Five apps sounds like a lot to me. What do I know? I’m a self-imposed recluse and as such, I live a simple life and don’t need many apps to keep my existence in sync.
I’m also not tech savvy and apps need work, learning to navigate around them and learning the ropes takes time and effort. Seems like too much of a hustle so I have the bare minimum. Most of them are banking apps and a couple of them take me back to my working days when I was fashion editor and my life concentrated around what was new, what was hip, and what was trendy. Add the celebrity mix in there and I was front and center keeping tabs on all of it.
Nowadays, nature is my mentor, my calming force, and my best friend. I don’t need “technology” to get me where I need to go or be. I’m not glued to the cell phone and neither am I glued to the screen. It’s a quick get in there and get it done kind of thing.
I didn’t find it on the street but in a supermarket. I suppose that counts as well.
It was early morning and I needed to a few items. Walking into the supermarket, it was quiet, much too quiet. Not many people were out and about and the aisles were empty except for a few early birds like me.
I went through the aisles looking for what I needed, found the items, and was about to walk out when I saw something on the floor. It looked like paper but at closer inspection, it was a 50 euro bill! I picked it up and wondered what to do.
Should I hand it in? Should I keep it? Should I leave it where I found it? Of course, that last thought didn’t come into play much. Hand it in? Why? I think they keep it for about three months hoping or expecting the person who lost it to show up and claim it. However, there was no identification attached to the bill, so how would they know who to give it to.
Decision made. I kept it. Feeling sorry for the person who lost it, I walked out 50 euros richer!
Daily writing prompt
What’s the best thing you’ve ever found randomly on the street?
There have been many instances of kindness but I can’t remember them all! I can speak of one that stood out from the rest simply because I never asked for help but got it anyway. It happened yesterday.
I am home after having gone through a risky operation at the hospital. Thankfully, it went well or so I hope! The wound is healing as it should, fingers and toes crossed! However, I have been feeling a little alone and a tad helpless as well. Recuperation requires that I don’t drive, not carry anything heavy, minimize going up and down the stairs, eat healthy, and take it easy. Let your body rest was the message.
I was wondering what I was going to do about food, ordering in was not an option because I like eating healthy stuff. I was mulling this over when the doorbell rang at around 1:30 in the afternoon. I opened the door to find my girlfriend with two big bags and a small pot of flowers.
She went, “Hi! Delivery service here! I must say you don’t look bad! I expected worse.”
“Like what?”
“Like someone who has just had an operation!”
Anyway, she walks in, gives me a much needed hug, and hands me the flowers and the chocolates! She had two bags filled with groceries. It had everything I needed, fruits, vegetables, salads, meat, chicken, and my favorite Macadamia nuts!
Blinking back tears, I wanted to hug her again! We talked for a while and then she said, “I almost forgot. “Where is Chachi?”
“Under the stairs.”
“I have something for him.” She pulls a cute little mouse from one of the bags.
She puts it in front of him but he had this look which seemed to say, “That’s not going to BUY me! You can take it with you. My mummy is back and she’s staying so all of you can BUGGER OFF!”
Anyway, that tops the list of one of the kindest thing someone has ever done for me. It came at a time when I really needed it.
I was about to end this when I noticed I had a message. It was my neighbor from across the street. She is over 80 but a sweetheart of a lady. Her message, “Call me, I am worried about you. Did everything go alright?”
I called and we talked. Then she said, “I am going to bake you some oatmeal cookies.” I thought that was the sweetest thing when she added more. “If you need grocery shopping done, I can help you with that too. Just give me a list.”
Did she just top the other one? The lady walks with a hunched back but she never fails to bring me her homemade cherry jam from cherries harvested from her garden every summer. This offer of help was very kind but I may or may not take her up on it. It all depends if I can get myself back in shape in the shortest possible time! I HAVE PLANS TO DO JUST THAT.
“Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.” Misty Copeland
Daily writing prompt
What’s the kindest thing someone has ever done for you?
I’ve always wanted to work in the White House but not under this administration and I have my reasons as you already know.
I think it would be a job that would be exciting, interesting, AND stressful to boot but it would be a job that I would love doing. It would be right where everything happens and I can’t see another job taking its place. It’s where the movers and shakers live and breathe! Money wouldn’t matter and neither would prestige. Pressure would be through the roof but who cares! It is my dream job.
Maybe in my next lifetime!
Daily writing prompt
If the salary was the same, what job would you be doing right now and why?
A hobby is defined as something you do regularly, one that you do for fun, relaxation, and personal enjoyment during your free time. In that vein, I choose nature watching.
I love writing but this latest hobby is my all-time favorite. It keeps me sane, shuts my mind down from overthinking, and it is something I do for fun and relaxation and it calms the “beast down!”
