My husband and I are headed out on a date, going to a wildlife refuge we’ve been to before (but not this year) since I told him I wanted to go to it for my birthday, and today’s weather (and possibility of crowds) looks better than Saturday’s.
Good morning! Those are beautiful, both the Rose’s and white horses.
I have Bible study in a little bit. I pulled a verse to memorize off of a Proverb a Day calendar only I changed from its NIV to the HCSB version.
“Anyone with a wise heart is called discerning, and pleasant speech increases learning.” Proverbs 16:21 I think I want to use that verse on a piece of artwork to give to Wesley for his academic office. Now I have to decide if it should be done in calligraphy, embroidery or other needlework, or painted. Any ideas, creative ones?
Sounds like a lovely outing, Cheryl. Looking forward to photos.
I still don’t have a good setup for Zoom on a computer but will try to be on my phone Zoom this evening. I will hold the phone in my hand and may be wobbly and not seen constantly. I hope that will be okay.
Morning! I love that photo up there. So stunningly beautiful in it’s simplicity and such a peaceful setting.
Janice calligraphy on parchment would seem to me to be fitting for an office. I do love that verse and your version actually rhymes 😊
Thank you, Nanyjill. That was why I chose it from the HCSB. The other version on the calendar reads, “The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.”
I haven’t used Zoom on the phone, Janice, but is there a feature on the phone that allows you to look at only the person talking? That might make it easier for you to see people.
What a cool photo. I’d like to have a view like that 🙂
This was discouraging to read this morning from World re free speech, tolerance for other opinions and how young journalists are becoming swept up in something that’s simply antithetical to the profession:
Nightingale took that photo from the back fence, looking towards our neighbors’ backyard. The fence is theirs, and the wild roses are ours. 🙂 (There is a tall wooden fence between the two yards a little further up along the property line, running up almost to the lane. But we have a great view of their back fields.)
The horses are Daffodil (the white one) and Jessie (the one peeking out of the stable). For several years, they had cows, too, until it actually became more expensive to raise them and have them butchered than to merely by their meat in a store. They had a couple goats for a while, as well as some pigs for a brief period. They had a couple turkeys, too, several years ago, and have raised chickens as well. Before Denise brought her horses back from their winter quarters, we would see a mama deer and a couple baby deer out in that field in the evenings.
I am disappointed I cannot be on the Zoom tonight. I will be teaching. Janice, I use Zoom on my phone quite often. Just look in the App store and download it.
AJ was talking about the loss of smell on the New page. That’s one of the physical exams I’ve been having during COVID.
I don’t know when I lost my sense of smell–I just realized last fall that maybe I have. Three ENT appointments and a test later, they don’t know why either. Doc is scheduling an MRI for next week for one last test and then it’s simply an unknown.
The curious thing about losing your sense of smell is you don’t realize it’s gone. In my case, it went gradually, though a 2012 blog post indicates it may have been missing that long ago.
These are the advantages:
1. When your sense of smell is compromised, food doesn’t taste as good, or much at all. As a result, I stop eating when I’m full because there’s no particular joy in eating. Texture, however, can be important.
1b. When I mentioned this yesterday at the doctor office, the tech said people go one of two ways: either eating less as mentioned above, or eating more trying to find the taste.
2. There’s no question about who is the designated driver. Since I can’t discern the difference in taste, I don’t bother to drink much, if anything, when I attended social gatherings in wine country.
3. Changing a dirty diaper isn’t a problem.
4. Neither are people who don’t regularly shower. Hmmmm. Maybe I should volunteer to work with some groups of people . . .
Part of the reason, as detailed in the post, I didn’t realize my sense of smell was compromised (I’m at about 80% gone) is because of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Poisonwood Bible. A terrible book I’d never recommend, but it had a line that has remained with me every since I read it some 15 years ago.
She relates how she always knew she had returned to the US from Africa because the smells went away; everything was antiseptic or clean-smelling, particularly the Atlanta airport.
(A theory I tested when I was in your town, Janice! LOL It’s true).
But, I’m a writer, so I’ve often stopped to get a sense of the smell so I can use it in sensory details while writing. For years I haven’t smelled a lot, but didn’t think much of it beyond, “Hm, I guess Barbara Kingsolver was right.)
This is a case of being careful what you read–because it may not necessarily be true!
Anyway, I’ll trust you on beautiful scents and only remember how much I loved plumeria, jasmine and hyacinths. Sigh.
