Mulling…

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. It hasn’t been because I didn’t have anything to say. It’s been because I maybe had too much to say.

It started with the House of Representatives being so terribly short-sighted, nay, even unto say, MEAN, about the Farm Bill and the support of SNAP (formerly Food Stamps). You know hunger is one of my hot-button issues. Yesterday, Paul Krugman, in his column in the New York Times, put his finger on what I had been feeling.

Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.

And then, just like the middle bars of a drum riff, came the stories of the out-of-bounds actions at the Texas legislature, when Capital Police searched women’s handbags and confiscated their feminine protection, because the senators were afraid they might be embarrassed by a demonstration using tampons and maxi pads during the draconian vote to further restrict women’s control over their own bodies and lives. As Rachel Hackenberg said on her blog,

It goes without saying that super plus tampons and winged pads pose a threat to the safety of Texas state senators. Licensed guns, on the other hand, are still acceptable accoutrement for those attending the legislative session.

And then, just to prove to me that the world had really gone mad, we got word of the verdict in Florida. I went to bed Saturday night with my stomach in knots and my eyes full of tears. I still don’t know what to make of a world that fears black boys, hates women, and mocks hungry children.

• I know this might be an opportunity to finally talk about race (and I am certainly not without guilt here).
• I know that this is just one more nail in the coffin of gun violence (although, if 26 dead in Sandy Hook can’t get people’s attention, what can?).
• I know that “the poor are always with us” (but also that we grow enough food to feed everyone in the world).

So I’m still mulling. I vacillate between discouragement, rage, sadness, and despair. I know – these are classic symptoms of grief.

And I grieve for our society, for my community, for the parents with dead children, for the parents who can’t feed their own children, for the woman who is forced to give birth to a child that she can’t afford to feed, for the political representative who would rather WIN than do what’s right.

And so, I haven’t been blogging recently.

Because I really don’t know what to say.

My Life Right Now

I promised I’d give you a peek at what my life is like here at Franke Tobey Jones.

EVERY MORNING

I take a shower, get dressed, fix my tea, load any leftover dishes or glasses into the dishwasher, eat a breakfast bar, feed the birds, water the flowers, check my email, read all the blogs I’ve received in my RSS reader, check the bank account, do a Curvy puzzle, work a jigsaw puzzle on-line, check Ancestry.com to see if anybody has posted anything interesting about any of the ancestors, check Facebook to see what’s happening, read the New York Times headlines, the Huffington Post shorts, updates from Knitting Paradise (and read the whole article if it interests me). By that time, it’s probably 11:00 or 11:30 and time to think about lunch.

We eat our dinner at noon and each fix our own snack-type suppers – soup, sandwich, fruit and cheese, nachos, etc.

EVERY EVENING

About 5:30 or 6:00, Big Al and I meet in the living room to watch the news and Rachel Maddow. If there’s anything on network or cable that we want to see, we watch that (not often); otherwise, we watch something on Netflix.com. Right now we’re watching the British series, “M-I 5“, and “All Creatures Great and Small.” We usually get one or two episodes a night of each. Followed by the local news, and Jay Leno’s monologue, and finally – to bed.

SUNDAY

Bethany Presbyterian Church worships at 10:30 and Sunday School is out for the summer. During most of the rest of the year, Sunday School is at 9:00.

Big Al and I go out to lunch after church, often on the waterfront.

Many Sundays we take a ride after lunch, sometimes through Point Defiance Park, sometime exploring.

Because I probably didn’t get anything from my daily routine done except the shower and the tea and breakfast bar, I spend a couple of hours in the afternoon catching up on my on-line reading. By that time, it’s 4:00 or so, and I go over to the Wellness Center to spend 50 minutes on the recumbent cross trainer (my personal preference for exercise torture). I try to get in three sessions a week of exercise, so Sunday is my make-up day if I’ve been a slug otherwise. If I don’t have to exercise, I spend an hour or so enjoying the porch and reading in my rocking chair.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

Every other week I get together with other residents and a genealogist who gives us tips about how to get past the roadblocks in our research and where to find more information. She also helps us with presentation of our research and encourages us to include stories rather than just facts.

Every week, Big Al and I go to the Gamers Club and play bridge or some other game over in the Tobey Jones building. We only stay for an hour, but we enjoy the folks who make up the foursome – a retired federal judge, and a retired school teacher.

Once a month, the chef has a program on nutrition, or some other interesting topic. He also brings goodies to sample. Recently he has talked about protein, the difference between shrimp and prawns, diabetic diets, etc.

