Friday, September 25, 2015

On Autumn and Aging

We have passed the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. [Happy Spring to everyone below the equator!]  All over the internet, people are posting beautiful photos of red and orange leaves, pumpkins, warm sweaters, and cuddly blankets.  Here where I live [that would be what we affectionately call SoCal], we are bracing for more hot weather, Santa Ana winds {these winds are blistering hot as they blow from the Arizona desert}, and more wild fires.  No cool days for us.  No spiced cider by the cheery fireplace.  No cuddling under woolly afghans.  One good thing about all the sunshine and heat is that my rose bush likes it and presented me with three lovely blooms this week.



 As we enter another season, I've been considering seasons of my life.  Am I in the 'autumn of my life'?  Maybe.  I think it's important to maintain a positive and thankful attitude in every season and that's one reason I focus on Friday Fave Fives. Click on the link to join others who post their FFFs each Friday.

1.  This week I have been deep cleaning my floors.  By deep cleaning I mean on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor with a wet rag.  The fave is NOT the scrubbing.  What I appreciate is the fact that even though I am of a certain Medicare eligible age, I can get up and down and up and down and recover enough to do it again the next day.  Two more rooms to go...

2.  Have you read The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner?  This fascinating book makes my faves list this week.  I have been reading it during summer break and am nearly finished.  There is so much interesting and thoughtful material in it regarding how to live a longer and healthier life. [Daily activity like getting up and down from the floor multiple times a day is good for you and may keep your body limber and help with balance. So my floor scrubbing will make me live longer, right?]

3.  This week was the first meeting of our Small Group from church.  We hadn't met during the summer, so we enjoyed getting reacquainted with the others in the group. [According to Buettner, people who have community and faith also live longer, more fulfilled lives.  So I score there, too!)

4.  It has been hot, hot, hot here.  The grey foggy mornings are deceptive.



One would expect a cool rainy day, but, no, the fog burns off and the temperatures rise to the mid to high 80s and low 90s. That foggy moisture?  It hangs around and we have humidity which we are not used to.  I'm thankful for air conditioning!   And I'm thankful that I get an adequate daily dose of Vitamin D from the sunshine.  [We all know that Vitamin D is essential for health. I'm doing my part by being out and about in the heat and humidity sunshine.]

5.  Craftsy.com is a website that has lots of free knitting patterns.  I'm filling my knitting patterns file  on the computer with lots of sweaters and hats to make this autumn and winter.  Did you know that knitting is one of the best ways to keep your mind sharp as you age? [Knitting helps prevent dementia, so maybe I won't lose my memory as I age.]

How was your week?  What are you doing to keep healthy and live longer?

14 comments:

Deb J. in Utah said...

Great post! I have also been doing a bit of reading on this topic, not because I'm getting older or anything ;-) Those who stay active in body, mind and spirit are those who tend to lead long and happy lives. We are still hot here too - sorry we are sending it over there. I do recall those Santa Ana Winds. Have a good weekend.

ellen b said...

Well I should be getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing my floors! I have been walking daily for a week and a half now and that is suppose to strengthen my heart. Hope those winds die down fast and fires don't start up!

Barbara H. said...

Good for you for having a lot of healthy practices going on! My floors probably need a deep cleaning.

I've not read that book but it sounds like it has a lot of great tips.

Mia said...

Wow, you're going to live to be, like, 347 at this rate! ;) Glad your AC is running well and keeping you cool in this heat wave. Perhaps we've sent our humidity your way....

Tracy said...

Autumn Greetings & Blessings to you & yours there, Willow! What a lovely post! Still sounds like HIGH summer where you are. Here it's been bucketing down with rain every other week, making end-of-season garden clean up a challenge. A lot of cleaning mode here--outdoors, as well as indoors. I wish I could sent you the cooler temps and even the rain we're having... I do like to share, you know! ;o) I LOVE Craftsy!! I've save a ton of patterns from there. And I've taken a few of the quilting classes they have on offer. I had tried a sock knitting one, but didn't get too far--it was too advanced for me... LOL! Nice thing with Craftsy though, is that you have all the patterns, courses, etc. saved in your account and can go back to something later. I'm sure hoping all my fiber fun I've been doing through the years will keep my brains from going too fluffy! Happy Days ((HUGS))

Susan said...

Thanks for the book tip, I put The Blue Zones on hold at my library (as an ebook).
I get up and down every day because I want to be able to get up in case I ever fall. I look forward to the other tips this book has.

I agree that being part of a small group is special. My group is on a break and will start back up the first week in November - right after our women's retreat.

Stay cool. I am - in fact my ac is on right now and it is 9:20. No delta breeze tonight. :(

nikkipolani said...

I, too, am jealous of everyone's autumnal posts. But instead we continue to brace for the fire season ahead. How nice of your roses to produce such beauty for you. Mine has been blooming, too, but the petals crisp within a day if they aren't picked.

I smiled at the picture of you squirreling away knitting patterns for the fall/winter. Isn't it lovely that it takes up so little space these days?

Susanne said...

I haven't read or even heard of the book but I love how you related it all to your faves post! So sad that autumn brings with it some not good things for you guys. Those fires always make me so sad for everyone involved. You're roses though, look gorgeous. I think you should come on up to Alberta to do my floors and I'll take you around to look at all the colors of autumn around here. ;)

Mereknits said...

We are still very hot here in southern Florida and there is not a leaf changing anywhere near me. I do detect the very slightest change in temp early in the morning and when it is dark in the evening. I can't wait to actually put on a sweater and not because I am in air conditioning.
Hugs to you,
Meredith

snoopydogknits said...

Here in the UK the days are shorter and the evenings nippy, but we are still having some glorious sunshine during the daylight hours. Trees are beginning to turn, with many of the Horse Chestnuts already dropping their precious loads of conkers. Ros

Faith said...

great list! We are not quite into sweater weather yet here in eastern New York state but the evenings ARE getting a little chilly to where the windows are open less wide now....but we do still have them open. We LOVE the fresh autumn air and are thankful we no longer need the central air on nor the heat on yet. In fact, we rarely turn our heat on until november. Everyone is still wearing shorts here and the days have been gloriously sunny. Perfect hiking and biking weather :)
Love your list!! that book sounds like one i would like. Wanna come do my floors????

Gattina said...

Hot, hot, hot is finished here ! Unfortunately ! I don't like autumn and it starts to get cold ! The days are shorter too ! What a courage to clean your floor on four feet ! I am also proud when I can get up quicker than a youngster !

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

It has been unusually warm here, too, although that has not prevented the aspens from changing to autumn colora. We are supposed to get our first cool temps this weekend. It usually snows sometime in October, so I'm looking forward to that.

I need to clean all my wood floors before the holiday rush begins. It always looks so nice when they are clean and shiny.

I will have to read the Blue Zones book--it sounds very interesting! Since I take care of a young grandchild I have been getting my exercise getting up and down from the floor...lol Grandchildren keep us young :)

Hope your weather cools down a little soon, and you get the rain you need there!

xoxo

Brian said...

Dear Willow, the pink of the rose is stunning reminding us that colour last all year round, yet the mist or fog can descend making things look eerie. Thank you for the kind comments on my garden blog.

Brian