About having and expressing opinions

Does having opinions necessarily give us the right to express them?

Perhaps we should examine our intentions and motives first 

and use discretion and respect when we do so.

Well done, Sir Keir

I cannot claim to be well-versed in political matters, as I mainly follow hourly news bulletins, but my gut feeling is that Sir Keir Starmer has taken the right and brave step of not capitulating to yet another demand from Mr Donald Trump.

And what a very rude person is Mr Trump, casting out personal insults right, left and centre, in a most unprofessional way, to say the very least.

In response to such rudeness, one might be tempted to ask if Mr Trump would be fit to stand in the shoes of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War 11.

Neville Chamberland must have seriously regretted his attempts to appease Adolf Hitler in 1938, a view with which I believe history would concur.

Similarly, I have heard many critical comments concerning Tony Blair's decision to stand by America's invasion of Iraq. I remember puzzling to myself and others as to why we were going to war against Iraq when Afghanistan had ordered the atrocity of 9 11.

There are definitely some people with whom one should just not do deals.

A motto for me for today - and every day

Learn to listen

and listen to learn.

But do I do it? 'Fraid not!!!

About saying hallo and goodbye to summer sheets and lettuce

Ours is a household governed by the 'seasons,' as roughly designated by me!

The months are as follows. Spring covers April and May, Summer, June, July and August, Autumn, September and October, and then Winter, by far the longest, stretches from November to March!

I am fairly flexible (a necessity in our land, surely), especially with the summer sheets. Many's the 'summer' when the poly-cotton variants from the beloved brushed-cotton regulars, never make it to the bed, such are the vagaries of so-called 'British summertime'.

Likewise with summer clothes, where I am, of necessity, flexible. How many of us have put away our winter woollies at the first flush of warmer weather, only to be hauling them out a week later, when frost rears its head again.

And as to lettuce, well I'm a believer in trying to eat foods in season as much as possible so lettuce definitely comes into that category. For one thing, I'm an ott rinser of most things and am not keen on washing lettuce in very cold water!! 

Well, they do say variety adds spice to life!

About making the best of life

 Maybe life is about making the best 

of the hand we've been dealt,

whatever that is.

About teaching children to give and to receive love

We need to surround our children with the armour of love - and that is love given but also love returned, not just love taken and especially not love 'taken for granted'.

Children need to be taught how to give love, to care about and for family, friends and others. We must let them learn the pleasure of giving cards and presents and little acts of kindness. We mustn't let them feel that giving is a one-way street.

The more we teach them to love and care for others, the more love and care they will be able to receive and appreciate. By allowing them to be selfish, we do them one of the greatest possible disservices.

If we bring them up to be the centre of their own universes, we deprive them of the greatest gift in life. That is the knowledge that other people exist, that they matter, that being aware of other people's needs and concerns and responding to them, can be the greatest source of true happiness in this world. If we help them to connect with the world, the world will connect with them.

About bereavement and menal health - Mary Kenny

Mary Kenny in the Catholic Herald, 21.4.17

.........."I don't think that it is correct to associate the pain of bereavement with mental health issues.
This, I believe, is a diagnostic error that runs through our society and should be examined. Grief and sorrow are deeply distressing experiences, but they are not a form of mental illness. To feel grief and sorrow is a normal response to a very sad event. Indeed, not to feel grief and sorrow as a consequence of loss would be a greater indication of having something wrong with your emotional processes."

About keeping our faces as 'young' as possible

My basic skincare plan, such as it is, consists of applying whatever body lotion or hand cream I happen to have at hand, generally gifts, Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas etc, to my face, hands, arms and the other few parts of my body which are likely to be in contact with the outer world!

Over recent years, I've found myself, as I apply the cream to my face, almost massaging it in, whilst, at the same time, pulling the strangest grimaces. The idea came to me from a yoga booklet I read many years ago showing various movements, one of which was called 'the lion' and was a way of exercising our facial muscles.

I just feel it must be important to try to keep our faces as supple as we can because they are the most exposed parts of our bodies by a long way, especially in my case, as I am a very 'nesh' character, noted for wearing scarves, polo necks, hats and gloves etc.

Just a thought.

About rivers and nations

A river travels along its bed, 

constantly changing, 

being changed by its environment.

