From the Other Side of Seventy: October 2021

Brian has recently been forced to adhere to a very limited diet for the health of his kidneys. Think very little green and orange, no seeds and nuts, and the elimination of what we have learned to believe is healthy eating. Okay is: white rice, pasta, cauliflower, cucumber and, for a hit of color, kale. Plums okay, prunes not. Cooked carrots okay, quinoa and beans not allowed.

It has become a challenge to cook what both tastes good and is very low in potassium.

So, this evening, I opened the oven to check on what I was preparing for dinner.

Pulling out the roasting pan, I suddenly realized I had no oven glove on my left hand. And, yes, I continued removing it with ONE hand. Half-way out I knew it was a stupid mistake and 3 seconds later it crashed onto the floor. The cabbage, sliced thin and marinated, and the carrots with a new combination of cayenne and cinnamon ON THE FLOOR!

Oh, and the skewers of souvlaki-marinated chicken from Red Barn on the floor too. After screaming with words assembled from the eighties, I took the spatula and gathered together the seasoned cabbage and returned it to the pan. After all, I had swept the floor just this morning...and it would be heated again before we ate it. And, quite frankly, I didn't care! I can think of deaths worse than one caused by floor-a-bacteria.

Back into the roasting pan and into the oven. I pulled out the mop and bucket and washed the floor and wiped down the spattered lower cabinet.

I poured another glass of wine and gathered together plates and silverware.

Another crisis averted. Or, rather, overcome.

I think being on the other side of seventy let me move through this without tears.

However, it isn't all hot water and movin' on.

Earlier today I sent this to my brother-in-law and to my sister who has just turned 80.

I wasn't prepared for the response:

"One of our neighbours fell while putting on his pants and broke his hip"

Continuing on the theme of aging, yesterday was my birthday and Brian and I had planned to go to Gordon's beach. The small cooler was ready and a small knapsack was by the door to hold some new beautiful stones and rocks that I planed to collect. I love this small beach and going there has become a beautiful birthday ritual.

However, the weather did not say "come to the beach". It was drizzly and cold.

Instead, we ate blueberry cornmeal muffins from Pure Vanilla and set out to a few special places. I believe that on my birthday it's about "giving" not about "receiving", so we first drove to St. John the Divine to make a donation to their food bank and then to Quadra VillageCommunity Centre with another donation envelope.

Two of my paintings then found new homes with friends who loved them.