Halloween Fun

Halloween Frolics

With Halloween upon us, my mind wanders to days gone by ("so what else is new with you?" you ask).  You are right.  I do dwell in the past alot, don't I?  Perhaps I am just too old to get into those shenanigans any more now, but Halloween used to be such a hoot for us.  Oh, we never got destructive or mean or hurtful to anyone, but we sure had fun!!!

My girlfriend and I were close to retirement age the year we decided to dress up for Halloween and crash a Seniors Halloween Dance.  On a trip to Morocco the year before, I had purchased a couple of nylon, caped, gowns trimmed with gold embroidery that I had planned to  use for lounging around the house on casual evenings. By adapting these outfits and adding gold belts, lots of bangle jewelry, lace pillbox gold-trimmed head pieces and lacy veils from just below our eyes, we were totally unrecognizable!  Timing our arrival under darkness so that no one would see which car we came from  (in a small town, everyone knows your car) we entered the hall and joined the crowd. We did not speak (so we could not be identified by our voices) and with our faces veiled we had a ball as everyone tried unsuccessfully to guess who we were. When the music started, we deliberately asked various people to dance, men, women, strangers, friends, young, old, etc. This totally confused everyone. .

I left that hall "a complete unknown" taking with me a hilarious memory of the evening. Being the blabbermouth that I usually am, my biggest challenge that night was to not utter a single word for an entire evening, but I succeeded and no one did figure out who I was.  I was a fantastic evening!

What Is Success?

My Validation

I never wished for riches

I never wished for gold

I never dreamed of mansions

To have when I grow old

My dreams were rather simple

Though you may find them quaint

I’ve never been the “bad one”

But I never was a saint.

Success just meant achieving

A measure of recognition

A line to say I’ve been here

My goals have reached fruition.

So take your wealth and riches

And enjoy them as you will

I’ll enjoy my small successes

That’s where I get MY thrill!

Life Lessons

Some Peoples Children!

My daughter keeps telling me to grow up and act my age!  Honestly!  The nerve of some people's children!!! Just no respect for their elders at all.

Okay, so I should not be in such a hurry all the time.  At my age, I should not be galloping across the street like a race horse, especially when I do have plenty of time to take it slow.  But Sheesh! Old habits are tough to break! I have been rushing to - or - from something  all my life.  My dignity notwithstanding, I see no reason to stop now! There is always something - or somewhere - worth hurrying to, and wasting time has never been my forte! It's just is not my style, though I may have to admit that sometimes it might be less painful to slow down!

I was hurrying to a meeting last week and I was trying to cross the street before the light changed.  In my headlong dash, my foot caught on something and I literally crashed onto the pavement. Other than my dignity and a skinned knee, I did not think I hurt anything too badly.  I got up really fast, hoping no one witnessed my humiliation  but I am sure some people took a vivid image home of an old woman galloping across the street and the next moment splayed out flat, face down, on the pavement.

Anyway, I know I broke nothing but MAN!!! I hurt in places that never even got near that pavement! Those areas must be having sympathy pains for the areas that connected!   I realize that "this, too, shall pass!" but honestly, even losing my dignity did not hurt this much!
(Maybe I should listen to that cheeky kid of mine afterall!)

Memory Lane

I was looking for a certain file last night and I came across this poem.  I thought I wrote it for my blog but 
I could not find it so if this is a repeat, please forgive me.  My computer says I created it last month.  I remember thinking of a certain friend in connection with it.

Yesteryears

Amid thoughts that wander, stray and ramble

And memories all so poignant still

She sits alone rocking gently

With sinking heart and tear-filled eyes.

And faltering steps, she strolls through time.

She dreams, envisions and revisits

Those yesteryears forever gone

A distant past though unforgotten

A life of pleasures and delights

A life of sunshine - and of shadows

When life was full and graced with love.

Those days are gone but she remembers

Those intense moments of lows and highs

A steady stream of tears and laughter

Youthful spirits, exuberance, joy

A life that's now but a memory.

She sits - and rocks - alone!

Nature's Gifts

Autumn Beauty

Jack Frost was supposed to have visited us last night but we are still basking in the grandeur of the last hurrah of summer's flowers - now enhanced by the brilliant fall colors of the trees that have not released their leaves yet. The splendor of this season is breathtaking, though I believe that we, as Canadians do not appreciate it enough.

Fall beauty comes with a price!  Living in an apartment, I don't rake leaves anymore, but I recall when I owned my home it was not necessarily a chore I actually welcomed too much, especially if I had just finished doing it the day before, and overnight, the wind blew in my neighbor's leaves to replace them. To us, here in Canada, those gorgeous fall colors represent work, but people who don't get them, don't mind the work as long as they can enjoy the beauty. Can you actually imagine a fall without that brilliant foliage?

When we visited Australia, we were told that Australia's  trees do not change color.  In order to  enjoy that kind of beauty, Australia actually imports deciduous trees from other countries strictly for their fall foliage.

 It's a gorgeous time of the year, that time just before the leaves desert the lofty perches of the trees.  They  add such brilliant color to the landscape.

 Edmonton's fall skyline as as seen from the12th floor window

 I took this of our courtyard and gazebo in the back yard. Jack Frost will be wiping this out any day now.  Even the leaves on some of our trees are still green!   It is alittle cool to sit out there and bask in this glory these days,  but I am just on the fourth floor and I can enjoy this splendour from the comfort of my room.  These days are so numbered!  I am going to savour every moment I get!

On Thanksgiving Day

Recollections

As I look back over many years
Days full of joy and full of tears
Big expectations and morbid fears
We faced it all - and made life good!

We laughed, we cried, we danced, we hobbled
Our grim determination merely doubled
Steadfastly denying that we were troubled
By trials that life dumped in our path.

But life was good and life was giving
Through it all we made a living
God was patient, all forgiving
For our ingratitude and complaints.

Now comes the time to recognise
That blessings come in a disguise
With family woes and family ties
That we ofttimes fail to appreciate.

For gifts received and gifts rejected
Those gifts we should have all respected
For the things that we least expected
And failed to see their value mount.


So let's bow our heads and give our thanks
For all those people in our ranks
Fond memories in our "data banks"
And  a life that's full of blessings still!

Looking Back

A Backward Glance

Musing, remembering, reminiscing,

A reverie replete with aspiration and idealistic ambition,

Searching for the right words to convey

Those emotions so embedded in the psyche.
That prophecy spawned of a bouyant confidence
Emboldened by youthful optimism and vague design

Now abounding with achievement incomplete.

An experience untouched by life, as yet unaware.

But there is something disconcerting

Fraught with angst and unease

About exposing –

Or imploding a profile of a life

Displaying its illusion

Its hunger still unsated,

Its goal still awaiting confirmation

Its tenure still seeking termination

And in so doing

For all life’s trials – a recompense!