Random Thoughts

I don’t think of myself as “old”. But what IS old?   I mean, when does old start?   Does it creep up slowly?   Is it an overnight thing – where you go to bed one night middle aged and wake up the next morning old?   I don’t believe that old is tied to a number, an age.   I have known people who were in their 30s that felt “old”.   I had a beautiful interaction this weekend that made me realize, in the eyes of the world around me, I am indeed “old”, no matter how I feel or look in my own eyes when I look in the mirror.   And while at first that was a bit jarring to me, as I pondered it I thought back to all of the “old” women in my life, and I smiled.   I have become Mrs. Binder. Mr. and Mrs. Binder were our next-door neighbors growing up in Omaha, Nebraska.   I lived in the same house from the time I was born until I left for college, and Mr. and Mrs. Binder were a constant.   When I look back now, I realize that we did...

It is a dull, drizzly gray day out today.   I am tempted to crawl back into bed (which would be ridiculous, since I only got out of it at 2:15 pm….).   But instead I will think about YESTERDAY, a day that the sun shone and people reminded me that there is good in the world. For 4 or 5 weeks I have been writing a daily poll on a piece of bright paper and taping it to a corner across from our house.   The polls have asked “important” questions, such as, “Carrots:   Raw or Cooked?”; “Glitter:   Shiny, glorious goodness or The world’s most horrible craft supply?”; Elsa or Anna?”; and “New Olympic Event:   Eating the most marshmallows or Holding your breath the longest?”.     Normally by the next morning around 40 people have voted.   Every day I watch people come up to the corner, stop, read (and often smile) then vote as the poll instructs them to with a rock or stick.      The pile of rocks and ...

The house is dusty.   The sheets need to be washed.   Visitors are coming and activities need to be planned. But first:   a PARADE. T oday (March 31) is International Transgender Day of Visibility.   Some of our neighbors tried to go into DC yesterday to celebrate at a big event, but traffic was horrendous due to another (BIGGER) event – the cherry blossoms are blooming .   The family tried to get into town, but traffic was so bad they eventually gave up.   I read a post about it on Facebook and said, “Hey, come march past our house , we will cheer for you!”.     They agreed, and with that, an idea was ready to turn into a PARADE . The only problem was, it was, the evening before…   There was no way this could actually become an “event”, but I sort of didn’t want it to be just me and my partner holding signs cheering as the neighbors marched by with their trans pride flags…   I put a post in the neighborhood Fac...