Making a Statement

My retired neighbors are both in their mid 60s. He has long gray hair and a white bear, always neatly trimmed. He used to have a gold stud in one ear, but now sports a diamond in each lobe. Of course, I am not sure that they are real diamonds, but they do shine. In any event, I assume he is trying to make a statement: Look at me, I may be aging but I can still look cool!

            Women make statements all the time with their jewelry, their hairstyles and the clothes they chose to wear. I think it’s about time men did the same. Of course, I don’t know that all men of a certain age would be comfortable with wearing jewelry in their ears! Nor would all men over 50 be willing to let their gray hair grow and then tie it in a pony tail. Yet, it is interesting that some of them want to make a statement which attests to the fact that they don’t see the need to follow the crowd.

            A nice young man of my acquaintance, i.e. my gorgeous grandson (of course, I’m not prejudiced!) had nice shoulder length blond hair. One day he decided to make a statement by shaving his head to donate the hair for a wig for a cancer patient. When I asked him what had prompted him to do that, he said that he knew a girl who was diagnosed with cancer and he wanted to show that he cared. Now, that’s what I call making an impressive statement.

             I’ve always admired people who don’t follow the crowd, who are happy doing their own thing. A woman I know who just marked her 86^th birthday celebrated by buying a new car. I love driving, she said, never had an accident and I don’t have any physical problem preventing me from having a driver’s license, so why not? Why not, indeed. She made a statement that age is not a reason to stop living.

            That should be everyone’s mantra!

           

           

 

Stop Talking

Stop talking  -- those were the words uttered by the driver of the car in which I was a passenger recently. The driver was attempting to set a different route than the one the GPS marked but the device did not accept the change. It kept selling the usual route while the driver knew that part of that road was closed to traffic. The driver lost patience and essentially told the GPS to shut up.

                That’s where we are now, arguing with devices as more and more of them talk to us.

                Is that something we really need? I mean, if my new clothes dryer tells me that my load will be totally dry in two minutes ten seconds, how much difference does that make in my life? I see it as simply annoying.

                And don’t get me started about the likes of Alexa – let’s face it these devices are spies reporting to their masters what goes on in households all over the land so that ads can be targeted and thus be more efficient. These things are sold as being essential because they can provide information but they are far from essential!  I know many people who have gotten rid of them because they invade on privacy which we are slowly losing.

                But millions of “connected” home gadgets with voice recognition capability – for lights, doors, stoves, refrigerators, etc. -- will be sold this year alone. We no longer need to move a finger  we simply tell a machine to do things for us. Some will say that it frees us for more meaningful activities, but does it?

Does it simply mean that robots are getting ready to take over the world as we know it? As employers are bemoaning the fact that they have trouble finding workers it looks like we’re running out of human beings. As a result will automation become more and more part of our lives? Could such devices prove to be smarter than us humans? 

I doubt that automation will mean that machines can make decisions like humans do. However, we may be surprised if they simply learn to ignore us because we’ve told them to stop talking once too many times!

 

FOR FUN

 

Invest in Our Planet

 

Every year April 22^nd is Earth Day, a time when the human race is urged to examine how it can modify its action faced with the degradation of the planet. Earth Day had a modest beginning in 1970 when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin invited students to implement projects to sensitize their communities to the needs of the environment. Since then, the warnings from scientists have become more and more dire as our actions have brought us closer to a point of irreversibility. But there is reason to be optimistic because we are changing our ways and becoming more and more engaged in our efforts to heal the earth.

However older folks have always been proud to point out that they were green before it became a fashionable modern-day virtue. Little was thrown away; things were reused, recycled. But with after-war posterity life changed.  Cars became long and pink as gas was selling for about 25 cents a gallon. So we fell in love with automobiles not thinking about their growing impact on the air we breathe.

As in the past, this year Earth Day events will be taking place across the globe with the theme “Invest in Our Planet.” If you are keen to get involved without attending an official event, you might do your part in the following ways:

1.     Instead of driving, cycle or take public transport

2.     Avoid one-use  disposable cups

3.     Make sure to recycle

4.     Go paperless as much as you can

5.     Take reusable bags to the store for your purchases

6.     Plant a tree

7.     Go meat or dairy free at least once a week

8.     Carry a reusable water bottle

9.     Grow your own fruit and vegetables.

10.                        Buy local produce

Each of us should give priority to “greening” our world.  We should be involved in our respective communities and pressure decision makers so that economic development includes environmental protection.                                            Every day should Earth Day.

