A dear equestrian friend who owned the stable in town died this week. We shared many a days, walking, trotting and cantering through life together. He had a sign above his desk that proclaimed in Latin, “Culpa equestribus non equis,” loosely translated as “It’s always the rider’s fault, never the horse. He was one more piece of my history taken away and lost too soon this year. In an effort to make some sense of it all- just to get through today, I am adopting a Tempus fugit (time flies) attitude. Easier said than done-perhaps. I will make the most of my bran muffin, sip the coffee as if it were going out of style and enjoy every moment of Jodi’s Gym while watching a piece of my heart bounce around the mat. Perhaps going back to the roots of Latin and being reminded to carpe diem -(seize the day)- is sicut enim medicus (just what the doctor ordered.)Make it a good one!

Looking for someone to go back in time with. The days when no one In your immediate family got Cancer. The days when “hide and go seek” meant fumbling your way onto the floor of a shoe clad closet. Remember when Hostess and Sara Lee were your go to tarte tartin? Or perhaps the simpler times where a doctors appointment consisted of merely a pricked finger and a height check. No ominous machines in site. How bout when loss applied to a Spaulding ball under a parked car? What happened to only two apps. on the cell phone, Date and Time and much longer battery life. How bout before you couldn’t get into trouble sending a text to the wrong person? Remember when call waiting was a daily rush. Actually the simple act of communicating without thumbs. So on just one of these “rainy days” let’s treadmill our way to coming out when you hear the words ” I found you,” or “tag your it.” We will wait to hear the real story about how United Airlines banned women from wearing leggings on flights. So for today let’s get out of our comfort zone. Mix a little nostalgia and know that somewhere mid-day the sun will come out and we won’t have to wait for a better tomorrow. 

In addition to “The Julia’s” one of my greatest take away treasures from Junior High is Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I own an old copy and refer to the story with euphoric recall from time to time. In Cliff’s note fashion -Mr. Darcy was enamored by Elizabeth Bennet, the novels protagonist. He portrayed the romantic hero. He was aloof and rich and couldn’t be bothered with anyone who wasn’t. Ultimately as the story unfurls we learn he really was compassionate and a “benevolent” despot. He wins Elizabeth’s admiration and her hand, as he proved to be the most kind hearted man she ever met. Non-sequitur admirer’s listen up.

On this day of extreme importance where the House of Representatives has our “life” in their hands all the “nasty” despotic type Mr. Darcy’s are brought too close to mind. Only this time -He -“ain’t misbehaving.” What we see is what we got.

Abe Lincoln and I quote “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character give him power.” 

 -As my daily “habits” began I read The Skimm early this morning. There was a follow up to a New York Times article I read a few weeks back in the Sunday Style section another “habit” -It was written by a young woman named Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She was terminally ill and wrote her modern love story “You May Want to Marry My Husband.” She extolled his virtues and told about their love together. She wrote it as an obit to herself. It read like an ad for a singles website that would be flooded with followers. An abbreviated life, albeit lucky in love.

There are so many cliches galore about hanging with people who value you and bring you joy-and in turn staying away from people who set fires and have mastered the art of playing the burn victim. Make a “habit”of choosing the people who cover your back as you traverse through curves in your terrain. Stay very close to “side of the road people,” you know the ones who pull over to text you and let you know that they put an extra leaf in the table, called for rental chairs and are including the people with no where to go for Passover. You never know when you will fall upon your greatest lessons- perhaps from a stranger- RIP- Amy Krouse Rosenthal. 

I’m sorry you have such difficulty looking away from your difficulties when another’s difficulty is too difficult to bear alone.

This is a repost from 4 years ago. Everything old is new again. 
Blusterous beginnings , slow starts become the back drop to my new endeavor. My challenge is not allowing a chance mishap from becoming the pinion to my sails. With first day of school anticipation I enter my new life in a winter wonderland. Is it possible I’ll drag my old set of behaviors and guard my feelings with ironclad fists into this new arena? -yes it’s possible. With knowledge that the luxury of time is no longer my leading lady, it’s probable I’ll dance my way in. Old habits die hard even when Father Time is blinking at you. So I pick up where I started off and I “get busy.” I unwrap my new garb, call in some familiar faces and attempt, once again, to settle in.
The “will they like me,” will I get invited backs,” are part of my human mind set. Only now the “do I really cares,” and “how much does it matters” diffuse the intensity of my concerns. 
Enter laughing- as I layer up this experience with all that came before. I add this as one more activity, another game, a facsimile of my “real” life. But oh wait – this is my “real life”- for today, for now. So I take off the new labels from things I have waited to wear, I polish my new found confidence (a welcomed by product of my maturity) and I blow couture kisses at my day ahead. 

To help push over the decision that had boulders in the way. When life throws you concrete (evidence) you tap into your extreme panoply of musical lyrics, call in Cole Porter’s phrasing and hit it with, “Why the G-d’s above me who must be in the know.” Then we move over to Frankie cause “Didn’t We?- This time we almost sang a song in tune and this time we almost made it to the moon. Didn’t we almost make it this time?”We knew that “gray sky’s were gonna clear up, so we put on a happy face went to the Flea market for canasta cards and to The Boys for honeybell oranges. 

So once again as in life on life terms, we’ll brush off the clouds and cheer up, tap into Martha and the Vandellas strong- cause “All we need is music, sweet music. There’ll be music everywhere. There’ll be swinging and swaying and records playing and Dancing in the street. It might not be “On the street where you live,” – but hey with discretion and intuition we may just see our yellow brick road may be gold, may be blue. We still got game.