When I think about aging …Long deep breaths until the dizziness passes…
I received a message yesterday that said, “Hi grandma. How are you? I just wanted to tell you that I am back safe.”… “grandma” …I immediately sent back the reply…”I think you sent this to me by mistake.”…which followed “No, I sent this for you”…
After I finished stomping around, huffing, and puffing…Mr. P. gently reminded me that it was a sign of respect…I do love that here in Africa…the cultural stereotype of older adults is so different than what I saw in the United States…
Mass media…the central nervous system of western societies assists in the creation of social prejudice…no matter what societal background you exist within …Ageism…youth and beauty glorified and “older people have had to face an escalating level of disregard, disrespect, and marginalization ….”https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=78445
My experience here has been vastly different…where respect for age and the older generation is a societal ideal…I was taken back the first time that I was addressed as mama ‘mother’…
In the Xhosa culture…When greeting a person older than yourself (more or less your parents’ age), tata ‘father’ would be used for a man and mama ‘mother’ for a woman. For greetings of people of your grandparents’ age, tat’omkhulu ‘grandfather’, and makhulu ‘grandmother’ are used as forms of address. Greeting someone of your own age
you would address her as sisi, ‘sister’, and bhuti, ‘brother’ for the male counterpart https://www.unisa.ac.za/
…but still “Grandma”…although changing…unfortunately my view on aging is still a westernized version…where beauty (not wisdom and experience) is venerated…
I meandered down a different path…This blog had started out to be about goals…although aging influences how I am going about it this year…I never set New Year Eve’s goals…being the non-conformist that I am… spending the month of January assessing the last year and re-establishing what is most important to me…where I am at…my birthday of January 26th being my “New Year”…
“We must not despair the evanescent nature of time or our brief existence; we must embrace our delectable moment on earth. Life is a fantastic dream where we rejoice in the incomparable beauty of this misty world of ethereal sensations and sentiments. Buddha said, “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” We must swim with the tide and rejoice in life of memory, dreams, and the beauty that is transpiring before our very eyes. Indian Buddhist teacher and philosopher Nagarjuna advises in “The Diamond Sutra,” to enjoy the dream world, “Thus shall you think of this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in the stream; a flash of lightening in a summer cloud; a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.”
Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls
My Tribute to the Delicacies of this past year…
As with anyone’s life…it’s a roller coaster…there were cancer checkups, surgeries, and things that drove us a little crazy …although I don’t have far to go for that) … 2021 last year whizzed by in a blur (it is said that as we have more years on earth the quicker it goes) …it was a breathtakingly incredible and memorable year…Mr. P. put in his workshop (something he’s always wanted) …now he has two “man caves” I must search when I need find him…
trips to Addo..
to Cape Town
Learning about Birding…a Mr. P. interest
Cape Town again 
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden…
Table Mountain (Nature Reserve)
Female Sugarbird
By June…I was learning about the strongest insect in the world…the Dung Beetle…so interesting I wrote two blogs
Cape Glossy Starling Dancing the Tango
Watching Bacchus become more self-confident…we had gotten him at the shelter, and he was so scared of other dogs at first that he would run home the first time we took him for a walk…still doesn’t bark though…
August..we spent a weekend at Cape St. Francis…spending time with Mr. P’s niece and her boyfriend…I will always remember the sunset wine with them…beautiful souls who gives hope for our future generations…
Sept. started planning for the kitchen renovation…made new friends (for me) when we stayed at Amakhala Safari Lodge and met bachelor Norman…the welcome committee…
October…we were finishing the kitchen…after washing dishes in the bathroom sink for weeks…searching for utensils, pots, and pans on the mess in the living room…spending a couple of days at the cottage by the sea to recover…tussling with all the paperwork needed to get married in a foreign country…
November went by…just as quickly…the annual “Raggy Charters Island Tour” with the Photographic Club…St. Croix Island…the home of about 10,000 South African Penguins and Brenton Island…a tad windy but so enjoyable for those that didn’t experience seasickness…
November was the pièce de résistance…I married the “hunky” knight in shining armour that I adore…the gallant Mr. P. …my son surprised me and flew in to give me away…an elegant ceremony at his sister’s house…
“I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.”
― Maria Nhambu, Africa’s Child
What was your most awe- inspiring …the memory that you will cherish deep within your heart…
Maybe I can get to the plan for 2022…Much love, laughter, and magic in your life
