Laughter as Medicine

Since the start of 2020, and the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic statistics, my friends and I have relied on humor to buoy our spirits and to cope with the overwhelming news about this disease that consumes the daily morning, midday, early & late night news shows. Instead of watching and listening 24/7, we open up our social media apps, eager to hear the latest musical parodies, see the recent political cartoons, and interact with friends to share humorous anecdotes or personal stories. Anything that makes us smile or laugh is considered lifesaving.

Husband shared this photo on Facebook today. It’s his idea for an app to help anyone who needs a face mask right away. So far, no one has taken him seriously. So far, this is his best joke yet. His sense of humor is one of his best traits. That and his laughter, his willingness to live with my unicorn collection & all my other collections for the past 39 years, his ability to iron anything that’s wrinkled whether it is his or mine, his work ethic that is continuing past a 48 year career in photo and video journalism, and so many other positive traits. He’s not perfect, but he’s perfect for me. 

Being perfect for each other is a good thing. We enjoy each other’s company,  before and during this stay-at-home period in our part of the world. Some folks roam freely, unaware or uncaring of the impact that their presence might have on others now and in the future. So be it. Can’t live someone else’s life or dictate how to live it. Just avoid them if their lifestyle negatively impacts your own. We do go out, but only one at a time to get food or medicine. We use home made masks when we venture out - not husband’s app, which isn’t as effective or comfortable. But it does have one advantage. The app prevents the dissemination of any information.

So many people are disseminating information these days - on social media, on TV and radio new shows, in print, on the internet, and in blogs like this one. My forte is light hearted wordplay. I was an English teacher, not a scientist or statistician. If you are an expert in a field that I need information about, I’ll go to you. I won’t try to do your job. In fact, I’ll share the information you give me! So share with me. What should I know during these unusual times? Share something to make me laugh. Share intellectual data that causes me to think. Just don’t share your germs. I can get those anytime I leave the house.

Welcome to My World . . . Smaller now during a pandemic.

It’s only a 2 mile walk round trip to a major thoroughfare (US HWY 19), but it’s a wondrous journey to and from, especially during “stay-at-home” times. No, I’m not being bad. During these CoVid-19 conditions, Gov. DeSantis says we can venture outside to exercise. Under normal circumstances we do that daily. Today, I walked alone, and documented my world. On Friday, April 3, it was beautiful & mysterious.

Not just any sidewalk…this is the sidewalk from my neighborhood to the world beyond.

When Husband doesn’t walk with me, and he didn’t today, I walk up to an office building on US 19. It’s three stories, so I can build endurance by walking up and down the stairs. It’s also home to my orthopedic surgeon. Seven years ago he recommended a partial knee replacement so that I could keep walking. After the surgery, I visited him here. I also frequented the physical therapy center next door, which used these stairs to help me get back in shape. Its now across the street in a one story building. This place is an ideal place to walk when it’s hot, as it has a water fountain on each floor. It also has bathrooms, one which I used to wash my hands today after touching door handles & banisters. And if you need to see an orthopedic surgeon, try FK&OC.

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The Florida Professional Building … home to The Florida Knee & Orthopedic Center.

Today was not hot. I didn’t need the air conditioned building – I just needed the stairs. This morning it was 60°, with low humidity. Outside it was sunny, with puffy white clouds in beautiful blue skies. On the way to my stair stepping activity, I took time to stop & smell the azaleas by a neighbor’s fence & yellow daisies growing wild by a drainage pipe. Neither had much of a scent, but they were lovely to see. Usually when I walk I’m intent on my time & pulse rate, and listening to my audiobook, but today I noticed everything around me.

Azaleas

Wildflowers … Yellow daisies? Or another kind of flower?

One of the mysteries I encountered along the way was a building for a PA that has been here for more than 30 years. We don’t recall seeing one or more cars parked here – ever. It only recently acquired the barbed wire fence around the perimeter. Before, I would cut through, picking up trash to deposit in a nearby dumpster. That trash was usually beer cans and food containers. The owner of this building definitely had a trash problem, necessitating the wire & ominous sign. No more shortcuts or garbage picking for me!

If the sign doesn’t deter you, the barbed wire will.

Driving to the FK&OC, I neglected to look behind the building. Once parked in front, I’d go inside, and after my appointment, I’d leave, never looking around outside. You might think you were in the country if you saw photographs of its backyard. In fact, if you stop and look at any particular part of my neighborhood, you might forget you are in an unincorporated area of a large city. It’s peaceful & green. Birds sing and squirrels scamper about. Rabbits and deer sometimes come out, foraging for food. Just don’t look around too closely or you’ll see the trash discarded by someone too lazy to find a garbage can.

