FRESH MEAT

It’s catch up day. I always have so many plans, but rarely get around to them. I finished the June newsletter after writing a profile of one of our residents who spent 14 years as a cook with the same fishing company that appears on Deadliest Catch. She even worked on the ships a few times. She has an absolutely amazing story and takes it all as just ordinary work. I don’t know. I don’t know, 14 years in rough seas where your ship is never still, but rocking all the time and often violently. Three months on, one month off. Quite a way to live! When she retired from the Alaskan waters she spent three years on a tugboat that went from Ketchikan to the Columbia River. It’s got to be in the blood.

Got my laundry done and worked on the puzzle. Three people joined me and we talked about everything. Three of us had done foster care work and got around to sharing stories. We all enjoyed it. If every parent could call up a patrol officer and send their kid to juvenile detention, we wouldn’t have the fights with them that we often did (did in my case – do for some of you).

We have had a lot of people moving in lately. There is only one apartment empty and that is in my building. It’s rented, but they haven’t moved in yet. The women wanted to know why none of the newer men come out of their apartments. I was told of one who felt so threatened by the women that he promised never t come out. Apparently he already had a girlfriend but was given the seemingly standard new man greeting of “Wow, fresh meat.” Only one does this, but she is bold and she is aggressive. Others share the same aggression, but are somewhat subtler. He is now petrified, to be near a woman here. I also have a namesake who would like that attention, but with all the problems he has, will never get it.

The conversation moved on to house cleaning, laundry and ironing. Don’t old people have terrific discussions? Reminds me of a cartoon I saw with a small girl talking to her grandmother, “My teachers says we can be anything we want. So, grandma, did you want to be old?”

I doubt it. It just happens if we live long enough. Women are so much better housekeepers. I did great while I was working. Don’t know what happened. Old age, I guess. I love being able to blame everything on old age. There were a couple women who had not heard my storage story, so I relayed how to save space. Stack all your clean dishes on the dish rack and drain board. When you need them, use and place in the sink. When there are no clean dishes, wash them, put them back on the rack and start over. That way you have space for you gun rack.

Ironing is a senseless activity. When you put them on they get wrinkled immediately. I don’t iron. May I would if there were a special event like being invited to the white house, but otherwise why bother. I was told I would look better. But ever since I was told I was fresh meat on my arrival I don’t want to look any better than I already am. I little rott9ing around the edges might protect me.