At 20, we worry about what other people think of us.
At 40, we don’t care about what other people think of us.
Weekend Cheer from The Queens of Quite-a-Lot
At 60, we realize they haven’t been thinking about us at all!
And, I think that’s a very good thing. Happy Friday.
I’m kicking up my heels and drying out my webbed feet in sunny Palm Springs this week. There is nothing better than hanging with a flock of silver haired snowbirds to make you feel young. Last night we met Betty and her two girlfriends at the front desk. She’s my kind of gal. Sporting a bejewelled pink jean jacket, a crown of silver hair and a hearty laugh, this lovely lady is a role model for living and loving life. Betty is looking for fun and I’ll bet she even turns a couple of old foxes’ heads and gets called out for a whirl or two around the dance floor when they bring out the Tommy Dorsey cover band.
Click on the photo below to watch an awesome dance number. I think it’s time to dust off my dancing shoes. How about you?
Life is really about grabbing the gusto no matter your age or the color of your hair. To quote the lyrics of a favorite country song ~ “And when you have the chance to sit it out or dance… I hope you dance.”
Since I appear to be the only one working while all around me my peers are, one by one, slipping quietly into retirement, I still enjoy the simple pleasures of knowing which day of the week it actually is and feeling that wee spark of happiness when Friday finally rolls around again. Count your blessings…however small they may be.
Mr Ricky
Here’s what Mr. Ricky and I will be doing this weekend while hub’s watches football, football and more football – snuggling under the covers to stay warm and dreaming about all of the things that make us happy. Oh, and we’ll probably eat something tasty too.
Happy Friday!
It was mid December when this intriguing invitation appeared in my inbox ~
What new intentions do you have for this coming year? Rather than make a list of resolutions meant to broken, create a powerful visual reminder that 2013 offers four seasons and twelve months of hope, healing and joy in the form of a mandala or sacred circle. This mixed media project will include watercolor and permanent markers, with lots of creative options to make your mandala express your life’s journey this coming year.
No artistic background required. All materials included.
To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure what I was signing up for, but I was drawn by the idea of this new use of an ancient tradition for creating a visual road map of the year ahead. No artistic background required. All materials included. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
We met at 10 o’clock on a very cold, cloudy and windy first Saturday in January. Eight women and one brilliant facilitator. The class was held at Via Artistica, a light, bright and very inviting space dedicated to supporting creative expression for people at all levels of artistic experience. Kristen Carpentier, who created and facilitated this workshop has helped hundreds of women (and a few brave men) use art as a way to explore and promote personal growth. This woman has a gift and I for one am very glad she has chosen to share it with the world! 
We had a real Artists in the group which I always find intimidating, but I got over myself pretty quickly and on to the business of quieting my judgmental monkey mind and letting whatever bubbled up work its way onto my watercolor paper. We drew cards for direction – I randomly chose Risk and Passion and Willpower Right on target!
Mandala is a sanskrit word for circle and creating mandalas is a Buddhist form of meditation that is hundreds of years old. If you are interested in learning more about the Mandala, its history in Buddhism and other ancient traditions, here’s what Wikipedia has to say . For this workshop, the guidelines were simple, the supplies plentiful and the paints sparkly and colorful. We started with a big square of paper, a dinner plate to trace the mandala circle and then played for the next two hours and watched as magic happened around the table. I had no idea where I was going when I sat down at the table, but I have to say I absolutely love what I created. 
Creating the space for reflection, setting intention and then sharing in a supportive group is a great way to start a new year, or a new month, or a new plan of any kind. There will be more mandalas hanging on my wall in the year ahead.
Thanks Kirsten and Via Artistica.
RISK ~ That’s my word for 2013 and as I said, I’m going for it. Damn the torpedoes and all that.
I decided to jump right in and sign up for not one but two creative classes. They are online and they are both fabulous. Great inspiration, ideas I can put to use immediately and daily and weekly projects that are already moving me out of my comfort zone. I’m loving every minute. Old dog + new tricks = grand new adventures!
