Blueberry Skies- #SkywatchFriday

August is here in upstate New York.  And, it's blueberry season.

Many mornings, we have fog at this time of year.  This photo was taken Saturday, along I-88.  We were on our way to pick blueberries and go to a local festival at a used bookstore in a small upstate town.

Looks pretty grim, doesn't it.

But later in the morning, this was the sky while we were picking blueberries.  So blue.

Join other bloggers at #SkywatchFriday.  It's easy - just post your picture of the sky and link back to the Skywatch website.  Please be sure to give some love to the bloggers at the end of the linky (those who posted last), while you are at it.

Happy Friday!

Flowers In a Tree - #ThursdayTreeLove

On the West Side of Binghamton, I found petunias growing in a crevice of a tree while exercise walking.

What a wonderful place to find a bouquet of flowers.  What may have started out as an injury to a tree has been turned into a container of beauty.

Our recent days have become so stressful.  Breathe, inhale, exhale, and enjoy some flowers.

Happy Thursday!

Join Parul at the blog Happiness and Food and other bloggers in a meme called Thursday Tree Love.  Although the meme seems to be on hiatus this week, share some tree love today.

Falling Wednesday - Getting Up Again

I first published this post in 2016, and am repeating it as part of my summer "Falling Wednesday" series.

One of the most important things to know, if you are susceptible to falling, is how to get up again.

Lying on the floor for just a few hours can be deadly, we were taught in the falls prevention classes I took in 2015 where I live near Binghamton, New York.

To be blunt, the longer you are on the floor or ground after a fall, the less likely it is that you will return to living independently.

In 2015, I participated in a falls prevention class called Stepping On.  It was a lot more than just falls prevention, and was well worth my time.

In one "Stepping On" class, two physical therapists came, and showed us exercises to do to make ourselves stronger and less prone to falling.  They also showed us what to do if we fell.

I've been in that situation more than once.  And perhaps you've been, too.  I've been fortunate - so far either I was with someone or was able to get up on my own.

What I like about this video is that it teaches you what to do if you fall at home.  By using various objects in the typical home, this physical therapist is able to improvise and her household tools help her get up.

Towards the end of the video, she briefly explains a couple of things a senior could do if he or she was injured in the fall.  The key is to try to get up safely, or to a phone, or to a door, to call for help.

I also note that more than one of my falls were outdoors, and several people in my class were injured while walking dogs, so this video does not cover all situations.  But it is still well worth watching.

Learning to recover from a fall is NOT a do it yourself project and we only received a general demonstration.  Your particular circumstances should be evaluated by a physical therapist or other professional.  Experts suggests practicing what to do after a fall on a regular basis.

However painful to think of, the topic of what to do if you do fall is something I believe the falls prevention classes need to spend more time on.  It's great to spend a lot of time on how to prevent a fall.  But, if you fall again, it is even more urgent that you can get up by yourself, especially if you live alone.

Because I was fortunate. 

One day, we will all face this element of aging.

It's Still Summer

It's not fall yet where I live in upstate New York.   Yet, the stores insist that it is.

They are selling Halloween (October 31) candy.  Pumpkin spice snacks.  Mums (a fall flower).  Scarecrow decorations for the lawn. The parade of goods screams "autumn".

I refuse to give in.

I will turn to my summer flowers.

Flowers, save me from autumn!

Black eyed Susans from the Vestal Rail Trail.

One of my dahlias,

My lobelia.

Some of my gladiolus.

Dianthus on the West Side of Binghamton, New York.

And finally, a Rose of Sharon.

I refuse to give in to the onslaught of fall merchandising.  But the weather seems to be listening, too.  And each morning, the sun rises later and later.

The sun sets earlier and earlier.  The birds don't sing before sunrise anymore.  Even the sun is trying to say that fall is coming.

It can't be.


Don't take my summer away.

Music Moves Me - 60's Rock Songs

It's time once again for a Music Blog Hop called "Music Moves Me", run by X-Mas Dolly and other music rocker's (see below).

This Monday we are rockin' the house (and blog) with a Freebie - our choice of theme.  I've chosen 60's Rock Songs as my theme for today.

I grew up in the 50's and 60's, so this is the music of my youth.  During my childhood, I experienced all different styles, from doo-wop at the beginning to the British Invasion to psychedelic type music at the end.