I have the Zoom app on my phone. I use it to call in to church but don’t use the video feature. I have used the video with Wesley once.
I have just finished up on the Bible study/prayer call and posting prayer requests. We are in Revelation and in particular the section with the white horse. Great header today of all days. ♡ I think next week we will finish the book of Revelation. Not sure what else we may do.
Sadly, strong smelling plants for me are now asthma triggers. I loved the scent of lilacs and roses, but I can only catch a whiff now, because my lungs will start reacting with any length of exposure to blooms due to their pollen. I made that discovery several years ago, when we were given a lily at Easter, and I had an uncontrollable flare up. It only died away after the lily was put outside. Then, a poinsettia plant given at Christmas did the same thing. I think now my lungs see just about any pollen as an invader to be destroyed. The weird thing about it is when I get sick, my asthma symptoms dissipate. It is like my immune system becomes too preoccupied with a real disease to go around attacking harmless pollens and dust.
Roscuro, I had to get rid of potted plants when Wesley was young because of his allergies to mold. Did those plants have soil that may have had mold spores, too?
My sense of smell used to be quite acute, but I’ve noticed it getting less so as I age. I read that that is normal, though. Now I rely on Nightingale’s nose instead of my own to sniff food to see if it smells bad. (If it is really bad, I can tell, but if it’s only just going bad, I may not be able to tell.)
When I had that sinus infection for a month or more, I lost my sense of smell for a few weeks. (That is one of the possible symptoms/side effects of a sinus infection.) I only realized it when I sprayed a deodorizing spray we use in the bathroom that has a strong but pleasant scent. I sprayed it, and then realized that as strong as the scent is, I could not smell it.
I was alarmed by that, then concerned when my sense of smell did not seem to come back when the infection went away. But it did eventually return, for which I was grateful.
Nightingale’s best friend Stephanie had minor allergy symptoms for the many years she had her dog Jake. Then they got Janie as a puppy (they were her first owners), and her allergies kicked into high gear, where even with allergy meds, she couldn’t pet either dog without suffering for it.
Thinking that giving Janie away would solve the problem, she offered her to Nightingale, who as you know, took her. But Stephanie’s allergy symptoms stayed even after Janie was gone, so that she couldn’t pet Jake anymore (or at least not often). That was so sad for her, and for Jake. (Poor Jake recently died, and is sorely missed.)
Steph had actually named Janie just Jane. Nightingale said that the two dogs – Jake and Jane – wouldn’t know which one she was calling or talking to, but Steph insisted that the dogs would be able to tell the difference between the k and the n in their names. (We still doubt it. Stephanie is a wonderful young woman, but has some funny ideas about things sometimes.)
Nightingale didn’t want to keep her name as Jane, because it was too close to Kane, the name of her/our beloved American Bulldog who died in 2013. (And is still much missed – he was such a good, sweet doggie.) So I suggested adding the “ie” to the end, making her Janie, which Nightingale thought was a good idea.
Janice, we have potted plants in the house on a regular basis, but they don’t really produce pollen (fern, spider plants, Aloe Vera, etc.) and I don’t seem to have trouble with those. I notice it with pollen producing cut flowers too, whether it is a rose or lilac we picked, or a bought arrangement.
So, in my comment above, I referred to Stephanie as a “young woman”, and in a prayer request I just put on the prayer thread, I referred to Nightingale as a “young woman”. They are both 31, which to most of us is young, but I don’t think they would consider themselves as particularly “young women”. “Young women” to them is probably for women in their early to mid-20s. (Remember when turning 30 was considered a bad thing?)
Would you (meaning any of you) still refer to a woman in her 30s as “young”, or only as “a woman”?
Roscuro, as a woman in her 30s, what do you think? Do you still feel like a young woman?
I am blessed..or cursed…with a sharp sense of smell. Garlic can undo me. When husband would eat at the local Korean restaurant with his buddies I could smell him driving up the driveway! 😂 he would walk in the house and I told him I knew just where he was for lunch!
Time for Rainbow Gathering, is Nightingale in this year? The Idaho County Sheriff says, “They’re not a dangerous group. They’re just a bunch of naked old men smoking pot.” The Nimipu are concerned because one of the locations the Rainbow is considering is a traditional meadow for gathering camas root and a large crowd would be very hard on it.
