life in the old lane

This was from my Sept 5, 2011 post.  Not a hell of a lot has changed since then. And certainly not for the better. 

Went to The Asylum’s indoor white tablecloth picnic for lunch today. Food was as OK as steam table burgers can be. But the company was great. 

Origami Butterfly class tomorrow.  I will be surprised if anyone comes.  But, my neighbor and origami haumāna will help me get the 390-strung butterflies down to the art center. We have 492 residents. And I have 30 that haven’t been strung. And, if no one comes we can just finish the folding ourselves. And, if anyone comes she can help teach.

I think this means that the 3 remaining strings will need to have 34 butterflies each. Do the math.

13 x 30 =  390
 3  x 34 =  102
total           492

Confession: I tried compression sox. They make my legs feel better. So, I guess I might be stuck with this old lady “fashion” accessory. 

Be Very Afraid. The Table of the Dead is empty. And you know how nature feels about vacuums. Sometimes it is filled to overflowing.  But, no one really expects to get out of here alive. I want my death announcement to say “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”. Or maybe the Bitch is Dead. 

I am very fond of the single green bean vine that is prancing over Ray the Rosemary. The beanstalk had a perfectly fine pole but decided to climb all over Ray. (Maybe I’ll get a green bean!)

And, that’s about it from the  Asylum on this last Sunday of summer. 

Found a penny today. Picked up the penny. Carlton always picked up pennies. I always figure that any penny I see is just Carlton stopping by to say howdy and to be sure I am picking up pennies. 

So, it is still pretty dark when I get up. But, it’s still a nice time for my  “fast” walk. Got it down to 16.4 minutes to do a mile. Think that is about flat out for me. My “big block” is 1.3 miles. So it takes a little over 20 minutes. 

Did a little personal bookkeeping, folded a nice origami box, returned some stuff I took from the Art Center for the Butterfly project, and took pictures of birds and bugs. 

And, that is not a bad thing. On the other hand, the day isn’t over yet. 

I did little stuff that needed doing today. That’s it.

But, sunflowers are fun.  

Another thing that is fun is getting on email lists on your travels. I just love getting my weekly email from the Norwegian RR. Haven’t a clue what it says. But, I still like it. And I get emails from hotels that I stayed in. Also a Doc-in-the-Box operation in London where I got a covid test. It’s just fun stuff to delete. 

September 1. Now I can say: I am going to Kona next month. Never mind that I am going on October 31. Next month just sounds nice. 

A lot of walking today. Well, a lot of walking for an old woman. About 3 miles. And, I added in a little extra uphill. In Kona, the grocery stores are all seriously up mauka. The good news is that it is all downhill back to the lodgings with the groceries. 

 

Headed off to the dentist this morning. Back to the old neighborhood. It was a lovely morning. Got the 6:30 bus and was back to The Asylum in time for breakfast. 

It was one of those late summer days with just a tiny suggestion of better weather ahead. Maybe even windows open weather. 

More bees. 

It doesn’t take much to amuse me these days! (The bees were all taken with my really old macro lens in manual mode.)

If I want to take more interesting pictures then I must to go somewhere more interesting!

Sort of a lot of origami today.  Mostly, I had to clean up the origami dojo. I strung another 30 butterflies.  I am stringing 30 now.  And my origami buddy and I made another 30 this afternoon. So by the end of the day – I will be at 390 ready to hang. That leaves 100 more. Will not make any more until after the class next Tuesday afternoon. 

Been seeing pictures of refugees fleeing every imaginable disaster, natural and political. Carrying what they need to survive on their backs or piled on their heads. Ok, I have a great backpack. But, if I were fleeing for my life – what would I put in it? What would I need to survive? A couple of microfiber panties, my big chef’s knife, jar of peanut butter, all the chocolate in the house, water bottle. Whatever drugs, legal or not, I have. A sweatshirt and rain jacket. Oh, a bottle of No Doz.  Or is that a drug?  Hope I never have to run for my life. Maybe best to just overdose on those drugs in the comfort of the Old Bat Cave. 

What would you take? Most likely you would start with a car. Nobody escapes the Zombie Apocalypse on the 25B bus.  So, I’ll be hoofing it, outa Dodge.

Got a 911 email late this afternoon. They needed a warm body for wine tasting in less than an hour. Well, I am your woman for that. I liked the $70-a-bottle stuff bestest. 

Lost a fitness instructor at The Asylum. So, no more old lady barre classes. Don’t know if I’ll go back to barre on the outside.  I really need a class tailored for the elderly. This is a first-world problem. At 78 I should be glad just to be alive, functional, and drinking wine. Not mopping about the lack of old lady barre classes. 

Am I lazy or just really really tired? And, if I am tired, what am I tired from? Or maybe I am just old and in denial.  

Accomplished very little today. Very little work. Some very light exercise. Even lighter reading.

And FINALLY… Followed my own good advice to me and just booked the best flights I could find from National Airport to Kona Airport on Halloween. Nothing fun. No side adventures. No train across America. No visit to the Grand Canyon or High Line. Just fly. Occam’s Razor applied to travel in 2022.  Or as Carlton would have said: Keep it Simple, Stupid. 

Had a fine lunch of tomato and cottage cheese. Think I need to remember the words of Warren Zevon that guided Carlton’s last months. Enjoy Every Sandwich.

I really don’t have to wait for a fatal diagnosis to know that time is running out. Time to start making every day a good day. 

Not even close to an acceptable job. But, it was the first butterfly that I have seen in weeks. And that is about the high light of my day so far. 

I lost my slippahs AKA flip-flops. In my one-room apartment. So, how does this happen? Guess what? They were right where I left them by the door. I think in honor of my upcoming 7th anniversary at The Asylum I should undertake a serious culling. It really hasn’t gotten too bad, but there is this “tiny” amount of just-in-case or just forgotten stuff piling up here and there. Maybe pitch 70 things for 7 years? 700 things?

Still haven’t figured out how to get to Kona. Just haven’t accepted the new airline reality. It’s like we keep hearing about “supply chain issues” or “gas prices”. It’s the way things are mid2022 – just accept it and move on.

On my early morning brisk walk, I see a man sleeping on a newly installed bench. It is a part of a public art installation. Better the money would have been spent on housing the unhoused.

Took a very old macro lens out to photograph carpenter bees this afternoon. 

Did a very little work and a lot of walking today. Also reading and resting. 

Newest Covid numbers for The Asylum are still running at about 5% of the residents currently testing positive. 

Management did the monthly meeting thing this afternoon. They tried to kill us with Powerpoint. Powerpoint has been around since 1987.  The 5 by 5 rule has been around almost as long. 

• • • • No more than 5 lines/points per slide
      • No more than 5 words per line

And if your audience is old people. No font smaller than 24 points. 

I don’t get paid enough to suffer Death by Powerpoint. So, I bailed and grabbed a camera. Like yesterday, I put it in manual mode. 

Big activity today was a nice walk to the grocery. It’s making my exercise routine support my lifestyle. Don’t have a car. So, I have to maintain my ability to walk – at least as far as the bus stop. My walk was 2.7 miles. Round trip plus ambling around the grocery. And, on the home lap, I had 11 pounds of groceries to carry. That sort of simulates travel and schlepping a backpack around. 

Got plane ticket home from Kona on Xmas Eve today. Still have to decide how to get there. The earth is round. Maybe I’ll fly east not west.