I grew up in the Bronx, and when I think of the early 60's I think of none other than Dion DeMucci, better known as Dion.  Dion originally ran with a gang called the Fordham Daggers.   Fordham Road was (and still is) a major shopping avenue in the Bronx.

When hanging out in the "hood", Dion was exposed to the doo-wop style of music popular on Bronx street corners in the 1950's.  Eventually, he joined up with several other street singers to form "Dion and the Belmonts" (named after Belmont Avenue in the Bronx.)  Eventually, Dion broke up with the Belmonts and went out on his own.

One other "fun fact" was that Dion was offered a seat on the plane that Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens ended up boarding - and dying on.  Music history may have been quite different had Dion been on that plane.

From 1961, Runaround Sue.

Then came the British Invasion.

The Beatles.  The Who.  The Rolling Stones (1965's (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Meanwhile, back in America, The Byrds released Turn, Turn, Turn in December of 1965, as I entered my teenaged years.

I could write endless blog posts about the rest of the 1960's, but I don't want to be too long today.  So, how about four more?

From 1967, the Bee Gees - New York Mining Disaster 1941. This was their debut song, and you find people who didn't like the Bee Gees loving this song.   

From 1968, Hey Jude, by the Beatles (you knew I would include a Beatles song eventually, right?

From Cream in 1969, co-written by Eric Clapton and George Harrison, Badge.

But finally, how can I blog about songs of the 1960's without including one of my favorite songs of all time - Suspicious Minds, by the great Elvis Presley?

Come join this blog hop and have yourself a decade's worth of fun!

Join this #MusicMovesMe blog hop every Monday - here are the people responsible for it:
X mas Dolly is the Conductor of this trip, and the other Conductors are her fellow bloggers Callie of JAmerican Spice, ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  and Cathy from Curious as a Cathy !

A Summer Small Urban Garden

It's a bit amazing that, given that my name on Twitter is RamblinGarden, that I don't talk about my front and back yard garden that much.

I do talk about my flowers from time to time.  But what about veggies?

I don't have much room in the sunnier parts of my yard, so my spouse does a little gardening in our front yard and some container gardening, too.

But don't we want to have our front yards reserved for grass, or flowers?  Not necessarily.  Today, I'd like to give you a little peak into my front yard garden in upstate New York.

How about a little basil? Or, to be exact, basil and a bee?

We grow Italian parsley in a pot.

We have other herbs, too many for this post.  One we like to grow, which is not hardy here, is pineapple sage.  We don't use it much - we grow it more for beauty.

We have peppers both in pots....

...and in the ground.

This is an ornamental pepper, which will product a very hot, small purple pepper.

Not everything is successful.  Our cucumber plants (grown in large pots in the front) have succumbed to a blight.  This is about all that is left - one piece of stem, a couple of leaves and a flower.

But our ginger in a pot (something else that can't overwinter here), which failed last year, is growing this year.

Do you have limited space, or no yard, and still garden?  I'd love to hear from you.

Local Saturday - A Hidden Bird's Nest

My spouse found this in a thicket of blueberry bushes where we were picking blueberries this morning near Binghamton, New York.

A sweet (empty) birds nest.  I wonder what kind of bird built it.

Also, for you, is a picture of blueberries ripening.

And blueberry fields, seemingly forever.

Happy Saturday to you!

Historic Reflection - #SkywatchFriday

Clouds, reflected July 28 in the window over the front doorway of the historic Security Mutual building.

This historic building in downtown Binghamton, New York, was built in 1904 and is still occupied today by a life insurance company and some tenants.

Join Yogi and bloggers from around the world in watching the sky, the clouds, sunrises, sunsets, and everything inbetween, on #SkywatchFriday.

#ThursdayTreeLove - Blight

The Norway maple that has been in our front yard for some 30 years, apparently, has some kind of blight.  Many maples in this area are suddenly not looking good, possibly because of excess rain, but our tree is losing all of its leaves. That's some two months ahead of schedule.

We've had no time to check out the possible cause.  We've had wet summers before.  We just don't know.  I can't find anything in an internet search about a maple blight.  We need to call our extension service but that becomes one more item on a long list of "to-do's" as family caregivers.

 Last year, in fact, we had an arborist look at it,  just in case, and it was declared healthy.  So now, we don't know what is happening, and are worried.

