Ronny

What a Day!

The last few weeks I plopped down in bed at 9:30 p.m. sighing, what a day! Every single day was gratifying, but exhausting. Monday was regular laundry day, and I worked on getting my winter wardrobe cleaned and put away and getting my summer clothes out of their boxes, from high on the shelf. I got part of it done, not all. Hey, I have a tip for you! Instead of ironing the clothes that have been folded during the winter, I put five or six garments in the dryer together with two wet towels that just came out of the washer. The wrinkles and creases disappear without ironing! Try it!

The handyman came to change the filters in the ceiling. Then I picked up dinner at the Club, ate at home with Mike and took Lani to her second obedience class. This time, she did not learn very much. She could not focus her attention on me because another Doodle of the same age joined the group of three and that was a wonderful playmate! Added to that was my inability, once I did get her attention, to hold one treat in my left hand, and a treat plus a clicker in the right, plus grip the leash and prevent her from dashing off to her new friend. I did get new instructions on walking Lani on the leash, with the promise she would learn not to pull in two weeks. We have started that regimen: we are on day 4.

On Tuesday, after walking her, I took Lani to the groomer’s at 7:30 a.m., we had breakfast and then I took Mike to the dentist. In the mean time, starting at 9:00 a.m., the carpet cleaner came to clean the carpet throughout the house. I forgot to say that starting at 5:30 a.m. after we had coffee, we proceeded to move as much of the furniture off the carpet and into the sunroom or kitchen or piled on the bed. Since neither one of us is supposed to lift heavy things, that meant a lot of dragging. Phew! I missed chair yoga; we had lunch at the Club while the carpet was drying, and at 2:00 p.m. went to the circuit exercise class with my private trainer (private, because nobody else can do what she makes me do). During the class I got a text that Lani was ready, so right away from class to the groomer’s, and back home we took a walk in the park, stop and go! And so on and so forth, not sure you are really interested, but this is just to get an idea of how I felt two days of this week at my age! Oops, I never say that often, at my age! But I do feel that I tire more quickly, and I have started putting on my pants and socks and shoes sitting down. No kidding!

Greens!

In a matter of two weeks the flowering trees have lost their blossoms and everything has sprouted green leaves all around. In a matter of two weeks we are not able to see the homes in Wimbledon anymore, nor the traffic on the freeway, other than some lights here and there. The temperatures day and night are higher, we can walk without jackets, and it feels like summer is here!

At the end of last year, the landscapers removed the dead dogwood tree from the front of the house and planted a new one. A new little tree, that is. We had no idea, and still don’t, what kind of a tree it is. They did the same at a cottage two doors down, and her tree is showing little white flowers; she thinks it is a Cornaceae, in the family of the dogwoods. We’ll see in a little while what kind of flowers our tree will produce and then we can find out what tree it really is.

Guess what? It is Wednesday night that I write this, and I just found out that it is Wednesday night! I am usually publishing my posts early on Wednesday morning! So here is goodbye!

It’s a wonderful life!

Until next time!

Ronny

Thunder and Lightning 

Last Monday evening was the first group obedience training for Lani and me at Camp Bow Wow. Our trip started at 5:30 p.m. in the pouring rain with a line of traffic of about a mile long, no kidding, on the Parkway. Construction work had stopped by that time of course, but it was rush hour, not only on the freeway, which we avoided, but also on the Parkway. Good thing we  had left early. I hesitated, since we were early and the traffic eased some, whether I would swing by Costco to get gas, because it was pretty low. But, I thought, since the sun would not go down until eight, and the class would be over at seven, I could do it on the way home. Just then, the “low on gas” sign came on, an orange sign which I had not seen before because I always make sure to tank when the arrow is on half full. But we were past the point of no return and proceeded to Camp Bow Wow.

The trainer came late because of the rain and the traffic. There were two other dogs there, and it was an interesting class. Before we knew it, the clock showed 7:30 and I said I’d better get home before dark. The sun would go down at 8? Yeah right! the sun had not shown all day! The rain was torrential. No time to let Lani sniff and go shishi. Slushing to the car through the streams of water on the parking lot, I opened the door, threw in my purse, the treat bag and the folder I had received, picked up Lani, who was drenched in the mean time, and got in myself. Once on the road again I called Mike and told him I still had to go to Costco for gas. “OK, call me when you leave there”, he said, worried.

