Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

 

    I got up around 5 am and meditated till six. Then I went on my morning walk with Elsa. Dean and Nina were my morning walking companions when I am fortunate to run into them. I know they look for me. Dean is a cornucopia of miscellaneous knowledge, as Lutz is. I enjoy listening to them both. Dean mentione helping a friend of Nina's with a leaky faucet. I asked if he could fix mine. This is a fantastic neighborhood.

  The other day I wrote down the names of all the people I run into on my walk whose names I know. I was surprised to come up with over fifty names. There are another dozen or so whose names I do not know, even though our paths have crossed for years. They're more private and don't want that interaction. There's this one fellow who delivers a smileless nod as he comes abreast. Some folks give a hardy wave and say hello as they pass in their vehicles. Mr. Sullen stands out.

   The other day, Yvette asked, "Have you always been this friendly?" The answer is yes. It drove the two Scorpios in my life, my mom and Mike, crazy. I love talking to people, connecting. I never had so many loose connection friends in my life. The difference is there are more people like me here. I thought I was the one weaving the neighborhood together. I discovered that many people I knew others on their own. I was a little disappointed at first. Being a social knitter is part of my identity.

  Sometime in the mid-seventies, my sister-in-law got married in a Hindu wedding ceremony. Her husband's Indian friends and my sisters-in-law's family and friends were there. After the event, she commented that people of different backgrounds with nothing in common wind up talking together when I'm present. I never noticed because it always happened when I was there. I love that image of myself. But I love the image of a community of people who interact with each other more. It feels like a safety net. In fact, of the fifty-some-odd people whose names I know, I have the cell number of at least twenty. Several I have done something for or they have done something for me. Good will abounds. I don't know if this pattern is true for all of Hawaii with its aloha spirit or just this magical neighborhood.

  I know this neighborhood has some special magic because many of the people who walk, run, or bike here come from other neighborhoods. They find the area welcoming and shaded. We have some large old-growth trees. It is a lovely.

   Once a month, I participate in an online group called The 80s Club. Everyone in it is over eighty. I was invited to join by a local participant. It's mostly men who were in environmental work. Participations are far-flung; one man is in Australia. Our last topic was retirement communities. Having recently investigated one and knowing something about my Hanai sister's situation, I had plenty of information. I shared what I knew and listened to what others had to say. At the end, the leader summarized our discussion. He ignored my input; he focused on costs. That was his primary concern.  

   When I go to the  Ulu Wini Community Center to tutor, students come up to me saying they need help. "Can I be first?" "I'm next." I saw such an improvement in one boy after a fifteen-minute session when I worked on his automatic recall I wondered if his presentation in the first session was accurate. Could he have been too shy to perform his best, and did I see a poorer performance than his teacher might have seen?

On the other hand, one boy came back and told me his teacher commented on the change. One time, I asked him what she said. He said she told him I was very smart. I'd much rather they show an interest in my methods.

   After Ulu Wini, I went to Costco to have my tires inflated. They used to do it for you. They experimented with self-service and then went back to doing it themselves. I discovered they had set up two air pumps in nearby parking spaces this time. I didn't know the correct pressure. I couldn't see well enough to make out what it said on the label on the door frame. A woman on the other pump saw me open my glove compartment to get the driver's manual. She offered to help me. While I unscrewed the nozzle covers and she was pumping air, the phone call for my doctor's appointment came through. I told her my hemorrhoids were kicking up. Last time, the doctor put a rubber band around one- the same process used to castrate livestock. Works like a charm. The helpful woman tending to my tires offered me dietary advice to prevent hemorrhoids. It was good advice, but my problem was caused by an overload of roughage from all the beans I ate. It was a funny scene.

  Paulette called to ask if I needed a raised toilet seat after my hip replacement. Carol was in great pain. I had raised toilet seat. I got it in anticipation of my second hip replacement, which had been scheduled for July 13 this year. It was upstaged by my fall on June 13 when I shattered my left shoulder and elbow joints. I walked the seat down to their house. As I approached, Paulette drove down the hill to pick it up.