seen and unseen...

 Once again thank you to my west coast brother.  Today is "National Sea Serpent Day."  I've never seen a sea serpent although it rained hard enough for a while yesterday that I wouldn't have been surprised to see one slither by.  I have been to Loch Ness but I didn't see Nessie.  I have also been to Lapland in the far north of Finland and to Alaska but have yet to see the northern lights.  But thinking about things I haven't seen got me thinking about the many things I have seen.  I have seen kangaroos hopping around in the Australian outback from a hot air balloon and the snow covered eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range at sunrise.  Quite possibly my favorite sight ever.  I have seen the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, Carlsbad Caverns, organ pipe cactus, many national parks, Venice, the David in Florence, and the Sistine Chapel. I had a beautifully clear view of the Alps on one flight.  And so much more, so who needs an old sea serpent anyway?  In September my spouse and I are taking a driving trip through the north west and coming home through Canada.  I'm certain I will add a great many new  visual memories to my mental collection.  Also, no doubt, a great many more pictures to my phone/camera.  Can't wait to get on the road again.

the ad that wasn't...

 Today I should have become a TV star. Well, maybe not a star exactly, but I could have been on TV.  I was asked to 'act' in a commercial for a senior residential community.  A director I've worked with in some stage productions showed the ad company my picture and they liked it. Mind you this ad is for a senior living community so the white hair and wrinkles probably helped.  And I was going to get paid for this, so I would be a pro. It all sounded like great fun.  It was one of these ads where there are people miming in different scenes while an unseen narrator touts the wonderful services of this particular facility.  I was to be one half of a happy couple sitting on a couch drinking coffee, by myself getting my hair done at their salon, strolling through the grounds with my 'spouse', the two of us sitting at an outdoor table laughing and talking with another couple, and, in the final scene, greeting our children and grandchildren when they came to visit.  I had diligently followed all of the preliminary instructions, which mainly consisted of having  enough appropriate wardrobe changes for each scene, and making sure I knew where to meet and at what time.  I was so ready, but, alas, yesterday I received an email telling me (and my co-actor) that the filming was postponed because one of the crew has COVID.  As it happened, it also poured rain this afternoon.  A future filming time to be determined.  Stay tuned. 

glass half full???

 I'm pretty sure that I have now reached the age of invisibility.  I have been told that it happens to older white haired people and it would seem that it's so.  Today I picked up my new pair of glasses.  Admittedly they are not quite as distinctive as my previous pair.  Over the last three years, I've received several compliments on those glasses.  The ones my daughter helped me pick out.  She had to work this year. One waitress even told me that I had a nice vibe going with those glasses.  After I picked up my new glasses I went to a gathering of the yarn group I belong to.  I was running a little late but everyone greeted me as I walked in and then we all settled down to conversation while we worked on our various projects.  Not one person said "Hey, you got new glasses." or anything similar.  Even my wonder spouse wasn't wowed when I walked in the door.  Ah well.  On the positive side, I can see better and am even able to read the fine print with my new glasses.  I am not good at selfies but here is a look at my new glasses in case you're curious.  Woops, I promise you that I took a selfie but it refuses to be transferred to this computer.  Invisibility strikes again.

no kidding

 Today, again according to my west coast brother, is "American Family Day" and "Hooray for Kids Day."  Since he raises goats, I'm not sure which kind of kids he's referring to, but, for the sake of this blog, I'll assume we're talking about people here.  My spouse and I have fairly average American families - two children each, but, because of those kids we are celebrating, the families, now combined, have grown and grown and grown.  Between us we have four children, four children-in-law, ten grandchildren (ranging in age from 7 to 24), two significant others of grandchildren, two siblings, one sibling-in-law, three close cousins, multiple second and third cousins, three nieces, three nephews, four great-nephews, two great-nieces, one niece-in-law,  and three nephews-in-law.  I think that's a pretty amazing American family.  Of course I'm a little prejudiced, but I think they are all extremely good looking and brilliant.  They obviously take after us.  Since today is also "National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day" I shall indulge in one with milk to celebrate my wonderful family. 

it's taxing...

