BLISS

           There are mornings, and this is one of them, when as I get out of bed, I’m contemplating just how many hours it will be before I can get back in the bed. It’s not that I want the “big sleep,” but more like my bed is the most comfortable place. I like laying there, snuggling my pillow or Kuma, watching TV, dozing and finally sleeping. It’s probably the most blissful activity in my life and doesn’t require a huge effort on my part.

          Yep, less than eleven hours now and I can enjoy that bliss once again. 

STAR TREK AND SPACE

 

          Every morning I have an email, “Space via IFTTT.” There’s always a photo of some star, galaxy or looking at space from an earth location. These photos always amaze me. I’m not a scientist nor have I done much studying or research about the heavens, but still, the information that accompanies the photo is almost beyond belief to me.

          I’ve always been a big fan of outer space…not a big enough one to actually go to school and obtain enough education to make it my profession. The closest I’ve come to something like that is “Star Trek.” I was fairly young when this became a hit TV show and I didn’t give a lot of thought to the science, whether it was made up or real, behind it. I went on to watch “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager,” but pretty much stopped there. I didn’t watch “Enterprise” or all the ones that followed. I often said that if an angel came down and offered me anything, I’d choose to serve on the bridge of the USS Enterprise under Captain Picard…love that Jean Luc.

          I am once again watching “The Next Generation.”  The Heros and Icons channel broadcasts all four above mentioned Star Treks beginning at 8:00 pm every night but Saturday night. It’s been long enough since I first watched that it’s like finding a new series all over again. I don’t continue beyond 10:00 pm because my eyes are closing.

          What I find myself wondering now is how much actual science went into the Star Trek programs. I would very much like to meet Gene Roddenberry, and yes, I know he’s passed on. What an imagination he must have had to come up with the original series and what imaginations the writers who followed him and kept the series alive must have had as well. Did they have an education that included space? Did they do a lot of research? Everything that is discussed, discovered, and included in these programs sounds authentic and potentially real.

          Then, there’s the way in which even the original Star Trek utilized the idea that we humans…and nonhumans…were all alike. It began with Lt. Uhura who was black and continued on through so many different kinds of “aliens” through all the Star Treks with Lt. Commander Worf, Cardassians, Betazoids, Romulans, etc. The programs taught without seeming to do so.

          Anyway, back to those IFTTT photos and accompanying information. The information includes things like cosmic winds (how can you have wind without atmosphere?), tidal streams (without water or a moon?), dust lanes, stellar explosions (without oxygen?) and a wide variety of other nouns for which I have no understanding.

          Then, there’s the term “light years.” Just how far is seven hundred light years? I once looked up just how far a light year was only to be shocked and amazed at the distance. How are they able to tell that light from a stellar explosion reached the earth in 1006 AD and that the results of that explosion are still expanding? How do they determine what is an aging star and what is an expanding star? I find myself asking all kinds of questions about the information provided and lack most of the answers.

          I haven’t mentioned the photos. Some of them are absolutely amazing. They look as though they’ve been painted by an artist. The colors are so vibrant and the notations often explain what chemical or elements cause a particular color. It also talks about infrared light versus other types of light. Almost all of it is beyond my poor brain’s ability to understand, but I’d frame just about any of these photos for my wall…they are definitely art, at least to me.

          It’s apparent from each day’s communique that the galaxy, make that galaxies, are continually expanding and growing or, for some, merging, or others have stars that have reached the ends of their lives. I find myself in awe of the people who are astronomers or astrophysicists. Their brains must be amazing, and it always sounds as though there is a new discovery, or discoveries, every single day. How exciting.

          I always thought I’d like to be an archeologist, but now I think if I could go back and begin again, I’d look toward stars and space instead. Better yet, I’d still like to serve on any one of the USS Enterprises and “…go where no one has gone before.”

USHERING

 

          When I was working, I always wanted to volunteer at the 5^th Avenue or the Paramount. I knew people who did, but whenever I checked into the possibility, the theaters didn’t need any more volunteers.

          I now don’t remember quite how my friend and I decided we would volunteer. I also don’t remember which one of us took the ticket by the stub and looked into the possibility. Doesn’t really matter.

          We began volunteering at the Village Theater in Everett the beginning of 2022. Then, we became volunteers at the 5^th Avenue. We both really like it and we’ve seen some amazing shows as a result without a cash outlay. I believe we are going to do it again for the 2023-2024 season.