Behind the Florida Professional Building, housing the Florida Knee & Orthopedic Center

View behind the building next to FK&OC

Walking home, I walked behind the Ace Hardware store, and as I rounded the corner next to the second hand sporting goods store, I spotted this sign above me: “Smile. You’re on Camera.” It’s good to know that my actions are being watched. I hope they are being recorded so that if I fall or get accosted, Husband can request the footage to help me. When I’m throwing trash in the dumpster, which is adjacent to this sign, no one can accuse me of dumpster diving. I’m doing the opposite. And no need to tell me to smile. That’s second nature to me.

It’s nice to know that someone is looking out for me.

Coming and going, this sign perplexed me: “ I found your box.” Since I didn’t lose a box, I know that sign was not meant for me. It intrigued me. What box? Where? How does the box owner contact the sign maker. Is the box valuable? Is it necessary? Or is someone thinking out of the box, and the sign maker wants him or her to get the box back right away to avoid creative, inventive thinking? It’s a sign!

Perhaps YOUR box is the missing box.

I’m home now. Sitting behind my house, I’m watching the squirrels scavenge the bird seed knocked out of the bird feeder. They can’t climb the pole anymore, so they have to wait for the bluejays to knock the seed out of the feeder. In case you don’t know, bluejays are big and finicky. They make the bird feeder sway when they land, so birdseed gets knocked out. They are also particular about what they eat, and swish out that which doesn’t please them. The squirrels don’t care. They eat anything. So does the bashful rabbit that lives beneath our shed. But they rarely eat at the same time. Squirrels can be intimidating. The other birds are smaller, and simply land and enjoy what is there. I could watch this wildlife show all day, but time is passing. I have a list of “To do today” items that should get done. Time to at least attempt to get some of the items on that list done.

Just one of several backyard squirrels

Resident rabbit caught on camera before heading home.

Afterword: It’s not glamorous nor is it usually dangerous to be a writer. Writing is neither quick nor simple – if you are thoughtful, and mind your punctuation and grammar. That explains why I usually read others’ works & don’t do this as often as I’d like. For example, I need to see what’s in the fridge for breakfast – a meal I skipped before my walk – before it’s time for lunch. Dedicated authors sometimes forget to eat and lose track of time. They sequester themselves away, concentrating on intricate plots with multidimensional characters, so that all of us can read ourselves to different places with new people without leaving the comfort of our homes. Or they write opinion pieces, or expose the underpinnings of our world, so we can be motivated to think, or be better informed, knowing that good will triumph – or so I hope. Reading is my passion, and without authors, my life would be empty. So thank you you to you who write AND to you who read. Can’t have one without the other. I’m just a sometimes author, who started writing this over an hour ago, and I’m hungry. And I hear my “to do list” calling.

American Made! Spoon River Anthology: The Cemetery on the Hill

So proud of my sisters - one who adapted Edgar Lee Masters' 1915 American classic, Spoon River Anthology: The Cemetery on the Hill and both for performing in it - and the cast of this historical production. Through the spirits of those who once lived, brought to life on stage by talented performers, we see life in the midwest, before during and after the Civil War.

One Person Matters

Yes, no matter what you believe about yourself, you do matter, and what you say and do influences others as well as your own demeanor and attitude. In high school, the sponsor of the newspaper told me that I did not matter, and that one person could not influence another. How wrong she was! I may not remember her name, but I remember her words. It has taken me many, many years to realize how wrong she was. It took more than 25 years teaching in Pasco County, FL, to completely convince me. When I retired after 35 years, I felt completely validated in my belief that one person matters. With so many former students/forever friends influencing me, and vice versa, I still have hope that the world can be a more peaceful, saner, and safer world for all of us and future generations.  Working together, we can make a difference, even with so much heartache in the world, and daily occurrences of violence and destruction, in the midst of a shifting climate and uncaring individuals contributing to fires, floods, and earthquakes. One person matters so that the world can be a better place.

Though this morning's news of fires out west, the worst drought in California in a century, a non-existent cease fire in the Gaza Strip, and the report that all died on the Malaysian airplane shot out of the sky by a missile launched from the Ukraine, I kept thinking of what mattered this week:

Bowling with friends in New Port Richey, and dinner with Tim & Dean in St. Petersburg on Sunday.
Tai Chi at the library, and dinner with Lori & Vicky at Maggiano's  in Tampa.
Visiting with Denise and taking my other mother, Mater, to lunch and her doctors on Tuesday before a mediocre dinner with the fantastic Jarrells in Ozona.
Getting a second opinion on the car from friends, so that it could be fixed correctly the first time at Sun Toyota on Wednesday, going to Tai Chi at the library, and seeing a really dumb movie with the very intelligent, kind Brumblays at Westshore.
Seeing Paul at Panera's before picking up my car on Thursday, so I could be home, talking to friends on the phone before cuddling up with Michael to watch Jack Ryan save the world on DVD, complements of Redbox.
Texting with Steppy in Germany, and Jamie in Tampa, before lunching with Patricia at Mimi's, and finally cleaning the kitchen before Michael gets home from work today, Friday.