My mind takes a reprieve from jumping up and down and my body and soul are given a chance to take a much needed breath and to SLOW DOWN and smell the roses. Sometimes we forget to do that in the daily hustle and bustle that we call life.
I had a life-changing experience recently and this hobby helped me in more ways than one. Counting butterflies flitting from flower to flower, listening to the bees buzzing around, and watching the birds flying overhead all became my daily mainstay and a way of calming myself down. It was also a wonderful way to let go and let life takes its course.
I am known as a worrywart and an overthinker. Both are detrimental to peace and PEACE was nowhere to be found as the days drew closer to what I had to face. Somehow, a simple thing as watching nature helped me to focus on the “beautiful” vs. the not so nice stuff that life can throw your way at a moment’s notice.
Nature watching gave me a new perspective on life. It said, “there are always options. Life is not always doom and gloom.”
This is a hobby that I love for all the reasons I mentioned above and it is going to stay with me for a while.
Daily writing prompt
Share a hobby you’ve picked up recently — what got you into it?
I don’t have a significant other right now but I had one a long time ago. I met him by chance at a university dance. Nursing a broken heart after a breakup, I didn’t really want to be there but fate or rather destiny stepped in and it got the ball rolling.
Some friends wanted me to go along and since I was the only one with a car, they needed a ride! I went along but told them that I would have to leave at midnight or sooner. Just like Cinderella did except I didn’t have a fairy Godmother but who knows she might have been working behind the scenes.
Anyway, I met him on the way to the dance. A tall, geeky guy with huge goggle glasses and he was skinny to boot. He said, “Follow me.” His car was a beat up one with dents on the side and he drove like he didn’t know the rules and went through every red light! I decided to slow down and when I finally pulled up, he walked over and with a grin on his face said, “Why didn’t you follow me?”
I can’t remember what my answer was but it wasn’t too nice. I recall he kept asking me to dance and after saying no several times, I finally relented.
“Just one dance,” I said.
He smiled and led me onto the dance floor. We moved to the music and he kept looking down at me. He was tall, 6′ 2″inches to be exact. I was petite. Then the song finished and a slow one started. I walked back to our table and he ran after me. “Another dance please?” I shook my head and kept to myself. Right at midnight, I told the girls I had to leave. He jumped right in, “Why so soon? It is still early.” Making an excuse I left feeling a little uneasy. I told myself he wasn’t my type. Checked shorts, sandals with black socks right up to his knees, and those glasses. Nope, not my type at all. However, fate had other plans.
A week later, I got a call at home and there he was. I asked him how he got my number and he said the “girls” gave it to him. Let’s just say, we met several times after that. Not romantically, just as friends doing the group thing. Dinners, excursions, and theater visits. Three months later, he called and invited me to a play. I showed up but he was there alone. I asked where the others were and he said, “It’s a date.” Hmm….so it was a date. We watched the show, he took me to a nice dinner, and that was the start of a love story that would last about 16 years.
When did I fall in love with him? I recall I was back home visiting family when I got a call from him. He asked, “Can we sleep together when you get back?” I was lost for words but I also thought it was the sweetest thing. It happens without asking and when the time was right but here was someone who was asking!!! By the way, we had been dating for quite some time by then.
Long story short, it took off from there. I thought I had met the nicest person in the world but unfortunately he proved me wrong! NOT all that glitters is gold and I learned that lesson the hard way!
I love Thanksgiving but I decided to go with Hari Raya Puasa from a country that I love and having spent a lot of time there, I have come to know the cultural traditions well.
Singapore is a diverse society and it embraces many cultural traditions wholeheartedly. Multiculturalism is part and parcel of Singapore and during my stay there, I came to know the different cultural traditions well. I think I have written about some of them here but I’m going to go with Hari Raya Puasa because it is a lovely tradition and one worth noting.
Some of you may know it has Eid al-Fitr, a major religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide and it marks the end of Ramadan. Muslims make up about 15% of the population and Islam is the third-largest religion in the country. What are the other two? The ethnic Chinese community practice Buddhism and they make up about 31.1 % followed by Christianity which makes up 18.9 %. Here’s the thing about Singapore, all religions are accepted and practiced with no restrictions.
Coming back to Hari Raya Puasa, it is celebrated by Singaporeans and not just the Muslim population. People wear vibrant outfits, visit the mosque for prayers, and the best part is the food. The feasting usually involves a massive amount of traditonal Malay delicacies. People also open their homes to relatives, friends, and neighbors of all races and religions. It is time for celebration and the food fest is delicious and finger-licking good. My favorite is rendang. It is a spicy beef stew or it can also be made with chicken and it is served with rice cakes (ketupat), and sometimes satay, meat on skewers but that is not all. The dessert list is massive as well and just as good.
