Thoughts

Lets sit a while and talk. I'd like to be sitting there now. It'll be spring soon. Taken at Longwood Gardens last spring. My daughter suggested I started blogging about 4 years ago. I'm amazed that I continued and more so, that I would share anything about myself and my life on social media for anyone in the world to see because I'm a private person. It's been therapeutic for me to look back in pictures and words at how life changed during this time and progressed. I've experienced great loss in the death of both parents in the past 2 years, a pet, and things such as changes in health and adjustments in how these changes have caused me to rethink how to do things differently. Growing older as each year passes, I'm still discontent as to whether to bloom where I'm planted or move to a setting that I think suits who I am more completely. A wooded area with a small amount of land, not too much to take care of and not too far out of the city. When I go to the suburbs I can't imagine having to travel the tiny narrow roads possibly snow and ice covered to get to work nor having to need a generator when the power goes out. And they do lose power frequently. Some areas also have a lot of flooding and I can't imagine losing my possessions over and over.

My daughter tells me that I'm not old. Fifty three isn't ninety, but the body does change with each passing year starting with birth. I believe that you move the body or it dies. It's not healthy for the body to be sedentary. Our heart is not only an organ that pumps and circulates blood and oxygen but a muscle and it needs to be worked like other muscles in our body. Walking and scheduled exercise used to be a part of my day until arthritis said, "I'm here." Waking up and getting out of bed and moving effortlessly is sometimes I took for granted and never thought about because it was normal for me, like most people who don't spend their days thinking about how lucky  they are to be well physically until things change.

My vision has changed since I've gotten older and now instead of picking up a book and just reading require reading glasses, I love books and can't imagine anything that would prevent me from reading. Don't require prescription glasses and hopefully I never will. So far over the counter reading ones are fine and also recommended by the eye doctor when I had my yearly check. Expensive prescribed glasses weren't recommended. Although I'm a registered nurse, I hate going for checkups and tests. To me, it's a violation of privacy but part of life if I and you plan to continue to lead our best life and prevent and manage some of the unplanned changes life can bring. Who wants to be diagnosed with cancer or another medical condition in it's end stage? Something that can be treated or prevented and life can continue. If you don't go for physicals and recommended blood work and tests you don't know what can be going on in your body. Of course some things aren't found even with preventive test until there's a problem.

I love plants, flowers, nature, the sun and the beautiful things God created for our enjoyment. I truly do believe that the earth declares the glory of God. Journaling my thoughts may be helpful for me. It'll also be a record for my daughter when I'm no longer here to read and continue to experience the essence of her mother. Will I share everything? Of course not. I don't choose to share everything on social media but I believe I can journal and share some of who I am, my life experiences, and thoughts. Maybe you'll join me in my continuing journey.

I was born in the Northeast part of the United States in an urban area. If you read my gardening blog you know where that is. I love the city I live in but not some of the decline and lack of respect for others and  our neighborhoods that take place. One of my pet peeves is throwing trash on the ground. Why do people do this, liter the city? I stopped for coffee before work this week. The lady in the car ahead of me ordered tea as she took the tea bag from the cup and dropped it out the window to the ground. What? Not only the tea bag but when she pulled off she opened the car door and threw a bottle on the ground. It broke my heart. No I'm not being dramatic it really upset my whole day. I prayed about as I do many things in the hopes that these types of things don't upset my day and thoughts. We can't control the actions of others but, what do we do? Why do people have to move to communities where this type of behavior is not allowed? I'll move on.

I grew up in a home with married loving parents both who grew up in the south and migrated to the north as many blacks did during that time. A time called the great migration. My grandparents on my father's side lived on their own land surrounded by acres of woods and tall pines in the country. The town is still small with a tiny population. I remember my grandmother having an outhouse and later indoor plumbing. Wild turkeys and all types of other wildlife inhabit  the woods. My grandparents grew their own sugar cane and made syrup. My father rarely ate syrup while I was growing up and told me it was because he ate so much as a child. My sister loved the country but not me. As a child I was used to the comforts of the city such as air conditioning in August and not being bitten by fire ants. Gnats were another thing.