The week is half over and I am catching up with Share Your World!
QUESTIONS
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? Yes, I’ve already said more than enough.
What does the world need less of? ignorance
Do you feel older or younger than your age? Younger in my mind, about my age physically
What is a cause you’ll always passionately support? There are several but the most important is Sustainability (Environmental responsibility) & Climate Change and everything connected with that: reducing waste, cleaning up the oceans, pollution, renewable energy, recycling, conservation of public lands, saving species from extinction, etc.
Others include economic and racial justice, women’s reproductive health, gun control, voting rights, improving education. I am passionate about a lot of things!!
GRATITUDE SECTION (as always, optional)
What is your personal affirmation if you have one? (for this instance “affirmation means emotional support or encouragement.” )
Although it is a holiday in the U.S. today, that didn’t stop Melanie from putting out her weekly questions for Share Your World!
QUESTIONS
Do you believe in soul-mates? (my definition of ‘soul mate’ is the IDEAL partner romantically). I agree with Melanie that a “soulmate” is the ideal partner, whether you ever meet that person or not. I know some couples who say they are “soulmates” – often those who have waited a long time and had other partners. I love my husband, but I do not consider him my “soulmate.” He is not my “ideal” romantic partner, but perhaps I was not destined to find whoever that might have been. I’m OK with that. However, he supports me in so many ways, including putting up with my ADHD-related defects, and says I do the same for him, so I did marry someone who I could spend the rest of my life with.
What are three scents you like? Brewing coffee (although I can no longer drink it), chocolate, and the smell of grass & dirt after it rains.
What are some things that you might be considered too old to do, but that you enjoy? There are 2 ways of approaching this question: either people in general think I am too old to do it, but I do it anyway; or things I used to enjoy doing but no can longer do. If the former, I would say it is the type of clothes I wear. If the latter, being able to drink coffee with no adverse effects. Also, being able to do regular yoga and long-distance walking or hiking. I can no longer hike on paths that have a lot of boulders or stairs, but I still walk as much as possible. I consider it better than bike riding, because I can enjoy the small things in nature that I wouldn’t be able to notice while riding a bike. Also, my balance isn’t so good anymore, which explains my inability to do a lot of yoga postures that are on the ground, or “flow” up and down. I used to be very flexible. Maybe I am still considered flexible for my age, I don’t know. Whatever the case, I am trying to stay as fit as possible, because as a senior citizen, if I don’t exercise, I will soon lose my ability to do so.
Living in a senior community, I am amazed at the range of physical abilities of older people. I know many people older than myself that are much more fit than I am. That is a motivation for me to try to get better fit. I still want to travel the world, without worrying about physical handicaps that would interfere with that.
What is one food you absolutely refuse to share? Most chocolate desserts – I allow my husband to take a bite, but that’s all!
A new set of questions this week from Melanie’s Share Your World!
QUESTIONS (Going DEEP on these today)
Are human beings required to better themselves and will doing that make them happier? Required? No, no one is required to do anything in their life, but it’s better that they achieve their potential, which will be a contribution to our society and human existence in general. I think if a person works hard to achieve something, or meets a goal, (s)he will be happy with what was achieved; so collectively, people who strive to be the best they can be will be happier and more confident in themselves.
Is it easier to love or to be loved? Depends on who is doing the loving! If one who loves another is always having to give, give, give and the other gives little in return, that can’t be an easy emotion to deal with. Love ultimately requires work, while being loved requires nothing. So being loved is easier, but both are needed.
Outside traumatic brain injury, can memories be completely erased? I don’t know. I do know it’s possible to “block” traumatic events in one’s life – such as a history of child abuse. A person may block such memories for self-preservation and to forget those terrible events to be relieved of suffering, having nightmares, etc. But I guess these memories aren’t really “erased” – a good psychotherapist may succeed in bringing a patient’s blocked memories to consciousness in order to confront them to aid in healing.
Is there such a thing as a good death? Sometimes. If a person has been suffering a lot or has no quality of life, or “alive” due to machines but in a vegetative state…then yes, their death could be considered “good” because it alleviates their suffering. When my mother was suffering from dementia and could no longer really communicate – and she was a person who loved being sociable, to talk on a variety of subjects, reading and writing – I used to pray for God to allow her life to end.
Perhaps we can also say that a human monster (like Hitler) who has caused terrible suffering and death of innocents, also had a “good death,” in that the world is better off without him!
Or perhaps a “good” death is simply death free of pain and prolonged suffering – such as dying in one’s sleep or very suddenly with no pain involved.
Anyone’s idea of a “good death” is really subjective.
and one ‘silly’ one because the former questions were fairly serious: What do you imagine is inside a baseball? Some stuffing – cotton, or fibers of some kind. Maybe a ball of string? I’ve never thought about it before. But your question made me curious, so I looked it up.
