ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

My goodness, I was playing bridge last week and discovered my good friend is having another birthday. So what, you say? Well, she’ll be 98 years old, that’s what and it’s unbelievable how she still plays cards very well. Much better than me but then she has played longer, I’m only 81.

She still dresses beautifully although she says her clothes are old. The clothes are really in great shape because how can they possibly get dirty. She certainly isn’t working in the yard, scrubbing floors or even making spaghetti sauce. Of course, I don’t do much of that either.

Physically she’s in great shape like her clothes, except for her watering eyes. She says her doctor tells her he can’t do anything about that. I say that’s just an excuse, she‘s really crying because she just lost that last round.

Truthfully, I can say I’m really glad I met her and am always delighted to see her.  I wish her many more happy birthdays.

NO ONE KNEW

About twenty seven years ago, when we lived in South Carolina, everyone was talking about something which happened that no one could understand. A popular male hairdresser died a horrifying death and people whispered about it because no one could understand what had really happened to him. No one knew what the symptoms were or what went on with his body.

It was quite a while before anyone found out what AIDS was and why so many others died the same horrifying deaths.

This was all brought to mind after seeing an interview last week with Magic Johnson the former basketball star. Hundreds and hundreds of sexual encounters with women in the cities where he played was the reason he developed the HIV virus. Because he has received what is called a cocktail of drugs, he is still alive today. How fortunate for him.

Remember when this disease was in the news daily, the subject of many television dramas and award winning movies? The worldwide epidemic is still in existence but very seldom spoken about, because we’ve moved onto other things to worry about.

Don’t you wonder what’s new with the Kardashians this week?

IT TAKES A WHILE

Not too many people are willing to compromise even to their own detriment, so it’s refreshing when two or three Florida State Republicans are at least showing concern for us citizens. This week there’s a meeting arranged by one Republican State Senator dealing with insurance and sinkholes which is on the mind of every homeowner in our community.

The county we live in is considered the sinkhole capital of our state. The only insurance we can get now is through the Citizens Insurance Company which was created shortly before we had all the hurricanes which devastated the state. All the major insurance companies raised their rates so very few owners could afford to pay them. Some people opted to pay the high premiums. All the major companies stopped writing policies on storm damage, but they’re still willing to insure your cars or any accident you might be in. It’s been stated that all the laws coming out of Tallahassee, our state capital, regarding insurance are controlled by lobbyists who represent the large insurance companies that refuse to insure storm and sinkhole problems.

Now our beloved Citizens Insurance Company won’t write sinkhole insurance anymore, though we will still be covered if our house in uninhabitable. That means if our house and all our possessions fall down a big hole, we’ll be OK. In the meantime, Citizens is cutting many of the things that were in our original policy, but are still trying to raise our rates thirty per cent.

It takes a while for people to understand what goes on in our state. I saw a sticker on someone’s car yesterday that said “I’m a Proud Member of the Florida State Republican Party” and I said to myself “that’s one stupid SOB”!

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ALL ABOUT READING

After I wrote yesterday about my eternal reading, an article appeared in today’s paper which pointed out something I had always felt was true, but never really expressed to anyone.

In the Boston Globe, Jonathan Gottschall makes the case that reading fiction makes it easier for us to understand people. Read “Why fiction is good for you” at tinyurl.com/tbtimes-fiction. Reading fiction shapes us for the better not for the worst, and may help explain why humans tell stories in the first place.

All my life I have read fiction, it’s really escapism but regardless, I feel better equipped to understand why some people do things harmful to themselves and to others. Also I’ve learned that fiction it’s not really all about happy endings, maybe just conclusions that we are compelled to think about. That is what happens to me a lot.

So after years of being maligned for reading only fiction, I can hold my head high because someone wrote I’m doing something that’s actually good for me.

MOTHER’S DAY

How do you remember Mama? If you asked my five children that question, they would all answer in unison “with a cigarette in one hand and a book in the other”. And that’s true. I was always reading and smoking, but I really did other things as well.

None could say they were neglected, which they weren’t. They would truthfully say they were never told they were loved either by their mother or their father. In those days I can’t remember hearing any other parent really saying that to their kids, but we showed love by our actions.

But to go on about my smoking and reading, reading was always my special reward. I would never read until all my work was done for the day. Another thing, when I married I vowed to always be there when my children came home from school. I knew from experience how much I wanted someone to be there for me. As for smoking, I ‘m glad none of them followed my example and became smokers.

I still reward myself with reading. You’ll always see me with a book in my hands, no cigarette but with snacks nearby, which is the only thing I feel guilty about now.

TV NEWS

I like to watch David Letterman at 11:30 pm. The first ten minutes he usually spends on political humor. On Thursday night there was reference to an audience member who was apparently very loud mouthed during the warm up before the show and David kept joking about him throughout his opening remarks, so the cameras were on the man many times. That overweight guffawing white man was from South Carolina which probably says it all.

After all the funny stuff skewering W. Mitt Romney, David asked the audience if any of them would be voting for him and there was a lot of applause. I could see Letterman was taken aback by their reactions; I mean really, really taken aback, it normally doesn’t happen that way, but it just proves that no matter what Romney has said in the past, or in the future, there will be a lot of people who will vote for him all the while holding their noses. What I’m saying is what I’ve said all along, those ignorant people will vote party line, the same as they did for George Bush whom they now never dare to speak of.

Speaking of G. Bush, remember his declaration about the war being over after he climbed down from a just landed Navy Jet while carrying his flight helmet in triumph. He landed the plane all by himself, according to one less than truthful aide.One of my art club members told me he himself was a retired carrier pilot and that Bush could not have done that. Those pilots go through extensive training which takes a great deal of time to land just right in order to be grabbed by that big hook that stops them safely. I’d love to hear from the pilot that actually did that landing. There was not much truth coming out of the Bush administration, ever.

I ALSO FIND…..

I can no longer clean the way I used to. Keeping up your house is a matter of organization. Besides laundry day, there used to be an ironing day but Wednesdays I kept just for myself then had another laundry day.  On Friday there was cleaning the house including the bathrooms. Floors were scrubbed, polished or vacuumed. When I finished I felt a pride of accomplishment. With the several large homes we owned it took two days to clean everything but I didn’t mind.

Now I feel a sense of accomplishment if I just finish anything. I will plan to clean out the refrigerator and I just might do it in two or three days.

One thing I do keep up on is the laundry and a little ironing. My clothes are clean and orderly and I dust furniture once in a while. If you really look, you’ll probably notice there’s dust on the tables. Right now I can see it, but I really have to shower and go to the library. Maybe later I’ll do it. ‘Course if I have a party everything will be spotless and everyone will think that’s the norm in my house and in my life.