My blog was begun not for others, but for me and my family as a journal. It's gotten away from that in a way, but this post is most definitely for me and will hold some memories.
Online, I found these photos of our first apartment in Murray, Utah and had to save them.
I was happy there something I've not been in a long, long time.
Good memories for me.
They are evidently sold as condominiums now .
we crossed little bridge on little cottonwood to our apartment.
view from upstairs rooms
living room looking down from upstairs.3 bedrooms, 2 baths.
A favorite quote from "You've Got Mail" comes to mind every autumn.
The screenplay by Nora Ephron had so many quotes that just seemed to come straight out of my head and of course I watched that movie so many times, just like I watched Moonstruck over and over again. They just seem to hit home with me.
I cobbled together a little graphic to remember the line....
There are a lot of movie quotes that I like.
"Be like him or not. Up to you" James Garner to young boy in Murphy's Romance
~~~~~
Ronnie Cammerari: "I love you, Loretta"
Loretta Castorini's answer : "Snap out of it!" as she slaps Ronnie in Moonstruck
~~~~ Old Man:
La bella luna! The moon brings the woman to the man. Capice?
(If you grew up in NY or NJ you know how this goes.)
~~~~
“Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life – well, valuable, but small – and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven’t been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail .
~~~
"Emma: I'm in love for the first time in my life. Murphy: And I am in love for the last time." from Murphy's Romance
~~~
[about how many candles for his birthday cake] Emma: Okay, what is it? How old are you, Murphy? Murphy: Just set the damn thing on fire!
~~~
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh!’ he whispered. ‘Yes, Piglet?’ ‘Nothing,’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. ‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’ —The House at Pooh Corner
~~~
Finally the quote that is my life motto:
“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.” ― Vivian Greene
What is my life like? Well I live at the seashore and that's very cool. It's lovely. It's a privilege really and I do love it.
My home is very tiny. You know the kind of house with the old fashioned little closets with the 24
inch doors on them and room for 3 items on the rack? Yeah, that kind of house.
Getting dressed is a joke sometimes
but only sometimes
There is one bathroom that once accommodated 5 people, a small oddly laid out living room and 3 little bedrooms on a rather big piece of land surrounded by the bay, ocean and pine barren forests.
The other part of me is that I am over 85% disabled due to spinal problems. My spine is held together with titanium and I can't lift, twist or bend over but as a bionic person I CAN leap tall buildings in a single bound and stop speeding freight trains with one look.
I was in a wheel chair for a few years but about 4 years ago I had spinal surgery to fix my spine.
It only cost nearly 2 million dollars :).
I spent two months in a rehabilitation center to work on walking and standing up etc. and now I am a pro and you can't tell I am disabled at all when I walk.
But having a fused spine means when I drop something it stays dropped until someone rescues me. I
have reachers but they don't handle a lot of things. For books and larger items I lift them with a long handled dust pan. When I drop the reacher I have my own ways to pick it up with my feet. I am resourceful!
a tiny disaster
To look at me you would not know that I am disabled and that brings its own problems as people expect more than I can deliver. Dropping something in the stores can be devastatingly embarrassing as people look at me as if "Why doesn't she pick it up?"
I used to just turn red, but, now, I ask for help and most people are very happy to help me out.
It also means I can't get things off low shelves. At home I just pull things out and make a mess but you can't make messes in the store, they frown on that. ;)
Preppy barrel knot for shoes
Can't tie my shoes, so I use the preppy knot.
I can't vacuum a floor. I can't lift much over 5 lbs, and you would be astonished to know how many times you twist your body in a day. Even putting dishes from the sink to the counter requires a slight twist of the body. I have to completely turn my whole body to do it. Making a braid in the back of your hair requires a slight back bend I can't do. I can't get in and out of bed like you do either but its no big deal.
I can't reach things in the bottom cabinet and reachers just really don't solve the problem most of the time.
I make up ways of course but they don't always work out either and little catastrophes happen.
I sort of pitch my pots and pans into the cabinet.
A chair dragged over to the refrigerator helps me access my bottom freezer.
I can't put on my own socks and forget panty hose.. impossible! I do use a little tool for socks but most of the time I don't bother. Too much trouble.
I spend a lot of time in the day cleaning up my messes and dropped items and spend a lot of time doing things you take for granted.
To get my linens or clothing out I have to use a chair to reach the bottom drawers.
My bottom dresser drawers are pretty much useless to me.
But I survive and nicely too and my home is more orderly and clean than most able bodied people. It just takes me more time, that's all.
Able bodied people do not get the thrill and joy of finishing a job that took you an hour longer than most people only to have it all fall down on you and need to be done again! What fun! Well, not true really but it just seems it happens to me a lot.
I used to ice skate very well. I played baseball on a team throughout my earlier life. I danced for 18 years. I rode horses and did barrel racing. I was a sprinter and very fast too. I could do hurdles and used to leap over park benches on the way to school. I walked miles with my kids to and from school.
