Ten years after starting blog …

It has been 10 years since I started this blog. Back then, I had every intention of writing here regularly, chronicling life changes after fifty. And here I am at sixty already, still thinking about those changes but writing nary a word.
I wanted to record what I noticed about changes in my body and thoughts in this second half of life as we know it. But a lot has happened in those 10 years. Yes, my body has gone through many changes. Menopause was relatively mild with hot flashes being the starring event, but I never experienced any of the other things I wholly expected from reading about what to expect. Moral: don't believe everything you read. You are you, a unique individual and what you experience may not be like the experience of anyone else you know.
Since turning fifty, there have been changes in the texture of my skin. Dryer at times but mostly an almost scaly appearance ... more like that of a snake's skin. It is still elastic and soft but the look is changing. My hearing has gotten a little worse, then better, then worse again (though I think that is due to moving back and forth in and out of noisy cities). My eye sight has progressively gotten weaker. I still only need reading glasses, but I notice some days that things are a bit bleary - street signs, objects at a distance. But that too is in and out. It comes and goes, especially if I spend too much time on the computer. It seems it takes longer for my eyes to adjust to the outside after doing close up work.
I notice now, especially in the last year or so, that my skin is more sensitive. The slightest continued pressure creates discomfort. The brachial arteries are more susceptible to cutting off circulation so I have to be careful about pressure on the insides of my arms and upper thighs.
I do tai chi regularly now so my body stays more flexible and I feel less aches and pains in my joints than I did ten years ago. I do notice that if I miss a day or two of practice, those aches are all too willing to come creeping back. Eventually, I would like to get back into yoga, but for now tai chi is enough.

One word ... Chocolate!

The movie "Chocolat" has always reminded me how much interest I have had in the idea of making my own chocolate, conjuring visions of mixing and preparing  wonderful chocolate creations, opening my own shop, watching passersby taking in the aroma as they are mesmerized by the array of choices and then ... I moved to Belgium. 


Belgium, where some of the best chocolate in the world is made. I have tried many different chocolates over the last year and tried finding someone who spoke English to teach me how to make my own. I took a "class" at one shop that was more of a demonstration and lesson of what chocolate is than an actual class on how to make chocolate. What a disappointment. Then last month, I stumbled across an ad for classes at Rende-vous Chocolat. Voila!! The classes I have been looking for are taught here? And it is only 5 minutes from my house? Who knew??

So today, I took my first REAL chocolate making class and of course, I loved it!! I got dirty (well, if you call getting chocolate all over yourself dirty), made some lovely boxes, learned to temper chocolate and met some wonderful people. This could well be the beginning of a wonderful venture into the chocolate making world.

Finding my niche

Being an artsy person, I find myself with a bit of a conundrum.  Where do I put my focus? It seems the more time I have on my hands, the more I want to do. What started with creative roots and early encouragement from my father was stifled for so many years. Now that I have the time and means to follow this innate desire to create, I feel like a "kid in a candy shop". I want to paint, do wood work, make stain glass, sculpt, take photographs, scrapbook, quilt, sing, act ... and the list goes on and on. So the question comes down to "how do I find my niche"? 

At present, I am most comfortable with the use of multimedia in my projects. For example, incorporating everyday objects into my paintings. Perhaps that is the area I should focus on. Hmmm ... 

Torn Between Two Lovers

As I sit here watching a show about El Dia de Los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) celebrations in Mexico, I find myself torn between a love of technology and a love for the simple life.

I love everything about technology and each new discovery or invention excites me to no end. I thrive on finding ways to increase my knowledge about new gadgets or new technological advances in almost every arena. Of late, Google is my passageway to this knowledge base as it leads the way to this web page or that youtube link that will tell me more about these new advances. I watch shows like the Gadget Show and turn on the Discovery Channel whenever I can. Because I am not presently in the states, I have to rely on whatever means I have at hand to locate the information I am seeking. I am lucky in that I have friends who keep me up to date on the latest innovations as they hear word of them. I also subscribe to clouds that allow me to locate many of the sites I might otherwise have difficulty accessing.

But I also love the idea of moving off the grid, returning to the simpler pre-computer life. Turning off the TV and shutting out the unwanted news that could alter our way of thinking or life itself. Logically, I know that the feasibility of living off the grid is a long way off but the allure is still there. Packing up and moving to the mountains, far from city life. My vision is actually a place that one would need to hike or drive an off-road, eco friendly vehicle (there such an animal, yes?) in order to get there. I actually really like what Ed Begley, Jr does. Bicycling to create electricity (power TV, radio, other machines), growing my own food stuffs, etc.  Hmmm ... something to ponder further, perhaps one day ...

Christmas and the empty nest

Christmas will be so different this year. I knew the time was coming, but I still was not prepared for it. Every year, the children have come home for Christmas. Though there were years when one could not make it, we always still had a full house. This year is different. This is going to be the first year that none of the children will be coming home. It is not because they have all grown and have their own families. This year they are not coming home because we no longer live in the states. Five years ago I married a diplomat I had met during his posting in Washington. We talked frequently about there coming a time when we would be leaving the country for a new posting. I started mentally preparing myself for the coming change. We took a family road trip this summer and spent as much time with the children as we could. Though I have adjusted well to our new home and I am learning to adapt to the nuances of the country, I am finding myself feeling a bit overwhelmed with the emotion of missing my children this Christmas. I'll try my best to control this sense of sadness even though there is a high likelihood that I will start crying at some point. I know my husband will go the extra mile to make sure we have a wonderful Christmas and I am eternally grateful for all he does and will do for me this first empty nest Christmas.

Aging

As we age and slowly watch the passing of those before us, the frailty of life becomes more and more apparent. When I was young, I thought of life in an immortal sense. There was no end to time. I would not age, I would not die. I would live to be 100 and I would be as I was then - young, agile, lucid. I could not wait to be 6 ... 12 ... 16 ... 18 ... 21. There were always goals to be reached through age - a magical moment of passage to another stage in life. Somewhere over time that magic has changed. That illusion that was formed in childhood has taken other forms and the stages are blurring. The goals are not as clear and we are not as excited to reach a specific age ... or are we? To reach 90 ... 100 with my mind and body in tact? Now that would be truly something to celebrate!

Cold, cold rain

Chilled to the bone, waiting for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. I am told it might be a long, long wait as this is Belgium and rain is the norm. Though the weather was fairly nice in August, with temps in the 70's F (20's C), this first fall is proving to be quite chilly. What makes it even colder is the high humidity. So much humidity and rain, that the ground has not dried out since we arrived August 11th, and even when there were two warm, sunny days in a row, I still tracked moisture from the grass in the back yard into the house.

With so many days being like today, I am learning what layering means (being from Florida, layering on was not something we did very much ... In fact, quite the opposite!) But even with sweaters and socks, today's kind of chill still seems to seep through to the bones. To help counter the chill, I have kept the kettle going all day. The dogs and I are cuddled on the couch under a throw as I sip warm cups of tea while I write this blog.

So tonight I am making a nice, hot chicken soup for dinner. Perhaps that will help abate the chill.