An Armenian Evening

 Armenia is a country in Western Asia and its flag is three stripes of red, blue and gold. They have had a tumultuous history and in 1991 they declared their independence. An interesting item is that they were the first nation to adopt Christianity in the years 40-60 when two of Jesus' apostles preached in the country. The pomegranate and the apricot are the nation's fruit.

A group of young Armenians are on tour in the United States and the Rotary Club sponsored them at the MAC in Westminster. Around one hundred people enjoyed the nine young dancers, a singer, and a 15-year-old who played a large, triangular string instrument called a Qanun.

When I saw the dancers, I said, "Are there any ugly people in Armenia?" The two male dancers are energetic, and the girls dance slowly and gracefully. They reminded me of ballerinas when they moved across the stage. Some Armenians in the crowd moved and clapped in time to the music and before long, everyone was clapping along!

I was able to get a picture with three of the dancers and I told them how much I had enjoyed their performance. They said, "thank you" and I wondered if they understood what I had said because they may not speak English. My friend, who is Armenian, and I saw another person that had worked with us at The Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver. 

What a different and interesting evening and I am so glad I attended the fund raiser for the Armenian group. The Rotary Club will bring students to the United States and pay for their education here but if we want to get an education and have the Rotary pay for us, we have to go to school overseas!

The evening ended with audience participation by going up to the stage and learning some of the dance steps. It was fun to watch what had looked easy to see non-Armenians trying to follow the teacher's steps! A few Armenians picked up the steps and they also made it look easy!

I also found out that Kim Kardashian, Cher, Andre Agassi and William Saroyan are few of well-known Armenians.

                                                      "Wealth can give legs to the cripple,

beauty to the ugly.

and sympathy to tears."

Armenian Proverb

My Gym

 Walking over a mile works for me at my gym. Every time I do my walking costs me at a minimum over $50. There have been times my walk has reached $200! I know you are asking why would I belong to such an expensive gym.   Well, it's not really a gym but a Costco store! I find it easy to rack up my miles while wandering through the store. There is always much to see or taste.  

Yesterday I decided to walk through the store, get some miles, but not buy anything. I picked up a buggy just for balance and began my trek through the store. For the first ten minutes I talked myself out of certain items that I thought I needed but in reality, I did not need!

Then I saw a large bag of pistachios. I was out of them and thought what the heck, so I threw them into the buggy. Just like an alcoholic, once I put the one item in it was not difficult to find other things I had to have. When I checked out, the bill came to $89 but I did clock almost two miles of walking!

"The odds of going to the store

for a loaf of bread are three

billion to one!"

Erma Bombeck

God Controls Time

Have you ever wondered about time? One thing that makes me wonder about time is why sometimes it goes by fast and other times it seems to drag on forever! I can remember when I worked and there would be two hours before five when I would be able to leave work. After what seemed like I had worked the two hours, I would look at the clock and fifteen minutes had gone by. Other times, when I had a deadline to meet by five, the time flew by and it would be five-fifteen by the time I finished.

Some mornings, as I rush to make it to an appointment, I know I will be late while other times I have time to spare in the same amount of time. Just this morning I had to be at a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m. I was on the computer when I noticed it was almost 10:15 a.m.  Since I was still in my pajamas, I needed to shower and get ready which usually takes at least half an hour. I knew I was cutting it close, and I would probably be late. I opened the door and my driveway was covered in snow, so I put on my boots and went out to shovel the driveway and walks.  I figured that took about half an hour, I rushed back in, jumped in the shower, got dressed, ate a quick breakfast, put hearing aids in, brushed my hair and looked at the time....how could it only be 10:40?  I had been so sure I would be late because there was a lot to do before I could leave to church. Some mornings I make every traffic light but this morning I missed most of them, yet I arrived on time. Go figure. I thanked God for stopping time for me.

There are other times when time seems more realistic and no matter how much I rush, the time flies by making me late to my date. When I decide to work on a jig saw puzzle on the computer, two hours can whiz by, and I think I have only been on the computer for about twenty minutes. Makes me wonder about time and that it does not seem to be flow the same all the time!

