life in the old lane

And after lunch, it is time for a little urban wild life hunting.

Had one of our little “exercises” at the volunteer job today. I made it from 7:30 to 1:00 PM. But, I am just not  as sturdy as I used to be. When I left, I so hoped a bus would come along. But, no such luck. Had to walk home.

The hospital feeds me when I work. Yeah, free hospital food. I usually bring a prepackaged sandwich home. If the sandwich is fresh, it is usually pretty good. Today a got a ham, bacon and cheese sandwich. That doesn’t sound very healthy! Mr. C and I will share it for dinner along with some salad.

The quest for a old folks home. Carlton’s best friend moved into a seriously up market place 3 years ago. Today, the friend told Carlton that his place was going to be foreclosed. That would make me really unhappy. Not the way I would plan to spend my final act. Moral: do not be the first person to move into a new facility. Because enough other people might not follow you.

What is it with the “Titanic Reenactors”. Those folk who have gotten on cruise ships to sail out to where the Titanic and the iceberg met 100 years ago tonight – actually in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

What role do they want to play? 3rd class passenger who drowned? That wouldn’t have been fun. Maybe they want to be a first class passenger who didn’t drown – they had better outfits – but that still wouldn’t have been much fun. Maybe they would like to reenact being a band member and play “Nearer my god to thee” just before drowning. Still not fun. There are no fun parts. At best it is a morality play with emphasis on technological hubris.

At least once a week, I cook an entire meal with “real” ingredients. No help from Trader Joe, Whole Foods, or other purveyor of heat-n-eat comestibles. Today it was salmon, broccoli and cauliflower, rice.

There is a perfectly fine stainless steel tree down on the Mall. It has been there about 4 years and is still all shiny. I have seen real birds sitting on the branches. But, it doesn’t give off much shade!

Perfectly tranquil this evening – spent all morning at the hospital doing my part of get our office ready for one of our periodic drills on Monday. I walked home. Fixed lunch. Read a book. Took a nap. Thereby managing to avoid noticing any political insanity.

Giving a little thought to Carlton request that I “Find us an Old Folks Home”. Seems to me they have perfectly fine old folks asylums in Hawaii. I am sure that in 10 years such facilities will seem like a better idea to me. (Carlton is 9 years older than I.) Not so much an age thing – but a lifestyle thing. The “nicer” asylums in this area have various dress codes and support a general lifestyle that is sort of faux-country club. Carlton really isn’t looking to move. Between me and the management of our building he is already in an “assisted living” facility. He just wants to have Plan B in place if he survives me. And no, Carlton isn’t sick – but he will be 77 next week. Nobody is promised tomorrow.

I managed to get through the day without having a hissy fit over our dysfunctional country. I fought the good fight for equal rights and civil rights. I was there for antiwar marches. And count me in for the ERA. And against Tricky Dicky. I was on the front lines of bra burning and marched around with an “Our Bodies Our Selves” sign. I was all in for Make Love Not War. What Happened???

The Blog is approaching it’s 11th birthday. Think I would like to convert it to a dead tree book. Can not figure out how to do that. Yet.

Stop the planet. I WANT OFF. I have lived too long. I am too cynical.

1. The legislature in Arizona actually PASSED a law that says a woman is officially pregnant two weeks before conception.
2. A member of the US Congress from Florida said there are 80 members of the Communist Party in the US Congress.

Unfortunately, I am too old and not rich enough to emigrate to a more civilized country. I will avoid Arizona and Florida.

Played tourist this morning. I went to see this year’s Cherry Blossom exhibit at the National Gallery. (Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800) March 30–April 29, 2012)  It was exquisite. But, I can only take so much art. Even interesting art.

After the art – I took in the Butterfly Exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I can not get enough butterflies. Note to local residents. Admission to the butterfly exhibit is free on Tuesday.

Carlton says it is time to starting thinking about moving to some sort of continuing care facility. Crap – that sounds scary. Of course, he is right – we don’t want to have to make those decisions  after one of us goes down with Alzheimer’s or a major stroke. His best friend made the move a couple of years ago to a seriously upscale old folks home in Maryland. Most of “those places” are out in the f-ing boonies. I like concrete, public transportation  and urban grunge. Stay tuned.

Chocolate Bunnies Go On Sale Tomorrow. That is how those of us who are not believers mark Easter.

I made Chicken Kiev, sweet potatoes, broccoli and tomato salad for lunch today. Carlton was frighten. Feared I was suffering from a case of religion. But, I assured him that this was just his “Last Supper”. Mr C is having some dental work next week and he thinks he’ll be eating gingerly for the foreseeable future.

WOW – a bald eagle just flew by. About 100 feet away – right at the 17th floor level. Beats the shit out of the eagles Mr C is watching on tv just now. (A golf match.) Seriously cool.

Speaking of Mr C. I am trying to dynamite him out of his routine. Trying to convince him that he needs to go somewhere. Do something. He needs new stories to tell. And unless you are Stephen King or on drugs – you gotta do new stuff to get new stories.

Now, I am looking of an adventure. Realistically, I’d have more fun if Mr C stayed home in his rut. But, I am trying to find something that he might be willing to do. I have been dangling Norway in front of him. Reindeers, polar bears, puffins… Next, I am going to try Iceland. No reindeer, no polar bears. But puffins. And  volcanoes. Also the highest literacy rate on the planet and a very high rate of alcoholism. Wonder if they are connected?

Note to DC area folk: April 17 Mid Morning – Lookup. Space Shuttle

According to the internet – average spending for Easter is $147. That is one hell of a lot of chocolate bunnies!

So where are my $147 in chocolate bunnies?

Tonight is Yappy Hour at the apartment building. The dog owners take over the party room and bring their dogs and they ply us non-dog people with beer, hoping that we will overlook the occasional doggie mishap. Well, I like the dogs. But, I like them more with beer and chips.

Made it to a “full” day at the volunteer job yesterday. And, I took a camera out today on my walk. Trying to find left over spring flowers. The flowers are like our May flowers. Goodness knows what will be blooming come May.

For about 2 minutes I entertained the idea of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. What was I thinking? I am 68 years old. That would not be an obstacle. I am about as fit as a bowl of jello. That would be a problem. So, I  took a bubble bath and washed that “idea” away.