Join Parul and other bloggers every Thursday for #ThursdayTreeLove.  All you ned to do to join in is post a picture of a tree and link back.

 Come love a tree today.

Falling Wednesday - Walking a Tightrope

I first posted this in June of 2015, and am now repeating a portion of this post about the hazards of falling - not just for the elderly, but for all of us.

We all face that risk, if we haven't fallen already.  If it isn't us, it is a loved one who has fallen.  A mother. A father. An aunt or uncle.

Quoting from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Website:

"What outcomes are linked to falls? (Citations for these statistics are available on the website)

• Twenty to thirty percent of people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as lacerations, hip fractures, and head traumas. These injuries can make it hard to get around or live independently, and increase the risk of early death.
• Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
• About one-half of fatal falls among older adults are due to TBI.
• Most fractures among older adults are caused by falls....
• Many people who fall, even if they are not injured, develop a fear of falling. This fear may cause them to limit their activities, which leads to reduced mobility and loss of physical fitness, and in turn increases their actual risk of falling."

What is the number one thing we can do, even in midlife, to help prevent falls when we are older?

EXERCISE.  (There's more to it than that, but exercise is a great start.)

But not just any exercise.  For years, I had been doing water aerobics and walking.  Now, I find it is not enough.  I will not share "how to's" for the actual exercises, as they must be taught by trained people (we were taught by physical therapists) and practiced, and seniors must be sure they can do these safely.  We do these exercises at the beginning of each class before we learn other things.  I will say that four exercises (balance) are done daily, and four exercises (strength) are done three times a week.

Which is why, every day, I now walk a tightrope.

Not a real tightrope-I am not in training to be the next Nik Wallenda.  You will not see me on tightropes across canyons, or skyscrapers.  Nor will you see me trying to break tightrope records at the Wisconsin State Fair.

No, the tightrope walk I do each day is imaginary. Well, the tightrope is.  The walking is real.  Touching a counter lightly, I balance, one foot in front of the other.  Then, facing forward, I walk.   Eventually, I won't wobble and I will be able to walk backwards, too.  Eventually, I may be able to stop touching the counter.  What you won't see is a video of me doing this.  I will say the obvious:  my balance needs a lot of improvement. 

(Update 2017 - I have improved in my "on firm ground" tightrope walking and don't need to be near a wall or touching a counter anymore.  But I'm still not going to post any video).

So, what about you, my reader?

I was interested in this video I found on the PBS (Public Broadcasting) website on "How to Walk a Tightrope".  This sounds like a fun family activity.  It's never too early to start your children on a path of good balance.  Or you, if you are younger than I am. (I'm in my 60's).

Please continue to join me on Wednesdays to learn more about what I learned in 2015 about fall prevention.  None of what I will share is proprietary information - much of it is already online.  But learning in a classroom setting is better than reading a blog, and I encourage you, if you have fall prevention classes in your area, to encourage your loved senior (or yourself, if you have fallen or are at risk of falling) to seek out an evidence based class.  And, after the class is over, keep exercising and learning.

Ten Top Things I've Learned About Blogging.

What do I wish I knew when I started to blog?

During a "cousins" reunion Saturday, a cousin reached out to me for help.  He's been writing pieces for local newspapers.  His daughter bought him a Wordpress site, thinking he might want to get into blogging. He put up one post but he doesn't know what to do now to get readership and to grow his blog.

I wish I knew what to suggest to him as far as WordPress (which I know nothing about), but I can tell him a little bit about blogging.  I have seven years of experience.  I'd like to share some of what I learned with you, my readers, so I can share my vast (ahem) wisdom with him.  In turn, if you have any suggestions for a true blogging newbie,  I'd love you to leave me a comment.

This is what my blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears have taught me:

1.  Blog a lot about giraffes!  No, only kidding.  Seriously: blog about things people are interested in, if you are interested in that thing.  As one example, there are a lot of people out there still interested in April the Giraffe, the once-pregnant giraffe whose last two months of her pregnancy were streamed on YouTube 24/7.

As it happened, April lives about 20 minutes from me.  And yes, in July, I went to see her.

April melting my heart

I got more likes on Facebook (OK,  it was in in a Facebook group of April fans, but still) from that post than any other post I've ever posted on Facebook.  Why? If you can arouse strong emotions in people, you will get reads. (That's the secret of cat videos, too.)