          We take turns driving. For Everett, we have to drive up I-5, but for the 5^th Avenue, we drive to Northgate and take the train. I think the volunteer coordinators for both places began to wonder if we could tell time. For some reason, we were always late to Everett. For Seattle, somehow, we managed to stay on the train several stops past University Street which is where we wanted to debark. Good thing the planners leave a cushion for us late arrivals. Eventually, though, we finally got our shit together and began arriving on time.

          As ushers, we are the keepers of the doors. We keep attendees from going into the venue until the proper time arrives. There is wine, soda, maybe beer, cookies and other eatables available during the wait time for the early birds. Once the doors are opened, we greet the attendees, “Good afternoon.; Enjoy the Show.; Can I help you find your seat?; and give them a program. Once it’s time for the show to begin, we close the doors and find our allotted places from which we can watch the show. We’ve usually been told about the intermission and end, so we can be ready to jump up and open the doors. When the show’s over, we thank people for coming and tell them we hope they enjoyed the show.

          Then, it’s time to clean up after the show goers. We go row-by-row to pick up cups, bottles, programs and other detritus. We’re provided with gloves for this job, but it’s amazing just how little is actually left behind by the folks filling those seats.

          My favorite job is greeting and scanning the tickets of people coming through the doors. I’ve only done that once, but I’m hoping I can request that position this year. Once you get in the groove, it’s quite possible to catch the fact that some folks just don’t look at their tickets or maybe their calendars. The one time I did the doors, I had two sets of people who showed up on the wrong day…one was for the week before and the other for the week after. Staff take these folks under their wings and try to make arrangements so they can attend that particular show. Just depends on whether there are seats available.

          I know we tried to become ushers at the Paramount; however, it’s a whole separate system and those volunteers also work other locations, i.e., Seattle Rep, Moore, Neptune, ACT. We were unsuccessful, but I now know someone who has been doing it for years. She told me they definitely need volunteers, so I’m going to reach out to the volunteer coordinator and use my friend’s name. Perhaps that will get us in the door and we can stretch our volunteer wings.

          The 5^th Avenue will be showing “The Little Mermaid,” “Cambodian Rock Band,” “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” “Something’s Afoot,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Clue.” We haven’t yet been asked to sign up for shifts at the Village Theater, but I’m sure we’ll do that as well. Now, if we can just get on the volunteer list for the Paramount et al., we’ll have even more events to work and enjoy.

SHOPPING

 

          One thing I’ve really missed in my retirement is shopping. I always loved going to various stores and finding wonderful clothing on sale. I can think of only one time I actually purchased an item that wasn’t on sale. I thought it was on sale but it wasn’t; and I liked it so much, I just had to have it even though the actual price was $158.00.

          What brought on this reflection was putting a bunch of tops on Buy Nothing. They’re all perfectly good, but they just don’t fit me as well as they once did. I haven’t gained a lot of weight, but I do have more of a tummy than I used to plus I’ve developed muscles in my old age. That’s what happens when you go to a fitness class three times a week…you develop muscles.

          Anyway, it’s not that I couldn’t go shopping and buy myself whatever I wanted whether it was on sale or not. It’s more that I don’t need much in the way of clothes beyond what’s already in my drawers and closet. I have jean shorts and tank tops with shelf bras and that’s mostly what I’m wearing in the summer. I do have a couple of dresses and skirts if I want to not wear shorts. In winter, I have sweats and jeans and sweatshirts or flannel shirts to go over my tank tops.

          I don’t know what I’m going to do when all my Champion tank tops wear out, and having had them for more than ten years, they are slowly beginning to show their age. Champion doesn’t make 100% cotton tank tops any longer and they are very hard to find, even online. I’ve mistakenly bought some that are more poly and her sister ester, that stretch as well as the cotton tops, but I don’t like the way they feel. I’ve also bought some stretchy ones that don’t have the racer back. Instead, they have thin straps. I feel as though these are more underwear than outerwear.

          Ah well, what goes around comes around, so eventually, I’m sure they…whoever they are…will begin making cotton tank tops again. I just hope that happens before I have to resort to the other ones in my drawer. True, I could put them on Buy Nothing, but I’m keeping them in reserve just in case.

          About the only shopping I do these days is Costco and the grocery store. At Costco, I rarely look at the clothing they have available because there’s nothing I need or I don’t like the product. I have two heavy shirts I bought at Costco a few years a go and I don’t care for the way they feel or smell even when they are freshly laundered. Maybe they’ll go on Buy Nothing next.

          I do have to admit that at Costco and the grocery store, I buy myself whatever I want. I still look at the price of the item, but if it’s something I know I will eat/use, I buy it no matter the cost. I deserve it. I’m worth it. I enjoy it.

          You could say I still enjoy shopping, I guess. It’s just a different kind of shopping than I used to do…more for the inside as opposed to the outside.

