Kathy's World!: Bits 'n Pieces ...

There is no way that I can remember all of my bits 'n pieces. I have one of the worlds most vivid imaginations and memories, I swear. And I have no idea where my colorful dreams come from ... can't blame it on any kind of med since I'm still only on one, and it doesn't typically cause that. Far be it from me to complain. I would rather live the technicolor life than a beige one. So this post may hop & skip around.

A former co-worker was here yesterday to straighten out my Netflix kerfuffle. In talking about all of the electronics we've allowed to overtake us, he said 'lets just wait until something breaks, then replace it with something more simple, which will also rid you of too many remotes'. Voila! I'm all for simplifying my life. As one ages, all the techy stuff does NOT help with that. It only serves to increase anxiety. I will admit that the Echo Dot has proven to be a trustworthy alarm when I'm forced to arise before I'm ready. And she plays a mean babbling brook to get me to sleep, which normally isn't a problem ... yet. So, onward to the breaking down of complicated things. If you have too many remotes in your life (toxifying things or people), it's time to purge.

I also think about people from the back 'o beyond that I haven't seen in eons. The most detailed memories come out. So much so that I wish I could find that person so we could have a good laugh. Many of these memories are also very poignant, from a cheap ring I buried in my grandma's flower garden (given to me by a boy I didn't know when I visited the grade school in her hometown. I will say he was cute), to death-defying dares. Example: Taking out one of the little boats with a 10 or 15hp. motor on it, cranking it wide open, and standing on the seat waving my arms in the air. That wasn't the half of it. When I was a wee one, I would take my horse on long rides on the gravel roads of Iowa, but I had no idea of the eyes that were on me. My mom would call some of the farms and ask if I'd been seen. There was no hiding. And I stupidly wanted to find out if one of the family cars would do 100. Yes, it did. I feel fortunate to still be among the living. I'll stop with that.

Oh but wait ... there were still inklings of dare devilry when my dad still lived in Prescott & we went on adventures. He'd bet me I couldn't make it through a yellow light. 😳 I never knew that ran in his blood. Now I get it!

I'm one of those people who understands that some of us don't have a whole lot of family left, so I'm dogged about staying in touch, even if it means always having to initiate the contact. Some of my most satisfying conversations come of those visits, mostly just to know they're still among us. They are connections, and those are rare. But connections don't always have a blood connection. It may be someone I shared one of my death-defying dares with, only to learn later that I had scared the bejesus out of them way back when. And yet ... they admired me! I will never regret my tomboyish ways. I think it built character, and made me appreciate, more so in later life, what I had. I know I wasn't an easy child to raise, but everything seemed to work out. One aspect that was developed was that of a peace keeper. I valued relationships more than I did the outcome of a disagreement, not to say that I wasn't an instigator at times. Which segues into my determination to remove those expectations from my life. Expectations = disappointments.

I guess the one thing that niggles at me is that I'm not totally who I was, mostly in the physical definition. There are simply some things that I can no longer do, or shouldn't do. I am fighting fiercely that my eye sight doesn't take away my driver license, and I. Will. Win. When I see photos of my younger self, I think, "Wow, did I really have that nice, smooth skin, legs that didn't need to wear hose to hide spider veins, etc., no frowny line between the eyes" ... and the list goes on. SO not fair! But hey! I still have thick hair ... even if it is shades of gray.

Yep, I reckon I have too much time to think about all of this "stuff". But, thankfully, I'm done with stirring up daring feats to attempt. Orrr ... maybe I should!