But, in all seriousness, people can see through a phony blog in no time.  And they can tell if you don't love what they are doing.  No one wants to read a blog that sounds like "do I reallllly have to do this?" Well, they don't realllly have to read it.   If you love something, work that into your blog posts.  If you couldn't care less about that topic, don't bother.  Blog about something you love.  I can't emphasize this enough.  That dislike/boredom/lack of passion will show right through your writing.

Be real. Be you.  It's not as easy as you think, but it is worth the effort.  And when you know your voice, stick with it.

(Also, link to other bloggers.  Share the blogging wealth.)

2.  I wish I knew there was such a thing as blogging challenges when I started.  If you want to grow your readership (and who doesn't want followers, for either personal or business reasons?), this is one of the fastest ways to increase your readership.  By reading the blogs of those in your challenge, you will quickly learn what works - and what doesn't.  A great challenge, the Ultimate Blog Challenge, will start up again in October.  Another challenge he might enjoy is the April Blogging from A to Z.
Or (not sure it will happen this year) NaBloPoMo in November.

While I'm at it - join a blogging support group. And publish your posts on social media - Facebook, G+, Twitter.  

3.  I wish I knew that consistent posting is key.  I highly recommend daily posting, at least for the first month or two of your blog.   Once you establish yourself, what becomes necessary is not daily posting, but, rather, consistent posting.  If you don't want to post daily - and many bloggers don't want to, or can't - then it helps your readers to know that you have a schedule. Then stick to it.

4.  I wish I knew there is no such thing as a perfect blog post.  Perfection is not necessary.  Passion IS necessary.  If you don't like what you write, your readers won't, either.

5.  But, you must know what your readers want.  A blog is not all about you.  It is about your readers. My readers seem to love pictures of snow (in the winter) and flowers (the rest of the year),

6. You must read your readers' comments.  You must!  Those comments are more valuable to a blogger than breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even good chocolate.  For example, two years ago I wrote a blog about autumn, which turned out to be a bit self centered.  A couple of my readers gently reminded me that much of the world does not experience quite the same fall as upstate New York (where I live).  My sin?  I had taken my readers for granted.

7.  Related to #6, I wish I knew how important it was to comment on, not just read, other blogs.  Yes, don't be shy.  Comment!  And if you do disagree, which is fine, please, please, please, be respectful. There is a person, a living, breathing human being with feelings, on the other end of that blog post you like or dislike.

8.  Pick a good name!  I like the name my cousin picked for his blog.  If he goes on Twitter or other social media, he should be consistent about the name.  The name of your blog is your "brand".  That s something I learned too late.

9.  Include photos (and please, only your own photos). NEVER get photos from a Google search.  NEVER STEAL PHOTOS.  NEVER NEVER NEVER.  There are legit sources for free photos but don't worry about it while you are learning the other stuff. If you take good videos, you may want to share that with readers, too.

10.  Finally: appreciate your readers.  Let them know often because your readers are what makes blogging worthwhile.  I don't do that enough.

If you had advice to new bloggers, what advice would you give?

Music Moves Me - Songs Beginning with A

A my name is AM and I live in....

Well, that's as far as I can go with the old childhood ball-playing rhyme I learned on the streets of the 1950's Bronx.  So I am going to start off today's theme on Music Moves Me, "songs beginning with the first letter of your name", with a song by Dion (born Dion DiMucci), who started his singing career on the streets of the Bronx.

Abraham, Martin and John is a song that can still make me emotional after all these years.  On a side note, Dion decided not to get on a certain airplane flight on February 3, 1959 - the flight that crashed and ended the lives of three other rock greats - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. Instead, Dion now is still active in music, in addition to participating in prison ministry as a devout Roman Catholic.

Angie, by the Rolling Stones, is my next selection.  If you don't like their rock/blues output, you will love this slow song.  When I hear this song, I am transported back to 1973, when I was going to college, and was working a summer job in downtown Manhattan, not far from the soon-to-be-completed World Trade Center.

Another group I love is Boston.  Such a shame that they never had much musical output - just six studio albums, according to my research.  One of my favorites (possibly because I know someone named Amanda) is their song "Amanda".   The album, Third Stage, was the last album I purchased new as an actual record album.  1986....

But so much for mellow.  Let's get a little dancing going.

All Night Long by Lionel Richie

All The Things She Said, by the Scottish group Simple Minds.