So also, is a nation - constantly reborn; 

birth and death constantly renewing its life.

About driving at night and dealing with the 'glare'

The older I become,  the more the glare of oncoming headlights whilst driving at night causes me problems. 

As if it isn't enough just to keep remembering to dip the headlights oneself so as not to dazzle others!!

I have discovered that, instead of looking ahead at the cars, 

if I look down at the road and concentrate on the road markings, 

I'm much better able to deal with the glare safely. 

Thought I'd share the tip.

Could this be an allegory for the glare of life?

About time

About Time

For one thing, time is not linear!

A moment can seem a lifetime                                                                                                                      and a lifetime can seem a moment.

Time is a curve.                                                                                                                                                  Curves are beautiful, natural.                                                                                                                    Straight lines are man-made. 

They have their uses, of course,                                                                                                                        but give me a curve every time.          

Caring People - A Poem

 Caring People            8.11.74           (Written, by my sister, in green ink)

You don't have to lunch on Sundays                                                                                                                  At one in the afternoon                                                                                                                                      You don't have to have roast chicken                                                                                                                A clean knife and fork and a spoon                                                                                                                  If you're one of the Caring People                                                                                                                     You can eat cream cheese on the moon!

You don't have to give chic parties                                                                                                                    Inviting 'La creme de la creme'                                                                                                                      Where they stand around smiling and sizing you up                                                                                        While you stand on your head to please them!                                                                                                If you're one of the Caring People                                                                                                                    You will shine without wearing a gem.

You don't have to have a garden                                                                                                                        That's better than all the rest                                                                                                                            With everything laid out neatly                                                                                                                        A park keeper's dream at best                                                                                                                            If you're one of the Caring People                                                                                                                    You can water your weeds with zest!

I hope when my life is over                                                                                                                                That people will say of me:-                                                                                                                              "She may have been odd                                                                                                                                    And a bit of a sod                                                                                                                                              But she cared about people you see-"

And what will be most rewarding                                                                                                                      When my life has come to an end                                                                                                                      I can look back and say                                                                                                                                    That for even one day                                                                                                                                       A person who cared was my friend.   

Christine Jarvis  11.3.47 - 8.5.22                                                                                                                   

About the capacity for empathy

Some people seem to have a diminished capacity for empathy.

There will be causes for that 

but it doesn't diminish the effect.

 

About wanting and getting

The less you want, the more you get.

Whereas, the more you want, the less you get. 

About the sound of gentle rain and stormy winds

I find the sound of gentle, falling rain comforting

and that of heavy rain and stormy winds exciting - but sometimes scary.

Will it flood over my doorstep? Will it knock the rough tiles off?

  

About seed and soil

For life to flourish,

we need good seed and good soil,

Nature and Nurture in fact.

 

About circumstances and choices

We are all a product of our circumstances and choices,

from before our conception until the present moment,

many of which we neither know nor understand.

No wonder life's a mystery and struggle so often.

About living with Lady Nicotine

Ah yes, Lady Nicotine, what might we say about her.

Well, she enters lives as a visitor and Seductress

and ends as a resident and Dominatrix.

About becoming a widow

26.11.22

I've discovered, since becoming a widow (15.8.22),

that what you want to do do

is tell your sorrow.

You don't want people's explanations or consolations,

although you know they're well-meant.

I'm filled with regret

having done the same thing many times myself.

Please may I tell you my sorrows

and learn to listen to the sorrow of others.

About new year's resolutions re health

I'm not much of a one for these but have decided that there are some sensible changes I could make to improve my health.

The first one is so simple and obvious and probably corny, but it is simply, to GO TO BED EARLIER!!
If I start to get ready at about 10 o'clock, I might be in bed for 1015. When it's my usual 1030 (ish) it seems to creep round to 11 so easily!! Then, if I don't nod off straight away, I can be awake till 3am!! Terrible; shattered all next day. I'm trying anyway.

The second one concerns my spine!! I am over 60 myself and have a much loved and very close friend who has severe osteoporosis. With other health issues I've had myself and trying in a very basic but very regular effort to stay fit, I've come to realise that I spend most of my life slouching, not keeping my back/spine straight.

Some months later, (see date above) I realise I'd forgotten every word. Good to have a wake-up call (or should I say, ''Back straight all day'' and ''get to bad at night!'')