Kizzie, I am several years past 31 now, enough to feel that 31 is young 😉 My mother says she has never felt her age. Physically, she does, but not mentally. I am the same way. Physically, I often, with my health problems, feel older than my three and a half decades, but mentally, I still have the mental curiosity and elasticity of youth. Sometimes I wonder if that is because I am not married and do not have children, and thus still carry around the dreams and hopes of a younger woman – although, the dream of having children is fading quickly, as my health problems increase. It is not that I have not matured, as I am different than I was in my 20s, both being more confident with who I am and also losing some of the impetus to make my mark on the world that twenty-somethings have. I will settle for making a small difference somewhere now, rather than changing the whole world; and I certainly could not have handled the weekends of working alone and all the independent problem solving that entails when I was younger.
I have mentioned before that I appear younger than my age, and how that can present a barrier to being taken seriously. As a Christian, reaching one’s 30’s had some significance to me, as Christ began his ministry then. To me, 30 is When mature adulthood begins, and one can begin to take one’s place amongst the elders (in both West Africa and Nunavut, due to the short average lifespan, and the early marriages/motherhood, one was an elder, quite probably with grand children, in one’s thirties). A younger elder, like Elihu, perhaps, but one’s life experience begins to be of some use in instructing others in one’s thirties.
When I was in Nunavut, I was 33, and a couple of the nurses who had a Catholic upbringing remarked I was “the age of our Lord”. They were being flippant, but to me it was sobering to reflect that Christ had finished his ministry at that age and I felt barely started. It has not been by choice it has taken me so long to ‘get started’. I was a precocious child, and I had the intellectual capacity to grasp complex concepts very early on, which made me assume that I should be able to accomplish everything I wanted to do by my late twenties. Poverty and poor health prevented that, and now I realize looking back that I lacked the necessary emotional maturity. One of the lessons the long delays in my career has been teaching me is that God’s timing is much different than mine. I have still a kind of fear, left over from my younger self but kept going because of my ill health, that I will burn out soon, which is why I still struggle with wanting to accomplish everything as soon as possible. I still have to reassure myself that to everything there is a season.
If I lost my sense of smell I might lose my appetite. So far my sense of smell remains strong. I am able to smell when things are done from cooking so sometimes I don’t have to use a timer. I was really happy when I discovered that little talent or skill or gift. Which would that be?
It may be different between men and women, but I thought of myself as a “young man” until nearly 40. The alternative in my mind was to be “middle-aged”. Is there a category in between?
Well the former receptionist who has been promoted to technology and agent services asked to meet with me today. She told me not to come to her classes and not to come in her office. Apparently last week I said something in class after I had made a couple of necessary comments about “would you like to take over your class again”. I meant it as I will shut up now and let you teach. She also knows that from time to time I need to speak to the woman who shares an office with her but the door will remain locked so she can get her work done.
I can’t walk around here on egg shells wondering when the next time I am going to offend her.
Kevin, perhaps simply a mature adult? But biologically, there is certainly a difference between men and women at thirty. The optimal childbearing years for women are between 16 and 26, not a issue men deal with. This difference in maturation is reflected in how men and women chose their life partners. Historically, while women married in their mid to late teens, men married in their late twenties to early thirties – this is still true in places like West Africa. Furthermore, while it is relatively common for an older man to marry a younger woman (even if the age difference is only a few years), it is relatively uncommon the other way around. Women typically mature sooner than men of the same age, and women also physically age quicker, although women, statistically, live longer.
I had a chuckle earlier today when I referred to a nephew as a young man and my wife reminded me that he’s about to turn 50. Okay, I haven’t seen him much in the last 20 years, what can I say?
I have a friend, my age, who started referring to us as “seniors” when we turned 55.
What!? Speak for yourself, I said.
Guess I’ve always though there’s a ‘young’ middle age (40 to maybe 50ish, early 50s) then a regular or older middle age (55-65 or maybe even 70 these days).
But yeah, 30 is young to me now, it wasn’t when I was turning 30. I remember thinking, “I’m no longer a young adult.”
“Senior” seems more 70ish and beyond to me.
Still working, I turned in 1 story but have another story to try to do and possibly a phone interview if it comes in.
I’m worried about the knee, it just doesn’t seem to be coming along that well, I will have to talk to the PT tomorrow when I go in for my appt.
I have the same issue with my cousins, but in the opposite direction. My eldest cousin is over 50 and is a grandfather, but I think of him as a peer, because he is my cousin. On the other hand, I see my Eldest Niece as more of a younger sibling than a child of the next generation. I am about an equal distance in age difference between the two of them.
