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Capsule (Full commentary found immediately below Lead Picture):
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
And we need to consciously and continuously tweak that mindset.
How to maintain our joie de vivre.
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Lead Picture (Story below in Thumbnail section)
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Lawrence Weathers VC
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Commentary
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
At age seventy-seven, time not the friend you need to help with heavy luggage.
To make walking and working-out more enjoyable, more efficacious.
It is perhaps, an enemy, inimical to such pursuits.
What can one do?
To stop it?
Nothing, really.
To circumvent it?
Still nothing, I’m afraid.
To slow it down?
Work out. Walk. Stay mentally alert.
Doesn’t slow it down but does mitigate some of the effects.
A cure?
Oh, yes! Certainly.
Work with the cards in your hand.
The only thing.
Reduce daily expectations and goals to doable levels.
Maintaining a healthy outlook means not throwing in the towel.
Not translating “Can’t lift that piece of luggage anymore” into a more generalized (and untrue) “I can’t do anything.”
Several days ago, I accompanied my 20-year-old on her return to school.
Before we started unloading, we went for drinks.
it was a hot day.
Kat got something, but I got the gem: a freshly-squeezed lemonade with orange blossom honey.
She tasted it, loved it, but wouldn’t permit a swap for it.
During the move, I was stunned by the amount of energy she had to lift the heaviest pieces of the load and run them up the flight of stairs to her room.
And return for more while I huffed and puffed with the lesser pieces.
Why we worked as a team?
Before I put the car in the spot most convenient for unloading, she had , alone, rearranged all the furniture in her room.
And throughout the challenge of emptying the car into her room, she stayed aware of my reduced capabilities, constantly suggesting a division of labor that shifted more and more of the moving burden onto herself.
And I stayed honest and in touch: acknowledging my limitations, setting aside the lifelong posture of being all things to my little girl, accepting my new secondary role.
It ain’t that pretty at all.
Done with the moving, Kat wanted to continue to work: unpacking and putting her things away.
She did, all the while working on a list of things she needed.
I walked in the woods until she texted me: done.
Then we drove to Target and I pushed the cart while she scurried through the aisles searching, comparing, and fetching.
I was getting tired.
But she filled that cart, checking every item off the list as she acquired it.
We returned to the dorm.
Now she wanted to put the purchases in place.
I went for coffee.
She texted me: ready.
It was hot.
She must be tired and thirsty, I thought.
I was in the same place as earlier in the day where she loved that lemonade so well.
A contribution I could make.
The highlight of the day for me.
I walked into her now beautifully arranged room with an ice-cold glass of lemonade.
Great fun for her.
Great, great fun for me.
So, shorter walks, lesser loads, lighter weights at the club.
Functioning very well within ourselves.
Trying to formulate a mindset that takes joy in what we’re left to do as we age.
And we need to consciously and continuously tweak that mindset.
How to maintain our joie de vivre.
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We love getting mail.
Contact me at domcapossela@hotmail.com
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
This from Sally C:
For the first time in my life, I saw that tomahawk steak at McKinnon's Meat Market in Danvers a couple of weeks ago. I 'd never seen one before, until you served it for the dinner we attended. (And a wonderful gathering that was, in conversation as well as food!)
Recently, I thought I'd try beef shank. I asked the man behind the counter at BJ's how to prepare it, and he recommended medium-hot searing on each side for about 5 minutes, then putting it into a covered roast pan with some beef broth and various vegetables as desired, then slow roasting it at 300 degrees for at least a couple of hours. I loaded it heavily with onions, a pound of fresh mushrooms, and several dozen cloves of garlic. It came out fall-apart sticky and succulent, the marrow as soft as butter! And the sauce in the bottom of the pan made for an amazing soup stock. Phillip and I thought we'd died and gone to heaven! I'm doing it again tomorrow evening.
Sally
Web Meister responds: I love shank. Got to put it on my menu.
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A “Hey, Dom!” video.
Publication Date: Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Name: Door Closing
Length: 4.46
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Chuckle of the day:
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
A magician working a cruise ship in the Caribbean faced a different audience each week.
He allowed himself to do the same tricks over and over again.
The captain's parrot who saw the shows every week began to understand the magician’s tricks and he started shouting in during the acts:
"Look, it's not the same hat!"
"Look, he's hiding the flowers under the table!"
"Hey, why are all the cards the Ace of Spades?"
The magician was furious but couldn't do anything: the captain's parrot.
One day the ship had an accident and sank.
The magician found himself on a piece of wood, in the middle of the ocean, and of course the parrot was by his side.
They stared at each other with hate, but neither uttered a word.
This went on for several days.
After a week the parrot finally said: "Okay, I give up. What'd you do with the boat?"
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Today’s Thumbnails
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Lawrence Carthage Weathers, VC (14 May 1890 – 29 September 1918) was a New Zealand-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time.
His parents returned to their native South Australia when Weathers was seven, and he completed his schooling before obtaining work as an undertaker in Adelaide.
Casualties at a dressing station at Messines in June 1917
State Library of Queensland, Australia - https://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/17438653899/
He enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in early 1916, and joined the 43rd Battalion.
His unit deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium in late December.
After a bout of illness, Weathers returned to his battalion in time to take part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917, during which he was wounded.
evacuated to the United Kingdom, he rejoined his unit in early December.
Promoted to lance corporal in March 1918, Weathers fought with his battalion during the German Spring Offensive, but was gassed in May and did not return to his unit until the following month.
He participated in the Battle of Hamel in July, the Battle of Amiens in August, and the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin in September.
At Mont Saint-Quentin he was recommended for the award of the Victoria Cross.
Promoted to temporary corporal, he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell on 29 September during the Battle of St Quentin Canal, and died soon after, unaware that he was to receive the Victoria Cross, which was not announced until late December.
As of 2007, his Victoria Cross was in private hands.
A tip o' the hat (U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, 1924
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Acknowledgements
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Thanks to Sally for her comments.
And to the Microsoft team at the Prudential Center for their unflagging availability to help with a constant flow of technological problems.
Always thanks to Wikipedia, the Lead and the Thumbnail sections of the Blog very often shaped from stories taken from that amazing website. They are truly worthy of public support.
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Good Morning on this Tuesday, the third day of September, 2019
Pictures of heroes are always found in my bag.
And now? Gotta go.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?
See you soon.
Your Taeyeon