Differing Perspectives

Differing Perspective

Atlanta, GE

June 2019

I am in Atlanta with my nephews who are Trump supporters.  They live in a predominantly white,  christian, rural area.  I once asked what was the diversity at their high school and they thought there might be one or two black kids but no Asians, Latino, or other races.  They believe the Confederate flag is about heritage, not hate.

So, we are now in Georgia with my cousin and her husband who was born in Alabama but raised in Georgia.  He is a white, middle aged man with a slow, southern draw.

He took us to Stone Mountain which has a portrait of the Confederate Generals etched on the side of the mountain.  I asked if there was any controversy with this monument.

"Of course", Doug tells me. "Lots of people want it removed.  But I'm OK if they keep it up, just as long as they keep it in context."

One nephew chimes in, assuming he has an allie.  "Yea", he comments, "we can't keep erasing our history by removing all of these things."

Doug continues, "I'm OK with leaving it there as long as they carve in at the bottom, 'These are the traitors who killed thousands of Americans for their own greed.'"

My nephews were stunned. And I loved the moment.

Tending Her Farm- Nepal

Tending Her Farm Imodol, Nepal December 2017 There are farms all up and down my street. All of them are small, maybe no bigger than 5' x 20' and most of them are managed by women. They work in bare feet. They are wrapped in layers of cloth which serve to protect them from the sun and to preserve their modesty. They stoop for hours and pull weeds. Then they haul buckets of water from the community well and water their crops. And when they are finished, they sit with the other women and talk.

Making Cow Paddies

Making Cow Paddies

Imadol, Nepal

Fall 2017

This woman made cow paddies all day long.  She collected the manure from the neighborhood cows and mixed the cow manure with straw and water.  She took a handful of this mixture and molded it into a flat, round paddies and then smashed it against the wall to dry in the sun.  When it was dry and hard, she took it off the wall and used the paddie to fuel her oven and to warm her house.

I wonder how her hands smelled.  Could she ever get that smell out of her skin pores?

On A Winter Evening

On A Winter Evening

As the Sun Sets

Carpenters' Point, MD

December, 2013

I was in my car and the coldness of the day annoyed me.  But then I noticed the sunset.  So I pulled over and just sat on the side of the road, soaking in all of this beauty.

Women at the Market

Women At The Market

Jacmel, Haiti

August 2013

These women sit here in the sun, all damn day, seven days a week.  There is so shaded area.  There are no toilets. They have no access to water.  They work all day long for just a few dollars a day. Life is tough for so many people.

Menstrual Cups

Menstrual Cups Fall 2019 I'm collecting these cups for my students again.  I put a notice on facebook two years ago when I was preparing to go to Nepal for 8 weeks.  This request hit a cord with women (and a few men) and I ended up with over 120 of them to take with me. Now, I am going to Bangladesh to teach at the WAFW in November so I put the request up again and once again, people are stepping up to the moment and sending them to  me.  Five packages came yesterday.  Another one came today and at least two more are on the way.  I am hoping that I can bring 100 cups with me.

This item Bodybay Menstrual Cup，Set of 2 Periods Kit with FDA Registered，Best Feminine Alternative Protection to Tampons and Cloth Sanitary Napkins (Small

Community Park- Nepal

Community Park

Katmandu, Nepal

December 2017

We walked through this community park, the only area I saw in Katmandu that offered a place for family and fiends to have a picnic.  People were having a fun time.  But I found the area to be dreadful.  It was filled with trash and cow dung.  It was dusty because there was very little to no grass.  The sacred cows roamed freely and interrupted people's meals.  It was noisy. There were no restroom facilities so people had to urinate in the bushes. I found the moment to be most unpleasant and was glad to leave this slight glimmer of nature.

Can I Get In On That Committee

Can I Get In On That Committee

2010

Maybe it wasn't a conversation I should have had in front of a 12 year old, but I did.  I was talking to my brother about my exit plan and my nephew was there.  He seemed interested in the topic so I just continued with my discussion.

When I am 70, I am going to re-evaluate my life.  If it is good and I am in good health, so be it.  If not, I am going to exit this life.  I will re-evaulate my situation at 75 and then again at 80. But 80 will be the exit year.  I don't want to live pass 80.

