituals.

The battles (County of Allegheny vs. ACLU, 1989) about who gets prime billing for the holidays isn't just a result of ornery humanists spotting a creche in a public place. Much of our society is schizophrenic about the significance of "Christmas."

Even here in the Bible belt the messages are mixed. Is this family
celebrating a holy day, or simply a holiday? 

Are we morphing towards a scene where Santa scooches between Mary and Joseph;  will Jesus get bumped right out of the picture? 

When "Silent Night" and "Here Comes Santa Claus" compete in my head I hear dissonance.

Are you repelled by the antithesis or have you resolved it?

Are you a purist--pure fantasy or pure Nativity ? Or have you created a "blended" family?  

Chime in.