More Than Ordinary Lives

My last blog urged myself and readers to beware of age-related lethargy especially after affliction.  “We need to force ourselves to get out and do something,” I said.

Kit and I have returned from approaching the Canadian Rockies from their west side. Interior British Columbia was spectacular. We had seen aspens and birches during their fall colors before. This time we drove for hundreds of miles between snow covered peaks and through bright yellow foliage contrasted against dark spruces under a clear blue sky. 

We expect our next excursion to be staying in a fancy high-rise hotel in downtown Seattle and attending a live musical. 

We urge you to plan your own adventures if you are able.

Drew

Kit and I endured a difficult summer.  I developed a complication from elective surgery I had last March and needed corrective surgery. We both contracted our first case of Covid. Washington is rainy mid-September through June but summertime is glorious with bright blue skies and cool temperatures. We spent the heart of our summer as invalids and then most of September catching up on maintenance and projects.

Finally we realized that even though our health recovered, we had developed a stay-at-home attitude. “We need to have some fun,” we told each other. We warmed up with a trip to Mt. Rainier National Park. The alpine meadows of wildflowers have been replaced with reds and oranges of fall ground cover. Next week we’re going to try touring the heart of British Columbia.

At our age, developing  lethargy after affliction is a danger. We need to force ourselves to get out and do something. Kit and I are glad we did.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”  John Muir

Recently Kit and I ventured into Washington’s North Cascades. Their grandeur stilled me. John Muir’s words resonate with me and I pondered the power of wild and untamed places. We humans are filled with petty concerns and our own self-importance. Perhaps the indifference of the mountains, forests, and rivers to us is a reminder of how insignificant we really are. Wilderness gives us a break from ourselves. (See me in the July snow.)

Another insightful article of Kit’s has been published.  To read the article click Defeat Negative Thinking

This stays on our website where you are now and is safe.

Kit likes cultivated flowers.  But I prefer and admire wildflowers.  Pictured is my garden of transplanted wild perennials. These are daises and foxgloves. Bright yellow ragworts will join them in a few weeks.

I’ve always loved wildflowers. They give beauty freely to everyone without asking anything in return. The best wildflowers are energetic, hardy, and drought tolerant. Many are insect and slug resistant and—most important in our neighborhood—not preferred by deer.

Some folks consider my prolific favorites weeds.  Let them struggle with delicate prima donnas and the creatures that devour them. I consider wildflowers a gift from God.  I would hope that I could be a wildflower-like gift from God to others.

Drew

Kit had a primary care physician she really liked. After Kit discovered Type 2 diabetes by studying my bloodwork—my doctor had missed it—she convinced her doctor to take me on. Never have I had such thorough medical attention. Kit’s doctor has prescribed a battery of specialists and investigative tests.  So far, so good. But it feels like the doctors are determined to find something seriously wrong with me. And at age seventy-four, I’ll have to admit that time is on their side.

Kit and I have gotten into the spirit of making the best of the last of our lives.  We found a dentist who has brought our mouths up to code. Our new optometrist quipped, “I see no problems.” We are seeking out every available inoculation, exercising, and have lost weight. I asked for a colonoscopy which has been scheduled. Next we hope to back-off on some of our stress-inducing activities.

“Kit and I have as much energy as a hive of bees,” I sometimes tell people. I’m grateful for that gift and know it won’t last. I’m also grateful for doctors determined to not let my energy be cut short by inattention.

Drew

As we get older, we cannot help reflecting on our lives. I have a playlist of music with 27 memory and emotion evoking  tunes that gives me great joy. Some tunes representing difficult experiences have become the most precious. I congratulate myself for having endured and remaining faithful to God.

My favorite hymn is Be Thou My Vision a traditional Irish melody adopted during my challenging experience as a  missionary in Africa. Many times in ensuing years it has reminded me of the essentials of my faith.  

Leaving on a Jet Plane composed by John Denver and performed by Peter, Paul, and Mary brings back my feelings as a homesick fish-out-of-water twenty-two year old from Alabama working in Southern California. I had left behind the composite of several charming southern girls.  Eventually, I could have married one who fit the composite, but opted for a spunky Yankee girl (Kit) instead.

Memories are making my senior years rich. I can’t repeat the things I did. But I can rejoice in having done them. 

A frequent TV commercial features Dr. Rick teaching the Millennial generation how to not become their parents. I always laugh at the silliness describing me.

My widowed mother developed an “Everybody is trying to separate me from my money,” attitude. She suspected car mechanics, plumbers, insurance companies, and others of trying to cheat her.

I saw Mom herself separate money from not a few others in her antiques shop. That was in the heyday of old-stuff acquisition and eclectic collectors. But Mom’s customers had opportunity to examine every item. If they wanted yard-sale junk, so be it. Mom never made false claims or cheated anyone.

My email inbox averages several scams a day. Scammers are becoming more sophisticated and frequently pose as actual companies or people I trust. Older people experience declining cognitive ability and can find technology unfathomable. Older Americans reported being scammed of $3.8 billion in 2023 up 11% from 2022. Most victims of fraud don’t report. Scamming is a growth industry.

More seriously, a thin line separates clever advertising by legal companies from duplicity. Kit’s phone gets dozens of calls a day offering dubious products.  An imaginary line separates duplicity from fraud. Businesses make false claims or use tricks trying to get me to purchase something worthless. Quack medical treatments and placebos are touted by those supposedly cured. Dire warnings try to generate fear and urge me to buy protective products I don’t need. Daily I struggle to tiptoe through complex websites that have imbedded and deceptively described links to unrelated products.

Kit and I lost $50,000 on a publicly traded stock (highly rated by professioinals) which had filed misleading earnings reports. We recovered $500 in the ensuing lawsuit. Nobody went to jail and the lawyers got rich.

So, I’m proud to have become like Mom. I look at every offer skeptically. And I don’t cheat anybody.

Drew

Snarls of wires and cables litter several places in our home. At night, many little lights gleam at us in the darkness. Kit and I have finally moved into the techno age.

Our transition became necessary. Today you can’t seem to do anything without logging in. We conduct finances, shop, order services, pay bills, review medical test results, attend meetings, and communicate all online. We are connected to nearly a hundred websites–most having their own login requirements–necessary for what we need. Our passwords become obsolete on some sites and must be changed. Other sites are constantly “improving” or, in other words, once you figure out how to use it, everything changes and you start over.

To our surprise, Kit and I have learned to do remarkable things. We can create graphics to exacting requirements, place bids for advertising space, format and publish print, Kindle, and audio books, program controllers, manipulate pixels, create and use hot spots, generate QR codes, take online payments, pay taxes, navigate past various scams, apply for licenses, link financial accounts, transfer money online, and conduct research.

Flush with success, we arranged TV service through the internet and cut the cable . Rather than pay for two cell phone SIM cards, we figured out how to make calls on Drew’s tablet using wifi.

Pandora’s box has been opened. Artificial intelligence won’t matter. We’re already slaves to our technology. I’m asking God to keep computers out of heaven.

Drew

Kit and I endured a duress-filled fall and winter. We accomplished some very good things but had little fun. Suddenly the challenges are behind us. Now spring has sprung and so have we. We are free to enjoy Washington’s beautiful outdoors and pursue other activities including hiking, exploring the Pacific Northwest, speaking, and resuming our writing initiatives. Being pressure-free actually feels odd.

Our hope and prayer is to enjoy moments and rejoice in God’s wonderful gift of life . . . and to do a few more good things.

Drew

Kit by Hood Canal in front of the Olympic Mountians