Chilly Weather Is Time For Chili

Days ago my son took notice of the wrinkled skin on my hands and said “Mom why do your hands look like that? My reply was “I’m getting old.” I then briefly went on to explain the biology of human skin and age changes as a look of sadness came over his face. In that moment I assured him I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

I often wonder what to put in a blog post weekly. I’m not an exciting individual living the life, there are many of those online to be had if that’s what you like reading. Blogging helps me to keep track of myself in many aspects of my journey and to stay grounded. In reality I am the definition of distracted. Add to that the aging process which accentuates my forgetfulness, and every day is a party. Hell, just walking from one room to another and forgetting why I did so is my daily new normal. 

At 63 my biggest challenge is now contributing in a conversation. I know what I want to say but when I am talking, every once and awhile a word in my mind gets lost on the super highway to my mouth and it’s frustrating. I keep a mental pool of substitute phrases on reserve and will blurt out "that-thingy," or "what's-her-name,” and failing all that I just stand there looking blank and laugh. You get the picture and I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before. All I can do is just roll with each senior moment and keep moving forward. 

It’s just under two weeks and we return to the camp we stayed at in July and I’m excited about it. Have you ever visited a place as an adult and it felt like it was home? That’s how I felt when we went there before. I couldn’t explain it then and still can’t now. Maybe it’s a sign we should be looking in that area to resettle, anything is possible. 

I like that it’s in the lakes region of the state and sits on top of a small sleepy town where we can get everything we need. In our life together my husband and I have moved around and traveled to many areas in and out of the country. Nowhere we have been has felt like home until our trip in July. What’s more intriguing is my hub voiced the same. Maybe the saying “less is more” will gift us in the near future. 

With this year’s summer drought the fall foliage is said to be muted. There is a tree I have photographed over a decade that proves the point. The leaves on it always turn a brilliant red by October but currently it’s gone from green to boring brown, something I have never witnessed. On the home search not much has changed. We are still looking but are aware we are coming to the time of year where people move less due to colder weather, and that will limit the already small inventory of property for sale. Remaining in our current rent for the winter will be challenging but the good is it puts us in a better financial position next spring to pick up our search. Prices of homes in New England are reported to be at an all time high along with rent prices and I can vouch for that. 

My husband discovered a mini photo printer on Amazon months ago that can print images taken on your mobile phone and he has been enjoying it. We now have every wall filled with family photos mounted in Dollar Store frames of all kinds. Prior to that we had little to none and it’s been a fun project. It’s a great way to enjoy your relatives from a safe distance! It’s nice to look up and see those special moments and it makes our little overstuffed apartment look a bit more homey. Yes I agree the dated wallpaper is horrid looking in the photo, but in reality we never changed it because it’s holding the walls together behind it, literally. 

Three adults in our limited space is a challenge finding places to put belongings so we have bits and pieces everywhere and it drives me nuts. Sometimes the stress is palpable but for the most part we all get through the days okay with each other. The constant grind of warehouse work at my hub's age of 68 is clearly showing both physical and mental. As much as he enjoys being busy, it’s time for him to find a new “busy.” 

He tires sooner, goes to bed earlier, and bruises easily more this year than the last. I want nothing more than for him to pack it in and retire but he says our healthcare and his earned multiple weeks off yearly won’t be replaceable at a lesser part time job. He’s made the decision to stay working full time until we move but if not we will be okay. The economics here in the United States are horrible and staying healthy is everything. 

In my last post I mentioned I had him cut my hair. He’s done it before and is good at it. Though my hair got the longest I’d had it since childhood, it was thick and dry like witch hair and I was over it. During COVID when nobody could go out to salons we started doing our own hairdressing and have continued since. I had him chop off a good 5 inches and I may just end up chopping it more myself. In 2017 I wore it very short and styled longer on the crown with hair gel. I used to joke we looked like brothers as our haircuts was short and similar. It was liberating getting rid of my hair that year and not worrying about it, hair will always grow back. 

The task of the day now is to throw together some chili for the family. Now that weather has decided to turn colder it seems appropriate. Autumn is a great time of year for more cooking and I love both. Tomorrow I will spend time outdoors raking up, trimming, and moving plants indoors for the season. The one sure sign fall is here will be the annual Canada Geese migration passing overhead in the hundreds, so far that hasn’t happened but soon and I hope I don’t miss it!

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