It's been an odd sort of a day. Busy. I've not spent much time in Blogland. The sun shone which shouldn't be notable in Hawkes Bay but this year it is worth a mention. It was warm. But what made it odd for me was thinking. I kept thinking about people. I kept thinking about friends who are not so well. Friends who would love to be really busy and out and about but who are not always able to fulfill those desires because their bodies won't let them. I was thinking about a friend to whom I was once engaged (she proposed on a 29 February when I was in California and she was in England) and who has recently undergone very radical surgery to remove a tumour. In fact I was thinking about lots of people today. You get days like that don't you? Don't misunderstand I was not morose. Indeed I was very happy for some friends even if it was because their situation is not as bad as it could be. I can never stop playing the Glad Game.
All that thinking made me realise how fortunate I am to be able to do all that I do and to have the friends that I have. In particular - and I was reminded of this by a recent exchange on Meike's (aka Librarian) blog From My Mental Library about the wearing of nail varnish - with my friends who keep me young. In particular today I am singling out Friend Who Knows Too Much and her daughters who, for my 60th birthday, insisted on the following being done just before I went to my Birthday Party which had been arranged by Friend Whom I'd Trust With My Life and others with lots of people from all over surprising me by appearing.
And the following was:
I don't know what happened to the photo of my other hand but every nail was a different colour. What was really amusing on the night was that it took 20 minutes into the party before anyone noticed. The next day friends from Glasgow were taking me out to lunch at the Caberfiedh Hotel in Stornoway and insisted that I removed the offending colouration before I went out. Their reaction when they realised I hadn't removed the colour from one of my pinkies (little fingers) was quite robust!
Then
to top it all I opened an email from a croquet friend late this evening
saying "Have just had a great day. and wish to share with you, Am
sending a basket full of happy things. Enjoy." How uplifting was that?
So tonight I am thankful for friends who keep me young (even if my Brother has pointed out that I'll soon be pushing 70).
Posts
!! Well, your own 60th birthday party is certainly as good a reason as going to a ball for wearing nail polish...! Thank you for mentioning my blog on here. I understand very well how it makes you feel to think about your friends. Over the years, it has become a lot clearer to me who really are friends and who are acquaintances, and I am already looking forward to the cocktail party I am throwing next week Thursday for some of them.
ReplyDeleteYes, Meike, life sorts them out doesn't it. Am I correct in assuming that 22 March is your birthday?
DeleteYes, it is; have I mentioned it on my blog? Can't remember right now!
DeleteThe trick to pushing 70, GB, is to push back -- hard!!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteWONDERFUL Carol. That's going in my sidebar together with Jaz's comment below.
DeleteFeeling young is fabulous but growing old is a blessing!!! Have an uplifting day!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jaz. That was one of the most heartfelt, pertinent and poignant comments which I can ever recall being made on this blog. I'm putting it in the Life quotes on my sidebar.
DeleteI heard during the week that ladies over 40 shouldn't wear jeans. Have you ever heard anything so silly? But I did stop and think and decided that I'd stop wearing them when I was 70. Then realized how close that is and changed it to 80. And you can stop colouring your nails.
ReplyDeleteGood on you Pauline. I didn't start wearing jeans 'till I was nearly 65! I stopped colouring my nails at 60 years and 1 day.
DeleteGreat quote from Jaz... and I like Billy Connolly's - "grow old but never grow up"....
ReplyDeleteand those nails are quite impressive - I lust after long painted nails but they just break. Scott's grow far better and I have to remind him to cut them.. he could paint his like that easily.
Off to read Mieke's post...
B C has a lot of apt quotes and jokes about growing old. I used to think they were jokes anyway. Now I realise they are not so much jokes as commentaries on reality. They are still funny though.
DeleteI think you could get away with it for your 70th as well (for one day) ;) At 80 I'd recommend thinking twice about it because by then it could be misinterpreted as going gaga. Except, of course, who knows, by then it might have become high fashion. Then you can brag about how you were one of the first...
ReplyDeleteI don't want to make a habit of it Monica.
DeleteDidn't think so!
DeleteWell, Sophia Loren said: "There is a fountain of youth: it is in your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age"
ReplyDeletePainted nails, wonderful, loving blog posts, you are there already, I suspect, GB.
I find it a bit irritating that comments are made on California time and not either the time of the zone the commenter or the time zone of the blog.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I digressed.
Sophia Loren. Sigh.
I cleaned The Cottage from top to bottom today even using a toothbrush in the window and slider corners etc and sprayed against insects. I finished when it went dark. I don't feel young this evening as I sit in bed trying to catch up before I fall asleep at the keyboard.
But thank you for being so kind.