Your OCRegister link on Facebook about isolating yourself if you travel to NY, NJ, or Conn. is cracking me up. This PA resident caught it in NJ. We should be more worried about them than they are of the rest of us. 🙂
Roscuro – You mentioned that the optimal childbearing years for women are between 16 and 26. YA once went on pro-abortion rant in which she said that the biggest cause of death for 16 year old girls worldwide is childbirth. Is that true?
I can imagine that in countries with a poor healthcare system, teen pregnancies and childbirth could be difficult and dangerous.
Mumsee – What did you mean by that? Nightingale is not an old man, and she doesn’t smoke pot (anymore – not since before she was pregnant with Boy). Or maybe they could use her experience taking care of old men? 😀
Will hopefully be able to see some of you in a bit at the Zoom. We were just having a thunderstorm, though, and our internet was out, so if that happens again, I either won’t be there or will rudely leave suddenly in the middle of it like last time. 😛
I just got a notice that the meeting has been ended by the host? Can I get back in somehow? I had walked into the kitchen and wasn’t on camera when Michelle let me in. Did I not respond in time or something?
My neighbor and I were blessed to see a doe with her newborn triplets tonight while we had our walk. One fawn was nursing while the other two were testing out their spindly little legs 😊
Roscuro, I too was the precocious child. I was more interested in conversation with adults than in playing with other children. (That the other children generally didn’t want me to play with them didn’t help. Vicious circle. I didn’t do things well like skipping rope because I didn’t get much practice, and because I didn’t do it well I was rarely welcome to join in.)
When I was 15, we were living in a community with no other teenagers. For friends, I could have gone “down” to 11 or 12 years old or “up” to 26 and 30, and I went up. (Actually, the most enduring relationship from those years–though it was a couple decades before I thought of her as a friend–was 50 years my senior.) So at 15 my best friend was 30, and she had a daughter who was 12 and who was a friend of my 14-year-old sister.
Well, I decided that 30 was the perfect age: old enough that everyone considers you an adult, but still young. So for 15 years I looked forward to being 30, and when I was turning 30 I asked friends to throw me a party. I did find out that there is really no age where there aren’t people who think you’re too young to have much useful to say. You’re always “a kid” to someone.
But I’ve enjoyed moving into more mature years that are a better fit with who I am. And I found it to be true a few years ago when my youngest brother made the observation that my family gets younger as we get older. Most of us were quite serious as children and young adults, but we have become more playful and lighthearted as we have aged.
So, just so I do not become complacent and think my life is normal….
Tonight I found a dead snake, chopped up, wrapped in newspaper, stuffed in a can in eighteen year olds bathroom. I was glad it was not a rattler or daughter could have had serious challenges. I suspect she found road kill and brought it in to throw at me similar to the dead owl and dead mouse but apparently overcame the urge. Perhaps a sign of maturity? It stinks, that is why I found it. So, I may not have made it to the zoom. That is my excuse and I am sticking with it.
Or is this normal and I missed it with most of the other children? My first four were known to bring home lizards or fish or seasnails but they were alive and stayed in aquariums for a while before being returned to their homes, alive.
I am having trouble sleeping tonight. Well, not only tonight — I’ve not slept well since Karen died. It’s not that I’m kept awake crying. For some reason, the times I’ve cried about her passing are only during the daytime — not at night — which is strange because, for me, things usually seem worse at night than in daylight.
Since Friday, I’m just wide awake when I should be sleeping. Tonight I decided to tell you about it. A little prayer would be welcome if you see this during the dark hours. Thanks.
I enjoyed the Zoom meeting tonight, and was glad my internet came back in before it, and waited until after the meeting was done to go back out again. And now it’s in again so I can talk to you fine sleeping folks. 🙂
Wandering Views 
Whose horses, Kizzie?
My husband and I are headed out on a date, going to a wildlife refuge we’ve been to before (but not this year) since I told him I wanted to go to it for my birthday, and today’s weather (and possibility of crowds) looks better than Saturday’s.
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I hope you have a nice time Cheryl.
Is it “Happy Birthday”?
Good morning everyone else.
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No, her birthday is this Sat. the 27th.
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Good morning! Those are beautiful, both the Rose’s and white horses.
I have Bible study in a little bit. I pulled a verse to memorize off of a Proverb a Day calendar only I changed from its NIV to the HCSB version.
“Anyone with a wise heart is called discerning, and pleasant speech increases learning.” Proverbs 16:21 I think I want to use that verse on a piece of artwork to give to Wesley for his academic office. Now I have to decide if it should be done in calligraphy, embroidery or other needlework, or painted. Any ideas, creative ones?
