Heart Hugs

  

Some things are worth repeating   ...   Happy Thanksgiving!

                                 Heart Hugs 08/19/2021

Recently my granddaughter was helping me go through a bunch of photos and papers in preparation for having to move a ton of stuff so some new carpeting can be laid. She ran across some old blogs of mine and promptly cuddled down into the big reading chair in my “Book Room” to read them.  The first one that caught her eye was the one I wrote in 2015 about her dog.  It is entitled “I call her the Lovely Luna”, and she laughed out loud as she read my description of Luna rolling in bear meadow muffins while pasture prancing.  Then there was “Stranger on the Porch” in which her Uncle Garrett was featured as the hero who came to my back porch with his blow gun to try to dispatch a rabid fox.  Anyway – as I glanced back through those old blogs, I was struck by how light hearted most of them are/were.  They were pre-damncovid and pre-political unrest of great magnitude and before times of a world struggling perhaps more that ever before with all kinds of concerns.  I realized that, as I reread them, I was beginning to think in terms of the good olde days and yet -- they were really just a little while ago really.

There was “Klutz Factor” and “Klutz Factor Revisited’, “There an app for that….”, and “Presbyterian Bunnies”.  “I Cry at the Parades” was about how much I love small town America. I wrote about Tee-shirts decorated with fun sayings and about unsuccessful attempts at home repair. I wrote about upcoming elections, even including a memo that I sent to Donald Trump a year prior to the 2016 election.  I wrote about “Tchotchkes and Other Assorted Treasures”, “Scammed! Not a good feeling”, and “Mouse in the House!”.  And … I wrote about “Ladies Who Lunch” which was about my sister and her lovely friends sharing lunch with me when I was visiting in 2016.

So many….  As I was looking through them, the one that struck me the most though was “Heart Hugs” – so much so that I am going to repeat it today.  If you need to, in these days of social distancing -- you can think of these hugs as mental “air hugs”, those symbolic hugs of the damncovid times.  So – here it is – first published on 10/15/2015.  Who couldn’t use a good hug these days? Some things are worth repeating.

We go back in time together....

 I had a wonderful friend who gave what he called heart hugs.  They were the kind of hugs where you wrapped your arms around each other and pressed your hearts together.  They were indescribably wonderful.  He, being much taller than I, sometimes made these hugs hard to manage, but if I could find a step to stand on, they were perfect.  I miss him. 

Recently on Facebook someone shared a copyrighted “Photo” that made me remember these hugs.  It was a scene of Charlie Brown and Snoopy hugging.  The words? “I love the kind of hugs where you can physically feel the sadness leaving.”  I think the source was something like “You are My O2”.  It was sort of hard to see. Anyway – that is the best definition of a heart hug that I could ever imagine.  Perfect…

A wise woman once shared with me that she never passed up a hug.  She was one smart lady as she was definitely a hugger and thrived on them.  Not all people are huggers through.  I think hugging may be a learned behavior and some families are just not into it.  I am from a hugging family and sometimes I am not into it.  I get it.

Hugs are healthy in general.  Not all may be heart hugs, but all hugs are a good thing… even the ones that send your glasses flying.  I have taught my grandchildren the heart hug. Some things are worth passing on from generation to generation.   I consider it a gift from my friend to them.  They never had a chance to meet him.  I think, as he did, that it is important to share the good things, the best things about people who have passed through your life, whose lives have been a blessing.  It’s a poignant kind of immortality – if the best that was them continues on.

Heart hugs all around.

What I Learned from People Magazine

I think it was the first week of November that I received a People magazine in the mail.  It was one of those trapped in a plastic wrapper with an enclosed envelope that contained all the info on how one could subscribe.  I confess that I threw out the envelope part.  Magazines are wasted on me -- I subscribe and then never read them and wonder why I subscribed in the first place.  Anyway ... 

Diane Keaton was on the cover (I am going to miss her),  and I wanted to read the article about her, so I saved the mag and just got to it this morning. While looking through page by page I discovered some interesting things.  One is that I have no idea of who the "stars" of today are and surprising to me -- the stars of my generation are now old.  I sort of wanted them to stay the same age forever I guess.  It was shocking really -- I picture them in my head as they looked years ago and am, for some reason. surprised that they got older too.   I do know better than that but .... Then again ... I am still a fan of black and white movies.  No apologies.