At the gas station, standing dry, my Costco card did not work. I mentioned “help!” to the agent in the little house. He first had to put on his yellow rain gear but finally reached me, not all too friendly. When my card did not work for him either he pulled his card out of his wallet, stuck it into the machine, ripped it out, stuck my credit card in, ripped that out too, and left without another word. During the tanking, the loudest thunderclaps I had ever heard sounded right over my head. Not one, but four. And the rain increased in strength from torrential to hurricane force. I wish I could have measured it. But I stood dry, and only got hit full force when I drove away. At 20 mph, hardly seeing stop signs or the center line of the street, I called Mike again to tell him I was on my way and to have towels ready when we came home. When I took Lani out of the carrier, I was not surprised that the red pillow was wet: she could not hold it after such a long time, I thought, and together we ran through the kitchen and the sunroom to the back, where she did a very long shishi. We had a cozy half hour before going to bed. On hindsight I thought that the pillow was probably wet from her soaked fur; in that case I am even more proud of my million dollar doodle!

Turtle sighting

Early on my morning walk with Lani this Tuesday morning, I quickly walked back home to get my cell phone. Because there, by the mail boxes, following the curb, was a giant turtle – a Snapping Turtle, someone said when they saw the picture. It posed for my picture and I could get a good look at it. The back of the shell was beautifully scalloped, the tail fiercely serrated, the hind feet were webbed for swimming and the front had dangerous looking claws. I texted three pictures to my youngest grandson, who collects turtles and he texted back he would tell me all about the difference between regular turtles and snapping ones. When I returned from my walk around the building the turtle sat in the middle of the street and after I had taken Lani home and went back to look at him he had disappeared in the pond. Proof for me again that turtles do not really walk all that slowly! I think the same turtle came through our back yard a year ago, on his way from the Wimbledon pond to ours, but then I did not have quite as good a look at him as just now. The rewards of and early morning walk!

Tragedy 

Last Monday night, the torrential rains made the water of the pond rise, and rise, and rise some more. The next morning, at first light, when I walked to the pond, I saw what I had feared: the turtle nest was gone; it had totally disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Two days later, the water had receded, and I noticed two large goose eggs higher up on the slope. The following day, two more eggs appeared, and then one more on the water’s edge. Mother goose and her gander were swimming around, walking around, and then they disappeared for a while. They will have to start over, if that is even possible this late in the season. I wondered if the turtle would not happily snap up the eggs, because they lay untouched and unprotected, but so far he has not been hungry enough.

Joy

The first hummingbird appeared at the feeder yesterday afternoon, in the misty rain. I took the feeder in to fill it with new sugar water and hope he will spread the word!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Medical Appointments

It is amazing how many appointments are made here in this facility with people of the medical profession. The bus takes many people to their appointments when they are made on specific days of the week. Then there is Uber and people who still drive privately. Let’s do the math. Take me, for instance. I am in perfect health. During the year, I have checkups: 4x Primary (the doctor makes house calls once every 3 months to check my vitals 😊) – 4x Dentist – 1x ophthalmologist – 2x dermatologist – 2x Podiatrist. That makes 13 visits total for the year. I included 2 extra visits with the dentist because of my crown this year, but that is an exception. So, for a healthy person like me, that is an average of 1 visit per month. I am not counting the visits with the surgeon and Physical Therapy which I needed after my shoulder surgery. And I have no need for a Cardiologist.

Currently there are 150 residents. If they were all healthy and needed an average of 1 visit per day with a medical person, that would make 150 visits per month, which would come down to 5 visits per day for the residents of Waltonwood. However, about 145 people here are not as healthy as I am and need many more visits per month, also including a cardiologist and one of the hospitals. An astronomical number of health professionals is needed every day to keep all of our residents who are 80 and over alive! If you need care from so many doctors, there is hardly any time left to do fun things! So enjoy the wonderful, fun, delicious , beautiful, interesting things that life has to offer while you can, and try to keep healthy and fit!

Changing of the Guards

Three weeks ago, the General Manager came by each table at dinner time to tell us that our Activity Coordinator had left the company. Most of us had liked her, and through the grapevine we heard later that she and her husband went back to their family in Tennessee. So a happy ending there. Two weeks later, the Assistant Activity Coordinator who had taken over the responsibilities, was gone. We heard it from the bus driver on the way to church. Why? Well, she had hoped she would get the top position, but she was not fully qualified for the job. I happen to know that she had another part time job, so she was not totally adrift. One of the two handymen, whose work we really appreciated, will leave in six weeks or whenever the sell their home to go back to Vermont. Why? His wife does not want to live so far from her sons and grandkids anymore. And he had just come to love the beauty and the climate in Cary during the past three years! A new, pleasant Dining Room Manager appeared on the 18th, then left to the other Waltonwood facility nearby for some training, then appeared again. And during brunch this past Sunday, a tall, handsome young man did the rounds, introduced by the Chef as the new Kitchen Supervisor. This is a new position and we hope he will work out. New servers have appeared in the evenings, and one by one we get to know them. Knowing all  this, it is amazing that our Waltonwood Cary during the Nation-wide Symposium of twelve participants at headquarters in Michigan came in first place for the “Lowest Associate Turnover” for the past year. Goodness! It must be difficult to work in a place like this. But yes, there are many people who complain about a lot of things; out loud in public and in the form of emails and phone calls to the General Manager. That said, we are very happy to be very independent, living in our beautiful cottage, surrounded by nature yet close to everything, with all the benefits this retirement place offers. We are happy and thankful and hope to enjoy it for many more years.