Singaporeans celebrate each other’s cultural traditions and the country comes together as a nation during these times. It is a lovely place that has made diversity a way of life and harmony among the different races is their mainstay and they work hard at keeping it that way.
Thumbs up Singapore! 👍
Daily writing prompt
What’s a cultural tradition from your country that you love?
There are many days that I would like to relive from my past but there is one that is the sweetest and one that completely spoke of love.
He was about five, I think, I am not good with time but he was in kindergarten at the time. I had stopped walking with him and he was learning to get there on his own and back again. It was in the village and it took about five minutes to get there, but he had to cross a main street and I was nervous about that. However, he had been doing fine so I let the worries go.
When it was time for him to get home, I would be a permanent fixture at the kitchen window! I was a helicopter mom and proud of it! Anyway, one day he was late getting home. The five minutes turned into 40 and still no show. I was about to go looking for him when I heard the doorbell ring. Letting out a sigh of relief and ready to give him a piece of my mind, I opened the door.
There he stood with a sweet smile on his face and a bouquet of wild flowers clutched in his hand. There was no rescue for the flowers, they were dead as a doornail but he handed them to me and said proudly, “I picked them for you mommy.” The angry words I wanted to say to him flew out of my head and instead I hugged him tightly. Then I walked into the kitchen and carefully put those precious flowers into a glass of cold water. He stood watching, his eyes filled with pride. “Do you like them mommy? I thought they were pretty.” Blinking back tears, I nodded and kissed him again.
That moment has stayed in my mind, etched in stone and never to be erased again. If I could go back in time, I would like to relive that day again, it was filled with love. My young boy took it upon himself to show his mommy some love and he didn’t realize it at the time but it would go down in history, mine, as one of the best days of my life.
Daily writing prompt
If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why?
I’ve seen this movie twice and the last time I watched it again was about two months ago and it still had the power to make me cry.
It is my kind of love story, the kind that grips at your heart and turns on the faucet, I mean the tear ducts go into over production and even after the movie is over and done with. I love sad love stories and this one is SAD.
It is about a forbidden love, the one where people from different social backgrounds should not meet and fall in love. Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton do just that, they fall deeply in love and the story takes you through their decades-long romance with lots of twists and turns.
The summer romance turns into a never-ending saga with Allie who is from a wealthy family and Noah a poor local mill worker trying to keep the romance alive while Allie’s parents disapprove of the relationship and try to keep the couple apart.
It’s a tearjerker. Noah goes off to war and Allie volunteers as a nurse. She later meets and marries a wealthy handsome lawyer. The old romance is rekindled again when Noah restores an old plantation house he had promised to buy for Allie and she sees an article about the plantation house and pays him a visit.
The elderly man reading the journal at the beginning of the story is Noah and it turns out that the woman he is reading the journal to in the nursing home is Allie. Allie wrote the love story so that Noah could read the story to her if she ever forgot. The part that will have your tears gushing like a waterfall is the final moment when they pass away peacefully in their sleep.
True love never dies. This story will make you a believer! A beautiful love story that will clutch at your heart from the get go.
The years 1941 and 1945 saw Nazi Germany murdering six million Jewish men, women, and children. This event was known as The Holocaust and it is also known as the Shoah. It was genocide on a mass scale and six million Jews were murdered under Nazi racial ideology.
January 1933 marked the rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He turned the nation into a fascist dictatorship. New laws such as the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 stripped Jews of their rights and citizenship and they were sent to death camps where they were murdered along with millions of others who did not fit Hitler’s perception of what a German should look like. His ideology was that “Germanic peoples (termed “Aryans”) belonged to a “master race” that was superior to all other groups.” He also believed in conquering lands so that the Aryan race would have more living space.
He was about 5 feet 9 inches tall, had a slicked back hairstyle, a small square mustache and he was nothing much to look at. However, his policies centered on “totalitarian control, radical racial ideology” and agressive territorial expansion. This would later trigger World War II and the Holocaust.
If there is one event I could erase from history, it would be this one. I would try to erase Hitler’s view that human history is not a struggle between economic classes but more of a biological warfare between races for survival and dominance. It was one of the saddest times in history that saw the killing of innocent men, women, and children. Unfortunately, we are seeing history wanting to repeat itself and fascism is not a thing of the past but doing perfectly fine and well in today’s society. If given a chance, it would gladly step in and repeat what happened back in Nazi Germany.
It was a cruel time, a sad time, and a terrible time that caused lasting pain in the world. Unspeakable crimes were committed, families were torn apart, and millions were killed in the name of a “superior race.” May it never rear its ugly head again and may another Adolf Hitler never rise again!
I hear he is burning in hell for all time!
Daily writing prompt
If you could erase one event from history, what would it be?