If you don't have around 15 minutes to spare, you can skip this next one - not totally a singing song but more of a storytelling.  Arlo Guthrie and Alice's Restaurant.

And one more.  In honor of my recent visit to Animal Adventure Park (home of April, the Giraffe - gee, two more "A"'s) - Africa, by Toto.

Join this #MusicMovesMe blog hop every Monday - here are the people responsible for it:
X mas Dolly is the Conductor of this trip, and the other Conductors are her fellow bloggers Callie of JAmerican Spice, ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  and Cathy from Curious as a Cathy !

It's also the last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost and the last week of July.

Let's rock!

Not Bad For An Old Man

Yesterday, I participated in a "cousins" family reunion on my father's side.   I don't know if there will be another one.  It gets harder and harder to fit things in.

Things were different last time (the reunion I blogged about yesterday, which took place five years ago next week).  It seemed like a lot less work.  My spouse cooked on the grill.  We stayed up, laughing, until almost 11 pm.

Now, the planning was almost like climbing a mountain.  All of us had less energy. We all had aches and pains.  One cousin was recovering from surgery.  One had a painful problem that going to various doctors hadn't diagnosed.  The wife of still another cousin had obvious problems with her balance.

No BBQ this time. Cousins chipped in for platters prepared by a local supermarket.  

By 9:15, when the last people left, there were more yawns and bleary looks than laughs.

I haven't mathematically figured this out, but I think I am past halfway in the age range of the cousins on my father's side.  There are twelve of us cousins in all, ranging in age from mid 50's to 70 (or perhaps slightly older than that).  Not all of us were able to come. We talked by phone with one, and by Skype with another. Still others had too much going in in their lives.

I was grateful for this:  All of us are alive.  We have memories.  All of us are "here" mentally.

After eating, we talked on the phone with the last living biological uncle, who is in his early 90's. His wife, who is younger, is our last aunt.  They live about 850 miles from us.

When asking him how he was doing, he said "not bad for an old man".

I flashed back to when I visited him as a teenager, when he was an energetic man in his 40's, raising three children (my youngest cousins).  Now, those young children are in their 50's.

If we wait for another five years, Uncle may well be gone.

Not only him.  Some of us may well be gone. 

We are blessed - all of us are alive. Our spouses (save for one of us, and she could not come) are alive. All of our children are alive.  The same can't be said for other people my age I know, people who have lost spouses, lost children, lost siblings.

We are fortunate, but we know it's only a matter of time.  The clock is ticking.  That next reunion can not wait another five years but will we have the energy to put it together?

One day, I can only hope, we will be saying "not bad for an old man" or "not bad for an old woman" to the children of the next generation.  Somewhere.  Somehow.

Local Saturday - The Reunion

It is five years since some first cousins and their families gathered at my home in Westover, near Johnson City, New York for a mini family reunion.  We are having  another one today. 

We have been through so much, all of us, since the last reunion.  And we are five years older.  If we have one five years from now, how many of us will be able to come, I wonder, and will we all be alive?

After the 2012 reunion was over, I wrote this blog post.  So hard to believe it's been six years since a flood devastated my neighborhood, and other parts of the Triple Cities of Upstate New York.


The building below, once the largest wood framed structure in the United States, was torn down last year.  It was ruined by the flood.  Only vacant land remains.  I was reminded of this, as I had to rewrite the directions to get to our house.

Former BAE Industries, Westover, NY, July 3, 2014

This is the post I wrote after the 2012 cousins reunion, on the eve of the first anniversary of the flood - September 8 and 9, 2011.  It's a post of trauma, but also of hope.

Day 29 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

On the Cover of the Rolling....Flood Book (written in August of 2012)

It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame.  Sometimes, that fame is a welcome thing.  Don't you want to be famous?  Doesn't everyone?

Sometimes, it is your neighborhood that becomes famous.

Many times, you just as soon wish it had never happened.

That's what I wish, every time I leave my house near Johnson City, New York and walk or travel more than about three or four blocks.

I pass buildings that became vacant 11 months ago today, and are still vacant.  Some don't have interior walls.  Some are still filled with debris.  Some have "For Sale" signs.  Some still have bushes encrusted with flood mud.

