Having reached this ancient age with my wits still about me (well, mostly) and still harbouring a vital enthusiasm for life, I am now faced with the dilemna of how to squeeze everything I want/must do before I board the Train to Eternity, which chugs along the track with anETA sometime surely in the next ten years!!!!
Oh dear, oh dear, - what a problem presents itself when one is drawn to every new and exciting project that comes to one's attention...... I am reminded of the Alfred Noyes poem, "Time you old gypsy man/will you not stay" just while I attend to all these things I want to do. All these things it seems necessary for me to do!!!!
There is the loom, - the dummy warp half tied - and the spinning wheel with a half filled bobbin and a braided swatch of carded wool waiting to be spun into glorious yarn.
And then what, I ask myself.
What's to be done with yet another skein of blended silk and wool????
With the prospect of a summer-time family reunion I have been digging into the accumulation of genealogical papers I amassed when that was my passion - two shelves and a suitcase full of records and emails - marvelous correspondence from far removed cousins both in distance and relationship. For a while in the '90's I felt myself in dual times and places, - here at home with family and the beloved, and there, back in the village of Loyalists who fled the American Revolution, or in Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England where these loyalists originated. There are still mysteries regarding some multiple-great grandparents and and aunts and uncles which I would love to have answers to, and so many off-shoot families whose records have been sent to me.
When my imagination wanders through my own descendants I am in wonderment that some of the pictures I have will be the 5th great grand parent of my own great grandchildren. Golly!!
Oh yes, the pictures, - scattered in the most random fashion through my computer. Will I ever get them into files and folders that will spring up at the click of the mouse??
Or learn to shoot pictures in RAW....?
Then there is the garden, calling to me, calling to me...... And I, completely seduced, cannot ignore this new life that is springing out of the sweet earth....
And the music - I still play Scott Joplin sometime during the day, in case it reaches Heaven....
Also the Ukulele - new and exciting as I conquer more and more chords and my feet tap along to the strumming.....can I take it to the campfire at the family reunion and pretend to be a musician??? A matriarch musician?? As long as the chords are simple and the fingers fast and supple, I guess....
Well, I make lists and schedules, but what it really comes down to is mindfulness and discipline, and those I am trying to cultivate with profound affection.
Most importantly I keep an eye on the track and hope the Train is just a-chugging along slow-like, enjoying the scenery.....
6 comments:
Your projects and joys and interests are an inspiration to me. Though I feel myself getting "ancient", too, I revere and respect you as my elder. I'm thinking of taking a long hike this summer - maybe solo. I wonder if that's daft at my age. I haven't mentioned it to family yet. I'm in the dream/research stage. Even if I decide it's not a good idea, I still like to think I could... (Trains, as we both know, have highly unpredictable schedules.)
I think solo hikes, no matter what your age, are something to be considered with a great deal of respect for the danger they might involve, Barb. I can just imagine the reaction you would get from my family!!! I am not allowed to even drive thirty miles to Penticton.....but then it is true, I am much more ancient than you, - although I haven't had the health issues that have beset you. Think carefully...
What a lovely post Hildred and how true for me too. Sadly my sewing activities have had to stop because of my eyesight and the tremor in my sewing hand. But I do like going out with friends, meeting new people, reading,trying new things. As you say - let's hope that train chugs along at a slow speed (as long as we keep our good health).I am now goingto find that Alfred Noyes poem - it looks just right for our Poetry group (we are all over seventy apart from a couple of younger ones (and they give us pleasure because they enjoy our company, which means surely that we are not getting boring old fogeys!
Oh Pat, don't look under Alfred Noyes, - I misremembered. The poet is Ralph Hodgson.....it is still a lovely poem......
Oh Hildred! We none of us know the exact schedule of 'our' train. (It would definitely make planning easier if we did.) Please do keep on doing whatever you feel like doing for as long as you feel like doing it. I continue to look to you for inspiration ... not to be afraid to try something new or to pick up a long-forgotten hobby (yes, Geneology, I'm thinking of you!).
You always give me something to think about and I appreciate that so much. (Sometimes even that is something too many people my age seem to give up.)
Thanks for all and PS: By all means play that Uke at the family reunion!!! Everyone will love it.
You always give me hope and inspiration
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