grow older better

Category: human interest

  • Tiredness – Thy Name Is Puppy

    Tova the puppyWhy is a new puppy so tiring?

    Let me count the ways 

    Mostly she sleeps all night now but I am still tired every day.

    Why? When she is awake she either wants me to play with her, or she has to go out , or she runs around the house and I have to follow her to make sure she doesn’t pee or poop where she’s not supposed to.

    She is learning to run to the door or make noises when she does have to go out – but she has enough “mistakes” that I have to keep an eye on her.

    Also,  I have to watch her outside to because of where I live [on the water.]

    I’ve blocked off a lot of the deck with large containers of plants to make sure she can’t go to parts of the deck I can’t easily see from inside. But even so, there are ways that she could slip off because the decks are a bit slippery right now and as she’s a puppy – she doesn’t have that much control over her body. When she runs she can’t always stop on that proverbial dime.

    Soon Tova will be more adult sized [with good manners] and I’ll look back on these days nostalgically [but a lot less tired.]

    And maybe I’ll get the work projects done that need doing?

    Comments? Thanks. 

  • Happy New Year; Happy New Puppy

    Tova meets the outdoor plants

    As a start to my new year –

    I have a new puppy!

     

    So happy new year to all of you and a hope-it’s-not-a-very-tiring new year to me 

    It’s been almost 22 years since I had a new puppy.

    That’s when my son was 13 and it was a birthday present for him so I not only had him to help me take care of a dog I also had another older dog who acted as a mentor. 

    This is a new thing for me.

    • I am 22 years older
    • With a new puppy
    • in Portland [it rains a lot]
    • In a floating home 

    I won’t bore you with puppy pictures and puppy tales all the time-  but I will occasionally post things about how having a new puppy is both a good idea for someone who is aging and also some of the pitfalls – like it’s hard to do some things and this will be a constant until we mesh schedules [which will happen soon as she is so smart]

    Meet Tova!! My 2 month old yellow lab…..


  • Letting Your Hair Grow

    Growing Hair

    Let it fly in the breezehair
    And get caught in the trees
    Give a home to the fleas in my hair
    A home for fleas
    A hive for bees
    A nest for birds
    There ain’t no words
    For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder
    Of my…

    Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
    Flow it, show it
    Long as God can grow it
    My hair

    [from the musical Hair]

     

    When I was in my early 20s – I let my hair grow and grow and grow.

    My mother used to tell me “grown-ups don’t have long hair.”  

    She also used to tell me I looked like an Indian – which was funny because she’s the one who told me that a secret of my father’s side of the family was that we have American Indian heritage.

    Ah – memories. That hair growth was when I was in graduate school, it was the 60s and everyone had long hair – down to their backside, waist or wherever it wound up hanging down to.

    So there I was, a grown up [of sorts] with long hair – and I let it stay long well into the 70s because I like my hair… and I had lots of earrings that I liked with long hair.

    But – long hair can be a hassle. It gets in your face, nose, food, and eyes…. so one very hot summer day when my scalp felt itchy, I went and got it all cut off…..

    And shortish it stayed until I was in law school…

    But then I cut it off again…and kept it medium length or very short. For years.

    Until I decided I wanted to let it grow.

    No real reason except that those earrings I like with long hair kept looking at me – and I had kept them.

    Alas – I’d forgotten what growing your hair out looks like….it goes through many ugly stages…so at first I kept trimming it to keep it out of my face and eyes…but then, of course, it grew back into my face and eyes..

    Finally I bit the proverbial bullet and decided ugly, straggly or whatever – I was going to let it grow until it was long – and then decide what to do

    It’s now long, it’s straggly, and it’s still growing……

    How have you decided about your hair?

    Can grown-ups really have long hair?

    Is there any particular thing in your life that has led to long or short hair?

    Thanks for the comments.

     

     

     

  • The “New” Empty Nest

    empty-nest

    Many parents know what an empty nest is……

    But did you know it can happen more than once or twice?

     

     

     

    The first time you child leaves home, be it for college, the military, or just finding their own place – you can experience empty nest.

     

    Your experience overall depends on how many children you have and whether or not some are still home…but one day all the kids are gone – they flew away – and the nest is empty!

     

    This experience, I have found, also comes about when a pet dies and you are suddenly petless…but that empty nest, can, in time can be refilled with another pet, or two, or three.

     

    You can not refill the nest with more babies, toddlers, teenagers or adults…

     

    unless…..

     

    Your grown child or children come home to live with you and bring their family with them.

     

    Suddenly, your nest is very full!

     

    But then….as their life circumstances change – they leave!

     

    And that is the "new" empty nest….when your now adults child who has lived with you for a long stretch, flies off again!

     

    The economy has made this type of empty nest more prevalent – as more adult children are returning to the nest for varying lengths of time..

     

    Your experience overall depends on how many children you have and whether or not some are still home…but one day all the kids are gone – they flew away – and the nest is empty!

     

    This experience, I have found, also comes about when a pet dies and you are suddenly petless…but that empty nest, can, in time can be refilled with another pet, or two, or three.

     

    You can not refill the nest with more babies, toddlers, teenagers or adults…

     

    unless…..

     

    Your grown child or children come home to live with you and bring their family with them.

     

    Suddenly, your nest is very full!

    But then….as their life circumstances change – they leave!

     

    And that is the new empty nest….when your now adults child who has lived with you for a long stretch, flies off again!

     

    The economy has made this syndrome more prevalent as more adults children are returning to the nest for varying lengths of time..

     

    ambivalence-about-kids-leaving-home

    But, like most everything in life, each change has its ups and downs….

     

    There is an ambivalence about having an empty nest….you miss the kids like mad…but you have more space, time and  energy…because no matter what age your kids are, when they live with you, they take energy..

     

    In future posts, I'll write about what I am doing with my bursts of energy – but in the meanwhile…

    Do you have thoughts? Comments?

    Thank you…..

  • Infographic: Inactivity Is Bad

    sitting for 3 hours is bad for you

    This is a follow up, in infogrpahic format, to the post on Inactivty is bad…

    These images, as fun as they are to make, still take way way too much time…

    but we are never too old to learn – right???    

     

    comments? thank you.