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Sounds like a lovely outing, Cheryl. Looking forward to photos.
I still don’t have a good setup for Zoom on a computer but will try to be on my phone Zoom this evening. I will hold the phone in my hand and may be wobbly and not seen constantly. I hope that will be okay.
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Morning! I love that photo up there. So stunningly beautiful in it’s simplicity and such a peaceful setting.
Janice calligraphy on parchment would seem to me to be fitting for an office. I do love that verse and your version actually rhymes 😊
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Thank you, Nanyjill. That was why I chose it from the HCSB. The other version on the calendar reads, “The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.”
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Janice- If you have a way to prop your phone that would help. Use a book, or a photo stand or plate holder, if you have one of those.
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Is that a view out your window, Kizzie?
I haven’t used Zoom on the phone, Janice, but is there a feature on the phone that allows you to look at only the person talking? That might make it easier for you to see people.
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What a cool photo. I’d like to have a view like that 🙂
This was discouraging to read this morning from World re free speech, tolerance for other opinions and how young journalists are becoming swept up in something that’s simply antithetical to the profession:
https://world.wng.org/2020/06/when_cancel_culture_comes_to_newsrooms
We’re seeing it where I work as well. Sad.
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Nightingale took that photo from the back fence, looking towards our neighbors’ backyard. The fence is theirs, and the wild roses are ours. 🙂 (There is a tall wooden fence between the two yards a little further up along the property line, running up almost to the lane. But we have a great view of their back fields.)
The horses are Daffodil (the white one) and Jessie (the one peeking out of the stable). For several years, they had cows, too, until it actually became more expensive to raise them and have them butchered than to merely by their meat in a store. They had a couple goats for a while, as well as some pigs for a brief period. They had a couple turkeys, too, several years ago, and have raised chickens as well. Before Denise brought her horses back from their winter quarters, we would see a mama deer and a couple baby deer out in that field in the evenings.
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Um, that should be that they “buy” their meat, not “by” their meat.
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Good morning!
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I am disappointed I cannot be on the Zoom tonight. I will be teaching. Janice, I use Zoom on my phone quite often. Just look in the App store and download it.
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AJ was talking about the loss of smell on the New page. That’s one of the physical exams I’ve been having during COVID.
I don’t know when I lost my sense of smell–I just realized last fall that maybe I have. Three ENT appointments and a test later, they don’t know why either. Doc is scheduling an MRI for next week for one last test and then it’s simply an unknown.
The curious thing about losing your sense of smell is you don’t realize it’s gone. In my case, it went gradually, though a 2012 blog post indicates it may have been missing that long ago.
These are the advantages:
1. When your sense of smell is compromised, food doesn’t taste as good, or much at all. As a result, I stop eating when I’m full because there’s no particular joy in eating. Texture, however, can be important.
1b. When I mentioned this yesterday at the doctor office, the tech said people go one of two ways: either eating less as mentioned above, or eating more trying to find the taste.
2. There’s no question about who is the designated driver. Since I can’t discern the difference in taste, I don’t bother to drink much, if anything, when I attended social gatherings in wine country.
3. Changing a dirty diaper isn’t a problem.
4. Neither are people who don’t regularly shower. Hmmmm. Maybe I should volunteer to work with some groups of people . . .
Part of the reason, as detailed in the post, I didn’t realize my sense of smell was compromised (I’m at about 80% gone) is because of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Poisonwood Bible. A terrible book I’d never recommend, but it had a line that has remained with me every since I read it some 15 years ago.
She relates how she always knew she had returned to the US from Africa because the smells went away; everything was antiseptic or clean-smelling, particularly the Atlanta airport.
(A theory I tested when I was in your town, Janice! LOL It’s true).
But, I’m a writer, so I’ve often stopped to get a sense of the smell so I can use it in sensory details while writing. For years I haven’t smelled a lot, but didn’t think much of it beyond, “Hm, I guess Barbara Kingsolver was right.)
This is a case of being careful what you read–because it may not necessarily be true!
Anyway, I’ll trust you on beautiful scents and only remember how much I loved plumeria, jasmine and hyacinths. Sigh.
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https://www.michelleule.com/2012/02/07/detailing-the-place-without-scent/
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I have the Zoom app on my phone. I use it to call in to church but don’t use the video feature. I have used the video with Wesley once.