"The future is something 

which everyone reaches 

at sixty minutes an hour, 

whatever he does, whoever he is."

C.S. Lewis

A Great Entertainer

 Young at Heart luncheon on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, was a huge success because the food was good, conversations were the best, and the entertainment was superb! 

Larry O'Connor played the keyboard and knew many songs that the audience could join in and sing along! He began with music from the 30's and moved up until he was in the 90's. He is a stout man, sparse grey hair pulled back in a short ponytail, white beard, glasses and a wonderful smile. Looking at him one would never know the tremendous talent he possesses. On the Internet I found, "Professional singing piano bar entertainer from Chicago, now retired in Denver." 

The group fell in love with his personality and the variety of songs he knew. I will never know how he can remember the words and the music. I did see a small electronic device that may have had the words, but it was still amazing because I never saw him reading anything! As I looked around the room, the majority of people were singing along with him! Neil Diamond, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, show tunes and the Everly Brothers were brought to mind with his singing! But, there were many, many more lively tunes!

What I heard more than once by the people in the group was, "He is great, let's have him come back to entertain us!"

"Think of the party you know

you need in 2023 to snap your

friends out of the Covid blahs!"

Larry O'Connor

Baker's Dozen

I belong to a group of women from Spirit of Christ Catholic Community in Arvada, Colorado called The Baker's Dozen. There are thirteen members and monthly a different restaurant is picked. The group was formed many years before I joined the parish and what I hear is that in the beginning they wore tall baker's hats.  I am glad we no longer wear those hats, but monthly going out continues! Since I joined the group, we have eaten Italian, Mexican, Asian, American and German foods. 

Today eleven people celebrated the first lunch of 2023 at Great Scott's Eatery because two of the group were missing. It is a place that looks like it belongs in the 50's. It is a diner-like restaurant with a large menu. At the entrance is a couch that looks like a 50's Chevrolet Belaire car and on the walls are huge pictures of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart plus other artists.

Every month we celebrate that month's birthday (s) and we had three birthdays in January. Usually, the restaurant treats the birthday people but if not our donation of $1.00 every two months covers the birthday dessert. Three large slices of delicious chocolate cake were placed on the table and then passed around so everyone could partake of the birthday cake!

Everyone enjoyed their lunch, felt that the prices were reasonable, and the servers were top notch! Next month is my turn to pick a place so I will need to find a place that has tasty food!

"Good food warms the heart

and feeds the soul."

Adrienne Posey

Pain in my Side

One can be merrily living one's life and out of nowhere something happens. Yesterday a friend and I went to visit a mutual friend who was recuperating from an illness. As my friend got into my car, she placed a box containing food behind the passenger seat. The seat was pushed back to give her more room and the box was now jammed between the back seat and the front seat. When we arrived at the home of the friend that we were visiting, the box could not be taken out. I knew I had to move the passenger seat forward, so I leaned sideways and attempted to pull the handle below the seat. Suddenly a sharp pain hit me in my side.  It was so painful I could barely breathe. I straightened up and the pain dulled but it was still there. The soreness was about where my ribs are located.

My friend managed to move the seat forward and got the box out. We enjoyed eating a chicken salad croissant sandwich and potato soup. Dessert was a key lime cheesecake. What a lovely lunch as my three friends and I laughed, talked and took pictures.  Gifts were exchanged because due to my friend's illness she still had our presents. I enjoyed being with my friends but the soreness in my side worried me. Did I pull a muscle, or did I crack a rib? 

That night I was surprised how well I slept with no pain. The good thing is that walking or sitting I have no soreness in my side. The following day, at my book club meeting, I mentioned the pain to those in attendance. Two ladies had been nurses in their past and they agreed it sounded like a pulled muscle. Their advice was to ice the area and take a pain killer. I will follow their suggestions, but I may need to have a doctor look at my side if it continues bothering me.

It's strange that no matter how careful you think you are, there is always something that can go wrong!