There is the former credit union building.  The former day care center.  The former doctor's practice. The former 600,000. square foot factory building that once held 1300 workers.  The former adult day care center.  The sagging houses that will never be occupied again.  One entire street is almost devoid of occupants, with just a handful of hardy souls trying to reclaim their lives.

The out of business and for sale tire store whose mechanics nourished my son's love of car repair especially touches my heart.  The former.....the former.....

Many businesses have reopened.  The Home Depot.  The Ollies.  The window contractor.  The Aldi.  Our local pediatrician. A dentist.  A massage therapist.   My beloved Unicorn Electronics.  Wild Birds Unlimited.

We must look towards the future and I usually do, but today I look back one last time.

This past weekend, I had several cousins visit from the New York City area, Pennsylvania, and (by Skype) Florida, plus the midwest and Texas.  We had a lot of fun, and we talked about many things.  Still, a certain book I had taken out of the library drew a number of fascinated readers.  They paged through the pictures while my young adult son provided the narration.

One of the cousins graduated last year from Binghamton University.  She looked at pictures of places she knew. She had graduated in May of 2011 and the pictures were taken during the period of September 7, 8 and 9, 2011 during the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee,  It was a book about the flood.  If she had still been going to the college, she may well have volunteered at the Events Center, which became one of the evacuation centers.

My neighborhood is on the cover of the flood book.  My house is even visible (no, not telling you which one) in the aerial photo.  (We were one of the lucky houses, being slightly higher in elevation).

Our neighborhood of Westover, along with several other areas (some of which suffered much worse than we did) have become a symbol of the flood.  Let us name them:  Owego. Castle Gardens.  Twin Orchards.  The Southside of Binghamton.  There are others.  I really don't know why our neighborhood was chosen for its 15 minutes of fame, but it was.

When I first found out our neighborhood would be on the cover, it was emotionally very hard.  It was just a couple of months after the flood, and my feelings were still too raw.  But, when I saw the book at the library this past July, I knew it was time.  Time to put the flood where it belonged, in the past.

Time to read the book.  Time to move on.

So we looked at the book, and then went on to much happier things. We had such a good time that my sides ached the next day.

I wish the flood had never happened.  I wish I could have had the power to prevent the storm from doing what it did to our part of upstate NY and parts of several other states.  But wishes have no power.  Only actions.  We have come so far, and we should be proud.

Next month will be the one year anniversary.  I will write about the flood recovery one last time.  And then I hope to move on permanently to other blog topics.

It is time.

Skywatch Friday - Gloom And Storm

This picture was taken in Johnson City, New York, on July 23.

We have escaped the worst of the weather, but upstate New York has had everything - tornadoes, flash floods, strong winds, lightning strikes, and more.  I know someone whose mother had a tree fall on her garage.  The concern about flood increase, as our area experiences flash flooding time and again.

But, on Thursday, the sun started to shine again.  For now.

Want more pictures of the sky? Join other bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.  

Neither rain, nor gloom, keeps us from our appointed photographic rounds.

Day 28 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Thursday Tree Love - The Library Garden

Imagine a public library, with its own garden.  Imagine this garden, with benches, where you can sit and read.  There should even be a raised picnic pavilion.  How about some roses?  Or hydrangeas?

On the edge of downtown Binghamton, New York, in walking distance from where I work, there is such a garden.

Imagine these trees helping to shade you on a warm summer day.

Or these.

Join Parul at Happiness and Food and other bloggers for #ThursdayTreeLove.

Day 27 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Falling Wednesday - Thoughts of Failing A Falling Class

Back in the middle of March, 2015, I called a number published in our county's Senior News.  A woman answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi", I responded. " I am calling about the Stepping On Falls Prevention Class."

We chatted a couple of minutes.  She wanted to know where I had heard about the class. She talked briefly about the program - seven weeks, one class a week, a falling assessment on the first and last classes, guest speakers. They would teach exercises to help prevent falls, and would have several guest speakers talking about medication and balance, eyesight issues, and more.  The cost was reasonable - $35 for seven sessions, and I would get a workbook, too.

Then came the question.

"How old are you?"

The class was advertised for seniors 60 and over.

"62", I responded.

There was a pause at the other end - a pause that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Have you fallen yet?", she finally asked.

(For more on my interest in this class, check out this post).

Then, fate intervened.

