?`s and ANNEswers

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Ninjas

Posted on July 27, 2014

I rarely watch television, but I often check to see what’s on that I don’t plan to view.  Earl laughs at this, and I completely understand why.  It’s illogical.  Still, once in a while a blind pig finds an acorn.

The current acorn is “American Ninja Warriors”; it’s on Comcast channel 287 where I live.  The show is based on high tech obstacle courses that athletes attempt to complete to win a spot in the next level’s competition.  One slip and the contestant lands in water and is out.

At first I thought the show was silly; but as I’ve watched more regularly I am impressed with the athleticism of the contestants and both the ingenuity and difficulty of the obstacle courses.  Upper body strength is a definite prerequisite as is timing. Showmanship is a good attribute to have too.

Most of the contestants are in their twenties, some in their thirties, probably none in their forties. As for me, in my seventies,  I’m merely a spectator.

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Transitioning

Posted on July 26, 2014

I recently received a charming little book titled The Art of Doing Nothing by Veronique Vienne.  Published in 1998, it’s just as relevant today in our hurry-up-and-do-something world as it was then.In fact, the main point isn’t so much about doing nothing as it is about finding ways to rejuvenate ourselves through such activities as breathing, yawning, napping, and listening.

I was particularly intrigued by the chapter on meditating and found the following sentence to be most relevant to where I am in life’s journey. “Enlightenment is just another word for feeling comfortable with being a completely ordinary person.” How does this resonate with me?

For the first time in my adult life, I am unemployed.  This is different from not working, as I fill every day with work of my choice:  gardening, reading, playing piano, puttering, even cooking (of which I’ve never been a devotee).  It’s almost to the point where I ask myself, “When did I ever find time to work?”

The last company I worked for closed at the end of 2013, although I had some duties to fulfill after that.  Once finished with company business, I turned to house and paperwork projects that had been long ignored. Fixed wobbly toilet paper holders and renegotiated telephone contracts.  Created my container garden and thought about cemetery plots.  Had some furniture re-upholstered and paid bills.

About a week ago, I realized I’m relatively caught up, and I can do whatever I want on any given day.  It’s a perpetual weekend, something I never dreamed I’d experienced. And it’s my version of feeling enlightened.

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Counting

Posted on July 23, 2014

I learned to count somewhere between ages three and four.  But, other than to show off for relatives, it didn’t mean much to me. I learned to count bigger numbers later on and also do mathematical calculations with them.  Still, math was in a realm of its own, out there, not really usable unless you’re mentally calculating the change at the check-out counter or balancing your checkbook to the penny. And not many people do either any more.

Still, counting has currently surfaced in my life in a variety of situations.  Learning to play the piano is all about counting, something I’ve resisted.  It’s probably safe to say counting applies to every instrument since performers need to understand the value of the notes they’re playing.

Swimming is about counting too.  As is working out with weights and running and breathing while exercising.  And yoga. And probably a myriad of activities I’ve not tried.

Let me stick with music. Early on in my studies, my piano teacher began stressing the value of counting.  That is, if a whole note takes four beats, then a half note takes two, and a quarter note takes one.  Therefore, you need four quarter notes to equal one whole note when the time signature is four/fourths. I understood the logic of this, but didn’t really apply it to the music. So often my teacher would say I didn’t have the rhythm right.

It’s taken over ten years (I’m a slow learner in this regard), but I finally see what she means.  Currently I’m working on a very tricky piece where counting is essential for every single measure because there are notes that get more than one count but less than two.  I won’t try to dissect this here any further.

Suffice to say that all of a sudden counting has come to the fore in my life.  The next challenge is to make it like a little voice in the background that keeps me on track but isn’t the soprano solo.

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Dying

Posted on July 21, 2014

Earl and I attended the visitation of his friend yesterday afternoon.  Bill was a member of the local community for many years, taught at the high school for 37 of them, belonged to more than one Christian church during that time, and — at age 76 – was still going full throttle.

So what happened?

There was a freak accident on his farm that involved a surly horse and a sulky, that small cart for one person with little protection for the rider. Earl’s friend was that rider when the horse spooked and ran taking Bill with him.

We stood in line an hour to share memories with his widow; during that time, I said to Earl, “This is an opportunity to think about what we want to leave behind.”  That is, our own legacy.

For me, it’s not about being rich and famous.  I don’t think it was for Bill either. And it’s not about having hundreds of people stand in line to acknowledge my passing. I haven’t lived anywhere long enough to have the kind of acknowledgement Earl’s friend had.

Still, in my passing, I hope it’s about touching a few people who, in turn, will share what they learned from me and pass it on.

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Probably More Than You Want to Know

Posted on July 20, 2014

I was looking for a synonym for ‘mooing’ the other day and came across Wikipedia’s list of animal sounds.  It was revelatory. For instance, did you know that cows do more than moo?  They also low and bellow, while their calves bawl.

Cats are known to mew, purr, meow, hiss, yowl, screech, and caterwaul.  Chickens cluck, cackle, bock, chirp, crow, screech, peep, and cockadoodledoo.  Dogs bark, woof, arf, bay, bow-wow, howl, and yap. Rabbits squeak, drum, and growl when cornered.

So much for fairly domesticated animals.

The wilder ones make specific sounds too.  Coyotes yelp, cry, and snarl. Crows caw. Dingos bark and cry. Elephants trumpet, roar, moan, and rumble . . . although not all at once. Monkeys chatter, gecker, gibber, whoop, and screech. Narwhals squeal.  And orangutans groan, grunt, smooch, wheeze, chirp, squeal, and sputter.

