Now What?

                                      







Now that the A to Z challenge has come to an end, what do I do about blogging? It seems that my past performance on my blog has been catch as catch can. I want to change that, so, now, what? Way too many commas in that last sentence, but that's the way it is.
In the time ahead I will talk about aging and writing. And writing as I age.And probably anything else that pops into my mind.

Hang on and come see what we do.

Z is for Zelda

Zelda shopped yesterday for a xylophone. It was for her weird Uncle Verge. That is the strangest spelling for his name, but so is he. He rules her universe. When he asks for something, Zelda sees that he gets it, even if she has to go through thirty turnstiles to get it.
After a day with Uncle Verge, she needs to be still and rest. A lot.
Today the quest is for people Uncle Verge loves. The one he loves the is coming to see him. It will put him over the rainbow.
Notation to self: keep the people you love happy.
She didn't know what she needed to put into motion to make his dreams come true, but she thought she might need some lotion to grease the wheels of some to come to him. Her knowledge of his past and the ones he loved proved to be what was needed to get some to join them. It took doing to change the inertia of some of the loved ones.
Hereafter, she will look twice before leaping.
She hoped that Uncle Verge's gratitude would make for fun, faith and frivolities for everyone there. She wanted them to enjoy some dancing in the dark.
The changes on Uncle Verge, when he saw everyone there, was a beauty to behold.
And, no, she did not have to yell, " April Fool's" because it wasn't. It was the last day of April and not the first.
 I hope with my little story, I have kept all of my April posts in your mind. I also hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have.




Here is to Zelda. Growing mature with grace and beauty.

Y is for Yesterday

Yesterday. We all remember it. We all want it back sometimes. Sometimes we are just glad it is yesterday rather today. We hope to make today better. We also think that yesterday was easier. Friendlier. Lovelier. More fun.


              And of course, we all remember the Beatles song about it. I bet it is running through your head right now. It is mine. We love our yesterdays. And we should remember that our todays, that we may or may not love, will be yesterday tomorrow and we will find some kind of wonderful thing to remember about it.

The moral to this story is to live in the present so you have a pleasant past to remember tomorrow.                     

X is for Xylophone

When I came to the X I had no idea what word to choose. My husband suggested xylophone and I went with it. Now, trying to fit that into aging. Aging can be like a xylophone because we can age one note at a time or four notes at a time. If you have ever watched anyone play a xylophone, you know they can use one or more mallets at a time. It takes a real touch to use more than two. You have to know how to handle them so that you don't hit an additional note that you didn't intend to. Playing with only two mallets is pretty easy. Playing with four, takes practice. As we age we get practice. Perhaps, the word I should use here is mature rather than aging. Aging brings to mind what we can no longer do, and maturity gives you a beautiful lady with wise sayings and happy smiles. We will go with that. As a xylophone player you practice to become that beautiful lady who can hit those notes with finesse and style.
Some of just bang the dang thing.
Especially aging. I don't like it some days, but the alternative is less attractive. Some days I am the beautiful lady and some days I just bang the dang thing.

W is for Weird

  W is for Weird. Life can be and is as you grow and mature. Matureness is not with us all the time, and when it isn't, people think we are weird.
Aging is weird because is never what you think it is going to be. You think when you are young you want to older because they get to do all the cool stuff: stay up late, do what they want, don't go to school.
The stuff that goes with that is not quite so cool: over tired, do what is necessary, and go to work. School looks more like fun, now.
When you get to the age of retirement, weirdness continues. You have the time to do all the stuff you want to do. NOT. You really do the stuff you want, but you are busier than you think you will be. Who knew you want to do this much stuff? How did you ever get any work done? You can take more time doing stuff than you could when you worked for a living. That is the nice part about aging weirdness.

                                 

V is for Verge

Verge is one of my favorite words. It happens to be the shortened version of my hubby's name: Virgil. The meaning of it is to be on the edge as "on the verge of discovery".
Growing older is on the verge of discovery all the time. You find out that you can do things now you couldn't before, i.e. reaching the top of the shelf because you are now tall enough. When you get older you may find you cannot reach that shelf because you aren't tall enough.
The verge of discovery is there in things you can do, too. You now have time to read that book you have had intentions of reading for years, or take the grandkids on a hike, or take that dream vacation.

Getting older isn't always fun, but life isn't either, so enjoy the fun of being on the verge.



                                        

U is for Universe

                                                          

 Our universe is where we live. The people we know, the people we love. We add to that universe as we grow and change and age. Sometimes it feels as though it is unmanageable with people we know, and people we want to know and know better. As we age we think it will shrink till there is no one in it but us. The kids leave home, start their own families and we feel left out, since we are no longer the center of the universe, theirs and ours.
What really happens is it just changes. The kids are still there, we are still important to them and they to us. They even add people to our universe: significant others, who become more significant, perhaps become spouses and then children and friends of theirs. We make friends at places other than work, and that changes, too.
Remember, that though we may no longer have a great public universe, we still have one and are important    to those in it.                                    .

T is forTurnstile

                                                                            
Turnstile may be an old term for some, but then we have all ready established that we are talking old, here. Using the aging word most of the time. When I thought of doing this post I thought of turnstile. Have you tried to go through one with a walker or a cane?
They are not easy in the first place and any obstacle you may put in your way, will make it harder.
Turnstiles were to make it easier to enter buildings
I thought, but they were probably invented to help count entries into buildings or arenas. You need to know that, you know. Anyway, we are now at the end of turnstiles. I will go through one and be on my way.                                                                                                                                                      

S is for Still

  

Still is a word that seems to take most of our lifetime to learn. Or at least to implement.
The Bible says to be still and know that I am God.
Being is still means more than not talking or moving. As we age being still in one spot for more than twenty minutes usually means you get stiff. I think God meant for us to LISTEN and that
takes being still. Still in the
mind,
is more than not talking or thinking, it means to pay attention. Hear what is being said and then thinking about it.
Taking action, if needed but hear all that is being said and then determine what you should do. This ability comes with age and wisdom. As we age we need to listen more than ever, because we sometimes lose some of our ability to hear.

