Dear George,
When I was
thirty or so I rarely considered whether I was having a good year or a bad
year. There were limitless years ahead, and I had more pressing things to
worry about. Now that I’m older, have extra time on my hands, and no
longer have an infinite number of years ahead to enjoy, I’ve seem to be more
preoccupied with assessing my quality of life. My New Years resolution
this past January was to do something special every day. (Not super
special – but at least somewhat special.) I’ve managed to do that at
least half of the time, but I tense up when I ask myself how many really big
things have happened in my life lately. Anyway, now that we’re almost
done with the first third of 2014, it seems like a good time to evaluate the
year so far. To accomplish that, I compiled two lists: (a) my best
experiences; and (b) my worst experiences of 2014 to date. I encourage
readers to try this for themselves since it’s an instructive exercise.
Here’s how my lists wound up:
Bests of 2014
·
Biggest
trip: To New Orleans for six days in late March, visiting J and K and our
grandkids V and L
·
Most
enjoyable workouts: At my line dancing class
·
Best
sheepdog outing places: Eden Park and Miami Whitewater Forest (tie)
·
Best OLLI
class at the university (for 50-&-overs): Behind the Scenes in the Arts
·
Most
engrossing sports event: The Winter Olympics (esp. ice dancing and halfpipe)
·
Best flea
market expedition: Monthly Flea-n-Tique show at the county fairground in Dayton
·
Most
nostalgic kid activity: Riding in a bumper car with my granddaughter V at City
Park in New Orleans
·
Best
hostess: Katja entertaining 20 members of the Contemporary Club at our house
·
Biggest
family laugh: When I told my NOLA physician relatives that I’d given my primary
care doctor my detailed blood pressure records in which I’d listed all my systolic
numbers on one sheet and all my diastolic numbers on a separate sheet (very
amusing to physicians)
·
Cutest
pet: My granddaughter V's tiny white bunny, Olivia Rosetop
·
Best
museum experience: OLLI Tour of the National Underground Freedom Center
·
Best fashion
exhibit: "Threads of Heaven" at the Taft Museum, featuring garments
of the Chinese royalty from the Quing dynasty (some of which required 250
artisans to make)
·
Best
photography show: Civil War photos at the New Orleans Museum of Art
·
Best art
show: Steffen Thomas at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans
·
Best
gallery visit: A Gallery for Fine Photography on Royal St. in New Orleans (with
photos priced to $95,000)
·
Best movie
we've seen so far in 2014: Nebraska, with a demented Bruce Dern
·
Best TV
show: HBO's True Detective with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey
·
Quirkiest
TV show: The Search for Bigfoot in Menominee County (National Geographic
Channel)
·
Most
enjoyable book: Jonathan Goldstein, I'll Seize the Day Tomorrow
·
Best
theater: CCM's "Les Miserables" and Broadway tour of “Evita” (tie)
·
Best
opera: Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” at CCM
·
Most
enjoyable jazz outing: Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses at the Spotted Cat
Music Club in New Orleans
·
Best
outdoor music festival: Rhythm Festival in Congo Square in NOLA
·
Best
lunch: Baked Drum at Peche in New Orleans’ warehouse district
·
Best
dinner: Three-course prix fixe at Jean Robert's Table with the Opera Guild
group on Vine Street downtown
·
Best
holiday outing: Easter brunch at La Petite France with Ellie and Sam M.
·
Most
fulfilling dramaturgical experience: Directing my five-year-old grandchildren L
and V in our homemade play about “The Joys of Spring.”
·
Most
enthusiastic dog encounter: Noisy reunion with our sheepdogs Duffy and Mike at
the airport on my return from New Orleans.
Worsts of 2014
·
Saddest
event: Attending the funeral of a long-time friend and department colleague
·
Most
distressing news: A friend’s recurrence of cancer after several years in
remission
·
Poignant
week: Family birthdays in the last week of February including my mother’s and
my deceased brother Steve’s, as well as my sister Vicki’s
·
Worst
effect of our unusually harsh winter: Car stuck in the ice and snow three times
·
Most
unpleasant financial expense: $1500 in car repairs from subzero temps (broken
hoses, brakes, etc.)
·
Most
anxiety-provoking: Dogs’ arthritis, evident in their difficulty climbing stairs
and struggles to get up from the hardwood floor
·
Scariest
accident(s): Me falling on the ice while walking the dogs and then Katja
tripping on the parking lot pavement (no persisting injuries for anybody)
·
Worst
recurrent nightmare: Having to teach a graduate seminar though knowing nothing
about the topic
·
Stupidest
comment to a doctor: Telling the gastroenterologist that I was looking forward
to my colonscopy
·
Most
annoying age discrimination: Doctor cuts my Ambien dosage in half because of
federal government age guidelines
·
Daily pet
peeve: The University's shuttle bus stop at our corner for which patrons wait
in our driveway and on our side lawn
·
Most
chronic frustration: my crummy hearing
·
Biggest
life worry: What to do with too much stuff (i.e., attic and basement filled to
capacity)
·
Worst
late-night snack: Katja’s leftover fig pizza.
·
Neighborhood
dog losses: Lucy (died), Archie (died), Prissy (ran away), Harmony (moved to
Illinois)
Like every
other year, life continues to be a potpourri of goods and bads. Apart
from catastrophes to friends, the positive things for me outweigh the negatives
in 2014 so far. While I never anticipated it, I think this is mostly a
consequence of being retired. A lot of the sources of external pressure,
evaluation by authorities, interpersonal conflict, and daily stress disappeared
from my life when I left the workplace. Instead I get to spend a lot of
time doing things I like. This is an unique and special time of life.
My immediate plan is to appreciate and enjoy the rest of 2014.
Love,
Dave
G-mail Comments
-Donna D (4-27): absolutely wonderful david!!!
-Jennifer M
(4-23): I'm glad the good
outweighs the bad so far! And it seems like the trip to NOLA created a lot of
the good!
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