Friday, January 29, 2016

Update and "you're never too old to publish a book"

Waiting for surgery
I’m slowly coming to grips with the understanding that I can’t bend my knee for the next six weeks…  Post about sailing or kayaking or hiking will have to be drawn from past adventures….  I feel as if I have a peg leg and am not very mobile.  Thankfully, the pain has subsided and I am taking about a 1/3 of the pain medicine as I was before.  Because of drug allergies with many traditional pain killers, I was given a morphine product which might explain some weird dreams that I had (it also might explain why I have been sleeping 10-12 hours a day).  But I am doing well and life is getting to be somewhat normal.  

I hope I don't gross you out with the photos!  I am going to end up with a zipper look on the front of my leg with the staples that have been put into the wound.  Also, for the first time in my life, part of that leg was shaved!  I didn't finish the job.

my wound
I have been watching a lot of movies as I sit around with my leg up: Cider House Rules, The Way, The Quiet American, Safelight, Night Train to Lisbon, Female Agents, Jackie & Ryan, Mansfield Park, World of Tomorrow, NLL: Yeonpyeong Haejeon, Chocolat.  Netflix streaming has been good!  

Last summer I was given a book by a ninety year old friend and I finally got around to reading it.  This isn’t normally the type of reading I do, but I the Maritime history of the world (which I was reading pre-surgery, is just too complicated).  I found the book delightful.  My review is below. 


Lucy Barrett, Salad Days in the Golden Years: Introducing Virginia and Matilda (Cleveland TN: Penman Publishing, 2015), 182 page 

This is a delightful novel written by a friend on the island.  This past year, she turned 90 and celebrated by publishing her first book.  Salad Days in the Golden Years is a delightful book about Virginia, who decides she is not going to live with her only child, but is going to move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).  There, she meets Matilda and the two of them become a dynamic duo—catching criminals, planning weddings, and seeking their own late-life lovers.  Virginia is a bit naïve, having moved to the facility as a widow, having been married to the same man for over fifty years.  She was used to having people (her husband, then her son) make decisions for her.  But she wants to be independent and slowly learns how to accomplish this.  Matilda tests her, as she is the type that likes to run the lives of others, but Virginia learns how they might be friends but without Matilda’s control.  Barrett weaves in a number of other characters including a young waitress at the CCRC whose boyfriend is shot.  This sets the scene for Virginia and Matilda to catch a fugitive.  In the background, with connections primarily through letters and voice mail, is her son’s family along with the trust fund manager.  As a mother-in-law, Virginia she has questions about her daughter-in-law who doesn’t like to cook, but is able to keep them to herself by moving to Magnolia Village.  Yet, Virginia is fearful of what would happen to her grandchildren if Pot Tarts were no longer manufactured.  By the end of the story, Virginia is content with her new life and even has a new boyfriend.  Another couple there is married and he has discovered he has a grandson.  Virginia’s own son has accepted that his mother can care for herself, while Virginia understands more about how his family is a bit different, but also works.  Although there are no “happy ever-after” stories in life, at last those at Magnolia Village will make the most of the journey.  This is a well-told story and I recommend it.





46 comments:

  1. Hope your recovery is quick and effective! My son has a similar zipper-scar from his accident. Immobility stinks. :-/

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  2. I hope your recovery is swift and complete. Our son is having brain surgery as I write this so hospitals are definitely on my mind today. Take care.

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  3. Ouch! Welcome to the scar club. ;) I hope those 6 weeks go by quickly for you. At least you'll have a lot of reading and blogging time. :)

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    1. Didn't know there was a club. Do I receive any discounts?

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  4. That sounds like a good book for our book club! I hope your knee doesn't give you much trouble and that you are able to get off the pain meds so you can stay awake.

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    1. I have stopped taking the morphine pills... it is getting a little better.

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  5. Sage: Your recovery is underway. Stay with it! :)

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I seem to remember you had to go through some PT a few years ago.

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  6. Appears to be healing nicely. Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

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  7. I am going to end up with a zipper look on the front of my leg with the staples...