            

 

Gratitude

The other day my sister was bemoaning how aging has been affecting her body. However, she quickly admitted how fortunate she was compared to the poor people of Ukraine.

            Indeed! We all are.   

            We live a world away from war whose images we see daily and which, it seems, are becoming ever so more disturbing. In a recent interview, a Ukrainian woman asked a simple question: Why are they doing this to us? We haven’t done anything.

            I think most of us wonder the same thing. Yet there is little we can do, is there? We certainly can’t stop Russia in its demented quest.  We have to rely on our leaders to do all they can to stop the carnage.

            The whole scenario brings to mind the eternal question: Why do some people have such a hard time in this life while others simply cruise along with few bumps in the road. It surely cannot be karma since it would have to be aimed at the whole country, which seems impossible.  One thing is certain: we will never know the answer--people simply have to go along with what they have to face, good or bad.

            I wish I could change Ukraine’s current destiny, but I can help those poor people with monetary donations and support for refugees. I also believe in putting good vibes into the Universe by prayer so the conflict can come to an end.

            However, most of all, I am filled with gratitude to be living in peace in this part of the world. I am truly blessed.

 

 

SPRING IS HERE

 

It may not seem so but spring is just around the corner even if winter is still kicking up a fuss. Every spring I find it quite amazing how fast things change. Just a few weeks ago we had snow that, fortunately, quickly melted. That gave way to what I call the brown season, the dull almost lifeless look of nature before the sun has a chance to warm things up.

All that newness makes us aware of the need to renew ourselves. As spring springs into action, we also feel the need to take stock, to change, to clean. As with most people, at this time of year I clean out my closets. The main idea, of course, is to put warmer things in the back and bring lighter clothes to the front, but it’s also clean up time—what to keep and what to recycle. I don’t know about you, but I always have problems deciding what to eliminate. Some years, it’s tempting to want to replace every piece of clothing we own by taking a match to all of it.

When it comes to evaluating the clothes in our closets, some of us hang on to things we shouldn’t. I mean, is it necessary to keep a suit which has become hopelessly out of style? This is one area where I have a problem. I tend to keep clothes that were expensive and that I liked a lot even if the style really dates me. I suppose I keep hoping they’ll be back in fashion some time soon. It becomes sort of a crutch to hang on to what was.

But all is not lost. I have found a lady who loves to sew and who can do wonderful “adjustments.” A lovely dressy top with large padded shoulders (remember those?) I bought ages ago is now an exquisite little jacket (sans shoulder pads) thanks to this lady’s talent.

When it comes to evaluating a wardrobe, I believe it’s important to take the time to check out what’s new in the stores. Notwithstanding the fact that sleeveless is less and less appealing to many of us, not everything is as good or better than what we already own, but change does a body (and a spirit) good. Sometimes buying a new top that can go with the skirts or pants we already own can be a mood booster. So can a new accessory in the season’s hottest shade.

Like the flowers, spring should be all about new hues. That goes for men as well as women.

 

 

  New Normal

When my computer acts up I call a fellow who has been taking care of it when needed. I didn’t have any reason to reach out to him for a while until a few days ago. He agreed to come over and see what he could do to improve my desktop unit, but I had to ask him: “Are you vaccinated?”  He was and he even had had a booster shot, so I gave him the green light.

            The new normal for me at the moment is to make certain I’m keeping safe from the covid virus because I’m still not yet back to my old self after a health issue. People talk of the “new normal” now that the pandemic seems to be over but is it? A new variant seems to be a reality at the moment and others might well follow. I don’t believe the pandemic is over because it looks like some form of the virus will continue to be our companion on the road of life. Just like the flu has been over the years.

            But it’s difficult to see a consensus on a new normal since government regulations vary from area to area. In some regions people can go anywhere without face masks while elsewhere they are still required indoors.  Some schools insist on masks for students while others do not. The way I see it not everyone will experience the same new normal. The new normal will be personal because it’ll be what each one of us makes it.

Personal safety guidance will be determined by necessity. Some people with health issues will want to continue to be especially vigilant, just like parents with young children who are not vaccinated. And those who have lost loved ones to the virus will certainly make it a priority to be especially aware of the dangers of covid.

            In short, the new normal will not resemble the normal of just a couple of years ago. It can’t be. Too many people have been affected in myriad ways, from having suffered with the virus to losing their income overnight. But I believe people are resilient and that they will adapt as life continues to challenge us as it has always done.