I have just finished up on the Bible study/prayer call and posting prayer requests. We are in Revelation and in particular the section with the white horse. Great header today of all days. ♡ I think next week we will finish the book of Revelation. Not sure what else we may do.
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Sadly, strong smelling plants for me are now asthma triggers. I loved the scent of lilacs and roses, but I can only catch a whiff now, because my lungs will start reacting with any length of exposure to blooms due to their pollen. I made that discovery several years ago, when we were given a lily at Easter, and I had an uncontrollable flare up. It only died away after the lily was put outside. Then, a poinsettia plant given at Christmas did the same thing. I think now my lungs see just about any pollen as an invader to be destroyed. The weird thing about it is when I get sick, my asthma symptoms dissipate. It is like my immune system becomes too preoccupied with a real disease to go around attacking harmless pollens and dust.
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Roscuro, I had to get rid of potted plants when Wesley was young because of his allergies to mold. Did those plants have soil that may have had mold spores, too?
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My sense of smell used to be quite acute, but I’ve noticed it getting less so as I age. I read that that is normal, though. Now I rely on Nightingale’s nose instead of my own to sniff food to see if it smells bad. (If it is really bad, I can tell, but if it’s only just going bad, I may not be able to tell.)
When I had that sinus infection for a month or more, I lost my sense of smell for a few weeks. (That is one of the possible symptoms/side effects of a sinus infection.) I only realized it when I sprayed a deodorizing spray we use in the bathroom that has a strong but pleasant scent. I sprayed it, and then realized that as strong as the scent is, I could not smell it.
I was alarmed by that, then concerned when my sense of smell did not seem to come back when the infection went away. But it did eventually return, for which I was grateful.
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Nightingale’s best friend Stephanie had minor allergy symptoms for the many years she had her dog Jake. Then they got Janie as a puppy (they were her first owners), and her allergies kicked into high gear, where even with allergy meds, she couldn’t pet either dog without suffering for it.
Thinking that giving Janie away would solve the problem, she offered her to Nightingale, who as you know, took her. But Stephanie’s allergy symptoms stayed even after Janie was gone, so that she couldn’t pet Jake anymore (or at least not often). That was so sad for her, and for Jake. (Poor Jake recently died, and is sorely missed.)
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Steph had actually named Janie just Jane. Nightingale said that the two dogs – Jake and Jane – wouldn’t know which one she was calling or talking to, but Steph insisted that the dogs would be able to tell the difference between the k and the n in their names. (We still doubt it. Stephanie is a wonderful young woman, but has some funny ideas about things sometimes.)
Nightingale didn’t want to keep her name as Jane, because it was too close to Kane, the name of her/our beloved American Bulldog who died in 2013. (And is still much missed – he was such a good, sweet doggie.) So I suggested adding the “ie” to the end, making her Janie, which Nightingale thought was a good idea.
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Janice, we have potted plants in the house on a regular basis, but they don’t really produce pollen (fern, spider plants, Aloe Vera, etc.) and I don’t seem to have trouble with those. I notice it with pollen producing cut flowers too, whether it is a rose or lilac we picked, or a bought arrangement.
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So, in my comment above, I referred to Stephanie as a “young woman”, and in a prayer request I just put on the prayer thread, I referred to Nightingale as a “young woman”. They are both 31, which to most of us is young, but I don’t think they would consider themselves as particularly “young women”. “Young women” to them is probably for women in their early to mid-20s. (Remember when turning 30 was considered a bad thing?)
Would you (meaning any of you) still refer to a woman in her 30s as “young”, or only as “a woman”?
Roscuro, as a woman in her 30s, what do you think? Do you still feel like a young woman?
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I am blessed..or cursed…with a sharp sense of smell. Garlic can undo me. When husband would eat at the local Korean restaurant with his buddies I could smell him driving up the driveway! 😂 he would walk in the house and I told him I knew just where he was for lunch!
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Young.
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No Chas today?
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This morning.
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Young.
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Time for Rainbow Gathering, is Nightingale in this year? The Idaho County Sheriff says, “They’re not a dangerous group. They’re just a bunch of naked old men smoking pot.” The Nimipu are concerned because one of the locations the Rainbow is considering is a traditional meadow for gathering camas root and a large crowd would be very hard on it.
