Musings today

 I'm a reader. I'm currently listening to a book as an audio recording...49 hours long. But I've already got 10 hours under my belt. Hope I can renew it from the library when my 13 day check-out period expires!

What's this long book? The latest (I think) in the Outlander series by Diana Galbadon. "Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone." The first 10 hours have been interesting, catching me up on events that I hadn't read about. It mainly takes place in the wilderness of the North Carolina mountains at the time of the American Revolution. I wonder what the volume before this one was. I have read all the long heavy books that came before, either in order, or close enough whenever they were available at the library. That must have started 15 years or so ago.

So yes, I may have re-read a few of them. Then there were 5 seasons of TV shows of the Outlander series, on Prime streaming TV. I kept waiting for another season, because these only covered up till they came to North Carolina. There is time travel, and Scotland and its citizens, and some French characters as well. English and Americans are in there too.

OK, that's my book report for the day.

I've noticed that I only capture and share sayings that have to do with my life. Whenever they are talking about raising the next generation...like parenting tips...I skip over them.

When I raised my first son my instruction manual was Dr. Benjamin Spock's book, "Baby and Childcare." I was new at relying upon medical doctors and drugs, so I learned how they could help, and when they couldn't.  And of course doing things by the seat of my pants, as they say. Later I was glad to have other parents as friends who went through similar things that we did. But I didn't rely upon my own family of relations to give me answers. I am sorry now that I did things so "independently" as I'm sure I could have learned a lot from my parents and in-laws. But we had limits on our relationships, as to what I would accept of their "advice."  Part of that was their religious attitude against using doctors.

All of these thoughts were triggered by a saying on Facebook ...

Now I don't give any of my children or grandchildren advice. I support each of them in their own chosen paths. And I listen if they wish to share their problems sometimes. That doesn't happen often, since we communicate through distances. Thank heavens for texting, emails, facetime, and 'no-extra-charge' long distance calls! 

So I am what I am. And very thrilled with plans to see some family members soon. More about that later.

Today's quote:

What to do when it's raining, or you're sick, or...

Hi everyone. What do you do when you're staying inside from the rain?

Besides blogging, I'm streaming a TV series on STARZ through Prime membership. The STARZ only lasts 7 days free.

BINGE WATCHING!

"Outlander." I've read all the books, several times. Now seeing them acted, with beautiful period costumes and sets is such fun!

On a slightly less entertaining note...

The Midweek pick-me-up by The Marginalian had this - which I'm sharing here. Much more is in her article HERE  Article is titled;  How to Keep Life from Becoming a Parody of Itself: Simone de Beauvoir on the Art of Growing Older

"For old people,” Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in her sublime meditation on aging and what beauty really means, “beauty doesn’t come free with the hormones, the way it does for the young… It has to do with who the person is.” Another way to say this, to feel it, is that to become a person worthy of old age is the triumph of life. ... Grace Paley instructed in what remains the finest advice on the art of growing older: “The main thing is this — when you get up in the morning you must take your heart in your two hands. You must do this every morning.”

And...

Simone de Beauvoir said:

Growing, ripening, aging, dying — the passing of time is predestined, inevitable.

There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning — devotion to individuals, to groups or to causes, social, political, intellectual or creative work… In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves. One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion. 

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Did you notice that last line..."indignation?" In my own life I find many older people cherish that emotion to an absurd degree. I still try to avoid it.