Can you parallel park (if you drive)? If you don’t drive, can you still skip? I have never been particularly good at parallel parking, although I have to do it once in a while. It is facilitated in newer cars (like mine) by displaying a picture of what is behind the car when the driver puts the car in reverse. Superimposed on the display is a sort of “map” of the car which shows where the back and sides of my car are. It does help but I still dislike parallel parking. Usually I end up too far from the curb.
Do you prefer early morning or late evening? Or something in between? I am not an early morning person. I will not take an exercise class earlier than 10 a.m.! I usually am awake until about midnight, but we’ve been going to bed a little earlier so that we can get up early enough to take a walk before it gets too hot. So I guess I prefer in between. I think I’m an “afternoon” person – that seems to be when I get the most done.
Do you like avocados? Yes, sort of. In the form of guacamole, I love it!
Is mind or matter more real? What an odd question! Both are “real” – that is, both are part of the experience of a person’s life.
and a bonus ‘deep’ question just because
Are people in this current generation less or more sensitive than people from past generations?
I’m not sure what you mean by “sensitive.” More empathetic? More kind or caring? Less self-absorbed? It’s hard to say, because there are many “generations” living at the same time. The word generations has come to mean certain age groups, with some stereotypical characteristics attached to that group, such as “millennials” or “Gen-X,” etc. I think we older citizens (mostly Baby Boomers now, like myself) look somewhat askance on the behavior of some people younger than ourselves; for example, it seems to be no longer safe to travel by air – especially if you are one of the flight attendants – with so many attacks from passengers. Not just rudeness, although that’s there too; I mean, there are reports of physical attacks on flight attendants because the passenger feels his/her “rights” are being violated, such as a requirement to wear a mask to minimize the spread of Covid in a tight space packed with people. Such behavior never (or very rarely) used to happen on airplanes.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that airlines have reported 2,500 incidents of unruly passengers this year, including 1,900 cases in which passengers refused to wear face masks, which are required by federal rule.
Then there are mass shootings in public places which used to be considered safe, random shootings on expressways, crime rates in urban areas have gone up, people feel free to say racist things without considering how it may offend others, and social media has taken over public discourse.
If “sensitive” means easy to offend, I would say that yes, the younger generation is more sensitive nowadays. People get offended by the most casual things, they talk about “cancel culture” or what is “PC” or not. Perhaps this trend is a reaction to the incivility in today’s society (as described above)?
I think the last four years have ushered in an era in which rudeness and nastiness are considered an okay way to express one’s views. It seems to be most prevalent in the 30-50 age group, although that’s just my perception and I am not saying that all or even the majority of 30-50 year-olds are that way. It’s just more prevalent. People believe conspiracy theories or false information they read on the Internet, instead of listening to experts in a particular field. Human-induced climate change is agreed upon by 99% of climate scientists, and evidence is everywhere, yet some right-wing web site says it’s a hoax, so people believe it. Some people are more scared of the Covid vaccine than Covid itself. Pure madness!
GRATITUDE SECTION (as always optional)
Please feel free to share something inspiring that’s happened to you recently!
I attend a weekly art workshop here at the Moorings. It’s just a group of artistically inclined people who get together for an hour and a half, each doing their own art projects. One guy is making a quilt. A retired high school art teacher is painting on a gourd. Others are painting in water color, oils, or making cards. I am inspired by the work of the other artists, and some have inspired me to try certain techniques. I have always been good at drawing, but now I’m expanding into painting in watercolors, which is definitely a learning experience! I try to use techniques I see others use. We also give each other tips and encourage each other. And one of the women asked if she could purchase a chalk drawing I did for her daughter, who had admired it at a recent art display for a garden walk. This is a photo of it:
When you just need to forget the world for a few hours, what helps you get away from it all?
I read a good book or get engrossed in a movie or TV series that I really enjoy.
If you woke up tomorrow with a unicorn horn extending from the top of your head, what would be the biggest advantage and disadvantage of your new appendage?
Disadvantages would be its weight and the inability for me to wear a hat, which I always do when the weather is cold. I can’t think of an advantage.
What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen someone do, that you’d be willing to talk about, of course?
Guys who grab or scratch their crotch multiple times in public, seemingly unaware – or not caring – that they are in full view of other people.
What’s the silliest or pettiest thing that tends to really upset you?
People’s abuse of the apostrophe. It seems as though they never learned that an apostrophe at the end of the word (or is followed by s) means POSSESSIVE. I have a friend who I care dearly about, but his emails are full of misplaced apostrophes (almost every plural word he writes has an apostrophe). This misused symbol should never used to denote a plural!! NEVER!
