Gold Leaves, Poem by G.K. Chesterton

 

Gold Leaves by G.K. Chesterton

Lo! I am come to autumn

When all the leaves are gold;

Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out

The year and I are old.

In youth I sought the prince of men,

Captain in cosmic wars,

Our Titan, even the weeds would show

Defiant to the stars.

But now a great thing in the street

Seems any human nod,

Where shift in strange democracy

The million masks of God.

In youth I sought the golden flower

Hidden in wood or wold,

But I am come to autumn,

When all the leaves are gold.

Thank you to Epoch Times for showing me this profound poem in your recent Life and Tradition section. The photo was taken in Connecticut by my husband Will years ago. The words "Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out, the year and I are old" resonate with me as a senior citizen. I find this poem to be very beautiful and profound and hope you like it too.

My goal is to age a bit disgracefully

I am a senior citizen and have decided it is time for me to grab more silliness. Let's face it, life is short, whether 10 days or 100 years, I have always realized our time on earth is short. Just a blip of days or years.
I mentioned my goal of aging disgracefully five years ago in a Christian writers' group here in my town. We were truthfully telling our oldest member that she is a great mentor, both for writing and for living. Someone told her that she is aging gracefully.
That is a big compliment. I then chimed in that I have a goal of aging DISgracefully. You know, liven things up a bit. Wearing my hats even when no one else wears hats. Who cares? I have a selection of hats that are covered in sequins. One is a bright lime green. When I don't wear one one of my sparkly hats to my favorite garden store my favorite clerk tells me he is disappointed. Plus my wide brimmed lavender sun hat. Oh, and one with butterflies on it. I do care less now about pleasing other people.
Some of my hats and dresses below:

Another recent change is that beginning in September I started wearing dresses. Before that I hadn't worn a dress or skirt in more than 10 years. I bought a loose flowing dress and wore it to my son's birthday lunch. My sons were suitably surprised. I bought several more and am wearing them to church and to meet friends. Now that is NOT disgraceful, I know, just a change of pace for me.
A fun find I bought for me and for my niece, a daily calendar with inspiring and irreverent quotes.

Here is a quote from the above calendar: "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." Eleanor Roosevelt
Another quote "As far as I am concerned, age does not exist. I know twenty-year-old girls who are older than me." Zsa Zsa Gabor
Another quote I found online is "Do a loony-goony dance 'cross the kitchen floor, Put something silly in the world that ain't been there before." Shel Silverstein
I think it is never too late or too soon to shake things up a bit. See you dancing in the kitchen.

I am inspired by Miss Norma, age 90 who had a year of adventure

I bought this book about a 90 year old lady who sets out on a grand adventure. I had lots of smiles and some tears while reading "Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying YES to Life", many of the tears being happy tears. Does anyone else cry when they hear about a beautiful moment?
Now that I am a senior citizen, and have had close family members die in the past few years, I find myself thinking about mortality and this book hit the spot for me. Norma's last year was beautiful and full of good things and experiences.

Miss Norma is 90 and when her doctor gives her a terminal diagnosis she tells him “I am 90, I'm hitting the road”, whereupon she sets out to travel for a year to places she chooses with her son and his wife in their thirty six foot mobile home. 

They have five star adventures everywhere and her final year was filled with fun and things new to them all, including a balloon ride, eating oysters in New Orleans, a zip line ride in North Carolina and riding a horse for the first time at age 90. Instead of a few months of harrowing treatments followed by death Norma had adventures with her loved ones and gained a bit of fame with TV interviews and official welcomes. They visited places she chose including Bar Harbor, Mackinaw City, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone. It turns out her family had ties to President Ford and they got a personal tour of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the shipyard as it prepared to be launched. Tim and Ramie live in their RV year round and consider Baja California, Mexico, the closest thing to a home, and Norma visited there too.

For a shy lady she truly blossomed and Tim and Ramie were glad they chose to take Norma with them in her year of being 90. And don’t forget their standard poodle Ringo who cherished Norma too. Tim contrasted his mom’s happy final year to the tough final months of his dad who a year earlier chose painful treatment and stayed home.

I bought the hard cover book and enjoyed the many color photographs.The cover is a photo of the real Norma and Ringo.

Hats off to Norma and to Tim and Ramie as they spent a year making many dreams come true. Tim wrote that he got to know his mom in ways he never had before. This journey was a gift for each of them, and I enjoyed it too.
This book reminded me to think about how I spend my day. Am I kind, thoughtful, prayerful, with some fun or adventure sprinkled in? Am I trying new things? That is my aim. Now that I am retired and a widow it is easy to me to get stuck in my comfortable rut, so this book offers a good inspiration for me. How about you? Are you trying new things?

Daffodils, Wordless Wednesday

daffodils on a windowsill
Originally uploaded by Muffet
Yes, it is wordless Wednesday and here I am adding words!
I bought 2 bouquets of daffodils, grown in Washington state, for $2 each, at Whole Foods store.
I thought they undercharged me, but I checked and that was the right price.
I gave one bouquet to a friend, who is in her late 80s, and recently moved to assisted living. Sad to say, this is the first time in 20 years of our friendship that I can see my friend is "fading". She was mostly alert and carried on a conversation but did ask me if I've been practicing piano, which I have never played, so that was not good. She was thrilled to have the bouquet, it is so cheery.