Don't call me names

Say, "hello ladies" to me and my back stiffens. Class me as a "golden ager" and gall rises in my mouth. The only time I like "senior citizen" is when I get a cut on the price.
Why am I a different person than 20-30-50 years ago?
Living is more serene for me: I'm happier, less tired, more productive. My tongue is sharper, I search for words and I've stopped dying my hair.
©Natalie Norman Baer

becoming Invisible

I first realized I had become invisible when, wheeling my grocery cart around a stand of wine I was examining, I came carthead to carthead with a young woman, possibly 30 years younger than I. She looked surprised, moved her head, jiggled her cart to move between me and the wine stand. "Move", she said, No "Please", no smile, just the toss of her head idicating where. Brought up to mind, to obey a stronger force, I backed up and moved to the side. Then anger atruck and I whipped my cart around, almost striking her small child trailing behind. "Look out, little girl," I cackled, without a pause in my motion. No sound from the other woman - it was as if I weren't there.
Then it happened again, another store, another move around the corner. This time it was a man, a man of dignity, white haired, wearing a badge. I stepped aside quickly as he drove his cart straight at me. This time there was no nod of the head. Again, it was as if I weren't there!
How long have I been invisible? I dress nicely, my hair has a becoming length abd color, my husband likes my cooking but often when I speak or call out to him, he doesn't answer. I'm not there!
Thomas Mann in "Magic Mountain" wrote: "A man lives not only his personal life as an individual, but life of his epoch and his contemporaries." Perhaps it is not only I who have become invisible but the entire babbling, fault finding, me-first era that I live in will go down in history - Invisible to the last.
©Natalie Norman Baer

The new blogger

I e-mailed my daughter "your mother is a blogger" amd I could hear her say, "Oh Jeez." But I was wrong - she has more class than that, in fact didn't discourage me at all. Still, I'm not giving her my blog name until I master this new phenomena. I want to design a colorful space with original designs, plaster it with photos of "landscape before drought", "Natalie with Russian bear", add music when I learn how to input it, that sort of thing.
I've given the blogsite to my grandchildren who think Granma is "cool" and warn me not to hit on advertising buttons or say anything I might later be ashamed of. But I'm already "akamai" (Hawaiian for smart), about that sort of thing. A few years ago I entered several surveys, seeking to win $500, etc. My e-mail (now obsolete) has since haunted me with over 800 messages and I hope to eventually overload the system at 1000 or so and pass it into the graveyard of broken dreams. Did anyone ever win one of those surveys?
I can get hooked on blogging, not the ones I write but the ones I find of other people. I love reading about 30 years olds who don't worry about arthritis and stiff knees. Who cares about the 7 year itch compared to being 80 and considering mortality?
No fear, I'll be here another twenty years.
Natalie-Hawaii

Where it all started

I've always been a reader - my parents would call me "Nose in a book" and tell me to go out and play. Years after marriage, parenthood, I am still that "nose in a book". It is my play. About ten years ago I began making a list of books I read and a year later, writing my feelings, opinion. I'd like to hear from other people what they read, their opinions and feelings. Please join me in reading up a storm.
Natalie from Hawaii