Oh my, what time of the year is it? I am beginning to see red heart decorations everywhere I go. It’s got the skeletons all kinds of excited. They have started trying on costumes to decide what they want to wear when I decorate my balcony for Valentine’s Day. It’s so much fun to watch their excitement.
I understand that there are other parts to February that some folks seem to enjoy. There is Ground Hog Day, which seems to be very important in the northern parts of this country. Here in Houston, We are enjoying winter weather with the temperatures resting around 40 to 45 degrees. It’s been rainy and grey, but since I spend most of my time writing stories about ghosts and grim reapers, the weather seems perfect to me. Some parts of Texas are getting ice and snow, but so far the Texas power grid is holding up.
There are two other February holidays that I don’t celebrate. The first one is the Super Bowl. Since I am not a football fan, all I know is that this is a big game with a big half-time show and lots of commercials. Really, that’s all I know. One of the teams will win and everyone will have a party. Then there’s also Mardi Gras. This is another occasion that I know little about except it’s very big in New Orleans and Galveston. There are parades and lots of people party and throw beads at each other. So far the skeletons have not shown an interest in either of these two occasions. I have never caught them tossing a football back and forth; nor have they ever expressed an interest in throwing beads at any of my neighbors.
What I have been spending a lot of time with is my health. A couple of months ago I fell several times. I checked with a neurologist who suggested that I stop doing that and sent me to physical therapy. I also got a lot of tests like MRI’s and an EMG. If you’ve never had an EMG it’s the next best thing to being electrocuted. I still don’t know what made me fall, but I have a long list of things that are not wrong with me. I haven’t had any strokes recently, I don’t have a brain tumor and I don’t have neuropathy. Good for me. Physical therapy is working and I have been using a cane. The fun part is using a cane. I already have one with the head of a skeleton on it. People are nicer to you when you walk with a cane. That alone is reason enough to keep using it. Plus I plan to make it a grand fashion statement.
Picture, if you will, an old broad walking down the street with flowing white hair going out in all directions, dressed primarily in black and using a cane with the head of a skeleton for a handle. Sounds like fun to me and the skeletons and skulls inspire my work.
I saw this picture of Patti Smith on the Art Issue of Harper’s Bazaar and immediately felt inspired. While I don’t think she uses a cane, she has the rest of the look down. In this publication she is quoted as saying:
“I’ve survived [because] I want to live. Even in our troubled world. Even with all the greed and stupidity and terrible things that we’re all facing…I want to be alive. I want to breathe. I want to do my work.”
I have never had any desire to grow old gracefully and I’m certainly not going to start now. With role models like Patti Smith, I know which roads to choose in my journey.
Until next time.….…
I knew you were cool. How could you not be, with the Goddess Patti Smith as a role model!?!
Thanks Gretchen. There are several of us independent, creative and rebellious women out there. We may have grey hair now, but we still have a lot of spirit and spunk!