I try to fit in my 50 minutes of torture at the Wellness Center on Monday afternoons as well, sometimes before Gamers Club, sometimes, after.

Once a month I have a meeting of the Pierce County Hunger Advocates – part of the Ministerial Alliance.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Big Al and I eat lunch in the Bistro (think Starbucks or local coffee shop) here on campus. They have sandwiches, soup, and salads, and we usually each have a chef salad.

Then, I scurry off to my Tai Chi lesson, while Al finishes his lunch and reads the newspaper.

After Tai Chi, we go over to the Garden Apartments where we play bridge with a foursome we have been playing with ever since we lived there.

Then, it’s back to the Wellness Center for an hour or so of Brain Games. We play word games (like Scattergories) as teams, have paper games to work on, and have some social time. It’s fun, and a way to stretch my mind, and hopefully fend off the on-set of Alzheimer’s a little longer.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Wednesdays are the least structured of my week.

Wednesdays are often the day for trips. So far (since the weather has turned decent this summer), we’ve been to a winery, and the Wildlife Park. There’s a lunch cruise scheduled for next week.

Big Al volunteers at the FISH Food Bank once every six weeks. He also has a luncheon meeting of the state Safety Association in Tukwilla once a month.

I try to get in my 50-minute work out on Wednesday afternoons.

Wednesday is also the day we go to the commissary, about once every 6 weeks.

If you have a birthday or anniversary during the month, you are invited (with your significant other) to a lunch either in the Tobey Jones dining room, or the Lillian Pratt dining room on the last Wednesday of the month.

Often there are interesting programs on Wednesday afternoons, from the Tacoma Historical Society, a gardening expert, or on some other topic. Once a month, we have a program on wines.

Once a quarter, all the independent residents are invited to a dinner, usually on a Wednesday evening. There’s one coming up in a week.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Once a month, the CEO hosts Coffee with the CEO on Thursday mornings. Anyone who wants to can come and ask questions and air grievances. Generally everyone is pretty happy with how everything is going.

On Thursdays at 12:30 I have my second Tai Chi lesson of the week.

There’s also often a program from Senior University on Thursday afternoons.

At 4:00 is the All-Campus Wine and Cheese, where we are invited to lift our glasses and socialize with other residents and the board.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Friday morning at 11:00 I scurry over to Lillian Pratt for the Knitter’s Club. There are 5 or 6 of us who get together and chat while we do some kind of handwork. There’s a retired college president who is learning how to knit to keep his hands and brain busy, as well, and we can ask the others for help if we run into a problem. They always provide us with coffee, tea, and a goodie to stave off starvation until lunch time.

Friday is one of our lunches out. Once a month, the community takes the bus to a local eatery with whoever wants to go. We’ve been to a Japanese place, a Mexican place, an Indian place, an Italian place and a seafood place. If the Lunch Bunch isn’t going, Big Al and I find our own place for a nice lunch out.

The community has Ice Cream on the front porch at Lillian Pratt every Friday afternoon in the summer.

The Garden Apartments have Happy Hour on Friday afternoons. Everybody brings a little snackie-poo, and they provide wine and hard liquor (and soft drinks). We like going because it gives us an opportunity to catch up with the folks from the Garden Apartments.

Once a month, they have “Chef’s Table” that you have to sign up for. Chef Tim plans a specially nice menu and prepares it table-side, while he talks about the ingredients and preparation. It’s limited to 12 people, so it’s a nice opportunity to visit with other residents over a wonderful meal (with unbelievable desserts).

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

For the most part, Saturday is a day of catch-up. This is my day to work out (so I won’t have to on Sunday afternoon). We also go to the grocery store, hit the garden shop, buy more bird feed, etc.

So that’s what I do all the time. I’m just as busy as if I weren’t retired, but I really love it.

Blush…

I know I’ve been seriously derelict in posting here. Sawwy.

I HAVE been writing, though. Please check out my posts at Pierce County Hunger. The Facebook group and page, and Twitter account could use a little love, too.

I’m not sure what I’ve been so busy doing, but it seems like every time I sit down to write a blog, it’s time to get ready to go somewhere else, or do something else.

And then, I have to remember I’m retired now, so I shouldn’t feel guilty for spending an afternoon in the rocking chair reading some mind candy. 🙂

I’ll try to give you a review of a typical week/month tomorrow (if I don’t get too involved in a game of Words with Friends).