Such a delight to awaken to sunshine!!!! It is almost blinding!!!! The ground was white with frost. No rain until “next Thursday” (22nd) per weatherman. Hallelujah!!

I have about one hundred birds (more or less) in my yard. I must replenish the feeders.

Postscript, Friday, January 16, 2015, 4:30 PM:

I worked in the yard this afternoon. I filled bird feeders, picked up fallen limbs and scattered pine cones. I was delighted to see daffodils poking tiny green spears through soil in a planter. North Carolina daffodils!! They didn’t bloom for me last year because planted too late.

– – –

…on a very dark gloomy day!!

(Received as an email message.)

The Explanation

Brains of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe.  Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full, so, too, do humans take longer to access information when their brains are full. Researchers say this slowing down process is not the same as cognitive decline.

The human brain works slower in old age, said Dr. Michael Ramscar, but only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.

Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for.  It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature’s way of making older people do more exercise.

             SO THERE!!

I have more friends I should send this to, but right now I can’t remember their names…So, please forward this to your friends; they may be my friends, too.

Did you see the article in AARP Bulletin, Jan-Feb 2015?? Very interesting reading; check it out!!

True to my resolution, I’m reading for an hour (or more) every day. “Health” is a subject close to my heart. (Today, I made a large kettle of homemade [dry] beans with chili powder and ground turkey (and onions, garlic, jalapeno pepper, etc.). Most will be frozen in single-size portions.)  I glanced at numerous publications today and “downsized” them into the waste basket.

“Alzheimer’s” is a disease that frightens me!! My faltering effort to maintain good health may not be sufficient?? I cook in stainless steel utensils (I never use aluminum cookware). Some health professions have attributed the disease to aluminum because patient numbers have skyrocketed since sales of Club Aluminum and Kinney Ware, etc., in the 1940’s and 50’s. Likewise, I don’t use Teflon fry pans (frankly, I don’t “fry” anything). I don’t use microwave ovens. 

Well, the reader may be amused… and wonder why I bothered to write this blog message. Answer: This is a topic I’m challenged by and wanted to bring the article to your attention. (At the CARE Center, we have Adult Day Care and several who attend suffer from Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, the spouse of several of our CARE residents suffer from the disease.)

I seldom go to the movie theater. However, I’m considering the movie “Still Alice.”

Here is an album of pictures regarding my 2003 Carriage 5th-wheel trailer before I moved into it (with my overabundance of “stuff”). Check this blog message showing delivery and set-up on January 10, 2014.

I still have “an attitude of gratitude”—and more so!! People living in nearby recreation vehicles (RVs) have experienced a severe mold and mildew problem due to condensation. I have not had a single moment of condensation!! Apparently this trailer is so well insulated that moisture does not collect on the windows. In fact, maybe the glass is thicker, or tempered, because I do not feel cold air when I put my hand next to the glass (indoors).

Today will not be particularly warm but I moved the tomato plant and Honeysuckle plant outdoors. They were hogging my already crowded living room!! The weather forecast predicts warmer temperatures within a few days. Everyone is so anxious for Spring!!

Yesterday, I browsed the garden department of Walmart. I couldn’t help myself!! I purchased another planter; I couldn’t help myself!! I’m so eager to work in my yard!!

From an RVer camping on the desert near Yuma, a blog message I could empathize with. Included were these sage words:

The first thing I read this morning was from Timber Hawkeye at Buddhist Boot Camp: “Your job isn’t to go around trying to save people, or to drag them kicking and screaming with high hopes that in the end they will thank you… all you can do is live a healthy life yourself, trusting that those with eyes to see will pay attention and then save themselves. Your life is your message, so LIVE your message. Actions are way louder than words.”   Boy did that hit me hard! I have been thinking about it all day, and can see where I have pushed my idea of what is healthy or right pretty hard on my siblings and my mom.  OK, on everyone that I love. Even those who aren’t speaking to me right now.