Seriously -- Fonzie celebrated his 80th birthday the day before Halloween.  Richard Gere is my age and looks it ...  and ... Tiger Woods is almost 50.  Clint Eastwood has a daughter who is in her thirties and Paul Newman's daughter is just four years younger than I am.   John Lodge of the Moody Blues passed away recently at the age of 82. I know that time moves on, but guess I didn't think it was the same for everyone --    I mean -- I can still see Timmy and Lassie in my mind -- clear as day.

One more confession.  I would not recognize Taylor Swift, Sarah McLachlan, or Jennifer Lopez if I stood behind them at the Grocery Store on a slow checkout day, but if I close my eyes, I can see Janis Joplin perfectly --  and hear her voice.  The passage of time is weird.

One other thing I noticed is that I don't care a lot about certain current events that People obviously deems to be important.  Apparently someone named Katy Perry is making out on her yacht with Justin Trudeau (him I have heard about), and ... Brad Pitt, a graying 61, is living with someone who is 35. The story of Kathy Griffin is still sad and continues to be no matter how funny she thinks she is. I don't want to read about her any more.

Does any of this seem strange to others of my vintage? 

Guess that's all for now. I have had enough of People magazine for a while and again -- I am going to miss Diane Keaton ....    

Q-tips and Sturdy Poles

Received an email from a good friend of mine the other day, who among many other good things, is also a fantastic writer.  In this particular email, she was writing about the passage of time.  Children grow up and have children.  Grandchildren grow as fast as weeds, etc. Times change ... no one can keep up with technology.  She used the analogy of hanging onto a pole in a stiff wind as one works his/her way through a lifetime journey and then looks back on a lifetime of memories.  It's true.  In looking back, it seems like a blur of living in some ways and then all of a sudden you are member of the elder community with an assortment of memories ... if you are fortunate enough to have lived that long.

Just a few weeks ago, now, I had the pleasure of sharing some time with former classmates.  I joked about being referred to as a Q-tip and how I was going to adopt and embrace that term to refer to myself. Apparently Q-tip is now being used in reference to a white haired person.  It is used (hopefully) in a sort of humorous and light mockery.  Turn that mockery around.  I love that tag..  I earned every strand of white hair and am sort of proud of each lesson they show. I struggled to learn some of them ... failed to learn others ... definitely have more to learn, but am not sure my hair can get any whiter. I am a Q-tip supreme. Others of the white hair group joined in with a refreshing kind of laughter.  It was a unique moment of comradery and support. Time marches on....  quickly.  It's nice to know sometimes that you are not alone in the journey. What a lovely bunch of people the Corry Area High School Class of '67 are  -- whether or not they are Q-tips. Some do not embrace the white hair thing and that is okay too. Others have no hair, so it is a moot point.

It is also important to know that hanging on to a pole in the wind is much preferable to hanging on by a thread ...  although ... at times, off and on, the two do not seem necessarily to be totally mutually exclusive.  A good sense of humor is a gift at such times.  So is a positive attitude.  I saw a lot of both at the gathering with the CAHS Class of '67.  Go Beavers! 

Fond Memories

When I was a child my family used to travel from NW Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area at least once a year to visit family there.  We traveled diagonally across almost the entire commonwealth on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, aka America's First Super Highway. The first section of this toll road (turnpike) was actually opened just nine years before I was born and... eventually it had seven tunnels between my house and my grandmother's.  I found it all rather amazing, but I also remember the tunnels as stinky, dark and sort of scary. I understand at least one reason why people try to hold their breath in tunnels. Anyway -- the tunnels brought together both directions of traffic into a single lane in each direction. Don't know if it is still that way. I do know that several changes have been made over the years.  Anyway -- the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" has always had special meaning for me.  

As the years passed by though -- cross commonwealth carsickness tempered the excitement of travel.  The only thing that saved me was the sight of an orange roof.  Howard Johnson's.  The best restaurant ever.  The best ice cream ever.  28 flavors!  We would stop for one meal along the way.  For me it was always "Grilled Frankforts and Boston Baked Beans with Brown Bread" which, by the way,  cost under a dollar. (I ran across an old menu on eBay recently so I know this is accurate.) My big sister had more expensive tastes in food -- always preferring to order the "Crispy Fried Chicken dinner for a little over $2.00.  It came with cranberry sauce, French fries and coleslaw.  Makes my mouth water to even remember. My dad used to grumble that the chicken would take a half an hour, but always let her order it anyway.  I think the grumble was part of his "Dad" routine. 