Just so we are all on the same word, I am not talking about a moonshine still. Or still as in, " Are you still here?" but quiet.
Still as in quiet and listening.

Be still and know.                                                                                                                       

R is for Rest

                                                                                                            

We are getting far into our A to Z challenge and I think it is time for a rest.

Rest from thinking about aging and how we do it, and does it matter.

Rest from talking about it.

So, go for a rest.

I am.

See you for S the next letter.

Stella

Q is for Quest

                                                                                     
If ever there were a word that describes aging it would be
quest. You are on a quest from the day you are born. That quest would be to become YOU. You are unique and the only one like you. Whether you are young or old.
This quest takes us from baby to adulthood. And adulthood spans the ages of teens to whenever you die.
It is a wild ride and is best if enjoyed to the fullest.
We can  whine about not being able to do at 60 what we did at  20, or we can do the most we can at whatever age. At 20 you couldn't get into the early bird café specials. You can at  60. At 60 you can't run the mile in the same time you could at 20, but who cares? You don't need to be there that quick.
Go and enjoy a stroll rather than a sprint.                  

P is for People

                                                                                                 

  People are always aging. Some gracefully, some not so much. I have discovered that when you are alive you should live. Whether that is an oldster or a youngster or somewhere inbetween, you should live like you mean it.
Some people grin and bear it, others are a bear about it.
Wherever you fall, live it live.

                                       

O is for Over the Rainbow

I love the song Over the Rainbow. Somewhere where the birds fly.
Are there days when that is all you want to do is fly away? It could be over the rainbow, or heck, just the next county. Just a way for a while.
Aging makes you want to fly back in time, when things were simpler. No doctors to visit, no kids who hound you to move closer, or just to feel needed. It is way easier to deal with "Mom, what's for dinner?" than it is with, " Mom, what we will do with the table that seats twelve now that we have room only for a two seater?"
You just don't want to deal.
When that happens, take out your ipod and program in Judy Garland singing " Over the Rainbow" and join her there.

                                              

N is for Notation

Notations are things you make to remind you to do something, or on papers you want to keep to help you remember why you wanted to keep them in the first place.
As you age they become more important, for every thing you do.
If you think of what you will do today as you get out of bed, note it.
And, no, you will not remember it by the time you go get pad and pen. Keep one by your bedside.
Writers do this all the time. They have a pad with them all the time.
Agers need them there, also. A pad for all occasions.
If you want to remember to come back here and check out tomorrow's post...make a note.

                 Okay, maybe not these notes.

M is for Motion

                                                                                     
Motion is necessary all the time, but as we age it gets lots
more important. I just made a lot of English teachers cringe.
Please forgive me, but it is true.
It keeps you from freezing in place. Try sitting in one position for
more than ten minutes, and you will see what I mean.
So, all together now, up, down, up, down. Now, try the other
hand.
That's it for now.

L is for Lotion

                                                                                                  












In my quest for nice skin, or more likely, non-alligator skin, I have tried an ocean of lotions for a dry desert of a body.
When I was younger, I didn't have much problem with dry skin, but now...
I have face cream, foot lotion, body lotion, eye lotion, a potion for all lotions. And it requires the  time of a bath to cover all the parts.
We were all told at one time or another when applying lotion to face to stroke upwards. I thought at the time that it was because you didn't want to stretch the skin. It was actually because it was getting you ready for applying lotion to a wrinkled face. You have to push the lotion upwards to get it between the wrinkles.
We will not talk about application to other body parts. Just remember to apply extra when out in the wind.
And then, wash the sand from said wind.



                                         

K is for knowledge

                                                                                                                   

Knowledge is an ongoing gathering thing. It includes knowing how to walk, talk and run.
It also includes knowing where to go to find the knowledge. Which school is best for the knowledge you need as you go out into the world. Which person can support you in your thirst for knowledge.

As you age, the knowledge you need is sometimes only found in other people, not books or the internet. How does it feel to be old? No one wants to admit they know this. We don't want to admit how it feels, because we never get there.

Old is someplace we don't admit to being. That is someone else who is old. Not me.

Aging is something we all do. It can be fun. And you take your fun where you find it. You take your knowledge where you can get it, too.

It comes from experience. You learn you are excited that you went under the limbo bar. Never mind that it was only two inches below your eyebrow, and you only had to tip your head to get under it.

Go out and experience something to gain knowledge. Get the knowledge to do the current dance.

Like the guy above, fill your head with knowledge, and then you have an excuse when you forget something.

J is for Join

                                              











Join is a good word for aging. As you age you need to join various things. When you are in school, you are expected to join the the fun of athletics or academics. When you are old enough to date everyone expects you to join in Holy Matrimony.
After the joining in matrimony you get to join the Mommy and Daddy brigade. Then it is the mom and dad of teens.
The biggest join of all is in-law club.
Now, that we are of retirement age we get to join the best club of all: The do what I want when I want to do it.
Well, that's after you take care of all the doctor's appointments and watch all the grandkids at their games.

It is the best of all. Come join us.