It all matters: yesterday, today, tomorrow. It's not just about me, and I do matter. You matter, too: what you say, think, do, now and tomorrow. Now, if we all matter so much, love so deeply, and care about the future, what is the matter with this world?

Friends as Family

Michael works for Video Art Productions with the Tampa Bay Rowdies - as a camera man in the heat, rain, and noise from 2011-2013, and this year in the cool control room putting up graphics for the live feed. This year, Carla is a soccer fan, participating in all of the marvelous mayhem as a member of Ralph's Mob which urges the team to win. This year, they look for each other after the games, and sometimes they find one another - like they did this past Saturday. This picture says it all - two of my favorite people, with big, beautiful smiles, happy to be in each other's presence.

Carla has been "my baby" since she was born to my best friend, Rebecca. Becky knew I could not have kids, so Carla had two moms for the first few years of her life. Now, it's Aunt Courtenay, and that's okay. Becky is the best mother a kid could have, and I would never compete with her. Being an aunt means I can be her best friend and confidante when a mom might be too close to whatever situation needs perspective.

Carla probably knows this since she has been and will always be my first kid: I could not be prouder of all she does, all that she has done, and the person who she is today. In fact, before Michael and I could marry 33 years ago, she had to give her seal of approval. That she did, as they bonded over Smurfs in her Pinellas County home 34 years ago.  He's her Uncle Mike, and he loves her as much as I do.

Who is your family? Who do you love more than blood itself? All of us are born into a family, for better or worse, and whether or not we associate with family members becomes a decision we make as we age. Friends come into our lives at all times of our lives, and some become strangers due to time, distance, or other reasons. Some become extended family members. Though we are not bound by blood, we are bound by love, respect, and history. These family friends, too, will be with us until we leave this mortal plain - for better or worse!

Thanks be to God, and also . . .

A cancer survivor is profiled in the local section of the Pinellas edition of today's Tampa Bay Times. Her mother painted on their fence, IN 2012 MY DAUGHTER SURVIVED CANCER. THANK YOU, GOD! Yes, God should be thanked, and I, too, thank God for surviving my 2009 bout with ovarian cancer. In addition to this incident, I thank God daily for many things. Yet, when it comes to surviving cancer, I also thank my doctors, friends, and family members who helped me through my ordeal and contribute to the life I love today.  I thank God for guiding medical professionals to find the cancer in me so that it could be eradicated, for giving them the knowledge to help all of us understand what had to be done and needed to be done in the future to prevent its resurgence, and for providing all of us with strength to survive this and future ordeals that tested my faith and threatened my placid, easy going way of life. God was and is a part of all of this, but no, He's not the only entity that I thank each day for surviving cancer, or anything that threatens my life.

Every morning begins and every evening ends with gratitude to God for my life and life in general. To me, He is my guiding force, inner voice, and model to be a better person. Just as He is not to blame for floods, fires, and war, He is not the only reason for glorious days, meaningful lives, and peace in parts of the world. People of all religions, and those who believe in the absence of a supreme being, daily perform heinous acts, and God is blamed for the horrific actions that ensue.  Typhoons, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, and untimely deaths occur, and God is called to task. Why? Why is God to blame? If these individuals truly believe in a God, or they have a superior sense of self, how can they declare war on this earth. and those who are attempting to live here, in His name or the name of Allah? How can God be held accountable by those who contribute to the poverty and famine near and far? I can not blame God for all that is evil, nor can I be totally grateful to Him for all that is good or miraculous. He is the reason I believe the world can be a better place. He is the reason I am the person I am today. But He is not the only reason.

God is my partner, teacher, friend. He is the creator, the spirit around me, and Father. I won't blame him for the injustices or horrific deeds I witness. Instead, I'll ask him for guidance to do what is right to correct that which I can control. I'll credit him for as much good as I can, knowing that if all of us followed the simple precept - DO UNTO OTHERS - we would not perpetuate the evil that permeates our world. I will give him most of the credit, and pray that those who believe in Him will follow his precepts, leading to a better world. He is the antitheses of evil. He is forever, and He is love.

Celebrating Life

It is not just about the BIRTH day. It's about life, and what you do any day, and with whom you live your life. July is my birth month, so I celebrate all month.

I enjoyed receiving flowers and a helium balloon from my loving husband. The balloon is still flying high, but I'm on a second bouquet. They smell so good.

I enjoyed having dinner with my husband and Gary - former student (1978) and forever friend. His family is our Italian family!

I look forward to more dinners and flowers all month long - all year long!