2016

Relief is just a few hundred miles away!

Tweak your life!

Thanksamillion for the opportunity for me to be with you today.  It’s 2016 and it begins a new year of yapin’ by this snowbird in AZ.  I realize that some of my writing might sound like Yiddish to ya. I’m not trivializing the beauty of the snow and wind and ice of the Midwest, but The Valley Of The Sun fits us just fine. Thank you!

ItchieBitchie and his wife WonderfulMarvelousBetty went to a New Years party. WonderfulMarvelousBetty had a couple glasses of wine. On the way home, ItchieBitchie said--She acted like she was the boss over my life and the whole world! Ouchy ouuchy!

I talked to MN-Zinker at our 55+ Community here in AZ.  He said--I am a Seenager. (Senior teenager). I have everything that I wanted as a teenager, only 60 years later. I don’t have to go to school or work. I can go to bed when I want and get up when I want. I get an allowance every month. I have my own pad. I have a driver’s license and my own car. I have ID that gets me into bars and the whisky store. The people I hang around with are not scared of getting pregnant. And I don’t have acne. Life is great. SeniorBetty says--Ya, things change with age alright; we ain't dead and done!

SeenagerDuke says--Us snowbirds can act like affuenza teens alright! PickleballGerty says—We hear sooo much about “radicalizating” on the news recently.  Well, snowbirds are radicalized maybe--real radicals.  They sure buy into this life style and seem to love it.  They become very radical as to what they do and seem to enjoy it. TommyTheLout says--Us snowbirds are just wrapped in bubble wrap!  Such is life.

Saturday question--Why do folks become soooo radical (e.g. like crazy, radical Democrats or crazy, radical Republicans)? I read in the paper that the Democratic party is the preferred party of teachers and the Republican party is the preferred party of doctors).  Why is that do you think? Ummmm! Does it have anything to do with money do you think?  How about who raised us?  Or maybe our education?  Or maybe something that is in our past experiences.  Most radical folks are almost impossible to change; even almost impossible to even have a discussion with.  We all have acquaintance, friends, associates and church friends who are radical.  It doesn't take long to see it or hear it.  Social media is full of radicals.  I question if its a good thing to be a radical; unless you are a snowbird that is!  But I don't know much, I'm just a little old farm boy from a mile and a fourth south of Roseland, MN.  

We recognize the fact that we are fortunate to have the option and opportunity to winter in AZ.  I guess growing up I would have never thought this would be a possibility—it would have been more than a dream. It wasn't even a thought. America is a land of opportunities, no question.  I think some things sorta kinda just fell in our lap—very fortunate.  I do think that being around good folk and mimicking those good folks (i.e. you guys) really helps.  As the old saying of writer Alex Halley goes—When you see a turtle on a fence post you know it didn’t get there by itself. 

It's all relevant.  I thought I had it made as a kid on the farm a mile and fourth south of Roseland, MN.  I didn’t know any different and was very happy and was not one bit envious of anyone (i.e. I didn't know better).  I was very satisfied.  Some years ago, during the depression, a government agent traveled through the Tennessee Mountains making small allotments to impoverished farmers for seed, stock or needed improvements.  He found one woman who lived alone, scratching out a bare living on two acres of barren ground. “If the government should allot you $200, what would you do with it?” he asked her. The woman thought a moment. Her cabin had no floor, its windows were covered with tar paper, light came through the broken walls. Finally, she looked up and said, “Reckon I’d give it to the poor.” It’s all a matter of our mind maybe.  What do you think.

The other day on a bitterly cold winter's day, a North Dakota State Trooper on patrol came upon a motorcyclist near Fargo who was stalled by the roadside. The biker was swathed in heavy protective clothing and wearing a full-face helmet to protect the face from the cold weather. “What’s the matter? asked the Trooper. "Carburetor's frozen," was the terse reply. "Pee on it. That'll thaw it out." "I can't," said the biker. "OK, watch me closely and I'll show you." The Trooper unzipped and promptly warmed the carburetor as promised. Moments later the bike started and the rider drove off, waving.
A few days later, the local State Troopers’ office received a note of thanks from the father of the motorcyclist. It began: "I would like to thank you on behalf of my daughter Jill.."

MyNeighborNeal told me—I am 95 and have just realized (i.e. finally) that I’m never going to be really good at anything like golf sooooo I just try to enjoy the day here in The Valley Of The Sun. Soooo NeighborNeal, what is the secret to living soooo long?  Don't die! I was running in our 55+ community this week and saw this.  I asked them if I could take their picture--sure, I bet you never saw someone towing a person in a wheel chair before--no I haven't.  Crazy.  God only knows what's in the 5-gallon pail.  I was scared to ask.  Senors are innovative and creative alright (i.e. always have something up their sleeve!  Such is life.

Before we left for AZ, one of my buddies told me that when he walks he feels soooo much better.  Soooo I asked him—Then how come don’t you walk every day—Cause it’s cold and windy and cloudy and I’m lazy! I can understand that, can you (i.e. winter can put a kibosh on our attitudes)?  Then I was getting tires on our car and an old client of mine was telling me about all his physical problems.  He said—I feel soooo much better when I walk every day.  Sooooo how come don’t you walk then?  It’s cold outside and windy and snowy and dark and dreary (i.e. IA winter can make a person's life grow stale).  Can you understand his thinking?  That is why warm weather, sun, and no wind makes a person want to get out and exercise.  Besides there are a lot of other folks doing it which helps (i.e. it might be contagious).  Does that make any sense to you folks? Charlie Brown says—Good grief!

TheOtherWarrenFromOmaha says--I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now. That my friends is called an araprosdokian. If I agreed with you, WarrenFromOhaha, we'd both be wrong! 

CanadianPicklleballSlammer told me recently—We have rented a park model for 4 months.  I don’t complain about the cost. A!   If I do, I shouldn’t be here!  Besides, it’s all about our health.  It is sooooo good for a person’s health to winter down here.  Doing all the activities, being around happy folks and having warm, sunny weather.  That is CanadianPickleballSlammer's opinion.  LuckieEddie says--For all folks regardless of their power, money, and prestige, there's an expiration date (i.e. brief shelf life compared to eternity)!  Such is life.

I asked another pickleball buddy how he was doing as last year he was doing treatments for cancer.  He is doing fine he says but it took several months for me to get the hormone stuff out of his system.  He said—I would be with my lady friend and tell her I am having a hot flash.  She would say, I'm having one tooooo!  We just have them together. Crazy!

SenorChuckieBoo says--Ya when we get older we might have different limitations which provides us with different opportunities.  Church friends back home asked me--how is my faith is being affected with Arlene having Alziemer’s? My response was—My faith in the Lord might be stronger but I’m not as religious. I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton wrote a book with an interesting title: More Jesus, Less Religion. Their point: “It was Karl Marx who said, ‘Religion…is the opiate of the people.’ Religion, with all its rituals and trappings, can indeed be hypnotic. When all you do is jump through hoops to try to get to God, it is easy to either give up or to get weird trying to earn God’s favor. Christianity is not a religion; it’s a life-transforming relationship with Christ. Joesixpack says--Things will never be like they used to be, and that could be reason enough to be sad, especially for the elderly who remember how things use to be. Or are folks just dealing with the symptoms?  Now that could be.  Sooooo maybe attitude has something to do with folks' feelings.  What do you think?

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says--Fresh clean sheets are one of life's small joys.

P.S. It's time for me to throw those chips away and get my butt off the couch and play some pickleball! Such is life.