All of which is to suggest that humans have an amazingly broad spectrum of sounds that cross both domestic and wild life communications. Think of this the next time you hiss, screech, growl, roar, or grunt.

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Losing Beethoven

Posted on July 19, 2014

I don’t know how it happened, but my Sirius radio channels are mixed up. Earl claims he had nothing to do with this.  They were fine on our Milwaukee trip last weekend, but somewhere between then and now a gremlin has gotten into my system.  My favorite classical channel, for example, has completely disappeared. And talk radio has taken its place.

I hate talk radio and I miss Beethoven, Mozart, and their colleagues.  So this afternoon I attempted to re-program my channels.  There are almost two hundred possibilities for commercial-free radio, and I want the ten I had this time last week.

I spent almost an hour trying to get back there.  Checked online to get the most recent lineup of channels.  Took that information out to the driveway, since I can’t get a Sirius signal in the garage. Searched for the instructions that came with the radio on how to program the channels, but came up empty-handed.  I was on my own.

At the end of the hour, I’d figured out three channels – Broadway, Classical, and Old-time Radio Programs – but am still a long way from where I was. However, Beethoven has returned; and I’m enjoying his “Moonlight Sonata” once again.  Mozart and Handel can’t be far behind.

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Back in the Pool

Posted on July 17, 2014

Earl and I had the good luck of staying at a hotel in Milwaukee that had a wonderful swimming pool.  It might not have meant much to Earl, but it meant a whole lot to me. The three days we were there I swam.  Stretched my arms and legs, did a bunch of pool exercises and determined that I would swim regularly when we returned home.

The problem has been that the new health club I joined six months ago keeps its water temperature far below what is comfortable for me. The logic is that lap swimmers like colder water because they expend a lot of energy that translates to heat.  So they don’t need hot water to begin with, because their body temperatures handle the situation.

I understand this logic; still, I’m not a competitive lap swimmer and I want to at least feel warm after swimming fifteen minutes.  So far, I’ve not been able to stay in the pool that long.  Maybe I am a wimp, but just maybe the water is really too cold.

Regardless, the three days in the hotel pool have convinced me to try again.  Maybe now that summer has arrived the air in the pool room itself will be warmer and also warm the water.  At least I’m going to try.

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From the Sublime to the Silly

Posted on July 12, 2014

Earl and I spent the first half of this day at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  Originally, I’d wanted to visit because of its unusual architecture created by Spaniard Santiago Calatrava; but I found the contents inside to be worthwhile too.  Currently there is a special exhibit of the work of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist credited with creating the first truly abstract paintings. There are also Georgia O’Keefe originals and a contemporary photographic exhibit of life in Milwaukee.

But back to the architecture.  Calatrava’s design suggests a giant bird with actual wings that move up and down a couple times a day.  We didn’t get to see the movement, but I believe it is worth returning for.

The afternoon saw us at Miller Park, the baseball home of the Milwaukee Brewers.  Like the Art Museum, it too has moveable parts.  When the weather is good, patrons enjoy the feeling of an outdoor stadium; but when the sun goes south there is a moveable rooftop that shields everyone from wind and rain.  Today when we arrived the roof was open, but as the game progressed and the rains came it moved into the closed position.  It wasn’t as esthetic as the Calatrava architecture, but it was definitely functional.

Unfortunately, the opened or closed roof didn’t seem to affect the Brewers’ playing abilities.  They were drubbed by the visitors 10 to 2.

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Harley-D and Me

Posted on July 11, 2014

Today Earl and I visited the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.  Milwaukee is where it all began in 1903 when William Harley and Arthur Davidson began tinkering with adding motors to bicycles. Until now, I didn’t realize that’s how motorcycles got their start.

We saw cycles from every year since then up to the 2014 offerings.  We even got to sit on some of them, although dismounting proved difficult at our ages. The funniest moment was when I took a photo of Earl’s head poking through a cut-out of Evel Kneivel’s body.

It’s a wonderful museum, eager to entice everyone whether they’ve ridden a cycle or not.  There’s an explanation of why Harleys have that unique sound, an historical compendium of the signature gas tanks, and an absolutely wonderful montage of movie bits that featured cycles. There’s Marlon Brando and Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood, all in their youth and ready to roar.

“If you were twenty-five and single, would you have considered the motorcycle life?” Earl asked me as we were leaving four hours later.  I’m not sure, but I suspect he might have.

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Princess vs. Badger

Posted on July 10, 2014

Earl and I are veterans of at least a dozen cruises in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean.  We have platinum status which means we get certain perks.

But this morning we were first-timers on the SS Badger, a car ferry that chugs between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  It takes four hours to cross Lake Michigan; and in that time we saw similarities and differences between the Badger and the cruise ships we also frequent.

Both ships have sunning decks, but this morning’s passage saw the travelers bundled in parkas, long pants and hats as they “sunned.”  Both ships have what we call “troughs,” those all-you-can-eat buffets on the upper deck. Both ships have staterooms, although Earl and I didn’t purchase one for the four hour trip.

There are differences too. Princess cruises are strictly tourist fare, while Badger mixes vacation with business. One of the vehicles off the ship in Wisconsin was a sixteen wheeler followed by a bevy of motorcycles. It’s America on the move, and I loved it as much as I love cruising the Caribbean on a giant luxury liner.

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