Moment

Time is breezing by....it's almost 2011!  Has it really been that long since I started this blog?

Good to note that I've kept with it thus far, and for me that is some kind of a record. Sure shows me what I'm capable of....no more excuses.  No more saying I don't have the concentration skills...it's all bull, and I've just been lazy.

That's a hard thing to admit to....but it's decidedly true.  I wonder how many real golden opportunities I ignored or pushed aside? Hmmmmm.

A person could do irreparable psychological harm to themselves, going over every stinking little thing.  So nope. Not even gonna go there.  Whatever happened, so be it.  I made my choices and took my chances and am here....now. What happened back then is gone, and what's up ahead is up to me.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Moment....now.

Hope For The Holidays

A month 'til Christmas, so much going on.  I love the lights and cinnamon smells, and the music....it's all just so geared to touch the heart.  And why not?  Baby, it's cold outside....and bound to get colder before its all over.

Wouldn't it be great if we could keep a bit of that special feeling all through the year, instead of just limiting it to a few days of the year? The world would be in a much better state if we were more concerned with survival and less preoccupied with destruction.

My prayer is that we come to that place some day where life matters more than ego.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Hope for the Holidays, and for every other day, too!

Ingredient

Apples from Jack's Sister's Garden

It's three thirty a.m. and I'm up, baking the last of the Thanksgiving apple pies.  This year, the apples weren't alone in their epic journey....because they were special.  They were from Jack's sister's very own apple tree!
Granny Smiths' they are,  in their bright green coats with the golden hewed collar around their stems.  Very sweet, very perfect for my intentions. I added raisins to a couple of the pies, along with a little brown sugar and some flax seed bran.  The others became Apple Raisin Cranberry Orange Walnut Pies. Both had pie shell pastry bottom crusts and crumb crust on top.  I plan on slightly drizzling them with thin whisps of dark chocolate, to add a slight contrast to the expected flavors of apples, cinnamon and cloves.

To me, cooking is a grand experiment!  It's laying flavors, blending them to a point but allowing just enough distinction so that the resultant flavor has both substance and contrast. (gee that sounded like a lot of  Food Network Speak).But it's fun cooking, even more fun cooking for family gatherings!
 
Having Jack's family in our lives has been great for us.  For Jack, it's been a chance to reconnect with his mother before she passed, and establish a friendly relationship with his sister and her family.  For me, it's been the answer to an unspoken longing for Jack, and for myself as well....a longing to have a group of people that we can be with who have something inherently in common with at least one of us on this coast....a physical resemblance, a similar quirk...the things only recognizable in a family-group setting.

Adopted people talk about it....looking in the mirror and wondering who else out there in the great big world shares that nose, that double chin, those mood swings.  But there's more to it than that, too. It's a shared history, a linking of identities and circumstances that go back through one's ancestry and speak to the present like only a genetic code can do.

I have had the luxury of a close-knit family of sorts.  Mind you, I confess that my communication skills are horrid...but as anyone will tell you nobody is singled out.  I just suck on correspondence. (this coming from a self-proclaimed writer! go figure!)  Anyway, regardless of my lack of communication at times, my family is a very strong, bonded group of fascinating individuals. Brothers, Sisters,  Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Birth Son, Nieces and Nephews, Cousins (first, second and so on)...I grew up with the complete assortment.  We were a boisterous, lively crew and when we got together for the most part we enjoyed each others' company.

Except when somebody was on somebody else's shitlist.  We didn't call it that then, Mom wouldn't let us curse. But knowledge of the "list" was my first experience with politics on the most local level possible.

Anyway, Jack left his home fairly young and lost contact with everyone. Our holidays together have been wonderful, shared with friends and the occasional visit to my folks on the East Coast....but family-wise everything felt so long distance.

I'm so glad we now have the added component of Jack's immediate family. It's a comfort to know there's somebody out there. Jack seems happier, too.  So there's a lot to celebrate.  

We're going to Jack's sister's house for Thanksgiving this year. We're both looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing cooking secrets.  As luck would have it, several of members of his brood are also home cooks so we have a LOT to talk about!

I'd love it if both families could meet and have a party....my sister and Jack's sister would probably get along famously and the funny thing is both are named similarly.  Jack's siste
Sr is "Carole" and my sister is "Carolyn."
Tell me that ain't something!

Well, the timer just rang on the old oven so it's time to pull out the pies and then get some rest!

So for now, Fifty Five is the new Ingredient, which is what it's always been....Love.

New Things Coming

Crazy, crazy, crazy!  

 That old adage about living in interesting times is sure ringing true here....and I'm not real sure how I feel about being in the front row to witness Armageddon. Did I really sign up for this?

So many major natural disasters....so many wars....so many people trying to harm one another.....and then there's the other stuff....not enough money, not enough truth.....sheesh!

Okay....so I'm here and apparently scheduled to watch what happens next. What ever it may be.  The planet is waking up and I expect there'll be some major earthquakes and so on this coming year....among other things.
All I can do is be prepared as possible.  As for the rest.....life goes on.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Things Coming.....and all I can say is bring it on.

Foundation

Somebody asked me what I hope to get out of this blog.  In truth, I hadn't thought about that....other than using the thing as an exercise to get me through a severe writer's block.

But seriously, there is more to it than that. All this examination of the self leads to self-improvement, doesn't it?
It's an opportunity to see where one has been and learn from those experiences to be prepared for the road ahead.

The past really does help with the future. It's like a building project...ya gotta start with a foundation. And that's the past...the foundation.  If that's made strong through learning as one goes along, the resultant structure-in this case a life-will be sturdy.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Foundation....building a human being, one year at a time.

Feeling Fit

Glacial Dream by rcw

There 's a chill coming in the air.  I can even smell the mountain snow in the breeze that's kicking random bits of paper and leaves up our street.

I love this time of year....even though the dampness wreaks havoc with my arthritis, there's till something vibrant and beautiful about it.  Pain be damned.

Really, I'm just not interested in having pain or infirmary slow me down....there's too much of life out there, just waiting to be explored.  To hell with stiff knees, they'll just have to keep up! That's why I got crutches....to MOVE! Not to stay still.

So for today, Fifty Five Is the New Feeling Fit...because I do, even if I got a little hitch to my git-along.