I built my own driveway, digging it in and leveling it and the sidewalk too and I built my big pond, no small feat. I loved the ocean and could surf and swim. Now I can't go into the surf as it's too rough for me. I was very athletic, very active.
One lady at physical therapy was crying and asked me what she was going to do now that her athletic life was over. I told her she'd have a whole new life open up for her with a lot of character building, patience learning and a good sense of humor coming her way. She will find other things to do.
As Pamela says, windows open up. I no longer wonder why people do or don't do things because I learned that you never know until you walk in their shoes!
This little cartoon is a joy for me since it shows my life in a nutshell and in an amusing way.
I am Ormi.. though I am not pink really and my nose is pretty small and my ears are not so floppy.
But trying to do somethings makes me look like Ormi or a contestant on the old show Beat the Clock.
You know how that went right? Or you've seen it on YouTube. There were old episodes on a cable channel that I found lots of fun.
"Contestant one, you have 60 seconds to lift this book and place it on the shelf using only your feet and you cannot twist or bend at all! NOW....GO!"
I thought you might enjoy this peek into my life. I laugh so hard when I see this because it is me! (only I am not as cute as Ormi)
Oh by the way, my insurance covered every single dollar of my surgery except for pain pills after I came home that cost me 40 Cents. Woo Hoo!
A new year is coming and the old year seems to have hurried by so quickly.
I believe this perception of time is due to the more leisurely life styles that people live today. We have less to do during a day and many more labor saving devices but they actually change our perception of time. Fast foods, quick service, instant gratification all serve to shorten your perception of the length of time.
painting by Penny Parker
When you do dishes by hand, hang out the laundry, and create all parts of a meal from scratch the day goes slower and you feel as if you have accomplished more.
I am glad I have a gas dryer right now, however, as it is 6° F or -14°C outside and hanging laundry in the freezing cold is not my idea of fun in any sense of the word! Before I had a dryer I would hang things inside in the cold..what a mess that was. Ugh.
I am joining withDebbie for Friday Foto Friends.If you'd like to join in sign up and get going. You will be glad you did. You don't need a lot of pictures.
My photos this week are all taken in Utah where I lived for a good part of my life.
Temple Square Salt Lake City
Established in the 1860's the ZCMI or Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institute was my favorite place to shop. It is now bought out by Macy's.
The Great Salt Lake. It feels slimey. When you get wet in it your clothing will stand up like concrete when it dries.
No fish, just brine shrimp in it. The island is Buffalo Island, home to herds of bison.
The lake is 1,700 square miles in area and part of the huge Lake Bonneville that once stretched all the way to California.
I am surprised that so many people have no idea where Utah is. It is bordered on the north by Wyoming and Idaho, it is west of Colorado, east of Nevada, north of Arizona and New Mexico.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures. They are all taken with a phone.
Wednesday is Betty from Photographing New Zealand's Wednesday Around the World linkup.
I am joining in and you really MUST go look at the photos from all over the beautiful world. They are truly wonderful!
Here is my contribution on life on the New Jersey Mid-Atlantic coastline ...
my beach at sunset
autumn trees at the marina
clear water
The marina: the cranes lift the boats out of the water for winter
Taking photos is something new to me really. But a relative said to me the other night, "Your face glows and lights up when you are taking photographs. I've never seen you so happy."
It's true. I get to be outside which I adore more than anything.
Adventure Time compliments of my dear friend Toni!
I am in the hospital today for some heart alterations that are needed. God willing I will be home tomorrow as it is an over night procedure.
In the meantime, here is the adventure. I hope you will join in.
I hope you will also take the time to read my post from yesterday. :)
The Sleepless Night
1. Not being able to sleep this one night a few years back
during Halloween, I twisted and turned in bed and turning toward the
hallway I saw that the Jack O'Lantern was still lit in the hall window. I was sure I blew the candle out. Oh well... better late than never.
2. Rising from my bed I decided to walk to the kitchen after blowing out the cancle and get a cup of hot Sleepy Time tea. The night was chilly and blustery outside, the kind of night you are happy to be warm and cozy in the house.
3. This is when I spotted a tall gnarly looking witch looking in my kitchen window! I was so startled I nearly screamed! I found myself shaking a bit. 4. I was afraid that if I went outside I might run into something dangerous. And when I heard scratching on the window I knew I didn't want to go out side at all. I wasn't really sure what to do. Being alone at night can be scary at times especially when you have a vivid imagination. I tiptoed over to the sliding glass door in the dining area and peered out of the drapes. The yard light was on now and I hoped I could see what or who was there. I could not see from this angle. I would have to go to the back laundry room door and look out of the door window, something I was dreading. Whatever it was would be right there as it is next to the kitchen window! I padded off to the laundry room and took a deep breath. "There is no help for it," I thought, "I must just do it! " And do it I did! And there stood the tall, gnarly fingered witch at my kitchen window! She consisted of an old mop I was throwing out and a dog cone that was going to be trashed too. I had stuck the "cone of shame" on the mop head to get it out of the way. You know those cones they give to dogs who mustn't scratch? Yup, one of those. Some witch. Ha! Typical of things around here. Her waving arms and bony fingers were provided compliments of the green ash tree that grew just off the patio. The moonlight and blustery wind gave an animated, spooky feel to the entire scene. The woods beyond the backyard were alive in the moonlight and I could hear the Barn Owl hooting at me from the trees. He was very amused by my antics I suspect.