One of my goals for 2013 is to step into the blogging world in a whole new way. I’ve got some big plans to hatch and lots of work to do. I am excited to go down this path wherever it leads.
Everyday Magic is a photography class led by blogger, photographer and creative living inspiration, Tammy Strobel. Tammy and my classmates from all over the world are helping me see the magic in so many of the everyday moments I have overlooked or taken for granted as I rushed through my days. It is just so darned cool.
The second class is called Juicy Blogging with writer, editor and blogging pro, Britt Bravo. I just started a couple of days ago and I have already learned and tried so many new ideas I am about to burst with enthusiasm. I know I will be much better blogger as I begin to share our Just a Backpack adventures with a larger audience.
Both classes have daily lessons. Today at Everyday Magic our theme was “A Day in the Life”. Britt’s writing assignment was to do a blog post that contained mostly photos. Sounded like the makings of a fun blog post to me.
Here’s how it played out…
Oprah was waiting for me when I opened the mailbox so we decided to go on an adventure together. (well I decided)
Driving Ms. Oprah.
Lunch? Why yes. We both had the apple/goat cheese salad.
A quick trip downtown to Union Station to pick up a friend. Oprah rode on the dash to catch a better view.
Oprah loves a good sale. Me too!
See’s chocolate? Of course! Let’s get a one pound box and eat it on the drive home.
Perfect ending to a perfect day. Starbucks, tea, chocolate and a little bit of Oprah wisdom. It was my very own Oprah Ahhh! Moment.
These classes are gifts I gave to myself. They fit me perfectly and have already brought me hours of joy. New sweater? Don’t really need one. Meeting new people and making a few synapses fly in my brain? Now that’s a gift that will last a lifetime.
What gifts have you given yourself lately? If not…what are you waiting for? You deserve it. Just like me.
It’s January and like almost everyone else, I’ve been thinking about the year ahead. All day the song 526,600 minutes from the musical Rent has been playing in my head. That’s a whole lot of minutes – a whole year’s worth to be exact. What a gift. And an awesome responsibility as well – to make the most of each and every one of those 526,600 minutes.
Every January I like to take a walk down memory lane, review the previous year (the good and bad and the I can’t believe that really happened) and then set my my intention for the year ahead. I’ve given up making new years resolutions, but I do like to have a goal or two and a bit of a road map. I chose RISK as my guiding word for this year. As hubs and I continue to move deeper into uncharted waters, my willingness to embrace risk will be key to the success of our backpack and rollie retirement adventures. I’ve never been a big risk taker. It’s time. I’m going for it.
Here’s my 2013 Wordle. I know it will be a great visual reminder of where I want to keep my focus and intention as I move through the year.
If you want to play with your own Wordle, check out their website. it’s easy and lots of fun.
The mad march through the month of December is winding down at last. We tried to keep Christmas low-key this year and I think we succeeded pretty well. This blog is in part about re-evaluating our lifestyle as we approach our next adventure – retirement. We’re pondering the deep questions like how all the “stuff” we’ve acquired over the years will fit (or not) into our upcoming new lifestyle. We’re a couple of geezers on a new path and we’re loving the challenge and the change. This year we began the process releasing our attachment to things and instead looking for the magic in the moments of our lives rather than the next shiny thing. The most frequently asked question around our house these days is “Do we really need it? Will it fit in the backpack and rollie?” It’s a very interesting exercise and I highly recommend it, but it isn’t always easy.
This Christmas, after years of piling the presents high around the tree, it feels good to say that all we really need is family, friends, our health, and a few bucks to sustain us in our old age and keep us traveling. It’s been a year of exploring “the new/old ways” and the re-discovering the value of moments and memories vs. stuff. Taking photos with my little digital pocket camera helps me stop and pay closer attention to the tiny details that make our lives richer. You catch the hope in someone’s eyes, the playful smile in the joke, the hundreds of shades of grey in a Portland winter sky. Magical everyday moments I would likely take fore-granted and quickly forget. I’m hoping that in the year ahead both my skill and my camera will improve and my snapshots of our experiences will enrich these posts.
