February 22
Happy World Thinking Day!
1965
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE WASHINGTON
At Girl Scouts tonight Marcia told me she went to a C.Y.O. dance last night and guess who danced with her all night? V. I envy her, but she said she doesn't like him like I do. No one could. If only he liked me! Oh, I want to be his girl more than anything in the world. He's even made me forget the Beatles.(Miracle of miracles.)
Comment 2023
See what a good friend Marcia was? Always a wingman, never a rival.
1994 (three months since my last entry)
Too long, too long. It has been an icy, bitter winter so far. The kids had three weeks of school with a total of 8 snow days! We enjoyed it, though, either playing at home or sliding over the ice to the Metro station. (A great adventure!)
I am waking up to research again, I hope. Next year I will still have 3 classes each semester, but no new ones. I can finally focus on my research. I had a great discussion with a PhD student about generational effects and nostalgia in fashion.
1997
What a joy it is to remember my house from childhood. Of course, it is the house on Willow Street in North Platte that immediately comes to mind. From my window I could watch the street on summer nights, when I went to bed while it was still dusk. The best part of the room was the French doors. When even one door was opened, it felt like my room was instantly part of the living room. In fact, I look back and realize that my favorite houses have all had that feeling, and it’s why I liked this house right away.
2009 (Facebook)
I’m not so sure about the decisions I make, but fretting won't make things any better.
Comment 2023
See what a good friend Marcia was? Always a wingman, never a rival.
I realized the other day that I am often responding to these old posts as if my journey has ended, and that there is nothing in the present worth recording. They read like I just found out I only have a year to live and I am just getting in the last word. Jeez, I hope not. On Monday I attended a memorial service for a friend who died just before her 95th birthday. Yesterday I found out that one of my cousins died at 65. My nephew texted me his contact information early this morning with no other message and I spent a few anxious minutes worrying that he wanted me to call because something happened to my brother. Tonight I am hosting a monthly “Eldering” Zoom with folks from my church. Mortality is on my mind.
It’s not on my agenda, though. Whatever planning is involved, I have already done, to the extent that is possible. So today I will do my usual: eat breakfast, meditate, write, knit, catch up the news just enough to be informed, but not depressed. I have a routine checkup with my GP, a line dancing class, and that Eldering Zoom. Maybe a nap, even though Ancestry DNA just informed me that I am not genetically likely to nap.
2024
I joined Brownie Scouts in 1958, and was an active Scout through high school. When Kiddo 1 was in first grade, I persuaded the leader to add her to an already huge troop (over 20 girls!) by agreeing to be the cookie manager. She was burnt out by the next year and passed the torch to me. For the next twelve years, I watched those Brownies grow into Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors. The troop dwindled as the girls found new interests. We eventually merged with another small troop. Every girl who stayed through senior year of high school earned her Gold Award (the Eagle award for Girl Scouts).
Scouting helped me make friends in a new town. It took me outdoors and gave me a lifetime of camping, first with my troop, then with my family, and then again as a troop leader. Scouting took me to the New York World’s Fair, and taught me to swim and ski. It taught me leadership - not just as an adult, but through leadership tasks in my troop and as a summer camp aide. If you can’t tell by now, I am a proud I am a life member of the Girl Scouts. I am proud of Troop 1500, that meets in prisons so that girls and their incarcerated moms can stay connected. I am proud of Troop 6000 in New York City, that serves girls living in temporary housing, including recent immigrants.
So, my Girl Scout cousins (yes, the Men in Green, too!) Happy World Thinking Day! Let’s sing a few songs, have a Thin Mint with our morning coffee, and think about this year’s theme: Our World, Our Thriving Future: The environment and global poverty.
I liked being a cub Scout in North Platte, but was intimidated by a leader who barked at the boys like a drill sergeant when I attended a Boy Scouts meeting in Westwood. I didn't join up and never went back. I had enough people yelling at me already.
Scouting is an acquired taste. My older son made Eagle Scout thanks to both his engaged dad and best friend. I credit the stick-to-itness for many of his subsequent college acceptances. He is now mentoring our grandson as he moves from cub to regular scout (weblos??) I think grandson will be a chip off the old block, and that will be a good thing!! The ethic of scouting is a good one!!