Well, another catastrophe averted! Sigh.. I need some sleep and a life!
Lists of questions let bloggers learn about one another and also let you learn about yourself as you come up with answers to things you never thought about.
Marge put up this list and I am going to join in. It is great to have Marge back blogging!
Balsam Fir
1. Favorite smell:
Balsam Fir, Cedar. I like the smell of flowers, etc. I love the scent of the salt air and leaves on the ground in fall. There are so many scents that are wonderful and bring back memories and create good feeling, but over all the scent of Balsam and Cedar and the great outdoors are my favorite.
2. Last time you cried :
Earlier in the week 😭
Sometimes things get over whelming. I keep it to myself but sometimes tears are needed.
3. Favorite pizza?
My own home made with mushrooms, onion, red peppers, anything else I can pile on including cheddar cheese.
Black Eyed Susans
4. Favorite flower?
Black Eyed Susans. When I was a little girl we lived in a little brick apartment across from a park designed by the great Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Central Park in New York as well as other parks. He was the father of American landscape architecture. Leading up to the park there was a little field in back of our apartment complex with a stream and a little bridge. In the stream I picked water cress for my mother to make salad and the field was loaded with black eyed Susans. I loved how their happy little heads nodded in the breeze and the color is bright and sunfilled. I love to see crowds of them in gardens.
5. Did you go to college?
Yes I went to two of them: Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and Rutgers University in New Brusnwick, NJ.
6. Untie your shoes when taking them off? I can't tie my shoes since I can't bend. So, I do a "preppy tie" on my shoes and slip them on and off without tying or untying.
Preppy Tie
7. Roller coasters?
No, thank you. I don't like the idea of being whipped around like a rag doll. It is no longer even an option for me anyway.
8. Favorite ice cream?
For a brand I like the ice cream at Cow's in Canada. For flavor I like real Vanilla with the vanilla bean chips in it.
And for a Sundae I like Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, marshmallow sauce, peanuts and whipped cream.
In Pennsylvania they are called a 'CMP'
9. Favorite pass time? Make it 'times'. plural.
Blogging, painting,playing piano, learning, and being outdoors.
10. What drives you crazy?
Willful ignorance and closed minds.
Willful ignorance is the state and practice of ignoring any sensory input that appears to contradict one's inner model of reality. At heart, it is almost certainly driven by confirmation bias.
Willful ignorance differs from ordinary “ignorance“ — when someone is simply unaware of something — in that willfully ignorant people are fully aware of facts, resources and sources, but refuse to acknowledge them. Indeed, calling someone "ignorant" shouldn’t really be a pejorative, but intentional and willful ignorance is an entirely different matter. In practice though, the word "ignorance" has often come to mean "willful ignorance", and indeed, in many non-English languages, the word based on the same stem ("ignore") actually carries that meaning
11. What are you listening to?
a lawn mower somewhere in the neighborhood.
12. Favorite Color?
I can't think of only one favorite. I like color based on it's use. If it fits, it's fine but I really like vibrant, jewel colors best.
13. Tattoos?
I don't have any.
14. Piercing?
My ears are pierced but that's all.
15. Color of hair?
Blonde with some white here and there that makes my hair look frosted.
16. Color of eyes?
Green, same color as that of my Famous Anonymous Kid 💖.
Here is her eye, same as mine pretty much.
17. Favorite food to eat?
Fried foods: Fried Tomatoes, Fried potatoes, Fried Chicken, Fried Eggplant, etc.
I also love Greek and Mexican food.
18. Favorite drink?
Water ,tea, coffee. As for coffee, well, I really just like Coffee Mate powdered creamer with a tiny bit of coffee in it. For tea I am partial to strong Irish tea with milk in it.
20. Night owl or morning person?
Depends really and varies. I can be both.
21. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday.I love the beach sounds,the boat sounds, the sound of light planes over head, lawn mowers, etc.
22. Do you have a nickname?
In High School I was Angie.
Some of my friends called Chanala meaning little Hannah.
23. Pictures on your wall?
Yes in all rooms really. Here is the largest hanging over my piano. It is a lovely original by Leonid Afremov.
He uses a pallet knife to paint. The strokes on this impressionistic painting amaze me.
You can enlarge it to see more detail.