For now, I’m just grateful for the memories. Here are a few of my favorites from the past year. Taking a little quiet time this afternoon, I sat with a cup of tea and my laptop and experienced the magic of these moments all over again. Now that’s a real gift!
May your moments be filled with great joy and grand adventures.
Happy New Year!
Cheers ~ Nancy
Ensconced in her window seat in the front of the plane, tray table down, sorting through all of the treasures she had stashed into two cotton carry bags, a most delightful slip of a woman looked up as I moved in to take the aisle seat. She smiled at me and her blue eyes twinkled. Wispy white hair peaked out from the sides of her knit cap and a fringed pom-pom danced on top. The word elf came to mind. I sensed this was going to be more of an adventure than my usual Portland to Phoenix flights and boy was I right.
Her name was Violet and when I sat down next to her on that flight a few years ago, she was 86 years old. She wasn’t an elf at all. She was a treasure and a very special gift.
For the next two hours and twenty minutes Violet regaled me with stories of her life and the wisdom of her years. She talked and talked. I listened and learned. For Violet, life had always been, and still was, one hell of a grand thrill ride. At 19, as a young war bride, Violet and her baby moved to Portland where she found work in the shipyards. Yes, she was the real-deal Rosie the Riveter. Husbands, jobs, kids, moves, grand kids, births and deaths – the daily act of creating a live well lived that often seems so mundane to many of us – came vividly to life as my new friend spun out tale after tale. Just an ordinary life some might think, but oh not so. What Violet knew and what so many of us miss – what makes every life special and unique and amazing – is when we pay attention to the details, embrace the challenges, open to the opportunities. It’s in how we choose to experience each of our moments. Violet chose to see adventure. She chose joy and she chose to stop and savor the tiniest details. She has never stopped exploring or learning. She loved meeting new friends. And, at 86, this beautiful lady was just beginning her latest adventure as she flew across the country to Oklahoma City to take up residence in a new apartment. She couldn’t wait to settle in, get herself a computer and start using the internet.
Opinions? She had (more than) a few – on the health benefits of dark chocolate and avocados. That most doctors didn’t know what they were talking about and nobody would benefit in the long run from popping prescription drugs. She told me she loved people but was pretty much over sex.
Two hours flew by (pun intended), we landed in Phoenix and reluctantly I had to leave. I gathered the paperwork that I not even bothered to look at and stuffed everything into my travel bag. As I stood in the aisle waiting to de-plane, Violet called out “Goodbye Nancy! Goodbye. And say hello, say hello to all the people I haven’t met yet.”
Over the next few days, Violet kept coming into my mind. Not her words so much, just a feeling. You could say this was just a chance meeting with a lovely old lady on a plane. I choose to believe that Violet was a gift to me on that day. A beautiful reminder of things that I often forget in the busyness of being – I forget to remember to PAY ATTENTION. If you ask me what I did last Tuesday, I’m not sure I can recall. It’s all so much, so fast, so busy and it often feels like I’m just sliding through. Getting it done, but not savoring it, not really seeing it, sometimes not feeling it. The magic is in the moment and Violet knew that instinctively. Me? I’m still learning.
It’s that time of year when we pause for a few moments to remember all that we are grateful for. Today I am grateful for the special “elfs” that pass through my life sprinkling the wisdom I need, just when I need it most.
Thank you Violet, wherever you are. I hope we meet again someday.
Happy Thanksgiving to All.
Meet Margaret Dunning, at 102 years very young, I’d say she’s definitely a classic and so is her 1930 Packard 740 Roadster. Yes, Margaret still drives and in fact she is still showing her classic beauty at concours d’elegance. In a recent appearance at the Pebble Beach Concours, she told the audience that she changes her own oil and spark plugs and that “Before old age overtook me, I could scoot under the car very nicely.” Margaret owns several classic vehicles. The Packard may be her favorite, but these days you’re like to see Margaret driving around her hometown of Plymouth, Michigan in a 2003 Cadillac DeVille. It’s her “everyday car”.
Margaret, you are an inspiration to us youngsters in our 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. A true classic. Keep on driving!
Both videos are from Utube.
justabackpackandarollie 