AN ORDINARILY PLEASANT DAY

It ended up being newsletter day. Once a month I am in the final stage of finishing up the monthly schedule of activities (not many events this month since I’m not planning anything), the jokes and info that administrators want me to pass on. I not only printed in the last newsletter that I was done planning events I mentioned it to several people who could and should do something. I did list one thing — a Halloween Day potluck. We have always had one and while I have set the day and time, I never do anything else to make it happen. That is my concession to event planning. As a result the calendar looks pretty empty. Celebration of Birthday party’s, the flu shot clinic and the potluck. It may take awhile before anyone misses any of these things. Time will tell.

I always finish up the newsletter as soon as I have interviewed someone for his or her profile story. October is about out new maintenance man and his wife. They seem like terrific people. They moved here from Texas. They had a few years where they hobnobbed with the wealthy of Texas society – as employees. They worked as estate managers for an heir to the King Estate, the largest ranch in Texas probably about the size of Washington State. He was an office assistant to the retired David Pace, founder of Pace Picante Sauce. And he worked for a famous Naval Seal who wrote Lone Survivor, about his experience of capture in Afghanistan. I reached out my hand to Robert Kennedy when he was stumping for his brother John’s run for the presidency. I was one of thousands. That’s it. That’s the most famous person I have ever been near. Can’t say met, as that didn’t happen.

I liked visiting with them and writing the story as their introduction meeting to us told us nothing about them. He is shy and the administration barely talks. It was a bomb – not the good kind.

I finished the day working on my message for the weekend. I’m actually getting excited. I’m getting afraid that I am so over prepared they may have to come and haul me off the stage. That might be entertaining.

Saturday I am off the three soccer games. Glad it’s going to be nice. Last weekend it was so windy the team going into the wind could hardly do a thing. That’s what I blame Morgan’s loss own and I’m sticking to that story.

Happy first day of fall! Out summer seems to have just been here for a couple of weeks so we would like more summer weather. We will see.

NOTHING TO SAY

Have you ever been dry? Not thirsty where you need water. Not skin thirsty so you need six different moisturizers just to feel normal or even body thirsty when you need water running over you just to feel human again. I mean brain thirsty.

The last few days I have felt like I just returned from three months of summer vacation and the fourth grade teacher has asked us to write a one page essay on our summer vacation. If we had ever done anything interesting that might have been a fun assignment, but my family did the same ting every summer. Besides, I hated writing at the time in my life. I had nothing to say. I was not interesting. And my memory sucked.

Not much has really changed. My memory still sucks, but I make up for that with a vivid imagination. But don’t pass that around. I want my stories to appear real and true with only the names being changed to protect the guilty. And they are, you know. In reality I have had nothing to say the last few days. Mom always said; if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I know that doesn’t really apply here, but it sounded intelligent at the time I wrote it.

I actually had several things to say, but by the time I got back to my room I could never remember what they were. Now that - I blame on old age. But of course, I blame nearly everything that I struggle with on old age. It’s great. At least I have a ready excuse for everything. If that doesn’t work I try memory loss – who are you? Do I know you? Where did you come from? Are you my daughter? The last one doesn’t work as well when talking to a man.

In my mind I still see myself as uninteresting. They tell me that has to do with low self esteem. What a shock – me? When I was teaching my college classes occasionally some student would say, can you repeat that? I assumed they wanted a quote. First, I was surprised anyone wanted a repeat of anything I said and second, I could never remember what I just said. Apparently my brightest moments came extemporaneously. At least they were never written down. Thankfully some other student usually wrote down that bright gem of gold I just delivered and even I was usually impressed. Not bad for thinking on my feet. Or is it not bad for under preparing. I don't know which it was.

I am trying to learn from Seinfeld. Just talk about nothing. How did it work for you today? I had fun.