Baseball, a strawberry festival, and a summer concert

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

BASEBALL, A STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL,

AND A SUMMER CONCERT

Oh June, where did you go?

I don’t remember the days passing by…

When did they?

     Journaling: a writing genre that I am practicing a lot lately.  This is because life has overtaken me, and I am not producing much original work. Several pieces are in progress, but none is finished. Time is slipping under the door, disappearing before my eyes.

     Our very busy summer weekend began Thursday morning, June 25, when two United Way staff members visited the Holland’s home in Laurel Mountain Borough. It was wonderfully relaxing, sitting on our patio in the park-like setting, snacking on fruit and drinking coffee. It was an opportunity for my husband, Monte, and I, to learn

June celebrations: Part 2

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

JUNE CELEBRATIONS: Part 2

 

      June 17 is the day for vegetarians to celebrate: Fresh Veggies Day and Eat Your Vegetables Day, scheduled in the middle of National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. Unfortunately, our fresh veggies in the garden are not ready yet. My husband is a vegetarian, and I am next door to being one (I give in to my craving for a good steak periodically!). We do have fresh lettuce, Swiss chard and collards. The Asparagus season is past, and the strawberry season is disappearing rapidly. Fresh, home-grown or locally farm grown veggies are the best. Eat them and be healthy! To read a vegetable poem, click on WATCHING CORN GROW

      June 17, World Juggler’s Day, also brings to mind a good friend, Phredfred the

A Father-Daughter reunion after 30 years

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

A FATHER-DAUGHTER REUNION AFTER 30 YEARS

    On this Father’s Day, 2009, I decided to review some letters I received from my father and to journal the first of our two reunions.

     I wear my Cornell University jacket and cap very proudly and very humbly.

     And not, in the least bit, deceitfully.

     No, I did not attend or graduate from Cornell University, I tell people who want to know. However, I did attend “Cornell University”—the “Cornell University of

Lizzie Borden Anniversary

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

LIZZIE BORDEN ANNIVERSARY

Today marks the anniversary of the date in 1893 that Lizzie Borden was declared innocent of the murder of her stepmother and father. To read about Lizzie Borden and to view pictures of the house where the murders occurred, click on LIZZIE BORDEN—A REENACTMENT

Then, read about the hanging of Thomas Cornell Jr., accused—rightly or wrongly—of killing his mother, Rebecca Cornell, in 1673. At the very least, the Portsmouth, Rhode Islanc, family was dysfunctional and contained elder abuse. Rumor has it that this is the only court case in the United States that was decided on the testimony of  a GHOST! Rebecca and her husband Thomas, and Thomas Jr., were ancestors of Lizzie Borden—and the author of this post. To read their story click on KILLED STRANGELY: A NEW ENGLAND MURDER STORY

MORE NEW ENGLAND STORIES:

IN NEW ENGLAND, HISTORY CONFLICTS WITH PROGRESS

Moose, Goose, Deer

The Ovens (On Mt. Desert Island, Maine)

OH, TO CLIMB SCHOODIC MOUNTAIN!

IN SEARCH OF THE ARABELLA: A Story of Two Boats

IS THIS “CHEERS?”

LOBSTER-TALES

Health care reform & Silver Sneakers

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

HEALTH CARE REFORM & SILVER SNEAKERS

A month ago I joined the Silver Sneakers program at the Ligonier (PA) YMCA. Since participating, I can feel the positive physical effects. Since national health care discussions place this Medicare Advantage program in jeopardy, Silver Sneakers members were asked to write a letter explaining why this program should not be eliminated to reduce governmental health care costs. Below is my letter. Please write one of your own and send it to your legislators.

A nation, a community, a family, are only as healthy as its people.

Thus, quality health care, including preventive and rehabilitative care, should be a major priority. Yet, escalating health care costs are threatening the health of the American people.

Persons who knowingly promote their ill-health should be required to take responsibility for the consequences. Conversely, persons who take responsibility to maintain/regain/improve their health, thereby decreasing the need for medical care, should not be penalized.

The Medicare Advantage funding of the Silver Sneakers health maintainance/rehabilitative exercise program, geared towards improving/developing the health of America’s senior citizens, is an example of preventative medicine.

Health care reform discussions include the Silver Sneakers program. This issue is likely to be part of the health care reform bill being drafted this summer. And it is likely the discussions and results of the discussions will be

A DAY IN MY LIFE: Journaling on June 12, 2009

     Tonight, by typing directly into the post box rather than onto a word document (followed by cut and paste),  I’m doing something different. In addition, I am doing a distinctly journal post. This is not my intent on my writing blog. So be it. Bear with me.

     As I type, I can hear my husband and a family friend, Lois, screaming in the background. They are watching the third period of the seventh game in the Pittsburgh-Detroit hockey playoffs—for the Stanley Cup. It is the seventh game of the series, and each team has won three games. At this time, the Pittsburgh Penguins are ahead, 2-0.

     Since it is my husband’s seventy-first birthday, it would be nice if the Penguins win.

     While they watch, I will

Fitness Program Update: Week 4

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

FITNESS PROGRAM UPDATE:

WEEK 4

I am sharing my personal fitness attempts with my loyal readers. To read previous segments, click on: Spring has sprung…with yard work and fitness workouts & Exercise/Fitness Program Landmark

     Two days, during the first week in June, I swam a mile. And two days I swam three-quarters of a mile. (to view photos, click on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3612835506/ & http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3612835176/  &  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3612834718/in/photostream/  &  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3612019637/in/photostream/ )

     On Thursday, May 28, I also did a fifteen-minute mile on the treadmill, spent six minutes on the elliptical machine, and did an incomplete regimen on the fitness machines. I did not take a nap that afternoon.

     Exercise is supposed to make you sleep. Right? Then why, that night, when I was so very tired that I went to bed at ten o’clock, was I still awake at three a.m.? I only slept

June Celebrations: Part 1

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

JUNE CELEBRATIONS: Part I

      Get ready for battle! The enemy is the nasty fly! June is National Fight the Filthy Fly Month, and the war continues from last year. However, there are those who swear that the battle against the Maine black bugs is more of a priority! (read BLACK FLIES AND OTHER INSECTS: Then and Now) Something easier to handle is National Adopt a Cat Month. Every cat has a right to a good home. To read about cat’s other rights, read (WHAT RIGHTS DO CATS HAVE, I ASK  & FERAL BIRDS: THE LATEST COMMUNITY HAZARD).

     June is also Dairy Month, Turkey Lovers Month, and National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. Think healthy: Milk/cheese is loaded with calcium, but if it’s not low-fat, you are at risk of ingesting more bad-fats than good fats. If you have to eat meat, turkey is far more acceptable than red-meats. However, I am wondering about JUNE being

Violet infestation? Why complain?

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

VIOLET INFESTATION? WHY COMPLAIN?

      As I sat on my comfortable couch this winter, watching the snow drift with the winds and the birds fly to and from the window bird feeder, I was invited to contemplate on the number of blades of grass that would be on my lawn come summer. This invitation, in a Vital Stats column, Growth Industry, (the May 2003 Pittsburgh Magazine), states that the “Number of blades of grass on the Cathedral of Learning lawn” is 278,784,000.

     Naturally, my mind wonders about my lawn—and I wonder how I could ever count the blades of grass on it. I recollect how I once did red blood cell counts (I once worked as a hematology technician doing differential counts under a microscope). A section of blood, smeared on a slide and stained, is counted, and the total is projected from that count. Ah, so I could take a patch of lawn, say three inches square, and count the blades of grass in it. There are sixteen of these squares in