My brother, Brian,  asked me what makes me so sure I will be able to execute my plan by myself at this time. I assured him I had a plan for this moment as well as I had discussed it with my older nephews and they willing said they would help me.

As one of them put it, "Oh my God, can you just imagine yourself as an old lady.  You are going to be so damn difficult."

Brian and I are laughing away at this statement when Jameson chimes in, "Can I get in on this committee."

Extracted

Extracted

Losing My Tooth

August 28, 2019

HOLY SHIT.  I'M GETTING OLD.

I was eating popcorn and an uncooked kernel got caught in my tooth.  It sent an electrical charge through my whole damn body. OMG, it hurt.  I dug it out of my tooth and convinced myself that I didn't do any permanent damage.  But two hours later, when I went to eat a sandwich, I discovered that I had done a lot of damn.  My tooth was broken.

Now, I was in New Mexico.  I was 2,000 miles and a week away form my dentist.  So I did my best to stabilize the tooth and the pain until I could get home.  As the dentist looked at the ex-ray, she shook her head.  I just knew it was going to be bad.

"I am so very, very sorry Kelly but there is nothing I can do for you tooth.  You have split it right up the middle and damaged the nerve.  Even a root canal won't help you.  I am so very, very sorry", she told me.  I think she was going to cry and I just about cried.

She sent me to a periodontist, who by the way, looked to be about 12 years old.  So I asked the 55 year old dental assistant, with a hickey on her neck, if she knew how old he was.  She thought he might be 35.  He recommended an implant and then sent his office manager in to do the dirty work.  She hands me a bill for $3990 which has to be paid today.  Holy Shit, I was just coming in for a consultation.

He comes back in a surgical gown and proceeds to yank the hell out of my mouth.  He makes comments the whole time. And every comment makes me want to vomit.

 "Oh geez, this tooth is really giving me a hard time."

"I'm really having trouble."

"Hand me the other instrument.  Maybe that will work."

"The root seems hooked on something. I just cant get it."

"That's just what I was afraid of, I can see the sinus canal.  Prepare some cadaver bone."

"Let's try the drill."

He finally drilled the ting out and I had a hard time restraining myself from crying.  I just felt as if this the beginning of the decay of my body.  I had my gallbladder out last November  Now my teeth are falling apart. My eye sight is shit.  I have puffy bags under my eyes. I am getting old.

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens

Longwood, PA

September 2, 2019

I like to go to Longwood Gardens every year because it is always so damn beautiful.  I've gone twice this year.  So on this visit, I just focused on the orchids.

Faculty Meeting 2019

Our Retired Faculty Meeting

Media, PA

First Day of School

September 3, 2019

For the last couple of years, I've held a faculty meeting for retired faculty on the first day that teachers go back to school.  I am a retired high school principal so I think this idea is funny. Six of us met: Bill, Fran, Sue, Rita, Nancy and me.  We went to Quotations in Media and for the first 45 minutes we just chatted each other up.  We didn't have time to look at the menus so I told the waiter that I would just come get him when we were finally ready to order.

We started with catching up on the kids who were making it in the world.  We have a few emerging superstars and we reminisced about our connections with them.  We caught up on faculty gossip.  We all affirmed that we would never want to go back to work.  We shouted out how many school years have started without us.  This was my 10th retired school year for me.

We talked about our travels of the last year and our plans for the next couple of years. We are all trying to get in as much travel while we still can.

One woman is now the primary caretaker for her mother and we lamented those days of caring for our pattens who are now all gone.

I just lost my first tooth earlier int eh week. I bit down on a piece of popcorn and cracked the thing right in half.  So it was yanked out and it hurt like hell.  So I was a crybaby and everyone showed me their open spot in their smiles.

Optional plans for Medicare were discussed.  We all have ideas of what was best.  I qualify for medicare in July 2020 so I have to get on that.

As we were chatting, I looked up and saw Wanda Sykes, the comedian, walk by.  She lives in the area and is often stopped on the main street.  We left her alone.

After two hours, we had to make decisions about feeding the parking meters.  This task was the impetus for two of us to leave.  The rest of us refreshed our beverages and settled in for another hour of casual conversation.  And when we got up to leave, Fran remarked, "we have to meet more than once a year."  And he's right.

