Is There Life After Retirement?

She was born in the same year as Marilyn Monroe - on the day that Francisco Franco became General of Spain - to cash poor, affection rich immigrants from Yugoslavia, the third child of ten.  She was a teenager during WWII, a young bride during the Korean Conflict, a mom while the Vietnam war dragged on and a grandmother during the Bosnian crisis.  She was gone five years before the World Trade Center fell.

There's a popular sound bite about "if women ruled the world, there would be no wars" and I've gotta tell ya... Had someone put the bright, practical, BS detecting, bowling ball wielding, loving mom-to-all Anne Vein Wukelic in charge, we'd all be a little better off for it.  

Today she would have turned 98. Hard to believe, hard to imagine her at that age, y'know? In my mind, she'll never be older than I am right now.

Happy Birthday, from "that kid of yours."  You were the best.  The freakin' BEST.  Just ask anyone who knew... 

Throughout my life, I’ve engaged in activities such as drawing, painting, beading, miniature modeling and -on a more serious level – writing. But the one area that I have taken to a level of high art is … procrastination. I cannot count how many “item #437 on my to-do list” tasks got done simply to avoid a drawing board and water colors. Fearing the need to reclassify these as Former Hobbies, I figured it’s time to do SOMETHING. Anything. Make a pair of earrings, glue stuff together for a collage, do s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g. While pondering this a few months ago, I took off for a Cousins Road Trip to Virginia.

Loved the trip, love my family, loved the Massanutten Resort and its gorgeous acreage. Had my early morning coffee on the deck, enjoying both the beauty and the silence

It was a great week, in about a million ways.

Returning home, I unpacked and found a few “treasures” from my morning walks.

You know, how it seems like a good idea at the time? You save the things for awhile until they get shriveled and unrecognizable and finally thrown away? Yeah, that.

But then I remembered my self-admonishing about ‘do something.’ So I did.

Like most folks who intend to get around to projects someday, I have many supplies for that mythical day. So I marched into my garage and grabbed:

So not only are the memories of my Cousins Trip now preserved, but I also did SOMETHING. Other than drying time, it probably took less about 20 minutes.

I joke about my home being a “Museum of Marti’s Life” – full of wall hangings and mementos representing events of the past nearly 70 years. But the truth is: I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now, I think of myself as pretty good at ecologically sound behavior.  I carry at least one fabric Chico Bag in my handbag for purchases, many larger ones in my back seat and a metal beverage container lives in my car for takeout coffee.  I try to remember to recycle the easy stuff -aluminum cans, the plastic grocery store bags (when I run out of fabric ones), and so on.  So when our Rotary District Governor challenged us join his “no single use plastic” campaign for the month of July, I signed up.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to COMPLETELY avoid single use plastic, but I thought I’d do well.

My very first obstacle?  Simply remembering!  July 1: Bought a fountain soda at Costco, popped on a plastic lid and tore the wrapper off a plastic straw.  Ooops. Dang.  Made a mental note.

Next obstacle: Did you know that Starbucks has a policy that the baristas MUST put a lid on their hot beverages?  Yep.  For simple coffee orders, my reusable mug works great.  But to text in an order of something like a Grande Flat White, that’s a little more challenging.  New plan: wait in line, hand the barista my great reusable mug, and then watch the process to make sure my mug doesn’t accidentally hook up with someone else’s double mocha latte.

But the greatest challenge by far:   I belong to three organizations that hold several midday meetings with boxed lunches.  So of course that means disposable plastic flatware.  Ugh, this endeavor is proving harder than I expected! By mid-July I began to tuck a plastic baggie (yeah, I know) into my handbag, which contains a metal fork, knife, spoon and straw.  And I learned to stop, remove the bag of plastic stuff from the boxed lunch, put unopened plastic packet on the side of the food table and then continue to my seat.

And while I’m on the subject, here’s a major vent:

I understand why restaurants might assume a Take-Out order might need disposable utensils.  But a Door Dash order?  Why?  The food is coming to our houses, for crying out loud!  If you have a house, you probably have a fork.  Throughout the COVID-intense years, I considered starting a campaign to convince eateries to make “no plastic, no paper napkins” an easy option for both the consumer and the employee.  I wasn’t sure how to begin this project, so I did nothing beyond rant about it.

The bottom line for me?  It was WAY harder to reduce the ‘single use plastics’ in my life than I expected.  And I’m not even touching on packaging (shampoo, dish detergent, and about every other product I buy) or the lure of a plastic bottle of cold water on a hot day when there’s no other option. 

How’d I do?  Well, considering my goal was to reduce, rather than eliminate my usage, I’d give myself a B- on it.  The biggest takeaway for me wasn’t the impact that I made, but rather the awareness of how much plastic I continually use.  I knew, but sort of put it out of my mind.

Today is August 2, so I am released from my commitment.  Will I continue what I’ve started?  I can only hope so.

Oh, and I may re-think how to approach the “Door Dash doesn’t need plastic stuff” campaign.

How about you? How’s your plastic doing?

At about ten ‘till five this evening I had an overwhelming hankering for Chicken Marsala.  Yes, I have thawed boneless skinless chicken.  Yes on the wine, but no fresh mushrooms.  Was it worth making an eight-minute trip to Giant Eagle, just for the mushrooms when I already had canned ones?  Oh hell, yeah. 

Grabbing my handbag and slippers (flip flops to you mainlanders) I hit the garage door opener switch and noticed the sky was a little dark.  Hmmm. I thought.  It might rain later.  In the thirty seconds it took to start my car, fasten my seatbelt and back out, the sky began to slowly unleash what appeared to be buckets full of rain. By the time I pulled into the parking lot at 5PM, torrents were pummeling my car and everything else. After seriously considering just turning around and going home, I figured I’d just whine about not getting my Chicken Marsala, so I’d brave the downpour and hope I don’t melt. 

Put on my raincoat, put up the hood, realized I should put my shoulder strap handbag INSIDE of my raincoat, so I started all over again.  Grabbed the little red folding umbrella and proceeded to do that little game of opening the door against the now slanted rain quickly enough to not drench my car interior.  Achieving about a 60% success rate, I quickly went inside, straight to the produce aisle, slippers loudly squishing all the way.  I grabbed a package of very fresh sliced mushrooms, headed immediately to the che — oooh, sugar free pistachio pudding mix, wait – grabbed two boxes and headed to the checkout.  Unfurled my reusable grocery bag, chatted with the cashier for about 30 seconds and headed out. 

Out to barely a sprinkle.  Pulling into my driveway at 5:30 PM, I realized that weird squeaking sound was my wipers complaining about being on because my windshield was completely dry.

THIS is why I always leave a raincoat and umbrella in my car.  Oh and btw … the Chicken Marsala was seriously worth the schizophrenic weather errand.

Last week I overhead a 30-something coffee shop patron bragging to his 20-something latte infused companion that he was, in fact, older than Google. Experiencing a real “hold my beer” moment, I started thinking about what I can personally remember coming into existence. Hence, this post.

In no particular order, I am older than:

• Zip codes
• Area codes (Direct Distance Dialing!)
• Velcro patent
• Home computers
• Cassettes tapes for home use
• Space travel
• DVDs
• MRIs
• Digital cameras
• Polio vaccine
• Barbie dolls
• Non- glass milk bottles
• Pantyhose
• Attached gas caps

And since Bill Haley and the Comets recorded Rock Around the Clock when I was three months old, I like to think the Rock & Roll and I are the same age. R&R and I are both feeling our age, no doubt, but we’ve each had a great run. And we’re still going. Slower. Kind of hobbling. Not always sure what we are, but hanging in there.

What are you older than?