Mamma’s Quilt

We emigrated to the United States in August of 1972 with two daughters, 9 and 6, and an infant boy of ten weeks in a portable, flowered bassinet. With us in the same plane, in a kennel, flew our 7 year old sedated Chow, Roy. We stayed in a motel on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena for a month, found a small home with a pool in the foothills, moved in and waited while borrowing some garden furniture from a friend, until our crated furniture arrived from Holland. The girls went to neighborhood schools, Mike to his new job in downtown Los Angeles. With a company loan we purchased a car, a large yellow Gran Torino, which we called “The Yellow Submarine”.

My parents came to stay with us two years later, when we had added on a guest room for them. Mamma had mentioned that she wanted to make a quilt for our bed and asked what colors we would prefer. We chose beige, brown and blue. And what a gift she brought: A 6 x 8 foot quilt with a dark brown border. Looking at the squares, I recognized the patterns of many of our childhood and junior clothes! Flower squares of a favorite dress, polka dots of bathing suits, batik squares of shorts, skirts, tops, all the clothes she had made for us when Paula and I were little. Some squares I recognized as Mamma’s blouses and pants, and some must have been from skirts worn before my time. What a labor of love!

We used the quilt in Pasadena for a few years until we got a king size bed. Then, in Hilo, our double bed with Mamma’s quilt stood in the loft of the Master bedroom for twelve years. The quilt came out of the closet when we had guests in Prescott, and now, 45 years after Mamma’s painstaking work produced this wonderful gift, we use it as an extra cover when it gets really cold in the winter. Over the years, some of the paper-thin squares tore; but because I am saving scraps from way back when, like Mamma used to do, I could replace them by hand with identical squares and the quilt looks like new. The story it tells is a story of love and memories.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

The Taste of Waltonwood

It was a great event: staff and especially the chef and kitchen staff went out of their way to present a smorgasbord of delicacies between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Last Thursday. The main entry hall was decorated with lovely flower bouquets, the tables in the dining room with floral centerpieces. Glasses with rum-spiked pineapple cocktails decorated with a thin slice of pineapple or a floating dendrobium awaited us on the hall table, which was decorated Hawaiian style with a giant wreath of yellow flowers stuck in twined rosemary branches, encircling a large bouquet on a higher center tier. I wish I had taken pictures; it was all so tastefully and beautifully done.

Another tiered table with a tablecloth of many loose purple dendrobiums stood at the entrance of the dining room, filled with the most colorful delicacies and martini glasses with gazpacho. We were invited to fill a large black plate with items of our choice, and find a seat. At the other end of the room was a station where the chef and assistant were producing delicious crepes with garlic tomato or chicken on top. Because I had already had enough to eat, I asked them to make a couple of sweet crepes as a dessert. They looked at each other and shrugged. Chicken or tomato is what they were making. But when I asked, “How about some caramel sauce over the top?” one of them got caramel sauce from the kitchen and made a swirl with it on my crepes. Not enough! So I indicated to keep on going and they laughed, and I had my delicious dessert. Two others on our table of seven followed my example.

Separate bedrooms

After lunch today, each of us took a nap in different quarters. Lani settled down on the hardwood floor in the sun room, Mike slept in his chair and I laid down on our bed in the master bedroom. I don’t know who fell asleep first, but we all had a good nap. It is wonderful that we don’t have to put Lani in her kennel anymore for a nap. She has the freedom to plop down anywhere in the house; only our bedroom is kapu. And she has learned that she has to stay on the threshold and should not move any further. Sometimes, she creeps forward, when she wants to see where we are – most likely in the bathroom, out of sight. But most of the time, she stays put.

Pollen and Geese!

An overnight drizzle brought down a yellow cover on all of nature. First, coming out of the front door, I noticed it on the road, then on the surface of the pond, then on all parked cars in the neighborhood. So far, neither Mike nor I have been affected with allergies; we’ll knock on wood and hope that it will stay that way.

