Reflections of an Elder

 This is a scary time.  I can't believe much of what I hear on TV.  This medium is dangerous.  If we see it, somehow it is true. If the president chants "lock her up"  over and over.  Is he right.  How can the President of the United States of America be so dangerous and blatantly unwise and ignorant of who he is and what his job is.  That behavior is not what a president can do.   Where are the people who should be calling out "This can't be the president.  Has he lost his mind.  He needs help. This has been increasingly common in the political discourse.  The normal way in the past was that a candidate spoke and their opponent questioned, raised issues, and their opponent responded.  Not normal now.  A lie is common, Facts are ignored.  The President in his own voice said he knew the Virus was Pandemic   The problem is that he did NOT know what that word meant.  He said he wanted to avoid Pa...

 In my effort to become a better person I intend; To be generous, kind, grateful, caring, forgiving and understanding with family, friends, and strangers. To laugh a lot. To talk to strangers. To assist in protecting the universe, earth and the environment. To continue on my spiritual journey. To maintain communication and positive relations with my family and friends. To do a good deed every day. For the past seven years I have participated in many Retreats on conscious living with  Passion and Intensity.  These were led by Ron Pevny who is the Director of the Center for Conscious Eldering, located in Durango, Colorado.  These retreats were held in locations such as The Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, the San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside, California, a private home in Salida, Colorado, and a ranch in Arizona.  This experience has given me insight into how I have lived my life and the need to understand where I have been and where I want to go in the remaining years...

I was born in the Hillman General Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama on October 20, 1035.  It was called a free hospital for those people who did not have money for medical needs.   The  memories of that event were told to me by my mother and father.  Much of those memories  related to me by by dad were different each time they were retold.  In my twenties I came to realize that the stories of my dad were more fiction than reality.  I always thought I was a descendant of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, etc.  All because my grandfather was named Lee, and my great grandmother was a Jackson and another grand parent was a Johnson. I think my father never heard or told a story that he couldn't embellish when he next related it. I never thought that my family was poor.  We had food and a home.  My dad always had a job and my memory was that my mother was also working.  I remember making breakfast f...

 I have lived 85 years and was interested in the world and the U. S.,  since the first grade.  I listened to the news (no T.V.) and reported to my parents when they came home.  Most of it was about the war.   In the fourth grade I remember the day President Roosevelt died.  When I was 13, I remember staying up to watch the results of the Presidential election.  My dad said that Truman was going to win and the next morning that was true. I watched both the Republican and Democratic Conventions every four years.   2016 and 2020.  Not too exciting  Nothing in those years prepared me for the last four years.  At this time in the history of this country and the world we face several dangers to the survival of our civilization. I believe there are some key issues facing our country and also the world CLIMATE CHANGE  Denied by a small but significant number of people. (Not many scientists, unless they are ones hired by the o...