Simply Norma

I’ve been thinking about Seattle and my trip there soon. All the friends I’ll see and won’t see. My time there will not be long enough to visit absolutely everyone I know. Sometimes though, small “bits” of people make the time more valued.

I believe it’s because we don’t take the time for granted. And, this could be the last time we see the person. But isn’t that the way it is anyway? One minute a person’s alive and the next they are dead because of health or accidents.

Small “bits” of people – sometimes that’s really all we know about them anyway as people are too tightly guarded with themselves. Not all – just some. And it makes it hard to get to know them on the inside.

Fortunately, I have friends who are open and honest. Oh – but not too honest. (laughing)

I miss my friends in Seattle. It’s only distance though as sometimes we didn’t see each other very often. But the distance seems to make a difference because we can’t just run over and talk, sympathize, empathize or have a “spot of tea.”

I’m still unpacking boxes and clothes that arrived from Seattle about 2 weeks ago. Since they had been in storage for 5 1/2 months, I’ve had to wash everything which has made unpacking take much longer than it should. Still – it’s the right thing to do unless I want to smell musty the rest of my life.

The ironic thing is that now I am packing clothes for my trip back to Seattle. I’m finding that I need new clogs as the ones I’ve been galavanting around in hurt my feet since the sole has worn pretty thin. Then, there’s trying to find simple clothes to take back with me. Rather than go through every box looking for unstained t-shirts, I will happily shop today for a couple of new tops.

Having said that — I dislike shopping. A friend in Seattle once went shopping with me and it was wonderful. She would find clothes for me and bring them to the dressing room. Wrong size? She’d find the right one. Wrong color? She’d run out again and bring me a different color. It was simple. But it’s unrealistic for me to expect it’ll happen today since she lives in Seattle and I’m not shopping at Nordstrom’s.

I used to wear Birkenstock sandals all the time in Seattle. Not sure if I can find them locally here in Minnesota.

Can a 50+ year old still wear Birkenstocks without looking hippyish? Awww .. why not? Who cares what other people think? The question should be “Am I comfortable?”

Okay — time to psych myself out to shop.

[amazon_link id=”B000G6TMEI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Birkenstock Sandal[/amazon_link]

One of the blogs that I regularly follow recently had a post on humanity “veneering” itself. I found it to be so true of a lot of people and thought I’d share that blog here.

Click here to read.

There are people we feel more comfortable being around because they can look at our imperfections and realize that they are part of what made us who we are today.

As my husband and I were getting ready to leave the house, we noticed through a window that a male gentleman had come up on our front doorstep. I hurried around and opened the door.

It was Mark, the mailman. He came to the door because he had a letter that was sent certified and needed a signature. Mark introduced himself and told us he’d been on this same route for approximately 24 years. And, if we needed anything, we could call the annex, ask for him and he’d get back to us.

Minnesota “nice” mailmen. Very nice.