03/08/11 - NNHS Newsletter - Mardi Gras

“It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he
has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has
not seen the United States until he as seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans.”

- Mark Twain, Letter to Pamela Moffett, March 1859
(30 Nov 1835 - 21 Apr 1910)

   Why, certainly, Jerry! The very spot has been there for over seven years now, just awaiting the arrival of this image!

   As these images are positioned on the page running west to east along Chesapeake Avenue, this has been placed almost to the bottom of the page:

http://nnhs65.com/SITE-MAP.html

     http://nnhs65.com/old-stomping.html

          http://nnhs65.com/OOSG-C-G.html

               http://nnhs65.com/east-end.html

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with ageing.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ....... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become.. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

   Thank you so much, Sarah Sugah!

Watch this video and you will have the best four minutes of entertainment that cannot be purchased anywhere, anytime.   If you watch until the end you will end up laughing and feeling so good.  Also, read the comments submitted below the video.

http://www2.choralnet.org/268945.html - Which hand should I hold the baton in?

   Thanks, George! We've run this a time or two before, but as you say, it leaves one with such a good feeling, and I personally think we should take advantage of any such opportunity we can find!

I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years.

WE MUST SPREAD THE WORD.
Never take life seriously; nobody gets out alive anyway.

        Thanks, Dools!

*******

Two brothers were always getting into trouble in their neighborhood. The people in the neighborhood started complaining to the parents about the boys, so the boys' parents decided to have their priest talk to the boys. The priest asked to speak to the boys alone, requesting to see the youngest first. The young boy came in and sat at a large table across the room from the priest.

The priest looked at the boy, pointed at him and, trying to emphasize that God is in everyone, asked, "Where is God?" The boy looked around the room and back at the priest and said nothing.

Again, the priest pointed at the boy and in a louder voice asked, "Where is God?" The boy said nothing.

The priest walked around the table, pointing inches from the boy’s face and asked again, "Where is God?"

The boy jumped out of his chair and ran out the door. The boy ran right home, grabbed his older brother and said to him, "We are in BIG trouble!"

His brother replied, "We haven't done anything!"

The younger brother replied, "God's missing, and they think we did it!"