The weirdest apostrophe-used-for-a-plural mistake I saw was a few days ago. There was a sign up sheet for men’s and women’s breakfast at a restaurant. For women’s, the creator of the sign up sheet wrote LADIE’S. So she was combining two grammar/spelling mistakes: Changing the /y/ to an /ie/ when making a plural (she sort of got that right), and it seems she was confused about exactly how to make a possessive out of a word that is already plural. (There are two acceptable ways to do this: LADIES’ or LADIES’S, but the first one is preferable.)
An old writing buddy of mine published a book, a mystery set in Hawaii. Apparently she didn’t have it proofread, because every single word that ended in a vowel that was made into a plural (like the word “lei”), she added an apostrophe before the s. There were so many errors of this kind in the book that I deducted a star from my review on Amazon. How can someone publish a book and not have it proofread or edited? Obviously, since she is older than I am, she forgot this basic English spelling rule.
This may seem petty or silly to get upset about because there are many more important things that deserve one’s wrath, but it shows the decline in grammar/spelling education. It has to be this, because the misplaced apostrophe is such an ubiquitous mistake nowadays, but 20-30 years ago, it was fairly rare.
GRATITUDE SECTION (Always Optional)
How comfortable are you with meeting others who are very different from yourself? (no judgment implied. Different in any way you’d like to think about – different cultures, different races, different mind set (opinions)?
I like meeting people who are different from me, but I tend to be shy around strangers so I may appear to be uncomfortable. I am afraid to ask questions that might make them take offense; or I am afraid to speak to them in their native language when it is one I know (Spanish & Portuguese). I don’t know why this is – it’s silly really, but if I get to know the person or people enough to be comfortable around them, then I have no problem, unless their accent is so strong that I can’t understand them. In general, I like to be in places where a diversity of people surround me, where I hear a number of different languages being spoken, or I see unusual hairstyles, or the people are wearing non-Western but beautiful clothing. I’m also pretty open to trying new cuisines, although I do have my favorites.
So my gratitude is living in a country that has a lot of diversity – cultural, racial, ethnic, etc. I actually am looking forward to being in the minority (white, northern European origin). It’s a shame that many people feel threatened by our increasingly multicultural society.
I’ve been so busy this week that I haven’t had time to participate in Melanie’s Share Your World until today!
QUESTIONS
Restrictions are being lifted all over the world. Do you feel it’s safe to go out and mingle in crowds in light of the Pandemic? To a certain degree, yes, although the delta variant is causing the cases to increase at an alarming rate, such as we haven’t seen for several months. I just saw a Facebook post from a cousin’s son announcing that he was a “breakthrough” case – fully vaccinated yet got the delta variant of Covid.
Notice that there are no “green” states on this map!
His symptoms were not serious and he’s OK now, but it made me think that I ought to be a bit more cautious. Mask mandates have been reimposed here so I’m carrying one around again and having to wear one even when I exercise. The mask came in handy last night, though, when a homeless man “joined” our book discussion group at the library (the discussion is held outside). The moderator was nice to him and the rest of us tried to be casual and welcoming, but I did put my mask on.
It’s a strange situation – there is no lockdown, because of the vaccine, but the vaccine isn’t perfect and the delta variant is spreading fast so we have to wear masks again. Yet I feel Covid-19 fatigue, as I’m sure most people do. I have not tried to go out into a crowded place, such as a theatre. I would, however, love to travel again. I don’t know if I want to get on a crowded airplane right now, though. To go on a road trip, I would consult Covid statistics to see if our destination is more or less safe.
What are some things that are okay to do occasionally, but definitely not okay to do every day? Having a drink, eating ice cream – anything in excess is not okay.
Would you relocate for love (romantic or otherwise)? I have done – moving here to this senior community was my husband’s idea. I didn’t feel ready for it, and it’s still strange to be surrounded by white haired people who have children close to my age, but I’ve gotten to enjoy it. You’re only as old as you feel, and many of the folks here feel young!
Do you believe in any conspiracy theories (no judgment)? Not the quack-a-doodle conspiracies promoted on social media today, but there have been some conspiracies worth looking into. There are still people trying to find out if JFK’s assassination was a conspiracy and Oswald/Ruby were just front men. I’ve heard enough convincing and reasonable evidence that I believe it might have been a conspiracy.
GRATITUDE PORTION (Optional to participate, as always)
Please share something sweet (take that as you want)
It’s been quite a while since I participated in Tanya’s 5 Things challenge. The topic this week is: Italian food!! My favorite cuisine! It’s even a bit difficult to choose ONLY five of them!
Gnocchi with Vodka sauce
I love gnocchi with whatever sauce is put on it, but I am partial to “vodka sauce” – I don’t taste the vodka, but it’s a wonderful tomato based smooth sauce!
2. Gelato: This is the Italian word for ice cream, which is my favorite food, but somehow the Italians (or wherever it is made in their name) have it just perfect – rich, creamy, flavorful! I also like the sorbets.
