Freestyle writing

Freestyle writing is when you sit down and begin composing something when you have no topic in mind.  That's me, folks.  So this could get boring (as though I've never bored you before, right?).  And since my intention is to do a blog entry every day for two weeks, don't be surprised if I do some short blog entries.  Right now I have no idea what I'll put on this page.

Speaking of boring:  Old age brings many surprises, many of them unpleasant.  My body has betrayed me in numerous ways over the past few years, and it only gets worse.  However, there are good surprises too.  One of the things I've learned over these past few years is that I never get bored, even though I'm one of the laziest creatures God ever put on this earth.  Most of the time, especially in winter, I sit and pass the time reading or surfing.  I usually wake up at 3 AM and go to bed at 9 PM.  The time flies, especially those four hours in the morning before my husband gets up.  Since Cliff retired, I've came to the realization that I don't have that much time left on earth.  That's a fact even if I live to be a hundred.  I can write that in my blog, but the kids and grandkids don't seem to like me mentioning the brevity of life as it applies to me and Cliff.  Sometimes I will say something about my cremation or headstone... anything having to do with my death... just to get them going!  "Oh Grandma, you're awful!  Don't say that!"

How nice that they are still young enough to feel invincible.  And yet, I wouldn't trade places.  This is not a bad time of life.  It's rather like a second childhood:  I can be as lazy as I want.  Nobody can tell me what to do.  For the most part, I'm free as a bird.  My chief responsibilities these days are cooking and laundry.  I miss having a Jersey milk cow, but after a couple years without one, I realize I've gotten over missing them and have even arrived at the point I'm glad I don't have to go out in rain, snow, wind, and hail to milk Bonnie-the-Jersey-cow twice a day.  Letting the dog in and out several times daily, feeding him and walking him... that's as close as I get to "doing chores".  Oh yes, add to that the three barn cats I feed.  That's all the livestock I have.  I would sort of like to have a few chickens again, but we'd have to make a place for them; it's just not worth the effort that would have to be expended for a hobby I'm likely to get tired of in a year or two.  I'm facing reality here. 

I've mentioned before that I'm going to two churches every Sunday and loving it.  I believe I also shared the fact that I enjoy church more without my husband being there.  He isn't interested in church to begin with, and he can't make out anything that's said because he's so hard of hearing.  His hearing aids really help at home, but in a room where there's often some background noise and perhaps a little church-house echo, he's totally lost.  What I did not say before is WHY I enjoy the services more without him.  When he sat beside me at Church, I visited a little with him, but I never really talked to the other folks more than a sentence or two.  It seems when he isn't with me, I'm forced out of my shell, and I visit with people.  I've met such nice folks!  I look forward to my two church services every Sunday, and I'm almost depressed when they close for bad weather.  

There are seldom more that twenty people at either of the churches I'm attending.  My first Sunday in each of them, I was shocked by that.  I went to that same Baptist church for a couple of years back around 1980, and they had a decent crowd then by small-town standards.  I hadn't ever attended the Methodist church for Sunday services until this year.  The more I went to the two churches, the more it bothered me that church attendance there is so low when these churches are a big part of the town's history.  When I look around at the people there, they are old, for the most part.  There is no doubt those churches will eventually close.  So I made up my mind to support them with my presence whenever possible.  If one of them closes while I'm alive and still able to go to two churches, I'll have two others in town to choose from.

Here's another revelation:  as a non-driver, I've found out I needed somebody besides relatives to talk to, even though I am an introvert, socially awkward, and a loner.  So both my churches are helping me a lot more than I can possibly help them.    

That's it for today's freestyle writing.  Thanks for sticking with my drivel throughout my learning experience, faithful readers.