Prayer

Prayer

Its Value Seems To Have Escaped Me

I don't pray.  I don't think I every really prayed, not even when I was a little girl in Catholic school. So I marvel at the people who put so much value in to prayer.  Here are a few moments when I reluctantly participated in prayer:


1- Prayer at the Start of Every Class- from 1966 to 1973, I had to participate in a prayer before each class. That would have been 4300+ times that I said this prayer. "In the name of the father who created me and the son who redeemed me and the holy spirit who ...". I don't remember the rest  of this monotonous prayer.

2- The Rosary- 1965-67- I had a teacher who made us say the rosary every day after lunch. There were joyful mysteries and sorrowful mysteries of prayers.  but mostly. this was a time to daydream.

3- Saying Grace Before Dinner-  my dad said a standard grace every night at dinner.  On special occasions, he would say his own grace and he always talked about how blessed he was.  Inevitably, he would start to cry with gratitude and my mom would make fun of him for crying.  Her comments would put an abrupt end to his sermon.

4- Hail Mary- I can start the Hail Mary but I can no longer finish it.  I don't remember it anymore even thought I have said it thousands of times in my former Catholic life.

5-Moment of Silence- I had to lead students in a moment of silence when I was a high school assistant principal.  One teacher complained that my moment was too short and asked if I cold recite the Lord's Prayer in my head so that she could say this prayer each morning before school.  I raced through the prayer in my head but then I remembered that she was protestant and they had another whole verse than the catholics.

6- Praying for Good Weather- 1966- I was in 5th grade.  My parents had just joined a swim club and it had rained the first few days of summer which meant no swim club.  My siblings and I met in my room and decided that we would say a rosary and pray for sunshine.  My mother  came in and asked why we were praying.  We told her and she exploded on us.  Her brother was fighting in Viet Nam and we were praying so we could go to the pool.  I was only 10 at the time but I got the selfishness of the moment.

7- Mass- OMG, it's the same, exact sequence of prayers for the last 1000 years.

Flower Face

Flower Face

Longwood Gardens

Longwood, PA

September 2, 2019

I love to take photos of flowers.  And I participatory like to take photos of flowers that have faces.  And when I see these flowers, I take way too many photos and it pains me to delete them.  So here are today's flower face photos.

1999

1999

Stroudsburg, PA (January to June)
Bryn Mawr, PA (June to October)
Springfield, PA (October-2012)

My age: 43- 44

Work-  I was the Stroudsburg High School Principal for the 1998-99 school and then the Principal for Springfield High School for the 1999-2000 school year. On the first day of my new job, I had to go back to Stroudsburg for the funeral of one of my favorite students. He died in a terrible car accident and it was so hard to be away form this community at this time.

Music- I used to know every band, every musician, every song, all the lyrics.  Now, I don't know most of these performers and I am not sure I can name a song that most of them released.

• Lenny Kravitz 
• Sarah McLachlan 
• Britney Spears 
• Enrique Iglesias 
• Kid Rock 
• Madonna 
• Cher 
• S Club 7 
• Christina Aguilera 
• Whitney Houston
• Mariah Carey 
• Backstreet Boys 
• Jennifer Lopez 
• Pearl Jam 
• Foo Fighters 
• Ricky Martin 
• Eminem 
• Limp Bizkit 
• The Offspring 
• Red Hot Chili Peppers 
• Santana 
• Shania Twain 
• TLC 
• blink-182 
• Phil Collins 
• New Radicals 

Movies- I didnt see most of these popular movies.

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 
• The Sixth Sense - this movie was great and I think the writer never wrote a movie as good as this one.
• Toy Story 2 - I like this story line.
• The Matrix 
• Tarzan 
• The Mummy 
• Notting Hill 
• The World Is Not Enough
• American Beauty 
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 
• American Pie 
• October Sky - this was a feel good movie.
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 

Travels- Tibet and Nepal, Canada,  CA, NJ

News events:

Everyone worried about Y2K and the consequences of the new millennium.

