Guest Haiku

For the first time, 50+ has a guest poet. Today's haiku is by Bill Merrill, friend and book lover extraordinaire. Thanks, Bill!

Light paws move in sleep

Daydreams of phantom squirrels

The unending chase

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Cha-ching!

Time to update you on the Runaway Fund. Long-time readers know that a big part of my 50+ journey involves travel. So I opened a separate savings account with bits of "found" money, and earmarked it for fun new experiences only.


Since my last update, I have added $986, pushing the fund past $2,700. It would have been more, but somehow during downsizing, some of my "found" money was "lost" to plumbers, electricians, landscapers, painters, handymen--basically everybody and his dog.

Field near my new downsized digs

But thanks to friends who kindly used me as a referral for their fabulous Overseas Adventure Travel vacation to Australia this spring, the Runaway Fund got a $400 boost. Thanks, you guys.


Then a big chunk came when United Health Care unexpectedly refunded $421 of my 2011 premiums, courtesy of a provision in The Affordable Health Care Act. Thanks, Obamacare.


Another chunk came from you. Look to the right of the photo and you'll see an Amazon search box. If you click on that search box, you will be directed seamlessly to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase, 50+ gets a commission (generally 4-6%).  Since the blog began last August, 50+ has earned $165 as a result of your Amazon purchases. Thank you!  


So if you, or your friends, or your book club or your business ever buy from Amazon.com, I'd be thrilled if you did it through 50+.  Think of it this way--it costs you nothing, and it will help send me who-knows-where (but I'm thinking maybe Nepal). Anybody want to come along?


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Sunday Haiku XXIV

 Summer birds commune

 in warm treetops, but cross cool

autumn skies alone

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WTF, Colorado?

Because English is my first language, I  have to concede that the Second Amendment does indeed protect Americans' right to own guns, even though I often don't like the grisly fruit of that right.


But, y'know, just because something is constitutional doesn't mean that it is a good idea.  Blacks being considered 3/5 of a person was once constitutional, too. So was a woman's ineligibility to vote. 


I recognize fears of government tyranny, and the need many feel to be armed in order to protect their lives and families. Those aren't crazy ideas, and it doesn't advance the dialogue to paint them as such.


But I also recognize the heartbreak and waste caused by the far more common and far less noble uses of the very arms our constitution protects.


Take a deep breath, everyone. Maybe the best we can hope for is that, before everyone seizes on the latest mass shooting atrocity as an excuse to begin bleating the same arguments we always trot out on these occasions, is that we pause and admit this: it's complicated.


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How Can it be July Already?

Two really patient and loyal readers reminded me (again) today that it has been a long, long, LONG time since my last post. While my general tendency towards laziness and an exceptional capacity for procrastination are mostly to blame, I've also been a little busy, what with selling my house and most of my stuff and all. So in case anyone other than Bill, Dena and my mother is looking for an update, here is where I've landed after shedding about three months and 3,000 square feet. Pretty sweet.

Goodbye, suburban homeowner and hello, apartment dweller. It's only been a few months, but so far, I'm loving it. On to the next adventure, I guess.

And by the time you read this, one wonderful boy will turn 20, and I will no longer be a mom of teenagers! Happy Birthday, Vic.

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