life in the old lane

Combined death-cleaning with travel training this morning. Took a rather large load of stuff off to donate. Some of the trip was on foot, some was on the bus. 

With great gusto, I turned my donation bag in. Very liberating. 

That was very sweet. And it seems to be a very practical way to transport a small wiggly human around. Especially if you are riding a bus. 

It’s not all good on the death-cleaning front. I accidentally acquired two more orchid plants. Which cause me to intentionally acquire an additional humidity tray. I also acquired two more pair of damn compression socks. 

I have used up all of my unloved origami paper. I am now using paper that I like but I know where to buy more. I will not invade my stash of washi paper. 

Headed out for my regular 1-mile lap around “the big block” early this morning. Later, I went for a “trip training” walk. And, trying to be a smart old woman – took the bus back to the Asylum. And then, according to my Google Watch, I had a 96 minute nap. 

Gratitude

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July 20, 1969 – “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Grateful for the memories. 

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Too bad we privatized/ended space exploration.

Said goodbye to my matched set of nut drivers this morning. Plus some other tools. 

Next death cleaning challenge – unfinished projects. 

 

Love this image. Black and white photography is all about light, lines, and shades of gray. This one works for me.

Gratitude

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Grateful that my 80-year estate planning checkup is complete. It only took 6 months.

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Great day in the Being Old World today. Family members came visiting today bearing wine, cheese, a baguette, cookies, and fudge. What’s not to love? We discussed my final arrangements. They wanted to know “What about your ashes”. I said, “Anywhere except on a shelf in your garage or basement!” 

I heard from a friend from Iowa. She mentioned that a mutual friend was “talking herself into dementia”. That’s an interesting concept. 

As a result of poor scheduling, I had a dentist appointment 4 hours before yoga. I wasn’t about to come back to The Asylum on a sweet summer day. So, after the dentist I hung out in this little park and finished reading The Journal. 

Then. Off to Metro.

I did catch the train. Leapt into the car as the door was closing. Maybe not the smartest old lady move. But, I am after Second Breakfast.

Not exactly a locally owned cafe – but a place I have always enjoyed.

Still time before heading off to the metro and yoga.

A fine day. Three buses and two metros. 

Spent some time thinking about “Being Old”. It doesn’t come easy for me. Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful to be old. Not everyone gets that opportunity. It just doesn’t come easy. Think I have to learn how to be Old.

Learning to be old.

• • • If there’s a bus then take it. Don’t say “It’s only ½ mile, I’ll walk”. 
    • If tired use Uber.
    • Get out of the Old Bat Cave and escape The Asylum.
    • Overtip.
    • Wear the damn compression socks.

Stay tuned. I might figure out more things about being old.

Didn’t manage to accomplish much today. Well, except for a fine nap! And, I got my cardio exercise done before the WSJ arrived this morning. 

Pretended I would be leaving on the 11:45 PM flight to Iceland tonight. Scuffed around and found what I think will be more than adequate clothing. Most likely that’s too much.  But, I wanted to be sure I don’t need to spend some quality time shopping in REI. 

The Northern Weather Reports
Iceland – 52°
Greenland – 45°
Nunavut CA – 42°
Utqiaġvik AK – 47°
Nome AK – 57°
Vancouver – 75°

Today’s boxes are beginning to look a lot like Xmas.  Maybe people will do their holiday shopping early. 

I folded a crane while reflecting on the death of a friend in Hawai’i to cancer. She was only in her early 60s.  Nobody is promised tomorrow. Nobody. 

Little by little, progress continues with origami box making and death cleaning. This morning I was tidying up the origami dojo and what should I find, but an empty origami paper box.  And, it wasn’t empty because I consolidated the paper. It was empty because I had turned all of the paper into boxes. 

Death cleaning today – made another pass through my huge collection of earrings. I found several caches that had already been culled. But not give up. They have now gone into the donation box. Plus a few others were removed from service.

Gratitude

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Grateful that I am able to pay for the youngest grand’s college.