GIFT FROM AN UNKNOWN READER???

          

         Sometimes I think I may be losing it. Sunday morning I opened my front door to find a box from Amazon. All the way to my desk and during the opening, I tried to remember what the heck I had ordered. As it turned out, absolutely nothing.

          Oh, there was something in the box, but it wasn’t something I ordered. It was a gift from I don’t know who. There was a note with the item that told me I could send a thank you note by scanning the code to the left or by visiting a given link. I tried scanning, but apparently, I don’t have the amazon app on my phone. Typing in the code didn’t help either.

          So, what was in the box. It was a product called a Pet Corrector. I read the information about the product…type was so tiny I had to use my handy-dandy magnifying glass. I also went to the web site and watched a few videos. I haven’t yet tried it because Kuma has been a good doggie so I haven’t had a need to correct him. I’m looking forward to taking him on a walk and see if it works when we come across another dog. He always lunges and barks his head off as though he’s a big huge mean wolf.

          I am assuming…making an ass of u and me…that someone read my blog about Kuma winning our barking battle and my giving up. How wonderful you are my dearest reader to have gone so far as to supply me with a tool that will correct Kuma’s bad habits. I thank you from the bottom of my heart even though I cannot seem to figure out how to send you a thank you via Amazon…and I do have the app on my phone after all.

          So thank you again and stay tuned…actually I guess it would be keep your eyes open…because I’ll blog about the great success the Pet Corrector has brought to both Kuma and I.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

 

          Today is the fifty-seventh anniversary of the day I married John. I do so wish he were here so we could celebrate together, but if wishes were horses….

          Last year I took John’s orb and we went to dinner at a restaurant. I turned on the base, placed the orb on top and sat it across from me in the booth. I even had the waitress take photos of us. I’m not planning to do the same thing this year. I think I’ll hold off until we reach our sixtieth. And, since John cannot drive me home after as many martinis (maybe champagne for sixty) as I’d like to have, I might even rent a limo and/or call an uber to take me to and from.

          I think for today, I’ll spend some time looking through all the cards we gave each other over the years. Cards from the boys are interspersed throughout, so the process will give me way more than one memory lane to traverse. I also still have our wedding album and honeymoon photos as well as photos from every year we shared. I suppose I could haul all the albums and boxes out of the closet. It would make quite a mess and I’d undoubtedly have to add leaves to the table. Still, those boxes are stuffed with memories. Some would make me laugh, others bring a smile and still others make my eyes leak a lot. All in all, though, my walks down so many different memory lanes would leave me remembering how much I loved as well as how much I was loved.

          Not a bad way to spend the day. It would leave me feeling nostalgic but happy to have had all those years and memories.

Happy Anniversary to John and moi!!!

WHY I WRITE AND BLOG

 

          When I first began blogging a very long time ago, I had many reasons for doing so. The original blog I began in 2011 I cannot find anywhere any longer. I suppose the contents were deleted into the ether when I neglected to return after being absent for many years.

          I tried a couple of other times and even took a class, but never stuck with it until after John died. That’s when I began “Paula’s Widow’s Mite.” When I began, it was for several reasons. First, I thought my experiences might be helpful to other widows. Second, I figured my blog might attract a large following. And, finally, there was the small idea in the back of my brain that it might attract a publisher.

          Well, my number of followers never rose above maybe twenty as far as I could tell, and almost no one ever responded with a comment on the blog. Since I post the blog title and link on Facebook, there were/are some folks who comment on Facebook about what I wrote. And it’s true, when I was posting erotic fiction, chapter by chapter on my blog, I did end up having an interested publisher. Unfortunately, it was my first draft and needed a lot of work, so a book with my name on it won’t be appearing in the local bookstore anytime soon…or anytime at all for that matter. That’s because I decided I didn’t want to spend the energy on a massive revision.

          For a period of time, I didn’t write or blog at all. I just didn’t have the any enthusiasm or topics which made me want to do so. Don’t ask me what happened recently that led me to take up the keyboard and begin again…I just did.

          I’ve decided my main reason for writing and blogging is for my own interest and satisfaction. The topics about which I write and post may be of little interest to most people; however, I enjoy the process and end result. I’m doing it because it’s fun for me. Of course, when I do receive comments, either on Facebook or in my actual face, those comments, since they are positive, do make me feel good. 

          Of course, this doesn't mean I don't hope people will read my blogs and enjoy them because I most sincerely do. Still, I imagine if someone told me they hated a particular blog or said I was a horrible writer, I’d continue to write and blog simply because me, myself and I like doing so…a lot.