45 rules to live by....

45 might be the real meaning of life, as opposed to 42. Here is a post I copied from someone else, with my notations:
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. (Here it is)
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
Well I'm not there yet, but if or when I do get there, I would like to be able to write something like this! I also have to believe the writer is a Leo, as am I.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. It truly isn't fair, but it's still better than the alternative.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. A good friend of mine once said, "Start small, but start."
3. Life is too short – enjoy it. I'm trying to live more in the moment.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Cultivate friends, make family bearable.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month. Finally, yes!

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself. I am practising - keeping my mouth shut. It works most of the time :)
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. I'm not sure about this one. I don't share my down time.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. Maybe, or he sends snow in May.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. OOPS a bit late now.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. This is probably true, but I would expand it to pie - all sorts - not to be confused with Liquorice All Sorts.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. I'm still waiting for it to come back and haunt me.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry. It may have happened once, but then I'm a stoic.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. So true.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. Nailed it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks. But I'm sure he hides his eyes, at times.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. I often ask myself, will this matter in 10 years time. If not, forget it.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways. So true, now if I could only convince the rest of the family of this.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. Maybe, but I have died of embarrassment many times.
19. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else. So true.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. I think I have failed this a few times.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. I still have dresses in my closet, I have never worn. Just waiting for the right occasion.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow. Always.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. I see too many older women wearing purple. I will never do that - now red, red is different.
24. The most important organ is the brain. That's why I do brain exercises everyday.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. Worth repeating.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' OK I say 10 - but life is short, maybe it should be 5.
27. Always choose life. Yes, it's a matter of whose.
28. Forgive. I don't think I can ever do this.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business. I know, but sometimes they tell me :)
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. Sigh!

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. Time passes and this too shall pass.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. Especially my children.
33. Believe in miracles. Everyday
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. I wish that were true.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. I like to pick my battles - like the ones I can win.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young. For sure.
37. Your children get only one childhood. This I have never forgotten.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. May I add, 'the right people.'
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. Agreed
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back. In a heartbeat.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need. I am trying to do that.
42. The best is yet to come... I sure hope so.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. This one is tricky, but I'm working on it.
44. Yield. Merge, notice the bump, left turn only....etc. Signs on the road of life.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift." Yes it is.

The pictures? Random shots from a life lived rather randomly.

Have a great day!

Honk if you love geese...

..... Canada Geese particularly. I was in a suburban area of Toronto the other day, waiting for a friend, when I saw this parade of geese come over a rise on the west side of a busy north-south thoroughfare. They walked towards the road, stepped into traffic, waited for the cars to stop and then proceeded to waddle at a very slow, very dignified pace, on an angle, blocking 8 lanes of traffic, to the other side of the road(s).

It was a long slow journey and a long slow wait for the cars, as 18 or so geese took their time to clear the intersection. After two or more missed traffic lights, the drivers began to honk. I thought, this is ironic, usually it's the geese that honk! In any event, the geese did not change their pace, nor did any of the cars, charge the procession - good for them.

This was just a little aside, on an otherwise uneventful day. Then again, maybe this happens everyday, or maybe it's because of the reduced traffic, during this pandemic, that has allowed nature to take its course - law and order from a different source.

Have a surprising day!

PS. If you're from Toronto, you know the city is basically a grid running north from Lake Ontario. That's why we give directions from east-west/north-south axes. Before we were Toronto the Good - We were Toronto the Grid. Sorry I couldn't avoid the pun.

Word Study #2 Mantel

I like the word "mantel." It's a covering, a cloak, perhaps. I think of phrases, such as, the court's "mantel of justice" or the skin's "acid mantel" and I think of protection. I plant the flower, Lady's Mantel, for many reasons, partly because I like the sound of the name, partly because of its concept of protection, but mostly because it reminds me of my grandmother.

Although my grandmother had lived in Canada for more than 50 years, before she died, I rarely remember her speaking English. She could, of course, speak perfect English, but she was happiest speaking German - hochdeutsch (high German). I hear her even now saying "meine mantel" - her coat (her lady's mantel) as she was getting ready to go out.

Lady's Mantel is a herbalist's herb, Alchemilla Vulgaris. The flowers have protective properties, when used in teas, and the leaves, crushed, are especially good as poultices. I don't use Lady's Mantel for it's medicinal properties, I use it, as a florist would use Baby's Breath. It's a wonderful filler in flower arrangements. I know, this is a little frivolous, certainly a come down from loftier associations, such as justice, medicine or even the memory of my grandmother.

Well, we all have our weaknesses. One of mine is "composition" as in the arrangement of "things" for display. I hate, for example, a poorly arranged bouquet, snapshot, room setting - the list goes on. Another of my weaknesses is flowers or growing "stuff." I have, at the moment, 10 pots of African Violets on my windowsill and another one in the kitchen. One of the plants needs dividing, so that would make 13 pots and I have now run out of window space. I could put them on the mantelpiece - there's that word again, but there isn't enough light. Sigh!

Maybe, I'll just have to start giving them away.

Have a glorious day!