Mother goose sits on her nest. According to their habit, it is the same couple of geese that was here last year. From my office window I had watched their courtship. Then, the goose selected a location for her nest and worked at it with feathers and sticks. A year ago, the nest was too close to the surface of the pond and when the heavy rains caused the water to rise, the nest was destroyed and we saw some eggs floating on the surface. This time she built it higher up and on the other side. Before the sun goes down, if the weather has been nice, both are eating grass on the sloping lake side near the nest, the gander always watchful. When I walk the dog these days, I really have to be on the lookout, because the gander sometimes unexpectedly shows up on the left or on the right, running towards us with wide open beak, showing a pink inside, before I have even seen him. Lani of course wants to go towards him, but I pull her hard and go the other way. According to our trainer she would rather pick up the dog and run than get attacked by an angry goose. And I can not run as fast as she, not by far, because she is thirty years younger than I. So we take heed. Hey, if I were the gander, I would feel threatened too, especially if my partner was sitting on my eggs!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Dentist Day

After almost 2 years we have found a great dentist here in Cary, the third one we tried. Different procedures are done in the same building on the same floor but behind separate doors. Cleaning takes place at #1 and other procedures (they make in-house crowns too) at #2. I was due for a bi-annual one hour cleaning. My hygienist performed the final rinse of my mouth when I felt something drop down on my tongue and it was not water. It was the filling of one of my pre-molar teeth. The hygienist stopped spraying, shocked at what she saw, and I closed my mouth and then, when she held a cup in front of my face, I spit. But there was no filling. I rinsed and spit over the sink (I could sit up faster than she could manipulate the chair in an upright position) but no filling. After all this water splashing I had to go to the bathroom and in the mean time the hygienist checked the chair and the floor: nothing.

I could not help laughing. It was a large, old amalgam filling, it did not hurt, and it was definitely the most ideal place to lose it! After finishing up my cleaning session the hygienist took me to the other department, where the dentist was able – in between other clients – to fill the remaining hollow tooth in preparation for a crown next week. And then I will have a nice, white porcelain crown. In the last six years I only needed cleaning, and I will always remember that my mother proudly said when she was 101 years old, “I still have all my own teeth!” And that despite 4 years in a Japanese prison camp with severe malnutrition; something to be proud of indeed.

Growing up Tales

Lani has just passed the 7 month mark. At this time she weighs 18 Lbs. Statistics say she can be expected to weigh between 15 and 35 Lbs. I hope she will not get much heavier that she is now, otherwise I will not be able to carry her anymore. Ha! We thought we were getting a really miniature golden doodle, small like her mini poodle Dad. One that could sleep in a little basket underneath the coffee table. But she will be more like her mom, only mom is white and Lani is black. A sign that she is getting older an that she knows all the regular things that are going on in the house, is that frequently she does not hang around us in the living room ready to play, but stretches out for a nap on the cool tiles close to the front door. Or, when I am working on the computer, she lies down on the plastic desk chair mat behind me. I can imagine that you don’t want to lie on carpet if you have all that long hair! And with her body, her hair is growing too, straight and wavy, she looks pretty shaggy. But so far, so good. I’ve been able to keep any tangles out, but she is slowly getting too big to bathe her in the kitchen sink. Tomorrow, when we are both busy, she will go to the doggie day camp again; no longer with the teacups, she will meet and spend the day with the larger size dogs. A new experience.

She barks unexpectedly at a variety of things that she sees or hears and are new to her: A sun spot on the wall above a painting, the pattering of the rain on the patio outside, which she peers at through the glass window pane next to the front door, the sounds of the blender, a new, large candle on the coffee table. Funny moments for us, learning experiences for her.

Our older grandson here has gotten his Driver License and is now officially driving. A blessing for this very busy family of five; we trust he will be a safe and good driver. The second grandson turned 14 this week and both he and his younger sibling are tracked out for three weeks. Hoping we could do something fun with them, like take them to the trampoline jumping alley, we were told No, because he had suffered a concussion in a head-on collision during a LaCrosse game four days earlier. The boys were both wearing helmets but the one boy hit heads with our grandson on purpose! His parent was later heard saying to his son: “You did not hit him hard enough!” 

In what kind of world are we living? Two Middle School boys, on the same team, one being instructed by his parent to hit another one hard on the head! And when he did, he was told it was not hard enough.