All the Howard Johnson restaurants are gone now.  I think the last one was in Lake George, NY.  It was sold and closed in 2023.  Odd thing -- I used to live about 12 miles from Lake George and I never knew that there was a Howard Johnson restaurant there.  Drat.  However... the  childhood HoJo memories remain.... a favorite meal and an ice cream cone on the way out to eat in the car.  Nice. I will just hang on to those small bits of childhood ....  No harm in that.

The Foul Mouth Club

 The politically far left Democrats are sort of grasping at straws at the moment.  They are not in power, and don't seem to have a way to find their way forward. Floundering might be an appropriate word to describe their behaviors. Dangerous "flounderers".  They are ungracious losers and are blaming everyone but themselves. I feel sorry for all the good Democrats I know -- hard working, honest people who care about their country.  Those currently in power in the Democratic party offer no ideas of how to change or improve anything and have fallen into the weak spot of trying to tear down the opposition instead of building themselves a way to regain some popularity, by actually doing something constructive. If you find yourself disagreeing with me -- name one thing the Democratic party is doing -- one constructive thing. One. You must do this without mentioning the name of anyone currently in power. No bashing, no name-calling ...  no mention of Trump nor any member of his leadership team.  Can you build up your side without tearing down another? Until you are able to do this, some would say that there is no hope for you. Others would say -- time to get over your TDS. The USA above all.

I am watching the middle of the road and leftist Democrats.  An election day is near. It appears that the middle of the roaders have been silenced under threats of penalties/cancelations. As for the Left  -- I have not seen any plans, just complaints, frowns and meanness, not to mention destruction of others' property ... and now, desperate for attention ...  they seem to be thinking that singing, dressing up in costumes, and dancing may help.  It is all painful to watch. So much anger and hostility in their frustration of not getting their own way.  And the destruction and violence are unforgivable. The latest insanity though is the tendency of those leftist extremists and some middle of the roaders to think that maybe swearing will help.  It's not working.  It, too, is pathetic. Seriously -- pathetic.  I am embarrassed for those of the foul mouth club. 

Some people on the right like to make suggestions on how they, the Democratic party now under control of the extreme leftist movement, might help themselves regain some respect and move forward from the depths. Why?  I say if they refuse to give up blaming others and continue to do nothing constructive,  let them flounder until they find their own way out of the holes they have dug.  The search and hard lessons are a positive thing. Let them make their mistakes. Acknowledgement of failure might lead them to some well needed introspection.  That's how I learned many hard lessons, and I know I am not alone in this process.  Why should they be any different?   Besides ... while they are floundering, others can put the country back together and advance into a positive future.  Actually ... it seems to me that is the part, the success part, that the foul mouth club hates the most.  Go ahead.  Swear all you want.  You  need to know, though, it's not a good look and ... It's not going to help. Meanwhile those you hate are trying to make the entire world a better, safer place for all. 

News Flash

Is it accurate to say that all the major news networks are located in New York City? If there is one that is not, I can't think of it.  Anyway ... I was listening to a news broadcast out of New York City recently and the news guy kept using the phrase -- Everyone knows... Have you noticed how opinionated the "news" has become? (I bet you have.)  Well news to him...  not everyone knows.  Maybe, just maybe... he doesn't know. Maybe he lives in a bubble that sometimes doesn't come near the real world .. at least not my real world.  I emailed him to suggest as much and did not receive a reply.  Imagine that...

Now -- related to this NYC frame of mind and self-centeredness ... according to Wikipedia, Upstate New York is all of New York state that lies north and northwest of the metropolitan area of New York City. So that means that part of the utmost bottom of a huge state, that is a mere 6 miles from where I live in NW Pennsylvania, is considered Upper New York State.  Totally illogical to me. I think of Upper NY as where I used to live just a few miles from the Vermont border. Bet someone from NYC thought up the Upper thing.  Talk about being self-impressed.  Talk about minimalizing an entire state by lumping all of it together in a term that just means it's not New York City.  Hmmm...  No wonder most of the TV news networks think and talk like New York is the center of the universe. They think it is.  I've got news, folks ... for the news folks ... it's not. In fact -- news broadcasters are trained to talk like we do here in this little pocket of Pennsylvania.  Also in fact -- people are apparently leaving the Big Apple in droves and I totally get it. I am thinking that many of the people who work for all the networks would leave if they could. Once in a while a viewer gets a glimpse of that.  Personally, I wouldn't go to New York City again for any reason -- way too peopley for me and apparently it smells worse than ever. Plus, from what I hear and see on those very same news networks,  not only is it dirty, crowded, and noisy..., it is also VERY DANGEROUS.  Let's face it -- I am a rural person. I cherish clean, relative safety, & peace ... among other nice things. I like not rushing around every minute, being the only one at the traffic light, no crowds and ... smiling at and making eye contact with people just because I think it's a positive human "thing" to acknowledge others. It's good for both sides of the exchange. People in big cities, tend to look at their feet or vaguely off into the distance.  Ever notice that?  Sad.