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Kizzie, I am several years past 31 now, enough to feel that 31 is young 😉 My mother says she has never felt her age. Physically, she does, but not mentally. I am the same way. Physically, I often, with my health problems, feel older than my three and a half decades, but mentally, I still have the mental curiosity and elasticity of youth. Sometimes I wonder if that is because I am not married and do not have children, and thus still carry around the dreams and hopes of a younger woman – although, the dream of having children is fading quickly, as my health problems increase. It is not that I have not matured, as I am different than I was in my 20s, both being more confident with who I am and also losing some of the impetus to make my mark on the world that twenty-somethings have. I will settle for making a small difference somewhere now, rather than changing the whole world; and I certainly could not have handled the weekends of working alone and all the independent problem solving that entails when I was younger.
I have mentioned before that I appear younger than my age, and how that can present a barrier to being taken seriously. As a Christian, reaching one’s 30’s had some significance to me, as Christ began his ministry then. To me, 30 is When mature adulthood begins, and one can begin to take one’s place amongst the elders (in both West Africa and Nunavut, due to the short average lifespan, and the early marriages/motherhood, one was an elder, quite probably with grand children, in one’s thirties). A younger elder, like Elihu, perhaps, but one’s life experience begins to be of some use in instructing others in one’s thirties.
When I was in Nunavut, I was 33, and a couple of the nurses who had a Catholic upbringing remarked I was “the age of our Lord”. They were being flippant, but to me it was sobering to reflect that Christ had finished his ministry at that age and I felt barely started. It has not been by choice it has taken me so long to ‘get started’. I was a precocious child, and I had the intellectual capacity to grasp complex concepts very early on, which made me assume that I should be able to accomplish everything I wanted to do by my late twenties. Poverty and poor health prevented that, and now I realize looking back that I lacked the necessary emotional maturity. One of the lessons the long delays in my career has been teaching me is that God’s timing is much different than mine. I have still a kind of fear, left over from my younger self but kept going because of my ill health, that I will burn out soon, which is why I still struggle with wanting to accomplish everything as soon as possible. I still have to reassure myself that to everything there is a season.
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If I lost my sense of smell I might lose my appetite. So far my sense of smell remains strong. I am able to smell when things are done from cooking so sometimes I don’t have to use a timer. I was really happy when I discovered that little talent or skill or gift. Which would that be?
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It may be different between men and women, but I thought of myself as a “young man” until nearly 40. The alternative in my mind was to be “middle-aged”. Is there a category in between?
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Well the former receptionist who has been promoted to technology and agent services asked to meet with me today. She told me not to come to her classes and not to come in her office. Apparently last week I said something in class after I had made a couple of necessary comments about “would you like to take over your class again”. I meant it as I will shut up now and let you teach. She also knows that from time to time I need to speak to the woman who shares an office with her but the door will remain locked so she can get her work done.
I can’t walk around here on egg shells wondering when the next time I am going to offend her.
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Kevin, perhaps simply a mature adult? But biologically, there is certainly a difference between men and women at thirty. The optimal childbearing years for women are between 16 and 26, not a issue men deal with. This difference in maturation is reflected in how men and women chose their life partners. Historically, while women married in their mid to late teens, men married in their late twenties to early thirties – this is still true in places like West Africa. Furthermore, while it is relatively common for an older man to marry a younger woman (even if the age difference is only a few years), it is relatively uncommon the other way around. Women typically mature sooner than men of the same age, and women also physically age quicker, although women, statistically, live longer.
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I had a chuckle earlier today when I referred to a nephew as a young man and my wife reminded me that he’s about to turn 50. Okay, I haven’t seen him much in the last 20 years, what can I say?
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I have a friend, my age, who started referring to us as “seniors” when we turned 55.
What!? Speak for yourself, I said.
Guess I’ve always though there’s a ‘young’ middle age (40 to maybe 50ish, early 50s) then a regular or older middle age (55-65 or maybe even 70 these days).
But yeah, 30 is young to me now, it wasn’t when I was turning 30. I remember thinking, “I’m no longer a young adult.”
“Senior” seems more 70ish and beyond to me.
Still working, I turned in 1 story but have another story to try to do and possibly a phone interview if it comes in.
I’m worried about the knee, it just doesn’t seem to be coming along that well, I will have to talk to the PT tomorrow when I go in for my appt.
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I have the same issue with my cousins, but in the opposite direction. My eldest cousin is over 50 and is a grandfather, but I think of him as a peer, because he is my cousin. On the other hand, I see my Eldest Niece as more of a younger sibling than a child of the next generation. I am about an equal distance in age difference between the two of them.
