Day 11: Feeling Fifty

As I wrote when I posted for the first time on this blog, my goal with doing this is to focus on something good each day, and to write about something new I learn or discover each day of my 50th year. I also wrote that sometimes I would write about the bad if it's important enough.

But, today I am not necessarily feeling bad, but am certainly not feeling that good. Mostly what I am feeling is the reality that I am turning 50. I am sure some of you are thinking, "Duh, your blog is called 'In My 50th Year.' You are writing about turning 50. You really are a dumb *ss aren't you?"

The point is that it takes a loooooong time for things to sink in for me. I am a stubborn woman and one of the most skeptical people I know. I am one of those people who really, really has to have something fairly significant happen to believe something is real, or to feel that something is real. This is another topic that I could write volumes about but again, it's not what this blog is about.

Why the big epiphany today (yep, using that big word again)? After having surgery a little over a year ago, I have had more doctor visits than I normally do. So, today I went in for my "regular" annual exam, something that was actually a breath of fresh air since it did not involve biopsies or scheduling surgery to remove possibly cancerous lumps :)!

And, my doctor was so excited for me that I am back to "normal" and to hear about my latest book. It was going quite well until she used her fancy new computer program to look up my history and then she blurted out, "wow, you are turning 50." Now, I had just heard that from my general practice physician less than a month ago and was thinking, "Man, what's the deal with these women repeatedly pointing this out? Do they get some kind of bonus for treating old people? Or do I get some kind of prize for making it?"

But, before I could ask her those snarky questions, she again said, "you are turning 50 and it is time for you to have some additional tests as part of your regular exams." She then started writing and handed me a referral for a bone density test.

So tomorrow afternoon I am having a bone density scan so they can start checking me for osteoporosis. While I was coming to grips with that, I went back to work proofreading the newsletter that I write/edit for Torrance Memorial Medical Center. It is called ADVANTAGE and I have been doing it for almost 6 years now. I know who the audience is for the newsletter, but it never struck me like it did today. I realized that I am now officially a member of that audience as I read the line under ADVANTAGE which reads, "A Network of Services For People 50+."

Day 10: Walking It Out

There are so many benefits that I get from walking. I not only get to see things up close that I often don't notice while driving, but I do some of my best thinking while walking; it usually really lifts my spirits no matter what kind of mood I am in when I start; and I get exercise. Ah, a trifecta, one of my favorite things :)!

Since today is Tuesday, I knew it was farmers' market day, and that I would be able to walk my laps at Wilson Park where the Torrance Certified Farmers' Market is and that I'd get to see my friends and buy some fresh produce too.

So, after waiting most of the morning for input on the project I was working on, I decided that I really needed a walk and I went over there before the farmers' market closed. It has become one of my favorite places to walk and I like that I can do as many laps as I have time for and I think it is a really pretty place to walk.

Today was another warm and sunny January day so it made great walking weather. As I walked through the park I started thinking, which is what I do when I walk. I was reflecting on a lot of things, and one of them was this blog and my 50th year. As I walked, I started remembering all of the things that have come to me on similar walks that I have taken since I became a regular "exercise" walker waaaaay back in the late 80's.

I realized that walking has led me to make some of the biggest decisions of my life, including the one to leave a career that I was miserable at to pursue writing full time, and that the idea for the book I am working on now came to me while walking.

Throughout the past 20 years,  I have fallen in love while walking, and realized I was in love while walking, and sadly, there were times that I realized I wasn't in love anymore while walking. I couldn't help but notice that life really is just like walking-- it starts with a single step and the only way to get anywhere is to take the next one and the next one....

Wilson Park view from walking path

Wilson Park Gazebo & Pond

Wilson Park (Infamous) Pond

Day 9: In Pursuit of the Positive via Madonna

I knew that when I set out to write something positive every day for an entire year that I would have some days when I just didn't feel that way. I was hoping I could at least make it more than a week, but I couldn't. Instead of making it worse by getting mad at myself for that, as someone I know always says "it just is" so I am just going to accept it as that.

Not that there's anything spectacularly bad about today. Thankfully nothing horrible happened, just the usual things that come with working; technological glitches and the inability to get a project finished because I am once again waiting for other people, something I am horrible at. I am even worse at it when it is work that I don't particularly like to do, which is the case with this, but it is paid work.

So, instead of whining about it, I am working on moving past it and reminding myself that it is paid work, something that is very good and very necessary as I write a book that may or may not make me any money and if it does, won't make me anything for at least another year.

And as I wrote last week, when I am feeling less than perky, music can perk me up. And, today I actually played this because it is such a happy song, and it makes me want to dance and dancing always makes me feel good. Plus, I can't forget the first time I heard her. I was in college and was shocked to hear dance music coming from the radio since there was such an anti disco/dance music backlash when this came out (it was 1983).

