Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

Just a guess here, but I'm thinking that you, like me, have a (relatively) long list of things you miss.  You missed.  You continue to miss on account of the unprecedented COVID-19.  Some probably have more degrees of significance than others.  On the good days, you're able to put the list into perspective. When the days aren't so smooth, at least for me, the list becomes a thousand ton weight pressing on all internal organs, smooshing them into one indistinguishable mass.  (There's a descriptor, right?) Something I have found very useful when I'm feeling smooshed, and even when I'm not, is practicing yoga.   I can viscerally remember the first yoga class I took.  It was shortly after my mom "went down", becoming bedridden following the rupture of an abdominal abdominal aneurysm.  (She lived 4 years, way beyond statistical prediction, and was the happiest bedridden woman on the block during most of that time, but I digress).  At the end ...

Well, hmm.  Here we are, weeks after the Grand Opening, and in a surprise to probably just about no one, cases of COVID-19 are rising in places where people are gathering without social distancing and wearing masks. Today I found myself reminiscing about three laws that were passed to protect us from ourselves and others.   Law Number One: the seat belt law. Gradually studies demonstrated that wearing a seat belt in your car protected those belted in from serious injury in case of an accident.  (Anyone remember the PSA "Seat Belts Save Lives?") Slowly but surely, from 1966-1970, seat belts became a standard feature in new cars.  People complained about wearing them.  Vociferously.  Seat belts choked you.  They prevented you from turning the steering wheel.  It was more difficult to reach the ash tray when wearing a seat belt.  You couldn't change the radio station or adjust the volume if the seat belt was holding you fast in place. ...

Recently my Flip Flop Friday post indicated that I had no words.  Fortunately, people far more thoughtful and articulate than I have shared their words and in that way STOOD UP to make a difference.   Talking with those of us who are of a certain age, I've heard and shared the refrain: "I thought we did this work in the '60s.  The Civil Rights Act.  The Equal Rights Amendment.  We thought we made the world a better place for the generations to come." Wrong. I still don't have the words.   I've gone back and read the words of those who made an indelible mark on my mind, heart and soul during the '60s.  What I've discovered is they are probably a little too comfortable since those were the words that initially motivated me to do social justice work.  And what I've also discovered over these past few weeks is that I am, indeed, a little too comfortable with my self-assigned place in the social justice movement.  In other words,...