Just before St. Patrick's Day, 2015, an in law's mother in law fell in the bathtub and hit her head. It was not her first fall.  This 82 year old woman, who was living independently with her husband of many years, was rushed to the ER later that day with symptoms of a head injury.  Things did not go well from there.[Update - she died in December of 2015, after a harrowing last few months of life for her and her family.]

The CDC has some sobering statistics about falling in older adults.  And now, this in law's mother in law is just that - a statistic.

Governments and agencies serving senior populations are recognizing the problem, and trying to take steps.  You don't have to be a senior to care about the issue.  The children and grandchildren of the woman who fell are not seniors.  This has impacted an entire family, a large, close knit family.

So, about the question "have you fallen?"

I told the woman yes, that I have fallen.  I had fallen twice between 2014 and 2015, in addition to a fall while exercising on the Vestal Rail Trail (this one due to a trick ankle from an old injury) and another walk with a fall in 2011.  The trick ankle didn't cause the home fall, though.  It was a balance problem.  I fell due to a throw rug that slid when I stepped on it.  And still another time, a shoe gripped the floor in the wrong way and I started to fall, but managed to recover.

I have problems with my balance. My spouse took me to work several times this winter because it was icy and I was frightened of falling. If I wear ice treads that are sold to slip onto boots, I feel like I'm totally unbalanced. I don't know if my near falls were caused by medication (I am on several) but I have to do something now.  I don't want to wait until I'm 82 and it's too late.

What I am concerned about the most, though, is that I am going to show up, and be in a class of 80 year olds.  Then, everyone will look at me and think "why is she here?"  Dare I call this reverse ageism, that I am not old enough to have any of the problems of a senior citizen?

In other words, is it possible in our elder society to be too young?

The first class came, and then I knew how wrong I was.  More of what I learned in future posts.

Have you taken any of these fall prevention classes?  Am I right or wrong to feel self conscious about my attendance?

Day 26 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Raindrops Keep Falling on Our Heads

These daylily pictures were taken Sunday, before our onslaught of rain.

Peach.

Cherry

Dark pink and yellow

Purple (doesn't look as purple "in person")

Don't quite know what to call these but I like them.

Yellow (these are my largest flower).

And, from yesterday, orange from between storms when the sun came out.

It has been raining on and off and parts of the Northeast United States, where I live, have flooded.  When the rain gets heavy, I still become anxious, even six years since our major flood.  Perhaps this anxiety will never leave me, although it has gotten better over the years.

Day 25 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Tomorrow - a Falling Wednesday post.

Music Moves Me - Numb

So many times in the past several years of Monday music blogging, I've had to do a tribute post.

This time, it was Chester Bennington, the 41 year old frontman of a group called Linkin Park.  Many music fans are numb.

Bennington had a hard life.  He was sexually abused when he was only seven years old, an abuse that went on for years.  As a teenager, he was bullied, and went deep into the drug scene, . He quit that, but for a while, abused alcohol.  He suffered from severe digestive issues, and from more recent physical injuries.

The cause of death was suicide, and it took place on what would have been Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday.  When Chris went down this same road in May, I blogged about that and middle aged suicide.   Now, another tormented, talented man has taken that final road.

"Numb" is a song about parents with too high expectations that spoke to many of us (over 576 million views on You Tube).

"I'm tired of being what you want me to be......don't know what you are expecting of me...every step that I take is another mistake to you...I've become so numb..."
I love the words, the melody - just everything about it. But...

Why do we do this to the ones we love?

Come join this blog hop every Monday - here are the people responsible for it:
X mas Dolly is the Conductor of this trip, and the other Conductors are her fellow bloggers Callie of JAmerican Spice, ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  and Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.  Today is a "free" day - but I would have blogged about this regardless.

Today is also day 24 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Make Entertainment Great Again?

A short post today for a busy summer Sunday.

Last Tuesday, on a summer TV series called America's Got Talent, I saw this performance by a Presidential impersonator who promised to make the show Great Again.

I don't get into politics in this blog, but I wonder if this singer (who made it into the next round) might enable us to have a little fun.  I assure you, it is not mean spirited or political.  The audience loved it.  I think you may, too.

He certainly connected with the audience, and with a guest judge who said "This is a thing I didn't realize I needed in my life until now."

We really need a good laugh.  Will The Singing Trump provide it?

I don't watch muchTV, but America's Got Talent (a show I've never watched much of) has hooked me this summer.

Day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost