Valentine's Day 2026

Michelle, Byron, and me

We are standing in front of a beautiful tapestry scene, put there to give us a backdrop for our holiday pictures, with hot chocolate and keepsake mugs for us to take home. Our Senior Center administrator hosts one of these occasions several times a year, and this one gave us a really nice place to showcase the group. There were only a couple dozen or so of us, out of hundreds. I had forgotten about the party, but my friend Michelle never misses a chance to have a party, even if it's a small one. She picked me up at home and shepherded me to the Center.

It is so nice to have such a wonderful social venue. I think we are really lucky to have our vibrant and well attended center, and we are expanding to include our numbers into yet another building. It's where my yoga class is held twice a week, as well as Zumba Gold (which I haven't attended in the new place yet), but I will, eventually, I hope. The amount of exercise I am currently getting is much less than this time last year. I've stopped doing many long-time activities because of my failing eyesight. As I sit here in my usual spot early on a Sunday morning, it takes me much longer to get these posts written, since I keep hitting the wrong keys. But even if it takes longer, and tends to frustrate me to an extent, I can still get it done, with the help of my magnifying glass and patience, patience, patience.

My newest friends are mostly fellow voliunteers in the lunchroom. Michele (another friend) just returned from a three-month-long stay in Australia. She travels every year or so with her spouse, always in the winter and finding warmth and adventure wherever they go. I don't have any desire to travel anywhere these days, anywhere that requires air travel or long periods of time away from home. I suppose this is a normal part of the aging process. Who knows? My parents were long gone before they would have reached my current age. I know I don't have nearly the stamina I took for granted not long ago. But now I have so many seniors that I interact with on a weekly basis and realize that I am very fortunate to be as active as I still am. There are probably three dozen walkers lined up on the sides of the room during lunch, and I look at them and give thanks I don't yet need one.

My friend John now has one, which he keeps in his truck behind the driver's side, and he now uses it for walks in the park. He is much more stable and able to go farther when he uses it. It's also nice to have a place to sit down whenever you need to take a rest. Tney are also handy for the bus, too. Must people don't need to ask for the ramp to be lowered but push their walkers up the slope and then find a seat where they can secure it so it doesn't go flying. 

I also received some new Valentine cars this year, since there was a elementary school sing-along after the lunch was over, and many of the kids made Valentine cards for us old folks. I can't remember the last time received one, so I kept my favorite in my keepsake drawer. It will be nice to look at it once I've forgotten all about it. And the kinds were so much fun!

Well, that's about it for this week's post. I do feel an obligation to write one, and that might change in the future, but for now I am happy to still be here in the virtual universe with my dear electronic family. I hope the coming days and weeks will bring you many smiles and delight as the early spring flowers make their way into the sunlight. Until we meet again, I wish you all good things. Be well.

Looking back to look ahead

Mt Shuksan from Huntoon Point, 2011

This lovely picture stuck out of my collection as I went rummaging around in my files for some inspiration as to what to write about. As I examined some of the brilliant memories that I have gathered during my years hiking in the Pacific Northwest wilderness, this one was taken on a snowshoe trip with some other Tsraillazers, probably on a Thursday, up to Huntoon Point, where we often went when looking for some adventure, but not too much.

I can still remember the feeling of being out there in the snow and sunshine, and seeing the bird overhead that kept eyeing us. It would get quite close, but would fly away if I moved too auickly toward it. On another outing, I had seen one of these camp robbers snatch a sandwich right out of the hand of someone sitting down to lunch, and I knew it wa s looking to see if I was going to be a source of food. I took some trail mix into the palm of my hand and made eye contact with the bird. It didn't take long before it was eating right out of my hand, I still remember the sharp talons of his (her?) claws and tried to keep from reacting, knowing that the moment would be over if I didn't stay calm.

