Tackling Barriers, Trying New Things

:Does time really move faster as you age?  It seems like my September birthday was a month ago. I apologize to those who have asked for updates on my quest to tackle barriers and try new things as I prepare for my 60th birthday.  Perhaps the time has passed quickly because I have been so busy....

September:  If you are a woman and have not attended the annual Women's Week at Deer Valley YMCA camp in Pennsylvania, I encourage you to JUST DO IT!!  deervalleyymca.org.   If you look closely at this photo you will see parallel lines above the trees--the camp's zip lines.  With my daughter (who directs the women's programs) ahead of me/encouraging me, and a group of wonderful fellow-campers on the ground cheering,   I climbed the pole and zipped across the lake. I would do it again in a heartbeat. What a rush...!   During that week I led the daily "Morning Watch" group, which I have done several times.  This year  we explored the question "Who Am I Now?", from a spiritual perspective. And, for the first time, I added singing to the group.  Another new thing!  We sang a song each morning that I learned  last winter in  the Tucson Women's Chorus.  Each woman interpreted the words individually, which created lively discussions.  The song lyrics:  Woman am I...Spirit am I...I am the infinite within my soul..I have no beginning  and I have no end....all this I am.   I would love to hear your thoughts about the lyrics.

Klara & Peter in DC

Veterans near the WW II memorial

October: Peter and I drove to Washington DC to attend the One Nation Working Together rally--an uplifting experience in the midst of heartbreaking divisions.  The presence of many military veterans, especially older/compromised ones, inspired me to renew my commitment to activism. 


Back in Michigan, we enjoyed several Bois Blanc Island visitors, then closed up the lodge for the winter and headed south.  In Columbia, Missouri--my hometown--my mother and I spent a beautiful fall afternoon on the  Columbia College campus. We both attended classes when my father worked there.  My mom graduated from high school at the end of World War II.  Both of her older brothers are war veterans--one was in a prison camp and missing. for a year.  She met and married my dad, also a war veteran, shortly after high school, and became a mother to four daughters (I am the second one).

Just a couple of college girls...

Mom in our  former psychology class room

If I ever wonder where I get my drive to try new things, it doesn't take long to come up with the answer.  My mother started college thirty years after high school, around the time my dad took up motorcycle riding.  Mom agreed to enroll in a psychology class with me, and continued to take classes on her own--when she wasn't traveling the country with dad on the back of his motorcycle.

Speaking of traveling, when I left Mom's I decided to take a bus to Denver, where I was scheduled to meet Peter. Another one of those things on my "to do" list...not sure why.  I had wanted to take a train, but there wasn't a reasonable route.  The fourteen hour greyhound ride was....well....interesting. I boarded the bus with a group of men released from prison that morning.  They were easy to spot in the crowd: the only ones without cell phones, inadequate clothes for the crisp autumn air, personal belongings in paper bags. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to any of them (they got off a couple of hours into my trip).  Mom and I recognized the profile because we have a family member  in prison. She met him there, at the same bus station, a couple of years ago when he was released. As I ponder this spot I am in my life--turning 60 and exploring what my role is now--I can imagine becoming more involved in prison issues.  My experiences as a family member, a visitor and an advocate always leave me frustrated and angry.  I am blessed to count several former inmates as my current friends and teachers. 

November:  Peter and I attended the annual American Public Health Assoc (APHA) meeting in Denver.  I had not been to a meeting  for several years and it was good to be back in the company of 12,000 folks devoted to public health issues.  As I listened to the current concerns and needs for public policy change, I was again inspired to consider re-entry into nursing.  

Peter ready to head to Tucson

 We left Denver, spent a few days in Durango with former Michigan friends, then drove to Tucson---home for the winter.

I have wanted to experience a hot air balloon ride since I was a little girl. I am a serious Wizard of Oz fan and  grew up in the mid-west. When a Tucson friend suggested we do one  over the desert, I was thrilled.   Another opportunity to check off something on my life list.  The 90 minute ride provided  time to imagine life from a new perspective...familiar but different, distant but present.  I felt safe, so I relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

December:  The best Christmas gift EVER was the arrival of my daughter and family.  Ten days immersed in the world and lives of Fern (6) and Rose (4), and their wonderful parents, along with my sweet husband, Peter.

Christmas dinner with family and friends

Food for Santa and reindeer

What adventures, challenges, surprises will the New Year bring?