Memory Lane Monday

What a weekend!  The sun finally made it's appearance, and every person in the land hit the streets to celebrate.  Lucia and I went to a patriotic organ concert at my church which was better than we anticipated...and then we went to lunch.  It's what we do best.  Lunch.  This guy was wandering down the street.  In a New England town that was burned to the ground during the Revolutionary War, people take the remembrance seriously.  And I am thinking he may have actually been there.

Back at the old homestead, the teenagers were busy entertaining.  And I love every minute of it.  Every time a group convenes here, I want to go absorb them.  It will be a matter of weeks before they all scatter to their new lives.  My own two along with them.
I am quite nostalgic these days.  And this weekend, I was remembering a story with my Bird about a  trip we took to Jackson Hole one Summer when she and Augie were 7 or 8.  One of the things we did was to ride the luge down a mountain, but on a sled-like thing with a brake/throttle.  I went first, and midway, a streak of pink and blonde whizzed by, apparently having discovered the throttle.  I think I heard a "Hi, Mommy!"  At the bottom, the pink child and I waited for the boy child....Who was cautiously coming down the mountain with the brake in hand.  And some not-to-happy lugers behind him.

Guess who's already packed for school?

Flourish

"None of us suddenly becomes something overnight.

The preparations have been in the making for a lifetime."

--Gail Godwin

Sending safe and fun-filled holiday wishes to everyone.

This-n-That Thursday

Things that make me Southern:

• I know the difference between a redneck and a good ol' boy.
• A profound love for white sandy beaches. 
• I know that a gentleman does not wear his baseball cap inside.
• Iced tea.
• I get that SEC Football is a religion.
• A deep and abiding understanding of buttermilk.
• Country ham and red eye gravy.
• Grape Nehi.
• I know how long "directly" is.
• Grandmother's biscuits.
• I know how to clean a 12 gauge shotgun.
• Finger bowls.
• Finer than frog hair is a meaningful way to answer "How are you?"

What'd I miss?

Paging Helen Reddy...

I don't know about you, but I truly get a little jump start on the mornings I have a horoscope like this one: 

Today's Aquarius Horoscope:
Jul 01, 2009

A new opportunity could come your way today, dear Aquarius. There is no promise or guarantee, but an indication that if you devote yourself thoroughly, your chances of progress are pretty good over the next month on any activity begun today. Keep up the good work, and keep smiling at everyone! Don't forget that the latter action is as important as the first!

get yours

After reading through many horoscopes until I find a suitable one, I generally pop over to Tina Brown's The Daily Beast.  I highly recommend it if you have the time.  Today, there is a wonderful piece about the power and abilities of empty nest women by Mimi Swartz.  Here is an excerpt:

On the other hand, two or more decades of juggling have made these women very effective leaders, more focused and strategic with their time, according to Jarrett. “When you are forced to balance competing interests, you are forced to be vigilant about your day. Those habits stay with you,” she says. Her years of child rearing, she believes, have also made her more patient, a more tolerant listener and much better at reading body language. (Sometimes, after all, a pouting subordinate isn’t so different from a pouting 3-year-old.) She says she’s also more likely to let a staff member out of a meeting for a child’s soccer game, because she’s been there.

The empty nesters “tend to have skills that men their age don’t have,” says Ann Stock, former chief of protocol during the Clinton administration, and herself an empty nester. Above all, these women are grateful that they sacrificed neither home nor careers to get where they are today.

“When I was younger, I never could have appreciated this stage of life,” says Jarrett, referring to the power and freedom she’s enjoying in middle age. She likes to paraphrase the old feminist saw about how Ginger Rogers could do everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards in high heels. “We were used to dancing backwards and now we can dance forward,” she says. “Imagine how productive we can be.”

I love it!  And I wonder if I can put this on my resume... Going to go make it great a day now.  I hope you do too. And try to hum a little "I am Woman" while you're at it. 

Not PC

Seriously, though....

He was Wacko Jacko for years.

Now we are wailing in the streets?

But it does kinda-sorta make me rethink my "eyelift fund."

The Backbone

AP photo/Alice Keeney

In the days following Michael Jackson's death, I have joked about how happy South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford must be to have the spotlight off the mess he has made of his personal life.  But the reality is that the sad story remains:  a married father of four sons has very publicly betrayed his family, and he seemingly wants things to continue as before.  Not so fast.  

How many times do philandering politicians get to make their tearful mea culpas with their beautifully turned out, albeit humiliated, wives standing by their side?  It's become a national joke.  Really, how stupid are these people?  When you become a public official in this nation, you should understand the ramifications.  And hold yourself to some basic decent standards of conduct.  I know we're all human, but still.... You are charged with the public trust, and you cannot even manage your little urges? Give me a break.

This is where my new hero comes in:  Jenny Sanford, the supposed spurned wife and First Lady of South Carolina.  From what I've read about her, this Illinois-bred lady is no shrinking violet.  In fact, it appears that she is the driving force in all of her husband's political success.  Imagine that?  When she found out about her husband's mistress, she understandably asked him to end it.  When he stupidly asked to go visit his little girlfriend, she told him that she couldn't condone his continuing his affair.  Are you kidding me?  So he goes anyway.  Because, hey, he's got needs.  What family?  What gubernatorial responsibility?  

And when asked this past weekend about the future she sees, Jenny's response was beautiful:  "His career is not a concern of mine, he's going to have to worry about that.  I'm worried about my family and the character of my children."

Touché, Jenny.  There are a lot of us out here who've got your back.

Bloom

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another. 

-Thomas Jefferson

(who else?)