Signs of spring

We are having cold nights and warm nights, cold days and warm days, up to 70 degrees, rain and sunshine. All that has caused the blossom trees, white and pink, to spring into bloom and it is a delight to see them all around. Last Sunday I took Lani in the car to a new greenway and we walked for a good hour. Lovely. One goose pair has decided to stay at our pond. They built a nest right next to one of the big, rocky drains, completely in the open, but high enough above the waterline as it is now so future rain storms hopefully won’t damage it like they did last year’s nest. I watched Mother goose line it with feathers and sticks, while Father goose floated on the water keeping an eye on her. Can’t wait until the irises and other greens shoot up to at least partially hide the new nest because there are hawks in the air above. We have a new addition to our garden menagerie: a pair of Woodpeckers. And I have hung our hummingbird feeder on a branch in the pink tree, just within reach from the fenced dog yard, waiting for last year’s hummingbirds to return or new ones to discover our paradise. Spring is in the air!

It’s a Wonderful World!

Until next time,

Ronny

If you can’t beat them, join them!

A few weeks ago, when I felt so down and defeated about someone else’s book that is going to be a movie, a Linked-In business friend wrote this to me: If you can’t beat them, join them. And I thought, what can I do that stands out, so that my book gets more publicity, without hiring a professional marketer or spend money on expensive ads? The same friend, at the same time,  recommended a way to promote Rising from the Shadow of the Sun in the Media. How lucky could I be?

I started with pictures and text from my book on Facebook and Linked-In. And now, since March 8, I have had a daily promotion running on both sites. On Linked-In the posts get views, and on Facebook many friends share my posts. I discovered that many friends, although they know about my book, have not read it, or they have read my first book In the Shadow of the Sun, published in 1992. But after that, I added historical facts I found through more research, as well as personal things, so Rising from the Shadow of the Sun is definitely worth reading. I highly recommend it to those of you, followers of my Blog, if you haven’t read it yet. Also, I would love a review on Amazon from you if you haven’t done that yet. You can do it under a pseudonym so your privacy is protected, and it is really easy. I don’t want to sound pushy, because I am very grateful for all the reviews I already have, but I just thought I should mention it 🙂

Spring

Everywhere white-blossomed trees are gracing the landscape. Around our pond the whole white tree circle is in bloom. And pink buds are bursting open on the tree by our bedroom window. Gorgeous! Very soon now all the “dead” bushes and trees will be green again and fill the area between the back yard and the freeway, so that the traffic becomes invisible. These days, when I let Lani out of the back door to quickly go potty, she goes to the fence and starts barking at all the traffic she sees. Never even hearing my command to come in for her breakfast, she barks and barks. I’m afraid she will wake up the whole neighborhood! So now, I put on shoes and wrap my robe tighter around me and put her on the leash to go out, so I can reel her in after her shi-shi (That is what we call a #1 for girls in Hawai’i. For boys we call it pi-pi).

Arthritis?

In 2008, my right hand was so painful because of arthritis that I could not do anything with it. I learned to do things with my left hand, because the pain did not let up. Then our neighbor recommended Original CMO. I ordered it online and used it for three weeks. Pills, accompanied with a strict diet: no coffee, tea, wine, red meat, night shade vegetables and more. A month after the three weeks my hand was normal again and I have been pain free ever since! That was eleven years ago. I was so excited and recommended it to many of my friends. But they could not stick to the diet and it did not work. Until our handyman, who was going to retire because of the arthritis in his hands, was so desperate that he followed the instructions to the letter and…it worked! He was delighted.

Two weeks ago, I noticed swelling in one index finger, and a thickening joint. Could I have arthritis again? I searched the internet and finally found a phone number for the company. Alas! They are going to close their business at the end of this month. They were out of the pills but they had cream, which would have the same results, the secretary said. So I ordered two jars and hope they will cure my arthritic finger, and hope too that it will last just as long.

A Celebration

We celebrated March 15 (the day we met 62 years ago) with an “Indonesian” dinner on the 16th at the family’s. I cooked lemper and krupuk, got saté at Costco and made the delicious peanut sauce to go with it. I’m lucky to have found a small Asian store about 2 miles away and they have a lot of Indonesian spices. I served a crisp kale salad with it ( from Trader Joe’s, just around the corner) and large chocolate chip cookies for dessert. So with a little cheating we had a delicious dinner and the family loved it. I had to borrow an electric frying pan from someone in one of the cottages down the street to fry the krupuk, and I had to be very inventive to steam the 6 cups of sticky rice, because all I have left is a small rice cooker. But it worked!

Sadness

I got to know the old couple in the cottage three doors down from us. I became friends with the sweet lady by the name of Madeline. We met at the Club when there was entertainment, and always at brunch on Sundays. I had not seen her for a while and walked over for a visit. I found her in bed, looking lovely but very frail. There were cards and balloons in her room and she told me she had just celebrated her 90th birthday. Aww, I could have known that if I had looked at the member directory. When I left I promised to bring her something as a belated birthday gift. I bought daffodils at Trader Joe’s and dropped them off, arranged in one of my vases. A week later, figuring the daffodils would be gone, I bought another bunch. At home I cut them to size again so the caregiver didn’t have to do anything, just plop them in the vase. I repeated that a third time, asking the caregiver to put them so Madeline could see them from her bed. I heard then that she was not doing well at all and, peeking around the corner, I could see the end was near. She passed away peacefully, so much like the lady she was, on Sunday afternoon; I heard it today. Sad days for the family, and I will miss her too, because we had become so close this past year.

