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Oops50: SadhviSez: This New Age is Funny

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

I know I am getting old. Not being raised in the New Age, I am just part of the wave of people of my generation that would bring it in. I remember when I stopped eating meat because I couldn’t handle eating something that was alive…and how I kind of felt like I was an outcast when trying to find a place to eat out. I remember discovering miso, herbs, fresh ginger, spirulina, earth shoes and Birkenstocks.

No one really ate out much. Mostly everyone cooked their meals at home. I bought my tofu and brown rice and organic veggies (that usually looked kind of wilted) at a funky health food store, not the posh Whole Foods-like stores of today.

I’m not dwelling on the past! I just want to share this clip of something that I found kind of funny…enjoy!

Tags: Beautiful Women >50, humorouswomenwriters, oops50, sadhvisez, the new age
Posted in Aging, Beautiful Women >50, Getting Older, Main, Sadhvi Sez | 5 Comments »

Looking Back on Botswana

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

JANE

So, I’m back from Africa and settled back into my life (after considerable jet lag). It’s hard now even to believe that just a week ago, I was driving around the wilds of Botswana in a safari vehicle, looking at rhinos and giraffes and elephants. It all seems like a movie that I went to see, and now I’m out of the theater, dazed by the bright outside light and realizing that I ate a little too much popcorn (or, in this case, one too many ‘fat cakes,’ a Botswana staple consisting of a big ball of friend dough dripping with grease).

This trip to Africa made me feel both younger than usual and older. I felt younger to realize that I still had the nerve to go exploring and camping in remote places, with my 2 girls and some camping equipment. It also made me feel younger to try new foods, meet new people, and to see new things. However, the trip also made me feel older, in that I had more anxiety about things than I had ever had in the past. Part of this is probably due to the fact that it was Africa I was visiting and not Wales (where I ventured when I was 19 and traveling by myself for the first time).

Part of my anxiety was also due, I’m sure, to the fact that I didn’t have my husband with me—for the first time in about 28 years! After all, Tom is always so on guard against every possible hazard to our kids that it makes it easy for me to relax and be laid back.

But the biggest part was probably just due to the fact that I’m 58 years old and a little too aware of the bad things that can happen to good people. While Becky was excited to see the very interesting lizard on the roof of our camping tent, I couldn’t help but imagine that lizard dropping down on us in the night to give us a fatal, poisonous bite. While Becky and Josie both enjoyed steering the rental car through the sandy roads into Khama Rhino Sanctuary, I kept imagining us stuck in the sand on a backwoods trail, with no one to come and rescue us or bring us water. It made me feel old to be conscious of every mosquito bite, fearing dengue fever or malaria.

JANE ON SAFARI

I have to admit it: when our plane touched down in Philadelphia, and I knew, for the first time, that I had gotten at least one of my girls safely back on this side of the ocean, part of me breathed a huge sigh of relief.

But then, I have to remember that there was also another part of me that was ready to pack up and go again.

I guess there’s still some life in the old girl.

Tags: africa, Botswana, camping, dengue fever, elder women, malaria, oops50, travel, women over 50, womenbabyboomerwriters
Posted in Aging, Beautiful Women >50, Family, Journey, Main, Travel, World | 4 Comments »

Wise Women, Drumming, and President Obama

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Annice and founder, Corinna

The 7th annual SE Women’s Herbal Conference

What a great week-end I had at the 7^th annual Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference in Asheville, NC. This year, was the biggest conference ever, almost 900 women gathered to learn, connect, and deepen into the Wise Woman Tradition… earth-based healing, local plants, & deep nourishment. Those of you who know me, know I’m not an herbalist but I tend to use herbs and natural products as my first line of defense when I feel something coming on. This conference brought together such an amazing group of healers, and not only did I get to attend this year, but the organizers invited me to monitor the Embodiment track. There were 8 incredible classes ranging from Shadow Work; Making Peace with your Body; Our Predatory Nature; and the Power of the Drum. Let me just say that listening (and dancing) to over 100 women learning to drum was phenomenal, and these women practically brought the tent down.

What I loved most about the class was the teacher, Kristen Arant, who runs a non-profit in Washington, D. C. called the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project which helps promote self-esteem in young women. Now why didn’t anything like that exist when I was growing up?

President Obama visits Asheville

So, after an inspiring week-end, I was given a ticket to attend Obama’s kick-off speech in Asheville to promote his “Jobs Act” bus tour. What amazed me was that after living in D.C. for 20 years, I could still get excited about seeing the President and shaking his hand. I know North Carolina is a battleground state, but hey, he won it before, and it ain’t over till it’s over.

Tags: beautifulwomenover50, oops50, presidentobama, wisewomantradition, women's journeys, womenanddrumming, womenandherbs, womenbabyboomers, womenbloggersover50, womenherbalconferance, womens health, womenwritersover50
Posted in Aging, Alternative Health, Beautiful Women >50, Journey, Main, Music, Politics, Spirituality, World | 5 Comments »

CATCHING UP…IF ONLY WE HAD STARTED SOONER

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Lynne

Our guest blogger, Lynne Roche Matthews, grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and went on to study at Kent State University. After college, she worked in the hospitality industry for over 29 years. She moved to upstate New York in 1990 and became Vice President for the motorcoach tour & charter company she and her late husband owned until retiring to Punta Gorda, Florida in 2001. She now spends her time volunteering for the yacht club, chairing the PR & Marketing Committee, and the annual Bridal Expo. She also is active in city politics, serving on the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. In her spare time, she loves to go boating, read, travel and shop. AND, she just got married this past Saturday and looks forward to many new life adventures with her new husband.

