Work as we age

Things are "fast and furious" around here, as Lisa, my high-school best friend, described our lives recently. One of my current joys is a renewed near-daily conversation with Lisa on Facebook. In the past seven years or so our friendship dwindled to exchanging Christmas cards. Now, I remember why Lisa was my BFF. She's smart, funny, and has a wonderful way with words. She makes me smile.

I've been busy catching up on things at Maple Grove, inside and out. Each day I set several small goals for myself and work bit by bit until I accomplish them. My energy level is higher thanks to better eating via Fat Flush. Still, my body reminds me often I'm no spring chicken. I take more frequent breaks and work at a slightly slower pace than I did a few years ago. I'm taking a break right now from weeding, re-potting flowers on front and back porches, cleaning and refilling bird and hummingbird feeders, washing the vinyl siding on the front and west side of the house, and laundry. Last night, I knelt beside a CPR dummy off and on for an hour or so and my back is crying foul today. (CPR training is required for my teacher's certificate and I wanted to take the class this summer while things are..ahem..less busy.)

Sitting here resting and waiting for my fifth wind, I suddenly remembered my Grandma S. Grandma lived in a non-air-conditioned house in a tiny town in rural Missouri. She and Grandpa raised a huge garden each year in my youth and Grandma used a wringer washing machine until she slipped and fell in spilled water and broke her arm at age 75. Her children then demanded she use a fully automatic washer and dryer. Today, I remembered Grandma going through her daily activities. The summer I was 16, I spent a week with Grandma, helping her in the garden and keeping her company. (Grandpa had severe depression and rarely left his bedroom except for meals and to sit in the backyard with us in the evenings.) Grandma was 77 that summer and she never quit working. We picked and canned green beans, tomatoes, and plums from which Grandma made the most delicious jelly. Grandma cooked two meals a day, using old from-scratch methods. Her cinnamon rolls, blackberry cobbler and pie crust were legendary. We sat in the yard evenings after a warmed-over leftover supper because it was cooler out there than in the house. We sat in those metal lawn chairs now popular again in retro fashion. As dark approached and the mosquitoes began biting we moved inside to the cooler house to sit another hour or so before bedtime. As she sat, Grandma crocheted rag rugs or hand-sewed together patchwork quilt tops.

I never saw Grandma waste anything. Food scraps went to a compost pile in the corner of the garden. Old clothing was used for quilts. Socks and pantihose were used for stuffing decorative pillows. Plastic bread wrappers were cut in strips, tied together, and crocheted into rugs. Grandma was green before green was cool.

I've a long way to go to match my Grandma's legacy of work and thriftiness.

What are you working on this summer?
Who are you happiest to be back in touch with via Facebook?