• My Space was officially introduced to the Internet .  I never joined My Space but I did finally get on board with Facebook in 2008.
• Bluetooth is announced. It would be another 8 years before I have anything that is blue tooth capable.
• The initial release of Napster changes the music industry forever. 
• U.S. women's soccer team wins the FIFA Women's World Cup champions and they continue to win and win and win.
• Start of Millennium celebrations worldwide. All of these celebrations were fun to watch.
• The Euro is established as the new common currency of the European Union and that was a game changer for traverses.
• The United States Senate acquits President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice. 
• The cartoon show “SpongeBob SquarePants” premieres on the Nickelodeon cable network and a few years later, the christian right determined that Bob was gay.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 for the first time. Now, its more than double that.
• Helen Clark becomes the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand.  When will the USA have a female president? 
• Lance Armstrong wins his first Tour de France. And now he is disgraced for his cheating and lying.
• Dr. Jack Kervorkian was sentenced for the second-degree murder of Thomas Youk. ( assisted suicide .  The Death With Dignity movement has now stepped up and has had an impact in numerous states.
• The West Nile Virus first appeared in the United States.  In 2010, my doctor thought I might have the West Nile Virus. 
• Two boys 17 and 18 years old go on a rampage at Columbine High School Killing 13 people and forever changing our views of school safety.
• Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, replaced by Vladimir Putin and this creep is still in office.

Family and friends

• o   I bought my first home.  I was so damn scared to go in to debt for 30 years.  I paid $165,000 for a four bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house.  The lot was 70' X 300'.  Most of the back yard was dense woods.
• o   I was back in Philadelphia after a 20-year absence.  I got to spend much more time with my family.
•       This was the first year without my mother so all of our holidays were different, empty.
•      I went to CA to bring in the new millennium.  I thought the celebrations would be fantastic in San Francis but they were just mediocre.
• o   Sharon, my sister, and her family moved back from Spain.  It was nice to have them home again.
• 
  

Road Trip #2- 2019- Atlanta, GA

Road Trip #2- 2019

Atlanta, GA

Gus, Clay and Me

June 1-8, 2019

The aquarium

Beluga Whales at the aquarium

                                                            The GA Aquarium

                                              My aunt, uncle, cousin and two nephews

             We met DeeDee Trotter, two time Olympic gold medalist.  She let us hold her medal.

                         The Natural Science Museum had a wonderful exhibit on GA history.

                                         This store sold some crazy shit.

                                    Of course, we got in a visit to a brewery in NC

The road home.

SCORE

Score

Junk I've Recently Acquired

West Chester, PA

I live in an apartment building filled with millennials. They seem to buy so much stuff as is evident by the four or five truckload of boxes that Amazon deliveries every day of the week.  And with all of these deliveries comes an equal abundance of discarded stuff.  I've become a bit of a trash picker as a result.


1- 4 glass, 64 oz beer growlers- OMG, these  things cost money.  They are supposed to be reused. I gave them all away to grateful people.

2- a hand drum- I am going to sneak this in to my niece's house and give it to her daughters.

3- a skate board- I am going to give this to my niece.  She lives in the city with lost of sidewalks.

4- a complete luggage set- I have almost the exact same set.  This was my most expensive find to date and I am holding out to give this only to a grateful new owner.  It looks as if the middle bag was used once.

5- Fresh Market food boxes- these boxes are great for storing my sheets, beach towels and blankets.

6- a grab claw- I love this claw.  It's so helpful when I have to grab something off the top shelf.

7- a display case- I need a case to display all the knick-knacks I have brought back from my travels but this case does not fair well on carpet.  It tends to tilt which will me detrimental to all of my breakables.  I will have to take the door off and then it will be just perfect.

8- two bar stools- I don't really need these stools but they are in such good shape that I am sure I can give them away.

9- a 12 pack of Blue Moon beer- gone. I shared them with others and everyone thought I was a good sport.

10- a crock pot- it was a mini-pot, just a perfect size fro me but I couldn't get it to work so I got rid of it.  But in hindsight, I think I missed the point that it was a slow cooker and I didn't allow enough time fro it to warm up.  Opportunity missed.

Oktoberfest

Facebook Posting

Oktoberfest

Munich, Germany

September 17, 2016

"Finished for the night!"

A few responses from friends:
KF: steal a glass.  I did.

Me: you were 16 then. we are now 61.

BW: Yes, just like I did in England ages ago, with a Guinness mug. They EXPECT you to steal them, lolol.

BW: Wait, there's beer left!!!!