    Think of it this way, chicks love guys with scars. Get Well!

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  8. I guess there is still hope for me at much less than ninety to publish a book someday! Wishing you a speedy and FULL recovery!

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    1. Yeah, I hope to do it before 90 (or before they stop printing books and all is doing digitally)!

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  9. Wowza. They didn't find WV coalminers in there did they.

    Sounds like sweet book. A kinda Nancy Drew-ish. Good fun really.

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    1. I'd like to know what it all looked like inside, but I was in deep sleep... They should have taken pictures.

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    2. They almost certainly did. All Op's are recorded in good hospitals these days. Ask them for a download.
      (chuckle) I'd have liked to see someone do that to myself too.

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  10. I hope you recovery well and speedy.
    Aww you love go any where I know.
    Nice time to read and see movies.
    Send you hugs ! xo

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    1. Thanks, Gloria. Movies was easier when I was taking meds.

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  11. I had to scroll back to see what happened. So sorry you got hurt but hopefully you're on the road to a quick recovery. Sending healing thoughts your way.

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    1. It'll be a long while in recovery... Thanks for the well-wishes

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  12. Oh goodness that does look painful, but hopefully it's all better from here on out! This is a perfect time to catch up on your reading and writing and creating as well! Take good advantage of it all. What a wonderful story and it just goes to show one is never too old, just get writing! Take good care now.

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    1. It is a wonderful story, isn't it! Thanks for the good wishes, it doesn't hurt too much these days.

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  13. Oh goodness that does look painful, but hopefully it's all better from here on out! This is a perfect time to catch up on your reading and writing and creating as well! Take good advantage of it all. What a wonderful story and it just goes to show one is never too old, just get writing! Take good care now.

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  14. The 10-12 hours of daily sleep is probably the best thing for you. Get well! I was just telling Julia that I wish I could somehow get a cool scar without having to suffer the pain of acquiring it.

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    1. This is not only a cool scar, but a very expensive one!

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  15. Yikes. I hope you have full mobility soon and that the six weeks pass by fast. One is never too young or too old to become published.

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  16. I hear the zipper look is in! COngrats on surfing the edge of the trend! Hope the leg bends better soon.

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  17. That books sounds so good to me! And what an inspiration to be published for the first time at that age. Marvelous. And funny about the Pop Tarts. My son has consumed a few of those as well.

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    1. Yeah, my daughter would have a deficit of calories without pop tarts.

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  18. Hopefully that time will go by quickly! Lots of good movies you're watching there. This book definitely sounds delightful.

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  19. I hope your road to recovery is short and filled with great reads. Your review has my interest. It sounds like a great read for a quick escape.

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    1. THanks! I'm reading several good books, right now.

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  20. That leg buys you huge amounts of sympathy from me! But you've done the right thing by putting this "idle" time to good use. Loved the review and the fact that at 90 someone achieved publication.

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    1. Thanks! But I'm not nearly as productive and am sleeping a lot.

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  21. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. I know how hard it is not to be able to get around very well for a while. I broke my arm and shoulder in 3 places this past June and it was hard to even move. Keep getting better.

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  22. Maybe you should write a book. If you're sitting around, not able to be out and about like you normally are, you might consider using the time to create something. Hope you continue to heal and feel better!

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  23. Ouch, that's going to be some scar. I hope you heal quickly. At least you have been able to watch movies and read while you are immobilized.

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  24. omg that sounds SO PAINFUL. I just scrolled back to see what had happened! I really hope you have a super quick recovery and the scar is the only reminder of this whole incident!! :( that book sounds great btw!

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  25. Whew! I'm happy to hear that I still have a few more years to get that "first" book published. Maybe even a few more.
    I have several zippers in my flesh also. It's hard to read when morphine has a hold of you. I always keep reading the same paragraph over and over...

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  26. blessings.....
    congrats on the book.
    I trust by the time you read this you are well on your way to a full recovery.

    Stay blessed.
    peace.
    Rhapsody
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    “The highest education is that which does not merely give us information, but makes our life in harmony with all existence”-Rabindranath Tagore

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