This is a photo of espresso gelato – coffee ice cream! I love it! Since I cannot drink coffee anymore, this ice cream is a delicious way to get my “coffee fix”!
3. Pizza – Who doesn’t love pizza? It is such a versatile dish – a variety of toppings, a variety of crusts, the combinations are almost endless! If you ask me what kind of pizza I want, I would say spinach (for deep dish), Hawaiian (pineapple and Canadian bacon, usually topped with barbecue sauce), margherita (tomato and cheese) if it’s very thin crust, and sausage and onion if ordered from a certain local pizza place.
4. Shrimp or Chicken Alfredo – I rarely order this because the alfredo sauce has about a gazillion calories (more than many other Italian foods, but most Italian foods are very caloric), but I still love it!
5. Risotto, if it’s prepared properly!
This is risotto with shrimp – one of my favorite kinds!
There are things that are called trees besides those living, breathing plants we have around us. A family tree, for example, is called a “tree” because from one individual, it spreads out in several branches. I have an earring tree! On its branches I hang my many pairs of earrings. This “tree” is rather gnarly and has knots in its branches so the earrings don’t fall off. So for Becky’s challenge TreeSquare, I am featuring my earring tree!
Are justice and the law necessarily the same thing?
No. Laws are the rules we live by and justice is treating everyone fairly according to the law. Example: Marijuana possession has been made legal in many states, but before that happened, black people were more likely to be convicted and go to prison than whites. Even today, prisons are crowded with people of color, especially blacks, disproportionally according to their population. George Floyd died because of some petty charge about using a counterfeit $20 bill; then the police arrived and used bodily force even though he posed no threat to them. Even if George Floyd had had a record, there was no justification for what the police did. I can’t see that happening to white people. My son was once caught with weed paraphernalia and taken to a local police station. The police then called us to come and post bail. We did and he was freed. Later, the bail was reimbursed. Trayvon Martin was killed by a white wannabe cop and his killer was acquitted in the state of Florida. It’s clear that in this country, there is still less justice for people of color.
Which kitchen appliance do you use every day?
The refrigerator and the microwave oven. My husband uses the grind and brew coffee maker every day, but I can no longer drink coffee.
What is one thing you’ll never do again? Get pregnant and have another child. I’m way too old!
What event escalated very quickly?
The Trump rally on January 6 that ended up as a insurrection and assault on our nation’s Capitol, during which rioters smashed windows, destroyed property, and killed a policeman. Five people died that day. What did Trump do? He dragged his feet on calling on the National Guard to help restore order, so in spite of pleas for help from lawmakers inside the building, no back-up arrived.
GRATITUDE (As always, optional)
Feel free to share something that made you feel good from the past week!
People have admired my artwork and one person even offered to buy one of my drawings of a cat. I wasn’t there at the time, but probably would have sold it. The circumstances don’t matter; I am just happy that people have been very encouraging about my artwork, and that is a great motivation to continue doing it!
Okay we’re flipping things over this week with three rather silly questions and one philosophical one.
What would be much better if you could just change the color of it? Half of the clothes in my closet – I like some of the things I rarely wear, because I don’t have a matching blouse or pants. Then I forget about that particular item until I get totally bored with what I have to wear and find it again. If it’s really a weird color I can’t do anything with, I will regretfully give it to Goodwill.
Do You Think Cats Have Any Regrets? No, I don’t think they can think on that high a level. This is a serious answer for a somewhat silly question! My cat, for sure, is content with her life right now.
Do you ever count your steps when you walk? No, I have a Fitbit that can do that for me. I used to really keep track of that, but not anymore. I always, however, count stairs whether up or down. That makes me focus on the stairs so that I don’t get distracted and trip or fall. It can also be really useful, for example, in our old house, if we were carrying something that blocks our view and so not able to see the stairs. I knew there were 15 stairs from the first floor to the second, and 12 steps from the kitchen down to the basement.
Is there a supreme power? (you choose over what, and please be respectful) That is a tough one. I believe in God but not as a “supreme power” per se. I don’t think God exists as a human-like being somewhere, controlling everything we do. Humans invented God. I believe that God’s presence lies within ourselves – we are our own supreme power, whether or not we recognize it. It’s complicated and I’m on a “faith journey.” Without getting into a long theological treatise, I will leave it at that.
GRATITUDE
Please feel free to share some gratitude with everyone! I’ve just been “in love” with our cat, Hazel, lately. She is such a well-behaved kitty and follows us around a lot, just to be near us. She’s not a lap sitter – she prefers what she is doing in the above photo – getting comfortable between someone’s legs, preferably on the recliner. Hazel was a godsend for us during the pandemic. She is 10 years old and life is good!
Watching a nature program with us on TV
Peeking out from one of her favorite catnap places – my computer chair!