Life goes on, and we are blessed to be healthy.

Until next time,

Ronny

Mardi Gras or Carnaval

On March 5, we celebrated Mardi Gras at Waltonwood. There were refreshments and shiny necklaces for the taking in the Players’ Room, and people from Assisted Living came by with decorated walkers in a parade. I missed the parade, because I went downstairs for the 30 minute “Circuit” exercises. Nobody else showed up, so I had my private trainer, and she worked me hard! That exercise, plus the 30 minute chair yoga of that morning, and the 3 mile total walks with Lani, made me feel very happy that I could just change into something pretty and go for dinner to the Club!

In my mind’s eye I went back to the times of Carnaval in the Netherlands. In the southern (Catholic) part of the Netherlands they celebrated for four days before Ash Wednesday. After we had lived in the town of Son, in Brabant, for a few years, we found out that Carnaval, aside even from the giant parade and the special music, could be a lot of fun. So while the grandparents took care of our girls for four days, we dressed up and went dancing and drinking (beer) in town: leaving around 9:00 p.m. and coming back several hours after midnight. The men used to dress up simply in a blue jacket and cap with a red scarf around their neck, the women wore all kinds of costumes. Those were the days that I did a lot of sewing, so for one evening, celebrating at the nearby Air Force Base, Welschap, I dressed up as my version of Barbarella, an outer space figure in those years. I was wearing an all silver metallic mini skirt, a top with long sleeves and a tight silver helmet on my head, black knee-high boots on my feet. I wish I could see me now, but we didn’t take many pictures in those days. At the end of the night, after lots of dancing, I drank beer with one of the F16 pilots under a giant parachute, and I could drink more beer than he!  So I went to find Mike and we drove home together.

For another night, the “couples night”, I made an Indian girl outfit. Again, a mini skirt, sand color, looking like leather, with Indian style decorations, a top in the same style, with fringes on the sleeves and at the hem of the skirt. A black wig with two braids, and I forgot what I had on my feet. Probably boots again, good for dancing. That night, someone danced (and drank beer) with me all night. We had fun. And then Mike, who had had a fun evening with someone else, took me home again. We did have a car in those days, and nobody cared if or how much you drank before driving home.

The next morning, in church, the gentleman with the offering plate looked down at me and started laughing. “I think we met last night,” he said, “the little Indian girl?” And that was the beginning of our families becoming good friends and Ronny taking over from him the task of Church Treasurer – after training of course.

International Women’s Day

1975 was International Women’s Year. That year, the United Nations (UN) began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8. Each year, the special Day has had a theme. The 2019 initiative is #BalanceforBetter, aimed at gender equality, a greater awareness of discrimination and a celebration of women’s achievements. 2019 is the second year that we celebrate International Women’s Day here at WaltonWood with a spectacular luncheon in the Dining Room, with flowers, music and speeches, honoring four women with an award for their achievements. This time, the four awards were given for Lifetime Achievement, Kindred Heart, Humanitarian and  Entrepreneurship. And I was honored with the Entrepreneurship Award for Waltonwood Cary, NC.

It was a total surprise at first. When I was invited to sit at the Reserved Table in front of the room, I thought, hm? Then, just before the lunch was brought in, son Dennis sat down next to me. “Dennis? How come you are here?”

“I got an invitation, and Dad did too. Where is Dad?”

“At home. We thought it was a luncheon for women only.”

Things happened fast after that. I called Mike, Dennis went to get him with the maintenance manager in the golf cart, and the three of us enjoyed a delicious lunch and watched the Awards ceremony. And then the veil was lifted: I received the Entrepreneurship Award! What an honor!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until Next time,

Ronny

The Tooth Dragon

Oh! Oh! Accidents do happen when you least expect them. A few months ago I purchased a box of beautiful cherries, totally out of season, and served them with lunch as a surprise. Mike happened to break a tooth when he bit on one. We called to make an appointment with our dentist and heard they were moving to another town! Just then a nice flyer had come in the mail from another local dentist and we moved there right away. Actually, that sounds easier than it was: it involved lots of paperwork and two appointments, and it all took time. To make a long story short: because of lack of communication we went to yet another dentist, this one at the recommendation of our son, and last week Mike had oral surgery. It went very well, he had no pain afterwards. It meant he had to eat soft foods, so we ordered in from the Club, and I ran his whole meal through the VitaMix. We did that for three days, and on Friday went back to the Club for dinner. Nice to see everyone again. The total treatment is not quite over yet of course, but the worst is.

