Bears in Hendersonville, NC

Every May the new bears are revealed in downtown Hendersonville, N.C.   It is a yearly event and in October they are auctioned off and the proceeds go to charity.  One year they tried apples but it didn't go over very well.  It is fun to go downtown and see these adorable decorated bears.

Bearfootin' 2019 | Downtown Hendersonville, NC from Taylor Heery on Vimeo.
I hope you enjoy the video and the cute bears.

I can't wait until ....

How many times I've said, "I can't wait until school is out."  Or "I can't wait until I lose 20 lbs", "I can't wait until Friday, then I can have fun."

There are so many things we tell ourselves that when this or that is over we will be happier.  Or when this or that comes life will be better.

I spent my whole life telling myself I can't wait until....  I guess one has to get old to really realize what this means.  I saw this meme on Facebook this morning and it spoke to me. 

I kept thinking that if I got my house cleaned, the laundry done and bills paid I'd have time to read, write, play with art stuff, go to the movies ...

What if I hadn't waited until? What if I'd written more, painted more, played more? What if I had stopped waiting until... ?  Who was I trying to make happy? 

TIME FLIES

What are you putting off? What are you telling yourself? Are you going to dust instead of painting a picture? And if you do something you enjoy and feel guilty about it are you going to beat yourself up???

Lightning Bugs Are Back !

Last night I stepped out onto the porch and looked up, hoping.  Was it too early? Are they here yet?  Then I saw lights blinking up in the tree.  Yay, I thought excitedly, the lightening bugs are back!

For a moment I felt like a little girl again.  I grew up in New Jersey and every summer we enjoyed the lightning bug show.  Then, when I was a teenager we moved to Florida.  For awhile we saw them down there too but all too soon the fireflies disappeared.  Even so I would still look.

When we went back in 1989 for mother's funeral we stayed with an aunt and uncle next door to where I grew up.  We were sitting on the porch talking when suddenly lights began blinking outside.  My brother and sister in law were with us and we all leaped up to grab our cameras and ran outside.  Lightening Bugs!  "The tourists are here," our uncle exclaimed with a laugh.  

After moving to Western North Carolina we enjoyed the summer light show again.  Now I get to enjoy another summer watching the lights blinking at night.

Here is an interesting article about fireflies/lightening bugs.

I've been wanting to film a video of the lightening bugs.  Maybe this year I will.  

Sunsets

The west wall was glowing red.  I opened the door and saw this amazing sunset.   I grabbed my iPad and took these beautiful pictures.  

I Love sunsets. These were breathtaking.

I hope you enjoy them too. 

Lunch

Stir fry vegetables with cheese is one of our favorite meals and It is so healthy.  

I chop zucchini squash, mushrooms, onions, red pepper and put them in a non stick skillet with olive oil.   Sometimes I put in cabbage or eggplant.  Or even yellow summer squash.  It all depends on what I have and what sounds good at the time.  I saute these vegetables for about ten minutes, then I add chopped garlic and some garlic powder and other spices.  While the vegetables are finishing cooking I open a can of chicken stock (you can of course use vegetable stock) and a bottle of low sodium soy sauce.  I drizzle the soy sauce around once or twice and add about the same amount of broth.  Then I throw in a big handful of cheese. We like the taco blend cheese or mexican blend.

I serve this with either quinoa or brown rice. I've even eaten it over whole wheat pasta.  I haven't tried pesto but I bet that would be good too.

Yes one can add tomato sauce or alfredo too.

What would you add to this dish?

 

Birthdays, Shoulds and Mother's Day

My birthday and Mother's day are usually a week apart or so.  This year my birthday was on a Monday and Mother's Day was the next Sunday.  

"What did you do on your birthday?" 

"Tried to buy a door."

An Asian buffet restaurant gives free meals for people on their birthdays.  I felt like I "should" go. After all it's free.   But my taster wasn't for Asian this year.   What did my taster want?  Oh I so dislike the pressure of feeling like I needed to celebrate something just because it was my birthday. I like myself and want to celebrate every day I'm alive and well.  So I relaxed and know that I can go out to eat any time I want.  Yes that felt better.  We ended up getting hubby a new pair of glasses and eating butter burgers at Culver's.  I really like them and it was just what my taster wanted.  Hubby got onion rings and I got french fries. A birthday party in my mouth!

I had some coupons from other restaurants offering desserts for my birthday.  But I had an A1C test coming up two days later and really didn't want to do desserts.  I know, french fries, buns and onion rings are carbs.  I'm getting real tired of worrying or even thinking about this stuff.  After all I just turned 83. 

My test came out too high and it's got me thinking.  I can get my blood sugar down if I work on it and count carbs, cut out things I like to eat and be careful.  But I'm thinking be careful for why?  I'm not real interested in living until 90 and having to be cared for. Yes I know there are people who live past 90 and are healthy and active.  I'm happy for them.  It doesn't "light me up".  Maybe in a few years I might change my mind. 

A part of me would really like to know how long I'm going to live. I know, many say they wouldn't.   Death is a scary subject. I'm not afraid to be dead, it's just how.  I think the right to die should be passed in every state.  For people who have terminal illnesses and are in pain not just for ordinary old people although ...

Financially I'd like to know how long I have to live.  What's special about having a good credit score when you die?  They aren't going to ask me that at the "Pearly Gates".  

At 83 I don't have the ability to answer how I'd like to see myself in 3 years, much less 5.   I can only think about a week at the most.  I don't say, "I can't wait until"  anymore. 

I'm not depressed, just thinking.  I got over 200 wonderful birthday greetings on Facebook. That made me feel wrapped in a sweet blanket of love. 

As for Mother's Day.  I'd rather have a Smiley balloon rather than flowers.  

I'm glad I have a goofy sense of humor.  It helps and as long as I can find things to laugh about, including our crazy lives I'm ok. 

Magazine Addiction Online

I am Jean Maurie and I am a magazine addict.  There, I said it.  I'm not trying to heal it either because I enjoy my curiosity and it keeps me off the streets. As a blogger and writer I'm in magazine heaven.

I can borrow magazines from our public library through an app called Libby.  These are free with my library card. 

I had a subscription to Texture but Apple bought them out.  I like the magazines but I don't like the Apple News + format.  The Texture App worked much better.   I've read complaints from people who feel the same way I do about the Apple format.   Yes this one costs $10 a month.   I used to buy a lot of printed magazines so actually I'm saving money with the subscription.  If I continued buying print magazines it would cost me a lot more.  Of course I could stop buying printed magazines but I probably wouldn't.  Now I have the apps so I don't need to buy print magazines.  I used to have stacks of magazines all over my room.  When we moved I got rid of many boxes of them.  Now my room is uncluttered and  I'm sticking to the online apps.  If the Apple one doesn't get any better I might cancel.

Today I explored a magazine app that is fascinating.  It's from Stockholm, Sweden filled with magazines from all over the world.  Plus one can read them in many languages.  The app is called Readly. I found Guideposts and their Angel magazines on there plus a lot of art and watercolors magazines.  They even had crossword puzzle magazines that I can actually work once I learn how to use it.  I found The Writer magazine that I was thinking about subscribing to. 

You know those big glossy how to magazines that cost almost $20 that teach us how to use the Ipad pro,  Google for Seniors, Using the Iphone, how to use the Android, how to use Instagram and much more? There are a bunch of these I can read on Readly.  I got a trial subscription for 99 cents for a month so I'll see how it goes.  I think I'll drop CBS all access because I really don't like it or watch it.  These magazine apps are so much more interesting.

Ok, I'm going back to exploring my Readly App now. It might take awhile, so if you don't see me online you'll know why.