Thanks to my High School Reunion, I reconnected with Lynne after 40 years. And, by the way, if you’re going to a reunion any time soon, just pray you have someone like uber-planner, Lynne, running your event. This woman knows how to have fun! After our reunion, I asked Lynne to write a blog post about her experience locating all our classmates and what it all meant to her. Here is her story.

Annice in 1967

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to chair my 40^th high school reunion, reconnecting with so many great friends that I had lost contact with back in the day. It was truly an inspirational weekend after planning it for almost two years. I got on the plane to return home to Florida, only to see one of my classmates, Annice, who had also been at the party, so we sat together on the flight and talked non-stop for a couple of hours. It was great fun just catching up with each others lives. So she told me about this blog she started with some friends of hers, and one thing led to another…well you know how these things happen.

When asked to write a blog for Oops50, I started thinking of all the things I could write about. I’ve often thought about writing a book about some of the crazier things in my life, but I just never had enough time to do ii…ah yes, TIME. That evil four letter word. If only I had TIME. It made me think of something that really stood out in my mind, something that I wish I had made the time for.

Reunion Fun

When I first started working on the reunion a couple of years ago, I discovered a classmate (Roberta) who lived just 5 miles from me, here in Florida. So after almost 40 years, here we were, almost 1000 miles from where we grew up, living the good life in sunny Florida. After a couple of months of knowing she was so close, I called her one day (it blew her away), we laughed, we cried and found each other again.

I had already found another one of my BFF’s from high school (Barb) just a few miles away, and she and I have gotten together frequently over the past 10 years to have lunch every month or two. So we made arrangements for the three of us to meet for lunch. Here’s where the “if only” comes in.

Roberta announced to me she had just come through a rather intense session of chemo, having a rough round with ovarian cancer. What a true trooper she was, braver than most, and she was doing well. Sporting a beautiful wig and her ever present smile, she arrived, nervous as all get out, but we quickly settled in for a wonderful lunch and conversation. We did the same thing several other times since, hooking up with other classmates I found nearby (there are 17 of us here in SW Florida), and had a wonderful time reconnecting everyone.

There was to be a group dinner with spouses back in late winter of 2011, and she opted out, saying her husband was out of town on business. And then she cancelled out on a girl’s day lunch. Well I think you know where THIS is going. I had a bad feeling, but I just didn’t follow up on it. And then I got the call from her husband…she had succumbed to that evil disease in May. I hated myself for not doing what I knew I should have done, but I also know she wouldn’t want anyone to dwell on the illness. She kept it very private, and that’s the way she wanted it. But it was way too soon to see her go, and I will always second guess myself for not doing better at keeping in touch.

That's Roberta next to Lynne

I’ve mourned the loss of my dear friend, Roberta, and not a day goes by that I don’t regret waiting to get in touch with this beautiful, kind soul. It just proves that there’s no time like the present – don’t leave this place we call earth with any regrets, and don’t wait to reach out to those who mean something to you.

If only I had started sooner, I would have had more time to spend with her, and maybe, just maybe I could have helped her get through the times when she really needed me to be there for her. I know she loved that we reconnected, and she loved the time we spent together. I just wish there had been more of those times. So RIP sweet Roberta – I will miss your beautiful smile always, and I’ll see you on the other side. Dance like no one’s watching ladies – you never know what’s around the corner!

Tags: aging gracefully, beautifulwomenover50, midlife journey, oops50, women's journeys, womenbabyboomers, womenwritersover50
Posted in Aging, Friends, Home, Journey, Love, Main, Other Voices, Relationships, Spirituality | 4 Comments »

My Very Own Writing Retreat

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Annice

Last winter was long, cold and miserable. It’s one winter I want to forget. I spent months taking care of my husband (after he fell on ice and had to have a hip replacement) and feeling sorry for myself. When Spring finally arrived, it brought my father’s passing followed by the death of both my dogs within three months of each other. At long last, I received some good news. I was gifted one full week in a writer’s residency program at the glorious Wild Acres Retreat Center in the North Carolina mountains. Their website says, “The program allows individuals the solitude and inspiration needed to begin or continue work on a project in their particular field.” And so, from Sept. 5-12^th, I stayed at the Owl’s Nest Cabin, tucked away in the mountains to work on my novel without any interruptions – none. No distractions – none. No T.V., no cell phone service, no internet, and no iPod. It was just me, my laptop, my yoga mat, and 23 chapters of my book needing to be revised.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, I also didn’t have to spend time preparing any meals, or cleaning or washing anything. I didn’t have to be concerned about anyone other than myself. How often does that happen?

SEE ANNICE WRITE

I was pretty much off the grid (without a car) and had to hike ¼ mile up to the main campus for my meals. No big deal. However, I was a little alarmed about a few things such as critters in my room and hunters on the gravel road near my cabin with their barking dogs. You see, it’s bear hunting season in the mountains, and while I don’t want to be judgmental regarding a tradition that is centuries old, I am disturbed to know that folks are still out there hunting bears. I mean, what for?

NOT MY HAND

As for critters, I had a ring-neck snake in my cabin which I managed to get out without killing it. How did I know it was a ring-neck snake? When I described it to people at lunch, they informed me that’s what it was. I don’t like snakes, but I survived that crisis and moved on to another crisis, a yoga crisis.

When I left my house, I grabbed the September issue of the Yoga Journal in case I needed it. So, while I was patting myself on the back for progressing so well on my revision, I put myself in a funk practicing Hanumanasana (full splits). Well, I knew it wasn’t an easy pose and certainly not one I ever practice out of class, but hey, I figured in a week I would make some progress- NOT. So, frustration paid me a long visit that week, thanks to my greedy self wanting immediate results. It’s amazing how we can find things to be discouraged about even when we don’t have to. Once again, my mat teaches me a lesson. I guess a yoga retreat is in order next.