We never saw much wildlife at altitude up there, but then again, there isn't much to eat during the winter. We saw deer occasionally, mostly in the distance, and in thr summer we were sometimes treated to seeing bighorn sheep nearby. But mostly it was just a few humans enjoying the wilderness experience by ourselves. Birds are another story, however. The jays and larger birds, like ravens, are ubiquitous in the winter months, however. 

There are moments when I really miss being up there and enjoying the beauty surrounding us, but it's harder these days to make myself push the limits of my ability. That's probably because I am getting older by the day. Little incremental changes are now more noticeable as I spend less time exercising. I am happy for all the many years I spent outdoors and exploring the High Country. Now I am content to keep my excursions short and sweet. 

It's Super Bowl Sunday, the 60th time they will play the top two teams against each other. I well remember when Daddy would watch the game and how much he loved football. I was not exactly indifferent, but I didn't really care who won or lost, or even paid much attention to it. I do remember realizing, when I lived in Colorado, that on a beautiful winter's day, I might be one of the very few people outdoors, while hordes of people gathered around indoors to watch, eat the requisite food like barbequed chicken wings, pizza, and (of couse) beer. Not much has changed in half a century, when it comes to the Super Bowl menu, I guess.

I went looking for a Super Bowl quotation from the BrainyQuote website and, as usual, I spent an hour thinking and perusing them. But somehow this one from Rabindranath Tagore caught me:

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. --Rabindranath Tagore

I figure that quote sums up my current moment. I am writing this post out of service, not because I particularly want to, and here is a perfect ending for an eclectic post. I still need to get up and prepare for the Sunday breakfast I'll share with John, and I need to be ready for the rain as well.

How about you? What will you do with this one perfect day in your life? I always love to hear from my readers as to how you're doing and what's happening in your life today. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, I wish you all good things. Be well.

 

Tired of it all

Lily captured this yesterday

In some ways, I feel like I've been wandering around in an endless cycle of distress and stress, with no way to get off and start finding happier times in my future. I know I am not alone in my desire to return to a better, more stable world. We are all, it seems, coping the best we can with whatever tools we have at our disposal.

I am eternally grateful for my family, both physical and virtual, because I know when I hear  from them, that I am not an outlier, that many of us are all having similar thoughts and trying to find some safe space where we can relax and enjoy life. And many of us are also dealing with the problems that come with growing old. The hard part for me is knowing that these little vicissitudes of life only travel in one direction. When I think of who I was a decade ago, I still remember what it felt like, and I know that in another decade (if I am still here), I will have lost more of my faculties; it's how the system works. We old people need to make room for the young to take over the planet, right? This tiny little place we call Earth is almost full to the brim, as we enter into the millennium with more than eight billion of us, living and breathing and hopefully leaving the place better than when we got here.

It's Sunday again, and I am finding it harder and harder to maintain my usual equanimity in this uncertain world. Trying to find ways to be happy becomes a task that I fail at more and more of the time. But I am still trying, and sometimes I even succeed in looking into the future with a hopeful smile. If I could choose my day's focus, it would be to find and share the love, not ugly anger and hopelessness. What good would that do? One dear friend reminded me that Martin Luther King once said that hate cannot be conquered with more hate; only love can do that. And it feels so much better to walk with love by my side than to allow hate to take over my heart.

Advice is like snow: the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. --Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Hoping to find inspiration, I went over to one of my favorite spots on the Internet, the Brainyquote website. This is the Quote of the Day, which seemed quite appropriate and even hopeful. And here I am, hopeful that the snow falling in the southern parts of our country is soft and clean, just like I want to see the beauty surrounding me, if I just look for it. During the day today, I will open my heart to each person I greet and give each one a dollop of kindness. And miraculously, I'll feel better, too. Funny how that works.

And, just because many of my loved ones are no longer here, I can still look at a picture of my son, smiling at the camera and looking like he's got a secret. Maybe I'll find out one day what it is. Until then, I'll keep on looking for ways to spread love and happiness in my little corner of the vast universe. I hope you will help me with that, since we all need to do our own small part to make the world a better place.

I wish you all good things and also much health and happiness, until we meet again, dear friends.