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DJ,
Your OCRegister link on Facebook about isolating yourself if you travel to NY, NJ, or Conn. is cracking me up. This PA resident caught it in NJ. We should be more worried about them than they are of the rest of us. 🙂
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Praise God! Wesley got the adjunct position teaching the Great Texts at Baylor.
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A blessing indeed Janice!! So thankful with you and Wesley!! ❤️
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Roscuro – You mentioned that the optimal childbearing years for women are between 16 and 26. YA once went on pro-abortion rant in which she said that the biggest cause of death for 16 year old girls worldwide is childbirth. Is that true?
I can imagine that in countries with a poor healthcare system, teen pregnancies and childbirth could be difficult and dangerous.
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Janice – Yay for Wesley!
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Mumsee – What did you mean by that? Nightingale is not an old man, and she doesn’t smoke pot (anymore – not since before she was pregnant with Boy). Or maybe they could use her experience taking care of old men? 😀
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Will hopefully be able to see some of you in a bit at the Zoom. We were just having a thunderstorm, though, and our internet was out, so if that happens again, I either won’t be there or will rudely leave suddenly in the middle of it like last time. 😛
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I just got a notice that the meeting has been ended by the host? Can I get back in somehow? I had walked into the kitchen and wasn’t on camera when Michelle let me in. Did I not respond in time or something?
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I thought it didn’t start until 8:15. I’ll be there soon.
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Concerned about Chas. 😦
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The hymn “This is my Father’s World” came to mind today, especially the verse:
“And though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.”
With all the turmoil due to pandemic, riots, and a coming vicious political season, it’s good to remember Who is in charge.
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Oh, Chas was here this morning. That’s good. I thought he hadn’t checked in yet.
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Kizzie, I thought Nightingale or Chickadee wanted to go to the gathering a few years ago.
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My neighbor and I were blessed to see a doe with her newborn triplets tonight while we had our walk. One fawn was nursing while the other two were testing out their spindly little legs 😊
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Roscuro, I too was the precocious child. I was more interested in conversation with adults than in playing with other children. (That the other children generally didn’t want me to play with them didn’t help. Vicious circle. I didn’t do things well like skipping rope because I didn’t get much practice, and because I didn’t do it well I was rarely welcome to join in.)
When I was 15, we were living in a community with no other teenagers. For friends, I could have gone “down” to 11 or 12 years old or “up” to 26 and 30, and I went up. (Actually, the most enduring relationship from those years–though it was a couple decades before I thought of her as a friend–was 50 years my senior.) So at 15 my best friend was 30, and she had a daughter who was 12 and who was a friend of my 14-year-old sister.
Well, I decided that 30 was the perfect age: old enough that everyone considers you an adult, but still young. So for 15 years I looked forward to being 30, and when I was turning 30 I asked friends to throw me a party. I did find out that there is really no age where there aren’t people who think you’re too young to have much useful to say. You’re always “a kid” to someone.
But I’ve enjoyed moving into more mature years that are a better fit with who I am. And I found it to be true a few years ago when my youngest brother made the observation that my family gets younger as we get older. Most of us were quite serious as children and young adults, but we have become more playful and lighthearted as we have aged.
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So, just so I do not become complacent and think my life is normal….
Tonight I found a dead snake, chopped up, wrapped in newspaper, stuffed in a can in eighteen year olds bathroom. I was glad it was not a rattler or daughter could have had serious challenges. I suspect she found road kill and brought it in to throw at me similar to the dead owl and dead mouse but apparently overcame the urge. Perhaps a sign of maturity? It stinks, that is why I found it. So, I may not have made it to the zoom. That is my excuse and I am sticking with it.
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Or is this normal and I missed it with most of the other children? My first four were known to bring home lizards or fish or seasnails but they were alive and stayed in aquariums for a while before being returned to their homes, alive.
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fifty seven
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I am having trouble sleeping tonight. Well, not only tonight — I’ve not slept well since Karen died. It’s not that I’m kept awake crying. For some reason, the times I’ve cried about her passing are only during the daytime — not at night — which is strange because, for me, things usually seem worse at night than in daylight.
Since Friday, I’m just wide awake when I should be sleeping. Tonight I decided to tell you about it. A little prayer would be welcome if you see this during the dark hours. Thanks.
I enjoyed the Zoom meeting tonight, and was glad my internet came back in before it, and waited until after the meeting was done to go back out again. And now it’s in again so I can talk to you fine sleeping folks. 🙂
Good night, wanderers.
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