Some of my friends and I had to go down to Togo's to watch MTV because we had to see who it was that was singing this and we were shocked when we saw her. For my younger friends, MTV was a major deal in the early years, you didn't just have it, it was a premium channel and was usually only in public places because of the cost and it just wasn't available everywhere.

Love her or hate her, Madonna's influence is still being felt today (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga). And I defy anyone who is still breathing to not at least tap along with the beat; it is infectious. Is it deep or a classic? Maybe not, but it does kind of sound like she's advocating world peace. And if nothing else, it is positive.

Holiday

Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

[Chorus:]
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice

Everybody spread the word
We're gonna have a celebration
All across the world
In every nation
It's time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day to come together
To release the pressure
We need a holiday

[chorus]
You can turn this world around
And bring back all of those happy days
Put your troubles down
It's time to celebrate
Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday

[chorus]
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

[chorus]
Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

Holiday, Celebration
Come together in every nation

Day 8: Valuing Victory Gardens

I was hoping that today's good thing would be the conclusion of another chapter on the book. However, I am not yet finished with it. The chapter I am working on is "WWII & Post WWII Agriculture." Here in LA, agriculture was forever altered as thousands of acres were gobbled up for houses that were built for the workers of the burgeoning aircraft industry. While LA County managed to remain the #1 ag. County in the U.S. until 1950, we transitioned to become the aviation capital and one of the biggest industrialized urban centers in the country.

But I digress into something sad and my goal with this blog is to find something positive each day. So, in the midst of writing about this era, I am also writing about the Victory Garden movement, one of my favorite topics. I am such a fan of Victory Gardens, that over the past decade, I have collected/bought about 15 WWII era Victory Garden booklets/pamphlets, etc. I am hoping to photograph them and use them in this chapter.

While researching this chapter I came across something I had never heard about before. I discovered that the Los Angeles Times had a Victory Garden Club. It began in February 1943 and by April of that year, 18,000 people became members and by October, there were 25,000 members. They put in a demonstration Victory Garden on Wilshire Blvd. and Shatto Place and a one-acre Victory Garden Center on Adams Boulevard divided into 12 model gardens and that had a garden library and lecture room for Victory Garden classes and gardening tools on loan to class members, all for free. The center was open seven days a week and the classes were held in conjunction with the Los Angeles Board of Education. They also held a Los Angeles Times Victory Garden Harvest Festival in Exposition Park in 1943. There was even an Office of the  Victory Garden Coordinator, located at 808 N. Spring Street.

And farm nerd alert: my screen savers are WWII era Victory Garden and Women's Land Army posters, here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

Day 7: The Farmers That Feed Me

Today is Saturday, big news I know. But, what that means is that the Torrance Certified Farmers' Market was going today. And, for a change, I actually went to the Saturday market.

Now, this isn't that big of a deal, I go at least once a week, usually to the Tuesday Torrance Market and sometimes to other farmers' markets. After all, I am a farm writer, it is where I go to work; to take photos, interview farmers, and hear the latest news in the farm world so that I have something to write about.

But it is also where I go to get my own farm fresh produce (at least the stuff that I don't grow myself). Using yet another tired, irritating cliche, I believe in "walking the walk." How can I advocate for something that I don't do myself? I am many things, not all of them good, but hypocritical isn't one of them.

I know that I often complain that my work is low or no paying and while that is true, there are so many things I get from my work that I never got from my previous career(s) (ah yes, multiple). I looooooooove what I do. I am not stuck in an office at a cubicle, I have flexibility and freedom that I never dreamed was possible, I am always learning new things and using my brain (although I am not sure that's always obvious to others), and I have met some of the most wonderful people in the world, California's farmers.

I know this blog isn't about farming or farm reporting, my LAFarmGirl blog is for that, but just to give you an idea of how important they are, California farmers still produce over 50% of the fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States. And, I could write endlessly about them, about the struggles they face in keeping themselves in business, to survive against so many factors that make their survival seem impossible, but again, this is not the blog for that.

January 7, 2012, my Torrance Certified Farmers' Market haul

Instead, I just wanted to write about the good day that I had with my "co-workers" some of whom I am proud to call friends. I bought some things from them today. You can see them in this photo. They don't look all that different than the stuff you can buy at the supermarket. But they are different. Aside from the freshness and taste that fresh picked produce provides me, the difference is that I know every farmer that grew them.

There are tomatoes from Valdivia Farms in Carlsbad, organic Satsuma tangerines from Thys Ranch in Fallbrook, grapes from M.B. (Mark Boujikian) Farms in Fresno County, russet potatoes from Zuckerman Farms in Stockton, carrots from Yasutomi Farms in Orange County, and organic strawberries from Danny Hashiba in Pico Rivera.