"What doesn't kill us

makes us stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche

A Jinxed T-Shirt

 On my visit to Bucerias, Mexico in 2022, a friend loved my Young at Heart T-Shirt and I liked her Polilla (also a senior's group) T-shirt. We talked about trading shirts but never did. On October 2nd I received a text from her telling me she had mailed me a pink t-shirt of her group of Guadalajara. Knowing it takes a long time to receive anything from Mexico, I patiently waited for it to arrive.

She inquired if I had received it toward the end of November, and I told her I had not received it. On December 10, 2022, I blogged Fooled Again, about the missing t-shirt and it can be read to see my headaches about trying to recover it from the post office. My friend and I figured the t-shirt was lost and gave up trying to find it. But, on January 2nd, 2023, I received a text that the shirt had been returned to her and she was resending it by UPS, and I should get it within four days.

True to their word, UPS attempted to deliver the package on January 4 but I was not home, and a signature was needed so they left a note telling me they were sending it to a secure place where I could pick it up. The secure place was Michael's on 52nd and this morning, January 7, I went to pick it up.

They had nothing in my name! Three different clerks began searching for the package by checking if it was in the early morning delivery and hadn't made it to the place where it could be picked up. It was not in the early delivery. Calls were made by two different clerks as they tried to find the location of the package. I wandered through the store and looked at all the sales items, some marked 70% off. A clerk would find me and report that there was no news. After one hour they took down my name and phone number and told me they would call me when it arrived at the store. Now I will wait again but I firmly believe that the package is jinxed or cursed and that I will never see the t-shirt!

At 3:30 in the afternoon, I decided to call Michael's and was told the package had arrived. I drove to get it and was excited to see my t-shirt. It was securely packed in three taped packages that trying to get into the last package took about forty minutes. I love the shirt and I took a selfie to send the picture to my friend to let her know that FINALLY the shirt had arrived!

On the back is written "The excitement and privilege of living fully." The front has "The Club of the bookworm."

Now to wait for summer so I can wear by beautiful, pink t-shirt that I was beginning to wonder if it would ever arrive!

"Gracias a mi amiga de Guadalajara que la conosco por 73 anos!"

A Trigger

 On January 2, 2023, I was watching the Rose Bowl Parade and Mario Lopez, one of the emcees, said, (paraphrasing) "The representation of a novel named Ramona is coming by and the actors are in the outfits of 1824 the era when the story was written. It is Romeo and Juliet in the wild west!" That worked as a trigger to open a dam of memories to come pouring out of my mind.

My mother's name was Ramona and she had told me a story about a Spanish Senorita who fell in love with an Indian named Alejandro. In those days there was no mixing of blood so the love affair could not flourish. That is all I remember other than the description of the Indian made him sound tall, dark and handsome.  Years later I checked out the book to read it and there was a drawing of Alejandro as a short, chubby man and not at all handsome! 

I remember nothing of the story other than what I have mentioned so I ordered the book to read on my Kindle. I am finding the novel to be interesting about how California was part of Mexico, how government took over a lot of the land from Spanish landowners, how Indians were treated, and about the owner of an Hacienda who calls the government thieves and crooks. And that is only the first few pages, yet my interest is piqued. 

The story was written in 1923 but as I read, I find it timely. The ins and outs of relationships, love and hate, racism, religion, workings of a sheep farm, honesty, and cruelty all combined into an interesting story. The Indian is Alessandro, and he is described as a tall, good-looking man.  The story is written in the character's minds so only the reader knows what is going on. The characters do not have a clue, even though they suspect certain things.

The plot thickens! I have read 52% and can't even guess which way the story is going to end. I know how I want it to end, but I will continue reading to see whether I am right! My thought was to read until I finished the story but at 82% my Kindle died! Now I will have to wait until the Kindle is recharged to see how the story turns out! Love the story and not at all how I remembered it!

I have finished the story and even though it ends well the last few chapters were difficult to understand because the author chose to use a Tennesse dialect, and it was hard trying to figure what was being said. When one character speaks about the way the white people treat the Indians, I think it should have been stated without the dialect because what the character was saying, I felt, was important. I spent my time trying to figure what was being said instead of what she was saying!

Who would have guessed that Rose Bowl Parade participants would have triggered the story of Ramona and four days later I had read and enjoyed the story!