The Grooming Salon

For the first time in her life Lani went to the grooming salon. I dropped her off early on the morning and she was ready for pickup at 3:00 p.m. When they brought her to the lobby I burst out laughing. Her coat was brushed back smoothly, they had put a little pink ribbon on top of her head and two dark, shiny eyes looked at me. For the first time we could clearly see each other! Since then, I have gotten used to her new face, and am trying to teach her to catch treats, which she had a hard time seeing with all the hair in front of her eyes. She has gained weight, and at 6.5 months is now 16.5 pounds. Still light enough to carry her across the Divide to Wimbledon for long walks, which we have done several times already. Also this week we received the cover for her kennel. She needed one, because every time she saw a reflection in one of the windows, or flickering lights of the candles at the front door, or she heard the rain on the back patio, she started barking. The cover has two flaps that can be rolled up, one in the front and one on one side. We leave the side one down, because she never exits the kennel through the side door, and the front flap is up, so she can see into the room, where we are, ands does not see the windows on the side. She immediately felt at home in her cave, and wanders in and out to retrieve toys or her blanket.

Visits to Assisted Living

Sometimes, when I visit friends who have moved to Assisted Living, I take Lani with me to socialize her with many people. She is still pulling too hard and jumping up, but on Wednesday the trainer will come again for another teaching session. When Lani is mature and calmer, I want her to be a therapy dog in our facility. Take that with a grain of salt, because I can’t train her to be a real therapy dog of course, but people love to pet her and that could be therapeutic for some. That will take a while still!

An Exciting Offer!

If you like to listen to Audiobooks, whether driving long distances, doing housework or cooking, or just relaxing in your recliner or in bed, I have an exciting offer for you. If you send me your email address with the request for an Audiobook, I will send you a promo code with which you can download a free copy. Not from Amazon, who tries to sell you a subscription for a monthly payment, but from a private Author Source. I only have a limited number of Promo Codes, and I believe I will get some for the UK as well, so whoever contacts me the first will get a PC for sure, as long as they last. Even if you have read the book, listening to the story gives it a whole new dimension. Give it a try! It’s free! Now, of course I would appreciate it very much if you would write a review for me on Amazon. My goal is a total of 100 reviews; I currently have 60. Be the next!

It’s a Wonderful World!

Until next time,

Ronny

A Bitter Pill to swallow

Rejections. No one’s life is without rejections. Or am I wrong? During my 18 years in Pasadena, California, during the time I worked in modeling and acting, the rejections were many. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” was the word. Every rejection stung a bit: I was not good enough for the job. Eventually, I got used to it and focused on the successes instead.

Then, in 1992, a publisher in Canada published my first book, In the Shadow of the Sun. It was based on my mother’s secret camp diary, which I translated when I got it in 1985. It was the first book in North America in the English language about women and children’s camps in Southeast Asia under Japanese oppression. That was a happy time, after several rejections by American publishers.

More books followed after I did more research, and I am proud of what I have accomplished, culminating in the Audiobook of Rising from the Shadow of the Sun in 2018. I hope you have read my book or listened to my audiobook. And I hope you have written a review and put it on Amazon. If you didn’t, you can still do it! Reviews mean a lot to me. Of course my dream was to have a movie made, and I tried, but could not reach any producers – agents are always blocking the road to the famous. So I had to give up that dream. These days I am a Keynote Speaker with a very interesting presentation. The next presentation coming up is for OLLI, at NCSU. It is basically word of mouth that gets me new presentations, and I am happy that I can continue to tell my mother’s story to members of Service groups, churches, Senior centers, book groups, schools and so on, in the area where I live, for audiences large and small.

When an author in Canada published a book with parallel stories of her parents, her Dad (whom I met in 1995 on the Missouri) under the Japanese, her Mom under the Germans, I put it on my website under Other Books. The more survivor stories about those years in WWII, the better! Then, when she was planning to travel to Florida for a presentation, I suggested I would join her and we could present our stories together. She wrote, No. My manager will not allow it. That shocked me deeply, especially when during the following months the news spread that a movie was in the making. She had reached the ultimate dream of any writer – with the help of a manager and a publicist and more. She had a platform before she started the book, she is a motivational speaker in Canada. But she did not want to have any competition whatsoever. Competition? I wanted to join forces. Ours were parallel stories in my book!

