Life in the Slow Lane

I imagine the song for this being somewhat sluggish as opposed to the driving beat of the "Life in the Fast Lane". The slow lane is for those of us who want to stop the world and get off, and meander through the woods looking at wild flowers. The slow lane is for those of us who wander through Wal-Mart not only looking at the bargains, but the bargain hunters who are almost as entertaining as the bargains! The slow lane if for those who start walking down the street in the direction of the shopping district and end up on some back street marveling at the way the azaleas are blooming already and in such magnificent shades of magenta! In short, the slow lane is for those who have time to appreciate things around them without whizzing through while on the way to soccer practice or piano lessons. Of course, the slow lane can be for those who are taking piano lessons at an advanced age and finding it more fun to figure out how to play Mairse Doats instead of Chopin's something or other. It might sounds as though I'm retired, but I'm not. Though I would like to be. But I'm just observing how sometimes life in the slow lane has it advantages. It's harder to get riled up over something when you take your time to think about it instead of just reacting. It's easier to smile at little kids who are carrying on to beat the band, then grumbling about the noise they're making when you take time to consider that they won't be doing this forever. I'm not at the point yet, where the slow lane has taken over my thinking. But it's creeping up on me and I like that in a way. I find I have time to savor things when I really take the time to do so. When I'm conscious of deciding to slow down, I think I feel better about things. So I'm going to try and do that more. Because life in the slow lane is surely gonna make my day!

Fixing the World

I get emails once in a while from various and sundry resources that claim they have the answer to the world's problems. Whether it's the economy of the United States, the civil unrest in Spain or the global warming melting the polar ice caps, someone has the answer. And yet, and yet...we are still in the mess we're in. The US hasn't solved their "universal health care problem", Iran is still contemplating blowing up the world yet still remaining true to it's Islam tenets (how does that work?), and the mess in Afghanistan isn't getting any less complicated. I sometimes wish the world was like a snow-globe. You could shake it a few times and the stuff inside would resettle into something else. How do we fix all that is wrong? And is the world a worse place than it was a decade ago or does it just seem that way? Was the world even 30 or 50 years ago such a mixed up mess? I don't know. And I don't know how to fix it either. Pundits with plausible ideas spew out nightly their wisdom. But why isn't anyone really doing anything to "right the wrongs" or "bridge the gap" or whatever euphemism you happen to like? And where does it end? Does it end with a new administration? With a new dictator? With a new guru? Even a new religion? Pondering these things maker me feel helpless and a little hopeless too, if you want to know. Who do you listen to? Who is right? I'm not the most well-read person about politics and world situations but do I have to be? Is there someone who is well-read enough to actually DO something? The rhetoric during a political campaign is useless. People spouting they will do this and they will do that...I don't think we can bank on them doing any of those things in reality. So what do we do? What can we do? I don't have the answer (not that I expected to have one), but it's kind of depressing that no one else does either. I'm just saying...

The jellybean lure

Every Easter someone (usually me, but not always!) puts together an Easter basket full of chocolate, marshmallow chicks, malted milk eggs and jelly beans. The fake grass which is put in the basket hides the jelly beans pretty effectively until most of the other stuff is gone. Then the little egg shaped jellies sit and call to you as you walk through the room where they nest. I've always loved the yellow and orange ones, though the green ones will do in a pinch. And I don't particularly like the spiced ones, though I realize there are those who are appalled by this. I looked around on the internet regarding the origins of the candy. Apparently, no one knows the exact origin. Something about Turkish Taffy and Jordan almonds all mixed up somehow or other. There is a mention of them as early as the US Civil War! But it wasn't until the 1970's that the Herman Goelitz Candy Company began to flavor the little beans exotically that these treats became gourmet attention getters. They were the ones who came up with pina colada, toasted coconut and other such flavors. I still prefer the old stand-bys like lemon, orange and cherry. But what do I know? I loved in the Harry Potter books, Bertie Botts had "every flavor beans" like ear wax and vomit! They apparently are so popular at Easter because of the shape of them and the fact that they are brightly colored, rendering them perfect for finding in the fake grass of an unsuspecting basket. The problem is that they are small and so you can eat like a million of them before you realize it and they are probably rotting your teeth even as you munch your 600th. Most of the time candy is big enough so that you've eaten one and you think, "whoa, if I keep this up I'll need two seats in an airplane". But the jelly bean is insidious in it's size. You walk past the basket and grab a couple. You realize, "hey, that was pretty good!" and the next time you walk past, you find yourself looking for all the yellow ones (or orange or green or if you are like my dad the black licorish ones). And the next thing you know you are standing at the table, searching for all the single color ones you have latched onto and you've completed your mission and you now have a sugar buzz and need to go out and run around the block for a while as you work it off. Of course, you don't do that. Instead you walk into the living room and crash out asleep on the couch as your body tries to balance out the sugar content in your system. When you wake up you feel like you have a hangover and you grope your way to the kitchen, only to see the basket out of the corner of your eye and you begin wondering if you got all the yellow ones (or green or red or, well,you get the idea). If you have enough will power you will not go and check, but if not you wander back to the basket and cycle repeats itself. I have considered throwing the basket out, so the temptation won't be so great. But the idea of throwing away food is repellent to me and why waste a perfectly good jelly bean? And so I can hear it in the dining room, on the table, whispering my name in a low monotonous tone. There still might be some yellow ones left. Or maybe orange. Or even green in a pinch.

The Flowers of Spring...NOT

Okay, I like to garden. I have some quirky things in the garden I plant (poinsettia's from last Christmas come to mind), but I like it and it suits me. I don't go at it full tilt all the time. Hence the weeds and funny looking thingees that grow in between the hyacinths and daffodils. But on the whole, I like to be out digging around. In the early months of the summer, I usually spend a bundle at a couple of local garden centers and grab a mish-mosh of plants to put in containers on the deck. It's the only place where the sunlight seems to concentrate, so it's more a garden in pots than in the ground. But last year, ah, last year...I read this article that explained how you could plant a whole batch of tulips in a small area and the colors would be gorgeous and concentrated in this one small spot. I was thrilled! This was it! My place to really go wild! I followed the instructions to the letter, weeding, mulching, fertilizing, chasing away squirrels, tending, talking to them, chasing away more squirrels. And lo and behold, it was so! A lovely batch of spring green beauties sprouted, waving their bulbous heads and bursting into fabulous color! Oh, it was beautiful! The neighbors were impressed with my display and to tell the truth, so was I! It is now Spring again. Tulips bloom again and again, right? So I wasn't quite as diligent as last year. But we had a mild winter. Not too much frost. Hardly any snow. The green shoots pushed their way up into the bright sunlight. I waited for the brilliant display to begin. And waited. And waited. The daffodils are already spent. The forsythia is more green than yellow by now. But not one tulip has graced a stalk. Not a one. No color. Except spring green. Not a single bloom. How can this be? Every time I back out of the driveway, they wave mockingly at me. See? They seem to say, we're still here, but we're all the same color this year! Oh, where did I go wrong? I'll have to research this phenomenon on internet. It's almost Easter and no tulips. Heavy sigh.