"The wild mustard in Southern California,

is like that spoken in the New Testament....

Its gold is as distinct to the eye,

as the nugget is in the pocket."

Helen Hunt Jackson

Flowers Galore

I have been to the Rose Bowl parade twice and loved seeing the many colorful floats. It amazed me then to see how all the floats were decorated with organic plants, seeds and flowers. This year I watched the parade from my front room. Not quite the same thing as being in Pasadena, but still pretty spectacular. It was hard to believe that one band had 158 members and a float could be 153 feet long! Not only were the flowers on the floats beautiful but many of the animals, like giraffes, bears, monkeys, birds. etc. were animated making the float extra special!

Some of my favorite floats were: The Chinese Dragon, Trader Joe's, Aids Foundation, the Queen and her ladies in waiting as they all waved as if they were washing windows in slow motion! There were two bee floats and a paddle Showboat that looked as if it could have been floating down the Mississippi river. Every float amazed me, and one used 1000 potatoes to make a wall! The bands were great to hear and there were twenty-three bands with some from Australia, Mexico, China, Italy and many from the United States. Uniforms looked neat and brand new and how the bands can play an instrument and keep perfect timing as they march is remarkable! What practicing they must do because I did not see anyone miss a step. I liked the Vera Cruz, Mexico uniforms in black and gold Mariachi outfits.

Dancers from Mexico danced along the route, and I wondered if they would dance for the five-mile parade. Charros, (Mexican Cowboys) had outfits made especially for the Charro and all had expensive sombreros! Their horses were beautiful as they seem to prance along to the music.  The Clydesdales, the usual Budweiser ones, passed by and then eight black Clydesdales pulled a float and looked impressive. The black Persian horses seemed to glow, and Palominos were beautiful as they carried their costumed riders. The riders I liked were the ones dressed as characters of Game of Thornes or House of Dragons.

Growing up my mother told me a story about Ramona and Alejandro. Since that was my mother's name, my guess is she liked the story because it bore her name. In the parade the riders were dressed in 1884 costumes. It's a love story and the announcer said, "It's Romeo and Juliet in the Wild West." I do remember she was Spanish, and he was Native American and, in those times, falling in love was not accepted between the two. I may have read the story but remember very little of it so now I will need to get the book to refresh my memory. I do remember that when I played house growing up, my husband was always Alejandro!

Two hours later the parade ended and I was happy I had watched it. My brain now had flowers floating around in my head, but I do wonder what happens to the flowers when the floats are dismantled. 

"I love parades

and the Rose Bowl Parade

 is my favorite!"

E. Moscoso

Neighborhood Night Walks

Sometimes, at night, I would join my daughter as she walked Finn, the family dog. Many homes were decorated with Christmas lights and each time we would take a different route to see more lights. The neighborhoods were very festive.  I saw green Gringes, Micky Mouse, Gingerbread Men, Christmas trees, Stars, Arches, Santa Claus, Snowmen, but not many Nativities. 

 

I couldn't help but think that Christmas was when baby Jesus was born but none of the decorations reflected His birth. My daughter took me to one Nativity about two blocks from the house. The other large one I saw was in front of the church. A few days later, while walking Finn, I did see a few more small Mangers with Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

"Christmas can be celebrated in the school room

with pine, tinsels and reindeer, but there is no 

mention of the man whose birthday is being 

celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would

respond if a student asked why it is called Christmas"

Ronald Reagan

Warm to Cold

In California there are blossoms blooming everywhere regardless of the time of year. I noticed that people walk their dogs daily in the mild temperature. I liked the lemon and mandarin trees in my family's yard. They have a basket set near the sidewalk and daily they place oranges or lemons for people passing. I noticed that it does not take long for the basket to be emptied. Then, more fruit is placed in the basket for people to take.

After a few days in California, I returned to Colorado to freezing weather and lots of snow! What a difference in temperature between the two states! I saw people walking their dogs, but the dogs and people were all bundled from head to toe! The older I get, the less I like the cold.

"Wherever you go,

no matter what the

weather, always 

bring your own sunshine."

From the Internet