Living Life In Color

Today was another great day for a walk around the subdivision.  It was actually a little bit chilly when Jack and I started out, and it was already late (close to 10 a.m.), but I was happy in my shorts and t-shirt.  I had to wonder what the older couple who walked by wearing jeans and fleece jackets thought, but they didn't seem to notice, and that's just fine.

Living in the moment means you enjoy today without dwelling on the future.  I'm getting better at doing just that.  When you worry about winter cold and ice, you miss the beauty of autumn, and I think I missed MANY autumns in just that way before moving to Florida.

I do, however, find myself hunting for clues of the impending color show that we will soon have in this area.  And I did find one which I captured on my phone and am sharing here.  At first I thought it might just be those berries, or some dead leaves, so I literally crossed the street to get a closer look.  No doubt about it - the magic has begun.

I have always loved diverse colors.  As a child, one of my favorite things in the world was the fireworks at 4th of July.  My dad used to always take me to see a display somewhere in the area that wasn't too crowded.  

Dad knew I loved the sights and sounds of fireworks displays (except the really loud bombs) and parades (even though the drums made my tummy feel funny).  I never knew how much he hated crowds and traffic when I was young, and I have to give him a lot of credit for that.

This past summer, for the 3rd straight year, I had the best seat in the house for a really spectacular fireworks display over Lake Verona in Avon Park, Florida.  Who can complain about sitting in a lawn chair in your own driveway watching the most AMAZING colors right over your head, and yet being able to hear the cheers from the more crowded viewing points all around the lake?  No matter how depressed you might be, you can't help yourself from being in awe at a moment like that.  I loved it.

I always thought I would love living somewhere where I didn't have to deal with ice and snow.  At first, I did, just because it was DIFFERENT.  But I sure learned a lot about myself in the last three years or so.  Always green can be boring.  Always either hot or hotter can be boring and quite uncomfortable for a woman with hot flashes.  Always anything is never different.  

I'm not sure the editing police will like that last sentence above, but I do.  And it's my blog.

Different is good.  Different means change.  Change means growth and adaptation.  These are the things that keep us young.  I don't want to ever get old in my mind.  I know my body will get old and already has its limitations, but rather than brace myself against those and other changes, I'm going to try something different.

I leave you with a quote from one of my all time favorite vocal groups, Carpenters, from their song "It's Going To Take Some Time."

But like the young trees in the wintertime, I'll learn how to bend.

Thoughts While Walking

I do some of my best thinking while my feet are moving.  Therefore, my daily walk of 1.2 miles has provided me with a lot of interesting ideas.  Here are a few of those thoughts on several topics.

On Walking

While I was unemployed in Florida, I always needed to walk “first thing in the morning” unless I wanted to be really hot, especially in the summer.  

Not that I intend to remain unemployed for any length of time here in Missouri – because I do not – but on a positive note, here I can walk any time of day, even later after it has warmed up to a tolerable temperature.  

I love walking in the brisk cool air of autumn.  Year round, ideally, I will only need to use the treadmill on icy, snowy or rainy days as long as the temperature stays above freezing.

On dry pavement, my biggest hazard walking here in MO are those little landmines that fall off the Sweetgum trees – and I watch carefully for those after once falling on one in 2008.

On Honesty, Job Hunting and Social Media

I have always prided myself on being a very honest person, but I have been told that my level of honesty can hurt me while job hunting.  

I agree that over-sharing or venting on Facebook, or (God forbid) discussing politics or even showing a political bias on Facebook can certainly hurt my chances at a good job.  But I draw the line at dishonesty. 

Here’s the thing.  Most real facts about me are not that hard to find out.  While I don’t wear my age tattooed on my forehead, it is a matter of public record, and I really don’t work that hard to hide it, either.  

My mother actually had an incorrect year of birth – one year later than truth - on her driver’s license in an attempt to look younger than my father (she wasn’t, but she was only 6 months older than him, which in my mind isn’t a big deal).  

OK, to be fair, I must admit that my last MO driver’s license listed my weight at 150.  The truth is it’s higher than that at the present, and has been for years.  

The woman at the license bureau, who was able to call up my old MO information in her computer, said she’d leave it at 150.  However, she went ahead and updated my husband’s new license to his actual stated weight.  

What’s the difference there?  Maybe men prefer accuracy while women prefer a soft focus?  Hmmm. 

This morning I reviewed my Facebook “Timeline” (and yes, I hate it too, but we won’t go into that here) from the perspective of an anonymous public person.  

I didn’t see anything I needed to delete, and that’s a good thing.  Anyone who wants to read all that will be seeing the “real” me, and I’m fine with that.  

Everyone with whom I have interviewed or spoken regarding a position to date has received the truth.  Yes, it’s a positive slanting, somewhat edited version of the truth, but it’s as honest as I can be.  

I hate even telling the tiniest lie when I don’t have to.  There are two reasons for that.  First, I can’t keep my story straight if I lie, and I don’t want to have to be sure every resume I ever posted has the exact same information.  

Second, I have one of those expressive faces that would probably display “SHE’S LYING” in large scrolling letters across my forehead if I did. 

I still believe honesty is the best policy.  An employer who is the best fit for me will appreciate this, as have others in the past.

On Big City versus Small Town Culture

I’m sure there are those native St. Louisans who believe that St. Louis is a small town at heart, and there is some truth in that.  But when you have actually lived in a really small town like Avon Park, Florida, the cultural differences are very apparent and it's good to respect them. 

While walking Jack in Avon Park, there were two main groupings of other pedestrians we would encounter.   The first group were those afraid of dogs.  Those people would literally cross the street to avoid Jack in many cases, even if they would wave hello or shout “Good Morning”.  

I learned the value of short-leashing him quickly if they chose to share the sidewalk, or even moving over to the grass with him short-leashed so they could pass without fear. 

The second group in Avon Park were the friendly folk.  These included locals and tourists of all ages, ethnic groups, and income levels.  

Walking around Lake Verona on the selected streets with sidewalks was a very common thing, and that’s where you would always see pedestrians.  Most would smile and say at least “Good Morning.”  Many others would literally stop and have a conversation with me and pet Jack. 

Here in Bridgeton in my little subdivision, there seems to be a good mix of younger working people and retirees.  Every last property is well kept up even though I don’t see many people on my walk.  

Those pedestrians that I do meet do not always volunteer a greeting of any sort.  And that’s OK.  

People are busy and sometimes shy.  I myself have not always volunteered greetings while walking unless the other person is directly in my path, depending on my mood.  

And it’s not a small town.  I can respect that difference even as I am sensitive to it.  There are plenty of people even here who will chat for a moment, and as long as I have the time to do so, I enjoy that.

Conclusion

It’s great to be able to walk 1.2 miles every day and have my time to think about so many things and get my thoughts organized, whether or not I choose to put them down on paper.  

Many of my daily thoughts are related to organizing my life and my job search, and that’s not mostly blog-worthy stuff for anyone who isn’t very much like me in age, interests and profession.  

But I do enjoy sharing some thoughts with others, and I hope you enjoy it, too. 

Post Script While Publishing

I normally compose in Microsoft Word, and sometime between my last blog and this one, they have completely revamped the Blogger editor.  

I think it will save time next time if I actually do my composing on their editor and then cut and paste a text version into Word to save it afterwards.  It's either that, or fight with the HTML code to get it formatted the way I want it.  

Come to think of it, maybe it's not such a bad thing to get very familiar with HTML code again.  :)