Nancy, oh Nancy, how true!! “Your [my] job isn’t to go around trying to save people, or to drag them kicking and screaming with high hopes that in the end they will thank you [me]… all you [I] can do is live a healthy life yourself [myself], trusting that those with eyes to see will pay attention and then save themselves. Your [my] life is your [my] message, so LIVE your [my] message. Actions are way louder than words.” That must be uppermost in my mind because I plan to live the rest of my life at the Escapees CARE Center. I’ve alienated so many people this past year, talking about health and nutrition.

Temperature still in the mid-forties at two PM (and 98% humidity). It rained most of the night and morning. While “channel surfing,” I found the movie Rain Man. I don’t think I ever saw the movie. Extremely interesting (IMHO).

We won’t see any sunshine, nor have pleasant weather, until next weekend (according to forecast).

Everyone is suffering from S.A.D. ~~ That was a new-to-me disease; I learned about it last week at the laundry room (chatting with an RVer). It’s curious to me that I’ve been very conscious of health (and nutrition) for over thirty years but never heard of SAD.

This weekend, I’ve waded through a year’s accumulation of magazines and newsletters. They were spilling out of two large baskets. So I separated them into categories–scattered all over the floor. Some magazines (Vegetarian Times, and Mother Earth Living) went back into the basket for later investigation. AARP and AAA magazines have been handled, glanced at, and moved to the wastebasket. An eight-inch-tall stack of health and nutrition newsletters await my attention. I’m feeling good about the accomplishments of the weekend (especially starting and finishing income tax preparation).

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know I prefer to work outdoors. I’ve neglected projects inside my trailer home. With our miserable weather, staying indoors, I’ve made progress on ignored tasks. With another week of disagreeable weather ahead, I hope to get a lot accomplished!! Keeping my fingers crossed (LOL).

New Year’s Resolution:

Discipline myself to spent at least one hour each day reading magazines, and books, that are important to me.

Amazon had a deal I couldn’t turn down. I downloaded… then started–and completed–the process. I’ll e-file as soon as possible.

Yup!! As predicted, we had a hard freeze overnight. I know because my water line is frozen!! Because of the prediction, two days ago, I attached a long electric cord to the electric heating tape around the water hose. Too early–and too cold–to check the outside electric outlet.

On the NBC Today Show, weatherman Al Roker said “Hard freeze into the deep South. It is brutal out there.”

Thumb down for weather–not Al Roker!

– – –

Postscript, Saturday, January 10, 2015: The “hard freeze” killed the Begonias. The tomato plant, and Honeysuckle plant, is still in my living room. I’m all bundled up… sitting in front of the electric heater.

This month there are two of my social groups having special events. Both need donations for raffle and/or silent auction. OMG, what can I contribute?? I’ve lost sleep searching my mind for items in the closet, cupboards, storage buildings. Can’t buy something… (too much month, too little money).

Miraculously, gratefully, I thought of three Charles Kuralt “On The Road” books for our Escapees RV Club Chapter Ten event. With the never-used book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, and brand-new, still-in-the-wrap, DVD movie titled “RV“ (with Robin Williams), I have something to share.

The square dance club is hosting a BIG event. From one cupboard I pulled two attractive, still-in-the- wrap, “Texas designs” (flags, Stetson hats, wagon wheels, brands) plastic tablecloths. I thought I’d use… but desperate times call for desperate action?! Now I’m physically searching cupboards and storage buildings. Next: Search the T@B teardrop trailer.

“Downsizing“ is a frequent topic on my blog. Something that haunts me all the time!! Too much stuff!! Eventually, eliminating the storage unit (four miles away), I’ll save $49.00 per month.

(Must maintain the present storage unit because it is storing a picnic table [donation] for the upcoming CARE Health Fair.)

Postscript, Sat. Jan. 10, 2015: Boo-hoo, my donations (for Chapter Ten) only brought in $45.00. Retail cost, over $100.00.

FYI: “Two birds, one stone.” Translated: Two organizations, one task, downsizing.