It still makes me feel extremely sad. Not only because her book will be a movie soon, and not because my book is a less important story, but because of the fact that I could not reach that goal between 1992 and 2019. I simply could not afford to hire managers to help me do it. It will take time to get over this, I’m sure. It hurts.

Since 1985, I have worked hard to get to where I am: 5 published books and one of those an audiobook. And an interview with CHINA TV in Washington comparing my book with Unbroken. I wish I had all the reviews that Unbroken came up with!

Yet, I did my very best, and my very best should be good enough. Mamma would say, so on we go!

It’s a wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Pilates: It ain’t what it used to be!

The Pilates Studios now show an assortment of machines and contraptions called Barrels, Cadillacs, Reformers, Tower Systems, and more. I could not find any Pilates classes here in Cary where you simply work out on a Pilates mat, with just your body. I loved Pilates. First, when we lived in Onomea, on the Big Island, I watched a girl do yoga on the beach. It was so gracious and beautiful that I immediately went to look for and found Yoga classes and I enjoyed them for nine years or so. Then, in Hassayampa, Prescott, where we lived, the Club offered Yoga classes and Pilates classes as well. I did both for a while and decided I liked 75% of Pilates and 25% of Yoga. Two weeks ago they offered a class in chair yoga here. Sadly, I could not make it, because I had to be in Raleigh. Hopefully they will be continued soon. If you look at it, Pilates classes are not for this facility. The people are too old. I don’t know how few of them can get up from the floor if they fall, let alone sit down and lie down to do exercises on a mat.

Memorial Service for Onno

There was no news at the front desk for quite a while about a memorial service for Onno. But I knew that there was going to be one that Sunday coming up at his church, so I texted his daughter and asked if I could put together a flyer to post in Independent Living and in Assisted Living and have it circulated. She gladly accepted and the announcement was posted with a picture of Onno, playing his accordion. The service was held in his beautiful church on Sunday, and Caroline had found an accordion player to play Amazing Grace. Onno contributed a lot of joy during the two years that he and Jane lived at Waltonwood. He and his group were invited to play at Carnegie Hall twice in his earlier years. He knew many songs by heart and often played for us, encouraging us to sing along.

Then Waltonwood announced there would be a Celebration of Life for Onno and a reception to follow on Tuesday. But they neglected to tell his daughter so she could not take off work at the last minute. That was sad. Nevertheless, the room was filled to capacity, John took pictures which I later texted to Caroline, and several people spoke about their fond memories of Onno. On the table in the front of the room was a handsome picture of Onno. The refreshments table afterwards was visited by all.

A Chocolate Social

On Wednesday afternoon last week the Club organized a Chocolate Social in the Café. Being from the Netherlands and the Indies before that, I was not familiar with an event called a Social. I thought that the pastry chef would whip up some special chocolate creations for us to observe and taste. But no, when I got to the Café, the whole counter was filled with all kinds of chocolate treats, from M&Ms to cookies to cup cakes to brownies, and chocolate milk to drink. The popcorn machine cranked out piles of popcorn, which the Activities Director put in little bags for us. I will have to walk many miles to take off all the calories! It was nice to talk to some of the people there, and the chocolates were delicious, a foretaste of Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day: Renewing of the Vows  

The Renewing of the Vows Ceremony took place in the dining room, Richard officiating. The nicely set tables featured a round vase with a red rose and baby’s breath as a centerpiece. Heart shaped balloons were everywhere. Management officials from various locations were present and took pictures of the handsomely dressed men and pretty ladies, and WRAL photographers filmed and interviewed several couples for the Television News that night. We were the ones with the fewest years of marriage (and we thought  we were up there with our 58 years!) The winning couple will reach 70 years of marriage next May. By looking at these numbers you can figure out that most everyone here is in their late eighties and nineties! Pictures of all the participating couples rotated on a large screen in the front of the room. At the reception after the ceremony they served a smorgasbord of finger foods, including cucumber sandwiches, which nobody had ever heard of before. Except I, of course; I had them often when I was an Au Pair with a family in England.

A festive dinner concluded the day with a choice of Duck or Striped Bass as the entree, Ganache pie for dessert and three kinds of wine served from the bottle, not from a box like they do at Happy Hour on Fridays. The bottle stayed on the table and we could take home what we had not finished. A generous gesture, which looked more generous than it actually was, because the four of us almost finished the bottle during dinner. But we appreciated the gesture.

A Milestone!

Today, our million dollar Doodle baby is six months old. She weighs 15 pounds and is a lot of fun to watch, to play with, and to cuddle. She is starting to walk better on the leash. We got a new harness and I’m looking forward to trying it on and going on a long walk with her. The first harness looked like it could snap any time, come out of the stitches that is, so I returned it to the store and ordered one on Amazon.