Sunday, July 26, 2009

High Style

I’ve been told that it is no longer fashionable to wear pantyhose (or any nylons, for that matter). I hope it isn’t true. I see lots of young women with bare legs, but I still think they look like heck. It's a rare leg that is tanned to the correct degree. Also, my feet stick to shoes when there’s no sock between skin and shoe, and I can’t see how it could be any different for other women. Very uncomfortable.
I wear pantyhose every single day of the year. It started when I was teaching and felt I had to wear them. Then I retired and didn't like shoes without socks, and I HATE the look of old women with anklets on! I don't like knee-highs, because sooner or later (if you're wearing a skirt) the tops of them are going to show.
When I had to start wearing compression knee highs, I found out that a pair of panty hose over them worked just fine. Now I'm so used to wearing the things that they don't even make me feel hot. My temperature-adjusting features are all above my waist anymore.
I put on my hose first thing in the morning and don't take them off till bedtime. I guess I’m the one out of fashion: I "dress up" every day with make-up, earrings and hose. As soon as I leave my bedroom, I’m ready to do whatever comes up…except go swimming or sunbathing. The only concession I've made to style is that I now wear "walking shoes," instead of flats.
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Thursday, July 23, 2009

It's a Sad Day!

Oh, what a sad day! This is a day we will remember forever! Gidget, the Taco Bell chihuahua, died! He was the most famous dog on the planet, and now he's gone. Life will never be the same. [I wonder if he had a doctor in attendance and drugs percolating through his system like another famous male recently-dead.]

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Blessings

In youth, we know for certain that we are fully alive and a good life stretches out endlessly before us. In our middle age, we know that we are living the way we are supposed to live and most of us feel that we are on the righteous path. We work in and for the church; we give to the poor; we honor the old in our midst; we take good care of our children, and we’re generally certain that we’re doing the best we can. The senior years, however, bring a new certainty, the positive knowledge that until now, we didn’t really know anything.
It is when life has removed some of our capabilities from us that we fully appreciate the blessings they were. When we can no longer get around freely, we understand the richness of unaided, unpainful movement. When we can no longer see well, we “see” that sight is one of our richest blessings. When our hearing fails and we’re deprived of easy communication with others, we recognize that good hearing is a pearl beyond compare. When our friends (and sometimes our kin) die, we know the importance of life, friends and family.
It’s no fun growing old, and it’s difficult to grow old gracefully and without complaint. Visiting Marie and being unable to communicate with her because her hearing aid is lost brought a frustration to us, and we couldn’t help empathize with her. But what she said to us was, “I’ve had a good life!” As powerless as she was to talk with us, she still had a smile on her face and happy words on her lips. Now, that’s the wisdom and blessing of age!