Confessions of a Grandma

And, really, I am glad to see the back of you, 2019. I can't say that is was a year all that hard hitting for me, but it certainly was for people that I love and care about. Health problems and death were far too frequent visitors to close family and friends. Events of the this past year did push me to take care of business in anticipation of my own unavoidable death. I set up a trust for my children. I am generally not enough of a grown-up to admit I am old, but, let's face it, someday soon enough I will be old. Nothing that happened in the political landscape of our country made me think that 2019 will be remembered as a banner year. I used to think living part time in Vermont and part time in Florida was kind of the best of both worlds, but this past year found me questioning where I really live. It gets harder to make the transition.  (I was leaning toward Florida until Trump decided to change his state of residence.) And yet, there are so many things, and more im...

Whatever you choose to celebrate in this season, I wish you warmth and peace.

It warmed up and rained. All the snow that was hanging around since early November is gone. Now people are all worried -- will we not have a white l Christmas? Personally, I would like to see a white car. I hate that slush covered look both inside and outside of my car. I put my Santas on the mantle. I have some lights in the windows. I have decided I will not bother to put up the tree this year. I used to have an android phone that would automatically upload my photos to my MacBook Air. Now I have an iphone so you wouldn't think it would be a problem, but you'd be wrong. I cannot get my iphone and my MacBook to acknowledge each other's existence. Annoying! I need to sit down with my grandson and have him teach me how to use my stupid phone. I finally got around to reading Michelle Obama's book, Becoming.  I miss the Obamas SO much. I doubt that Trump will be removed from office although I definitely think he should be. He is a very damaged individual. That ...

My friend Don often gets nostalgic for his growing up years . . . it was such a simpler time, things were so innocent.  He chooses not to hear me when I suggest we  might have been simple and innocent but the world most likely was just as chaotic and complex as it is today. We had far more shelter from the world at large than kids do today -- even as we left the house in the morning and didn't come back until we got hungry or were called in for supper, whichever came first, and kids today have cell phones so parents' can track there every move and they cannot go anywhere without a water bottle. When I was nine, my family moved to Vermont from New York. I had gone to an elementary school with Black kids and Jewish kids. That was the last of that until I went to college. Vermont in the 1950's was a new reality. My parents returned from a VT house hunting trip with maple sugar candy for us kids. I decided right then and there that I did NOT want to move. My wishes were o...