Account -- Ability, Day 14
Summer feels like it's already a-comin' in. Even though I recently accepted a freelance project (work!), the warm days and blue skies have me feeling like I'm retired enough that I can stretch lazily and then plunk myself into a patio chair and enjoy the absence of cold.
One activity I've been working at for months--years--is the cussed puzzle known as Sudoku. Ta-da! This morning I finished the first 3-star puzzle I've ever done without either quitting in the middle or peeking at the solution. My brain feels so agile that I now believe I'm safe from ever succumbing to Alzheimer's. I know, dream on. Note to Pierre: It seems we've lost touch since our days at the ad agency, but if you ever see this, please know that you are the one that inspired me to persevere in this thankless pastime. It's been and still is a long road; I won't feel I can happily quit until I do a flawless 5-star.
Moving right along here--. May is the time when little kids go crazy with sidewalk chalk. Stars! Pinwheels! Amazing what a runner or walker can see when she looks down.
In the course of my propelling myself by means of the old left-right, I've seen a lot. Elaborate utility covers (circular heavy metal things that back in the dark ages we called "manholes"), the aforementioned chalk drawings, sidewalk company logos stamped into concrete that was poured early in the last century, bugs, unidentifiable plants shoving up through the cracks in the streets and sidewalks, muddy footprints, dead squirrels and / or rats so desiccated by sun or predators that they're almost unrecognizable--the list is virtually endless.*
And bows! I left this one where it fell, hoping its owner would retrace his or her steps until that person (maybe a small, female person?) found it and let out a cry of joy.
An alternative acceptable ending to the story of the lost bow might be if a small person who was not the owner of the sparkly decoration found it and was over the moon at this treasure the fates chose to lay at her or his feet.
At any rate, it certainly feels like it's time to get outside and move. Pay attention to the flowers and the trees! I was out of town for three days, during which time all the plants went from looking dead to shaking their newly hatched foliage in the breeze. The spring is filled with miracles, and don't you forget it.
* Note my use of the word "virtually," which, according to the dictionary, means "used to describe something that exists in essence but not in actuality." I humbly offer "virtually" as a more accurate descriptor in most cases than "literally," a word that is often incorrectly applied. "Literally" has become ubiquitous despite the fact that it is more commonly misused than not, in many cases by those who gleefully describe objects and events as "literally" existing. Not to put too fine a point on it--but the current popular abuse of "literally," both by the media and by actual people we all know, is virtually driving me nuts. My apologies for the digression--but I do feel better having made it. Now, as my grandmother used to say, get on with you. Go out and play!
One activity I've been working at for months--years--is the cussed puzzle known as Sudoku. Ta-da! This morning I finished the first 3-star puzzle I've ever done without either quitting in the middle or peeking at the solution. My brain feels so agile that I now believe I'm safe from ever succumbing to Alzheimer's. I know, dream on. Note to Pierre: It seems we've lost touch since our days at the ad agency, but if you ever see this, please know that you are the one that inspired me to persevere in this thankless pastime. It's been and still is a long road; I won't feel I can happily quit until I do a flawless 5-star.
Moving right along here--. May is the time when little kids go crazy with sidewalk chalk. Stars! Pinwheels! Amazing what a runner or walker can see when she looks down. In the course of my propelling myself by means of the old left-right, I've seen a lot. Elaborate utility covers (circular heavy metal things that back in the dark ages we called "manholes"), the aforementioned chalk drawings, sidewalk company logos stamped into concrete that was poured early in the last century, bugs, unidentifiable plants shoving up through the cracks in the streets and sidewalks, muddy footprints, dead squirrels and / or rats so desiccated by sun or predators that they're almost unrecognizable--the list is virtually endless.*
An alternative acceptable ending to the story of the lost bow might be if a small person who was not the owner of the sparkly decoration found it and was over the moon at this treasure the fates chose to lay at her or his feet.
At any rate, it certainly feels like it's time to get outside and move. Pay attention to the flowers and the trees! I was out of town for three days, during which time all the plants went from looking dead to shaking their newly hatched foliage in the breeze. The spring is filled with miracles, and don't you forget it.
* Note my use of the word "virtually," which, according to the dictionary, means "used to describe something that exists in essence but not in actuality." I humbly offer "virtually" as a more accurate descriptor in most cases than "literally," a word that is often incorrectly applied. "Literally" has become ubiquitous despite the fact that it is more commonly misused than not, in many cases by those who gleefully describe objects and events as "literally" existing. Not to put too fine a point on it--but the current popular abuse of "literally," both by the media and by actual people we all know, is virtually driving me nuts. My apologies for the digression--but I do feel better having made it. Now, as my grandmother used to say, get on with you. Go out and play!
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