 First, my west coast brother informed me that today is "Tax Payer Appreciation Day."  Then he suggested some fun ways to celebrate this special day including raising the withholding on your pay check and writing to your Congressperson to tell them that you think they're doing a great job spending our money.  Ha ha ha ha ha! I really do appreciate tax payers since it's one of the largest groups I belong to.  It's a really big club, nationally and internationally.  I visited in Finland once with a tour group.  While in Helsinki, we were told about all the wonderful things their government provided including free education for everyone kindergarten through college and good health insurance.  They also told us that the tax rate was 40%.  Everything comes with a price one way or another.  During the years that I was self employed as a real estate broker, my first husband did our taxes and was scrupulously careful to be sure we completed the forms correctly.  We really didn't want to be audited, and we never were.  One year my husband told me that I should learn to do my taxes myself in case anything ever happened to him.  I told him that if that day ever came, I would gather up all my paperwork and take it to H&R Block, and as it happened, that's exactly what I did.  Still no audits.  My current spouse has told me that his company was audited once.  The outcome of that audit was that the IRS owed them $5 and gave them some good tips on how to save a little in taxes.  I guess those IRS guys aren't all meanies.  

If you really don't want to think about taxes, and who can blame you, it's also "National Watermelon Day." A fun food to eat and fun to play with.  You might organize a seed spitting contest to take your mind off of those inevitable tax bills.  

what a coincidence....

Yesterday I reminisced about Crayola crayons and my youthful enjoyment of them.  Now today, according to my west coast brother, is "National Coloring Book Day."  What an excellent thing to celebrate. I spent many happy hours as a child coloring in coloring books. I especially liked the ones that told a story and took great pleasure in the fact that I could stay within the lines better than my two-year younger brother.  Sadly, if I crowed too much about it, he would break one of my crayons in retaliation.  My west coast brother, who was 10 years younger, simply tried to eat them.  Luckily, even back then they were non-toxic.  For many happy years I enjoyed coloring within the lines as well as creating my own sketches and other 'works of art.'  When I got to college I majored in Art Education. During those years (in the sixties) a lot of emphasis was put on abstract art and we were taught that, as future art teachers, we should be aware that coloring books were bad.  They stifled creativity.  Well maybe, but over the years I've come to realize that there is a lot of satisfaction in finishing a page in a coloring book.  A friend of mine, whom I have traveled with several times, always had with her a small book of intricate designs, and she would pass the time coloring a page while we waited for a flight.  It seems that coloring books are quite popular with adults as well as children.  As for me, I seldom color in a coloring book these days.  I would rather do my own thing.  But when I get that box of crayons that I blogged about yesterday, I might just give it another try.  

color me nostalgic...

 Today my spouse and I huddled in front of his computer to order some birthday gifts for our soon-to-be seven year old granddaughter.  It's the 21st century equivalent of going to the mall.  We found several things we think she will like and arranged for them to be shipped to her home in Wisconsin.  One of the items was a box of Crayola colored pencils with retractable tips.  There certainly wasn't anything like them when I was a child, but the familiar green and yellow design on the box reminded me forcefully of the crayons of my youth.  Crayola crayons were definitely the best when I was in elementary school while Prang made the best water colors.  Everybody knew these truths.  Every fall, before the start of the school year (it had the decency to start after Labor Day in those years) we assembled our school supplies for the year - yellow number 2 pencils, an eraser, a ruler, a compass, a protractor, scissors and (even up to eighth grade) a fine new box of Crayola Crayons.  Depending on our family's economic situation each year, it might be a box of 16 crayons, or it might, wonder of wonders, be a big square box of 64 different colors.  I did love those crayons, standing like little soldiers in their perfect rows with all of their points beautifully untouched.  Of course that perfection couldn't last but it was a joy to use those new crayons.  One of my best school memories is of my third and fourth grade teacher, Mr. Sherman. Not because he was a particularly great teacher.  I remember being easily distracted from whatever he was teaching by watching his Adams apple bob up and down.  Think Ichabod Crane.  But his one saving grace was that, after lunch every day, he would dim the lights in the classroom and read to us for a half hour.  While he read we could just listen or we could color quietly.  Reading and art, two of my favorite things, combined for a blissful half hour every day.  Happily, i still love to read and I still love to create art.  I think I'll go out and buy a box of crayons tomorrow, and while I'm at it I'll buy some to contribute to the school supplies drives.  Maybe it will help someone else build colorful memories.