Don't Wait

When I was younger I wanted to be adventuresome.  I wasn't much, just a little bit.  Something always stopped me from going after the big adventures.  Money, time, fear, my mother.

Back in the '70's, I wanted to work on the Alaskan pipeline as a nurse, but I was allergic to the cold (cold urticaria).  I got hives when exposed to cold weather.  Seemed kind of silly to go work in Alaska with that allergy, huh?

I wanted to backpack through Europe but I was too timid to go by myself and everybody I knew thought I was crazy to even think about it.  So I went on a 2 week canned tour to all the usual places.  I always meant to go back to take those off-the-beaten-path paths, but I haven't got there yet.

I wanted to learn to play the drums, but I didn't even do that.  Maybe when I retire. 

Maybe.  Later.  When I get a roundtoit.

In the meantime, I'm following Jude and Bernie Sumption as they travel from England to Australia by way of every place in between.   Check out their trip through the White Desert.  Now that looks like an adventure.

'Round and 'Round she goes

On my way home from work Tuesday, I was driving slowly and weaving all over the road.  I wasn't drunk.  I was avoiding potholes.

Speaking of potholes.  They are a harbinger of spring in Indiana and I saw a large flock of robins, another indicator that spring is near.  One can only hope that they foretell and early return of warmer weather.

I know as sick as I am of the snow and cold weather, many people in the Northeast must be gnashing their teeth.  They seem to have a blizzard once a week and I just read that some areas have blasted snowfall records that have stood for more than three quarters of a century. 

It's suppose to snow here today.  Less than an inch total.   How am I going to miss the potholes if they're covered with snow?

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's not as cold as yesterday when the high was 5 degrees below freeze-your-butt-off, but it's still cold! 

I started a post on Monday for Martin Luther King's Day of Service, but I got side tracked and it was only one line plus one word.  Unfortunately, I can't remember what caught my attention and made me abandon the post, but I know it wasn't contributing my services to anything worthwhile.  I have often felt I should be doing something of a charitable nature.  Everyone should give something back to the world.  If you didn't get a chance to serve on MLK Monday, watch a 1 minute video at Campbells' adDress Your Heart.  That's all you have to do and Campbells will donate $1 to Go Red for Women. 

To those of you who did get off your butts and honor Mr.  King's ideals by giving of yourselves Monday, bless your heart!

Free time costs money

I almost quit my job last week.  I would have, but my management team decided they didn't want  me to leave so found a solution that made everybody happy. 

Well, almost happy.  Once I got used to the idea, I was looking forward to not working.   It would have been a little tough economically, but I'd have survived.  I like to think I'm a surviving type of person.  Not the type who falls apart at the first sign of adversity. I think God was giving me signs I should quit, urging me to walk away now so I'll have time to find myself before I'm so old I can't remember who I am.  But I have trouble interpreting what God is trying to tell me sometimes.  Maybe he was saying Get, while the getting's good, or maybe he was saying Cowgirl up and stop your whining. 

I had all sorts of things planned for my newly found free time.  Everything from sweeping the floor to finally cleaning out the closet-no-man-dares-to-enter to opening a used book store to writing a novel. 

Now all those plans will have to wait.  Except maybe sweeping the floor. I might find time to do that this weekend.  But I'm not going near that closet.

The nice things about Westerns

I've almost finished watching all my Wagon Train DVDs.  I've forgotten about Cooper Smith and now I have a crush on Bill Hawks.  Yes, I'm a fickle fan.

Because westerns are timeless, old ladies can have crushes on any age leading man they want.  I wasn't born in the days of wagon trains (really, I'm not that old) so I can be any age I want when my mind goes galloping down the dusty trail on my trusty bay, and my beaus (as they would have been called in the 1800's) can be any age I choose.

Another nice thing about TV Westerns is the way they treat God.  They speak to God as well as pray to Him.  It's not unusual for a Western scene to feature a rugged, hard-as-nails, take-nothing-off-of-nobody man sinking to his knees and praying for divine intervention or guidance.  Or uttering a heart felt "thanks" to the heavens as the show ends.

That's a third nice thing - TV Westerns almost always have a happy ending.  Sometimes life stinks.  I don't need a TV show to remind me of that.  I watch TV to escape so I always want happy endings.  Westerns don't always have a cheerful ending.  Sometimes the homestead is burned to the ground, or the baby doesn't make it, or the fiance dies before the wedding, but by the end you know everything will be all right eventually with the help of God and the friends you've made along the trail.

Happy trails to you.

His mother would have been so proud.

Have you heard the saying "Growing old isn't for sissies"?

I know what that means.  I have cold-induced asthma and this winter weather is killing me.  I swear I have to cross the coldest, windiest street in the city to get between my car and the office.  And our office is only 64 - 68 degrees depending on whether the sun is shining or not. 

This afternoon when I walked to my car it was snowing a little.  Ten years ago, before I developed the asthma, I would have enjoyed a little walk in the snow, but today moisture exacerbates the breathing problem so by the time I got in the car I was gasping for air.   Panting like a fat old lady.  Having a pity party for myself while I waited for my breathing to return to near normal so I could get back out of the car to clear the snow off my windows.

The gentleman in the car next to me was scraping the snow off his windows and when he finished his car, without a word or sign, he turned and cleared my windows. 

Wasn't that nice of him?

Wagons, Ho!

I got a set of Wagon Train DVDs for Christmas - all of the seasons that were shown in color.  I have been watching them night and day.  Not continuously, just one or two with lunch and one or two after supper.  Since these are 90 minute shows and they were filmed before the length of commercials equaled (or exceeded) the show itself, sometimes the evening session goes to midnight. 

But I don't care.  They just don't make shows like that anymore. 

Rugged, honorable, good-looking leading men.  (I've developed a crush on Cooper Smith.)
A show that teaches good values without preaching. 
And the guest stars - so far I've seen Ronald Regan, Barbara Stanwick, both of Sabrina's husbands (from Bewitched), Peter Brown, Neville Brand, Annette Funicello, Ruta Lee, Rhonda Fleming, and on & on.  Some of the "stars" I've noticed weren't famous enough to get special billing when they appeared on the show.  I have noticed a dearth of talented guest stars on most of today's television shows.  I wonder why?

I have been off work 4 days for the New Year holidays, but today I have to go back to work.  I'm going to miss my cowboys today, but I'm looking forward to daydreaming.