Saturday, May 26, 2012

Summer is here.....

 It is hot. Very hot. Yes, this is England. And we are melting. Half the young people I see around have sunburned shoulders, and clothing seems to be shrinking to a bare minimum. THAT kind of hot. And, because of water restrictions, paddling pools may not be filled or water slides set up etc etc etc. So the kitchen floor (tile) is a good option, if only it was a little softer. Bare feet rule.
 The garden is growing almost visibly. The beans sprang out of the soil and are over 4 inches high in just one day.{And now my space bar is misbehaving.} And the hanging baskets and the pots are filling out. Petunias are starting to bloom, and colour is creeping back into the garden at last. Rosebuds will open soon, and their perfume will fill the air. The padded summer cushions are on the loungers outside under the open sun umbrella, and it is almost too bright. Maybe I will put the bunting up tomorrow. I think I said that yesterday. It needs to go up when I can summon the energy.
The first rose to bloom was this little tea rose. It beat all the other big roses, quietly and hidden behind leaves, until I saw it and shifted the branches away. Well done, little rose.

This year - all the years, in fact, are going by so quickly. Everything my mother ever said about time flying is true, you know. And it flies faster as you get older. I was one of those teenagers who sighed dramatically and rolled the eyes and said "Yeah, right, Ma". I knew all the answers and my mother knew none back then. Of course. And now, I hear myself saying the same words I remember my Mum uttering - don't wish your life away, age is all in the mind and so on.

I look in the mirror and I wonder if what I see is real, or my imagination. Are those wrinkles? I stopped counting the grey hairs many years ago - they don't bother me at all. We see ourselves so differently to the way others see us, don't we? We sound different to the way we think we sound. Will my children remember the laughter and the smiles? Or will they remember the frowns? Will they remember the love? The fun? Or the difficult bits? There are always difficult bits in every life. Golden lives do not exist outside fairy tales, and actually, fairy tales were very gruesome, now I come to think about it. They taught good lessons. Ergo, golden lives do not exist. At all.

I think it depends on character, in a way. The positives remember the good. The negatives will remember the bad. I am a positive one, and I remember the good. I also remember the things which hurt, but not as a burden, as another lesson I learned along the way. Many many lessons. It is all about the pruning and the shaping of the character.

The kids don't see the wrinkles. Or at least I don't think they do. They see "Mum" "Mother darling", "Mommy", "MDS", "Mother". I go by many names. Moreglanny. Actually, it is more "MOREglanny" at the moment. I gather Missy's favourite colour is pink and her favourite number is 6. Well, that is what she told me emphatically yesterday.

Back to aging.....

It doesn't bother me. I am more than half way through my life, and there has been a lot packed into it so far. I wish sometimes that I could say that I have weathered the storms, and come out of those tempestuous seas and that now there is calm water ahead. It doesn't work quite like that. It would be nice though, wouldn't it?

Ah, musing. Time flies. Can we just slow it down a little? Please?

6 comments:

Sandra said...

I have wrinkles, I see them every day and the first time it actually really bothered me, I mean I'm about to turn 38 and I do see some especially around the eyes.

I even did a post a while ago about the lines on my face etc.

I think it just makes us who we are, it shows the journey we've been on and it's something to be proud of :)

As for the grey hairs, that's another story, I cover those every chance I can LOL

The Bookworm said...

The thing I love about being over 50 is having so many memories and so much to look back on. I'm with Sandra, though,when it comes to covering up the grey hairs!

Mary Lou said...

Happy Birthday on Sunday, Linds. My birthday is also on the 27th.
However, I am way ahead of you.
69 today and starting down the road to 70. Thank you for sharing your experiences insights into daily life. We women who travel this path are more alike than different. You help me realize that it isn't just me who feels and experience these things.

I hope you have a great day with your family.

Sincerely. Mary L. Middleton/Texas

Crystal said...

I tried letting my hair go natural this winter but I couldn't stand how old it made me look! And my experiment of growing it into a bog is coming to an end, after my sister told me this style ages me by 10 years. I had thought that but no one else was kind enough to tell me the truth! I am pretty much happy with this time in my life. With 7 grandchildren and 4 married children, I've accepted that I am not a young woman - and I'm happy with that!

The choir visit and all the excitement of that day must have been so exciting and so very special! And the singing - oh, I can only imagine how glorious that was! How great of you and Becky to make the dream come true - blogging is such an amazing way to enjoy people and new opportunities! And the wedding bunting looked just perfect, Linds! You had quite the busy weekend!!

Enjoy your flowers! I have a lavender Neptune rose that's just opened today and my pots of flowers are starting to leaf out. The red onions are poking through the ground - and we had frost on the grass clippings this morning! I'm still babying the tomatoes and praying that we have a long summer and fall. Happy last days of May to you! The sun will go down after 10 p.m. tonight :)

boysmum2 said...

One minute England is in a drout and now a heat wave, the weather will always surprise us.

Dawn said...

It is amazing how quickly it has gone from you sitting in the house freezing to now melting. Crazy! But your garden must be just heavenly to watch. Our flowers have been great this year - right now we're enjoying the iris every day, a different one popping out - but then you see that on FB each day, most likely.

I haven't written or read a blog post for two weeks - shameful.

As for aging - oh, my. My worst nightmare is seeing my reflection in my laptop screen - the jowls and neck wrinkles and double chin are just so magnified in that way. YUCK.

As for gray hair - I'm the eldest of 5 and have the least gray hair. They hate me for it. Brother Barry thinks I color my hair - I assure him that what he sees is what he gets - I am too lazy and too cheap to color my hair!