Having said that -- it is important to remind New Yorkers, on TV and perhaps beyond that, that just because I don't live in NYC, it doesn't mean that I am less than they are.  In fact -- I think, probably, that I am in way better shape than they are in many ways. I have at times thought that if I were dropped off in a city and had to find my way that it would not be a problem.  In fact that sort of happened to me one time in New York City when I was 17.  I survived beautifully.  On the other hand, if a city slicker were dropped off ... say ... in my back pasture,  I am thinking they would be begging for help at my back door in no time -- especially if the neighborhood bear made an appearance.  Actually one harmless ground hog, deer, wild turkey, a murder of gliding crows, or the occasional cayote or fox might do the trick as well and send them running to civilization such as it is here.  And then -- there are the swooping eagles ... or the sounds of a hunting season. Yes, a lot of unknowns for them ...  So many things ... like tall grass or the occasional pine cone on the ground,  untrimmed trees,  pickup trucks in massive quantities, functional clothing, etc.  -- all perhaps foreign to the die hard city dweller. I know for a fact that some of them have never seen a dairy cow or even touched a horse.  Imagine never hearing the sounds of a goat. What a sad way to go through life... in my opinion.

Further...The air I breathe is cleaner. I can afford food or even grow some of it and put it up for the winter.  Further -- housing is also way cheaper and comes with way more square footage. I hear birds singing every day. My family is safe and I don't have to rely on scary public transportation.  Oh and there is the fact that I don't have to worry about a Democratic Socialist, with impractical and big government control ideas, winning a mayoral race. It's a whole different world out here in the wilderness.  People are more in charge and tend to respect others (many of them even know their neighbors).  Also important to mention is the tendency here to respect the environment as well. I have not seen anyone poop on the street or even litter in ... well ... ever.  And to think they think we model ourselves after them.  News Flash!  We don't. We sort of watch and wonder -- how they could be letting this happen to themselves? Are they stupid? Maybe we can blame it on air pollution?  They even think that a 6" dusting of snow is a blizzard.  Like I said -- stupid... or perhaps self-centered narrowminded ignorance?

Ever wonder what would happen if just one of the major "news" networks would move out of the New York bubble?  That would be interesting for sure. Wonder if that will ever happen?  I doubt it.  Maybe there is something in the old phrase "Misery loves company".   One thing for sure... I don't want them to move here. They might bring some of their city slicker mentality with them.  Get enough of that just watching them on TV. Plus their shoes look very uncomfortable and impractical, and... I particularly dislike tight, sleeveless or off the shoulder dresses that look like they belong at a cocktail party rather than a newsroom.  Just sayin'. ( I sent an email about those dresses one time and didn't hear back on that either.  Surprise... surprise....  I guess I just got written off as a dumb hillbilly.  I sort of love that, actually.  Go ahead  -- underestimate me.  I am in good company. I even know how to do survival stuff.)

So Close

Whether you call it an end to war, diplomatic efforts, or a ceasefire, peace agreement, a treaty here and there, or an economic normalization agreement, we are getting closer to world peace... So close...

1. Egypt and Ethiopia
2. Serbia and Kosovo
3. Armenia and Azerbaijan
4. Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
5. Iran and Israel
6. India and Pakistan
7. Cambodia and Thailand
8. Israel and Hamas

What do these situations have in common?  A world sick of deadly, destructive turmoil, the Team of Donald J. Trump and ... the man himself ... US President, Donald J. Trump.  Let us pray now for peace between Ukraine and Russia. I am thinking that, deep down, they want peace as well.  There needs to be an end to the killing and devastation all across the world.     Global Peace   Imagine that for a moment.

~~~~

Am watching the release of the hostages in Gaza as I type...

Can't help but think of this song -- a global anthem for peace that will probably play in your head for a while -- at least if you are anything like me who starts singing in my head after the first six words.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me;

let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be. 

With God our creator, children all are we.

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.

With every step I take, may this be my solemn vow:

To Take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. 

                                                                (Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller 1955) 

 (Are Ukraine and Russia on the horizon? May they build on success.)