Must Come a Time - 70

I don't know who pays attention to the different smiley faces that I use in the camera of the title logo each month, but this month I've replaced the smiley with a 70, done in a scary font, because this is the month when I shall turn 70.   When I turned 69, I couldn't believe that I would soon be 70...the first zero-age in my life that had the potential of being traumatic for me.  

But I've made a project out of it, starting the "My 70th year" blog, with photos from every day (with one exception) of this past year.  It's been a fun project but, in truth, it will be wonderful not to have to think of a photo every day.  17 more days and I will end that project. 

Talking about being 70 for the whole year, and telling people, like my mother does, that I am almost the year that is coming up rather than the year that I am currently has made it seem like I've been 70 forever, so no more trauma fears for me.

I am happy to report that I am not walking like Abe Vigoda this morning.  My muscles are returning to normal, and I am glad of that.

Walt went and rented a car yesterday, which we will have until Monday, in case car repairs take longer than expected.  We have two trips to the Bay Area coming up and might as well use the rental.  It's a Ford something-or-other and I drove it for the first time today.  I do hate adjusting to new cars.

First there is finding that perfect "fit" for your body.   The seat was so far forward that it trapped my knee under the dash and, as my knee is temperamental anyway, I had to actually stop the car and pull over, get out, and try to figure out how to move the seat back.

I also couldn't figure out how to change the station on the radio. It had presets and there didn't seem to be any way to choose anything that wasn't already set up.  Naturally, the manual was not in the glove compartment (Walt told me later it was in the trunk, where it was a big help.  Not.)  But while pulled over to change the seat, I played around with buttons that seemed logical and I finally did find a way to get the station I wanted.  But it definitely was not intuitive.

Then I couldn't figure out how to turn the lights off and it complained to me when I tried to get out of the car.  I had to actually call home to find out how to do it.  Who knew the controls would be hidden away behind the steering wheel on the dashboard?

I figure that once we have to return it to the rental agency, I will have come to peace with it and have grown to like it, though I will also be very glad to get our own car back again.

Once I'd kinda figured out the new car, I went to the Dollar Store to see what they had that would work for my impromptu Super Bowl party.  Pretty much nothing, unfortunately, but I did get some artificial flowers that are red with yellow centers.  I thought those on a yellow tablecloth I also bought with the yellow and red striped napkins and red plats and yellow bowls might at least make a colorful looking table.

From there I went to the supermarket to see if they had a nice Super Bowl display, but it was kind of pathetic.

I did get the football tray, but decided that buying a balloon on Thursday for a party Sunday was a bad idea.  We might stop by Nugget on the way out on Sunday and see if the still have a balloon, but I'm not holding my breath.  They did have Super Bowl flowers, though.

I really liked them, but my artificial flowers cost $2 and will be fine...these cost $12. 

I picked up chicken wings (2 kinds), ranch dressing, nacho cheese dip, ingredients for Chex Mix (I like home made better than store bought) and avocados for guacamole, plus beans for chili.  We will have enough to feed a small Army and my mother hardly eats anything, but what the heck, it will be our dinner for at least one night after the game, and I wanted it to look like a real "party."

Then off to Logos.  I brought a book with me to read, but instead picked up a copy of JFK's "Profiles in Courage" and got engrossed in it.   It's a depressing book on two unintentional levels.  While I know it is designed to showcase heroes of the Senate who, over the 200 years of our country's history, dared to make a difference, but this edition of the book was printed in 1964 and contains a foreword by Robert Kennedy, praising his brother and talking about his own feelings about courage, this Kennedy who would, himself, be dead four years later.   Worse, on the back is an ad for the audio version of this book, read by John F. Kennedy, Jr. At least Caroline Kennedy, who wrote the introduction, is still with us.

I think this is a book that all Americans should read, depressing though I find it.  Kennedy begins with a look at what it's like to be a Senator, and why things are not as cut and dried as we would like them to be.  Quite a detailed look at the life of a Senator.  But in reading it, and in reading the first couple of chapters (I have a lot more to read), the depressing thing is learning that pretty much nothing has changed over the years.  Nothing. What we see today with the fight over gun control is what John Quincy Adams fought in the Embargo against England (ostracized by everyone for that courageous stand, he went on to become President).

My mother is fond of saying "I'm as glad I'm as old as I am..." and the older I get and the more I learn about our history and compare it to our present, the more I, too, am glad I'm as old as I am.  70 will be my friend, not my enemy.