Category: October 2023

A woman and her goats try to rescue her husband

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/nyregion/goats-petting-woman-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5kw.Y6Tc.dwjrb4vTiH5E&smid=url-share

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I know it’s hard to stand by and watch people barely managing, but some of us would rather fail at home than be cared for in an institutional setting. When it’s my time to go, I’d rather die at home of dehydration than live for a few additional months, safely drugged and incoherent, languishing in a care facility.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Not been writing much lately

I know I haven’t been writing much, and I’m not sure why. I have enough time to write – in between all the stuff going on. And I have things to write about. Sometimes I even write to you in my head; bits of this story or that story.

I think the problem is the noise of our bathroom remodel. As I write this, my mind is being continually disrupted by the sound of a saw cutting tile. It runs for a bit and turns off for a bit. It’s random, and it’s all day long. There are other scraping, banging noises, but for the last couple of weeks it’s been mostly a tile saw. Before that it was other kinds of saws, and drywall guns and all kinds of random loud things.

Also whenever I try to get into an activity, it seems like I get interrupted. The workers don’t actually need me to answer questions very often. Only a few times a day. But inevitably they are looking for me when I’m in the shower, or trying to exercise, or trying to make a phone call, or trying to write. And sometimes their questions lead to panicked attempts to find out-of-stock edging tile, or a grout color that was suddenly discontinued halfway through our project. These unexpected mini-disasters can often take most of the rest of my day.

Eventually I found myself avoiding activities that I didn’t want interrupted. I didn’t realize I was doing this, but looking back, I think I have been. I’ve been doing lots of buying things on Amazon, but not a lot of anything that takes much thought.

I also seem to be gaining weight. I tend to gain weight when I’m bored or when I’m having trouble concentrating. Then I’ll lose weight when I have too much going on, because I don’t make time to eat. But lately I have had plenty of time, just no attention span!

Here, have a random Happy Autumn picture:

I’ll write more soon.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.