Mining Nuggets

No time to countdown! 2018

I didn't leave myself much time to write any more countdown pieces for Thanksgiving. And so, after just one blog post, and before I realized it, Thanksgiving arrived this morning.  I suppose I can be thankful that I have been so busy thus far not to have noticed that days had passed by quickly. Or I might be alarmed that time is moving so fast. I mean, just when I want it to slow down a bit. Lately, I want to cherish the moments. Life is shortening just as winter is upon us and days darken earlier than a few months ago. I love it, actually. Leafless trees and blackened barks in cloudy, cold mornings. They make me sigh deeply and relax. No need to rush around - instead, time to hunker down and keep warm with a good book and a bowl of hot vegetable soup. The type that is thick with zucchini, leek, lentils, onions, garlic, celery, green peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and anything else that beckons to me from the fridge.  Much like becoming older and heading into retirement. Holding still in the moment feels good to me. It is like letting out a long breath after holding it in to the count of ten during my breathing exercises. Indeed, it is like being released from the prisons in my mind: letting go of all those duties and anxieties I created for myself when I was younger, when I thought if I did not live up to whatever it was I was trying to live up to I might surely perish.

So here I am this Thanksgiving morning crispy cold outside, heading out for a walk with a friend, after feeding the cats and preparing the turkey to put into the oven later in the day, the yard all cleaned up after days of raking and pruning. It has been two weeks of work, conferencing, grading papers, and play with concerts of Zimbabwe singers, and coffee and dinner with friends, all leading up to this moment right here, right now.

And later today, the biggest treat of all: darling little Benya will be stopping by with his mother and father to share in the dinner I am preparing.

I mean, honestly. Who could ask for more?

A year ago at Mining Nuggets: Countdown to Thanksgiving, 2017 #2

Countdown to Thanksgiving, 2018

Thanksgiving is days away and it's time for my "countdown" to giving thanks. 

This morning I am  grateful to be alive.

I woke up in the middle of the night realizing that next year I will be 70 and retired. This is a formidable transition for me. Even though, to my core, I understand life's evolving developmental stages, I lay awake thinking that the end is near every moment of my life. I began to wonder if all my "affairs" are in order, and what would happen for the cats if I suddenly died. Needless to say it took awhile for me to return to sleep, and when I finally did, I had many vivid, nostalgic dreams conjuring up old friends I haven't seen in a long while.

On Saturday I gave a talk at our local synagogue where I discussed my latest book, Everyone Needs Attention: Helping Young Children Thrive, going beyond the book’s focus on the needs of children to engage everyone in an interactive discussion of our needs for attention across the age span, raising questions about how these needs may change and what we can do to satisfy them as we get older.  So aging and retirement is actively on my mind. Mind you, I am not feeling sad or anxious about this. Just looking at it from all angles:

Exploring, examining, confronting. 

And so, when I woke up early this morning I lay quietly before I rose up to give the cats their treats, make coffee, and gather up the last of my things to pack for my trip to Washington DC - to NAEYC - to give a three hour presentation, meet up with fantabulous colleagues, attend committee meetings, and sign books in the Exhibits Hall.

And I smiled to myself realizing that this morning, as my blogging countdown to Thanksgiving begins ... I am grateful to be alive!

A year ago at Mining Nuggets: Countdown to Thanksgiving, 2017