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Knocked off some items on my todo list today. Who know being old kept you so busy?

I’ve been slacking off on my box-making for a couple of weeks, but I’m back to making the generic 2.5-inch masu boxes. I’m still thinking about making the fancier ones to sell as a fundraiser for our annual employee gift drive.

I also did some “death cleaning” today. I cleaned out another stash of junk and trashed a project that I’ve been “not working on” for 8 years. I also decided to get rid of my toolbox. I used to have a lot of tools, but I don’t really need them anymore. Most of them didn’t make the trip to The Asylum, and the ones that did are probably just going to continue to sit in the closet collecting dust. So I’m donating 90% of them.

There are still a couple of unfinished projects lurking in the corner of the closet. I’m going to have to accept that I’m not going to finish them either. I could trash them, but I might as well keep them for now. Who knows, I might get inspired to finish them someday. But probably not.

Yesterday I rather smugly told a friend that I don’t have a “junk drawer” to clean. (That’s because I only have one drawer in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. 

Today I realized that I had junk caches. I stashed junk all around the Old Bat’s Cave much like squirrels stash nuts. So, today I found and cleaned several junk caches. 

So why am I doing all of this “death cleaning”? Well, it actually feels good to get things in order. And, when you die, that’s the last chance you will ever have to make a good impression. Do I really want people to find my racy underdrawers or letters from lovers long gone? I think not. It would sully my reputation as a “sweet little old lady”.  I need to dispose of those things. And I have.

When I came back from dinner, there was a fine rainbow waiting.

About wine. Frankly, it all tastes pretty much the same to me. I have noticed that the more it costs the more I like it… But, it’s still pretty much the same. I drink coffee for the caffeine and wine for the alcohol.  Pretty much trailer trash. That would be me. But I have learned to not giggle when someone says there is a “hint of pencil lead” or “a whiff of green peppers”.  

Gratitude

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I have enough expensive tastes. Grateful that wine isn’t one of them.

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Except for wine drinking, it was just a normal hot summer day. One month from now, I’ll be on my boat across the north.

Fly to Iceland August 7. Boat August 13 – September 7, Iceland to Nome. Then fly to Vancouver. 48 hours in Vancouver. Then bus to Seattle and train it back to DC. 

[told you I have expensive habits.]

A completely funky sunrise this morning. 

Almost 3 years to the day, I have finished my covid work at the hospital. Right after I finished my monthly data wrangling/collecting/ process we found out that we don’t have to submit data about covid vaccinations anymore! I started working remotely on covid related data issues on July 15, 2020. It’s a good thing. I am sort of an emeritus team member now.  I guess I will not get any more t-shirts or jackets!

Gratitude

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Grateful that my time producing covid data for government reports is over.

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The Northern Weather Reports
Iceland – 48°
Greenland – 65°
Nunavut CA – 48°
Utqiaġvik AK – 41°
Nome AK – 49°
Vancouver – 77°

I really know how to plan a trip. I am starting in Iceland, where a volcano is erupting, and ending at DC Union Station where an Amtrak train ran off the tracks in the station access tunnel. 

I don’t usually eat lunch. But, I made an exception for andouille sausages.

No fair shooting bees with the telephone. I shoot with what I have. Not taking anything more than my phone and my GoPro on the upcoming trip. 

Speaking of trip. Let’s check the weather.
Iceland – 55°
Greenland – 52°
Nunavut CA – 50°
Utqiaġvik AK – 38°
Nome AK – 54°
Vancouver – 76°

What a great surprise. Nice weather. No smoke. Low humidity. Unfortunately, I seemed to spend most of the day indoors. But, some of the time was spent napping. So, it’s all good.

Been checking the weather for my trip:
Iceland – 55°
Greenland – 53°
Nunavut CA – 43°
Utqiaġvik AK – 52°
Nome AK – 52°
Vancouver – 67°

So, the weather seems to be just about like I expected it to be. That’s good. Because I have no real winter clothes. Think I’ll plan on 30-70 degrees. With lots of rain.