And, many of them are even more local. Carol Thys lives in Torrance and she treks down to her parents' ranch twice a week to bring fresh fruit to the farmers' market, Mark Boujikian might have a farm in Fresno County, but he lives in Redondo Beach. And, Danny Hashiba farms and lives in Orange County, but he's a mean ballroom dancer who dances locally in Lomita and has won many dancing contests.

It is because of them, getting to know them, that I do what I do, that I write about the important work that they do. They are the reason I am writing another book, they are what keeps me going even when I wonder why I gave up a "secure" benefit-filled job. I do this because their stories need to be told and they are not only too busy to do it themselves, but too modest. And, I want to thank them for doing what they do. As American Farmland Trust says, "No Farms No Food."

Danny Hashiba, not only is he a successful farmer, but he's an awesome ballroom dancer and is as big a smart ass as I am!

Carol Thys, one of the nicest people in the world and she works hard to help her parents keep their ranch going

Day 6: The Transformative Power of Music

Those of you who know me pretty well, know that that I love music. And, on most days, I listen to music from the time I get up, until the time I go to sleep (for my friend Mr. Literal, just trying to get at the fact that it's on most of the time, don't pop a vein).

Whenever people ask me what my favorite kind of music is, I have a hard time answering that because I love all kinds of music with the possible exception of country music and hard core rap.

But, there are some kinds of music that I like more than others. I like "Adult Alternative" which pretty much covers a lot of different styles and groups for me including Snow Patrol, Radiohead, Mat Kearney, Matt Nathanson, Fitz and the Tantrums, O.A.R., Augustana, Kings of Leon, Death Cab for Cutie, Bon Iver, and even older groups like the Cranberries, 10,000 Maniacs, REM, etc., etc. And of course, I like classic rock, but nowadays the definition of classic rock has changed and includes 70's rock (ouch) and 60's rock is now considered part of "oldies." Used to be (back in my day, another cliche that irritates the hell out of me) that oldies consisted of 50's music which I never liked and still don't.

I also like R&B, especially Neo-Soul and of course what VH1 plays on Soulphrodisiac, sigh....I also like classical music, yeah, you know "real" classical music like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, especially when I am writing, I can listen and not sing along or get lost in a song. I also like jazz, and smooth jazz.

And, I don't think I am unusual in this, what I listen to depends on how I am feeling, what I am doing, or where I am going. It also depends on what kind of mood I am in, or what kind of mood I want to be in because music has the power to transform my mood like nothing else can. I am amazed at its power and it has always been that way for me. I can listen to a song from different times in my life and instantly get transported back there. Or, I can be very sad and put on a song that reminds me of happier times and feel better right away.

If there is a song I know and like, I cannot help but sing along, often at the great discomfort of those around me. I might be at the age where I forget what I went into the other room for, but I still remember the lyrics to songs. I always tell people that once my ability to do this starts to go away, you will know my memory is going.

For the past year, one of the songs that keeps playing in my head is Let Go by Frou Frou (with the amazing Imogen Heap), especially the line, "Oh let go and just get in. Oh, it's so amazing here. It's alright because there's beauty in the breakdown." This video has the lyrics included, hope you enjoy it :)!

Day 5: Memories of Maggie

As I have been working on building the content for my blog, and sorting through photos to post here, I have been coming across so many that make me both smile and tear up. And, not surprisingly, many of them are of my sweet Maggie.

One of the reasons I smile is that nearly all of them are when she was either sleeping or her eyes were closed because she was terrified of the camera. I literally couldn't even hold a camera up; if I did she would start shaking and run and hide so there's lots of blurry photos of her fleeing or of her tail as she flees.

That was one of the best things about getting cell phones that had a camera on them. She didn't know I was taking her picture because she wasn't afraid of the phone at all. Even then, she was hard to get a picture of and didn't like it too much. Hmm, kind of like her owner, it is one of the things I dislike the most.

I came across this one today, very bittersweet for sure but it makes me laugh. It was taken almost exactly 5 years ago today. I notice that I had the same New Year's garden flag out then that I have out now. I am nothing if not consistent!

My Ms. Maggie, January 7, 2007, celebrating the New Year in one of her favorite spots!

 

 

 

It makes me smile because I love seeing her in one of her favorite places. She always loved to be out on the porch with me and like me, always made herself very comfortable out there especially when we would sit in the sun.

She has been gone now for a little over 2 years and every once in a while, I still find myself looking for her to come greet me when I come home from somewhere, or wishing she was there to snatch up the crumbs that have spilled on the floor.

And, because this blog is about celebrating the good things that have happened in my 50 years, I am going to celebrate the fact that she was part of my life for nearly 12 years, instead of being sad that she is gone