It’s amazing how a brain can whirl at warp-speed when you are housebound, snowbound and feeling yuck with a stomach bug. Thank goodness, it all passed for Hubby and I, but I may as well vacuum those silly thoughts right out of my head—so, here goes.

Almonds, cherries, lemons, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, avocadoes, pears—I enjoy eating all of these, but have you wandered down the shampoo and hand/body lotion  aisle lately? Suddenly we are smooshing and slathering fruits and veggies in our hair and all over our bodies. When I was a kid, the only scents in our lotions and potions were vanilla or almond.  Now we have a whole salad bar and more. Why would wearing these ingredients be better than eating them?

Life is a constant learning experience and never more so than when we get older. I say this because my grandkids absorb new techie toys and things that gets them to Point A to Point B faster than their grandmother. It’s definitely in their genes—but not in mine.

In one of my recent writing seminars–a cozy class of five–we were asked questions about our writing interests, our goals and what we hoped to achieve by being in her “Marketing and Getting Published” class. As she wrote our answers on the board, we could see the emerging detailed analysis she had compiled on each of us. We were instructed to take a photo of our section of the board for a record of our progress.  Everyone whipped out their electronic notepad and/or Smartphones. I whipped out my senior phone as it had a decent camera. “Oh my,” exclaimed the instructor, “a real flip-top phone!”  Whaa-at?  Was she commenting on my phone?  Yep, she was, but I did get a decent photo and that’s what counted.

I guess the point I’m making is that I have my flip-top for emergencies. I have my basic desktop computer for email, internet access, my Word program, Photoshop and music. It’s very convenient to have a Smartphone with all your internet, email, camera and probably a mini-fridge filled with snacks.  Do I really want this?  Do I want to be bothered at all times on stuff that can wait ’til I get home?  Easy=peasy–that’s a “No.”

I love my car. I love the fact that I can jump into my car and take off. I like the fact that my car takes me anywhere and gets me back.  I absolutely hate it when there’s an alien noise that doesn’t belong. AND, it’s maddening when this infuriating voice at the back of your mind keeps nagging that the alien noise is important.  What’s even more maddening is that when you finally take the car to the experts, aka mechanics—the annoying alien noise has stopped.

Have you ever selected a video that sounds like it would be an exciting movie to sit and watch? Then, when you’re nicely tucked in your comfy chair, something  in the first 15-minutes tickled your memory. You wonder if you’re psychic or maybe  seen this movie before even though the title didn’t ring any bells. Hubby and I have done this a number of times. One of us would comment, “This looks familiar. Did we see this already?” And the other partner would say, “I don’t think so although bits and pieces do sound familiar.” By the time we are half-way through the movie, we decided we had seen it before. The worst of it wasn’t a few years ago, but only a few months ago when we actually saw the movie!  Guess we can blame that one on a senior moment—whatever that is.

Victoria is a city of art, books and food. Honest. I finally went for lunch in a tiny cafe with local art on the brick walls, books and magazines to peruse while enjoying a fantastic home-cooked lunch. Someone was clever enough to merge all of the above in one stop. My only complaint was that no chocolatier took advantage. The warm apple pie with the flaky pastry and generous cinnamon apple filling was superb but chocolate would have made an excellent finish. . . .

As I mentioned at the beginning, when you’re confined, the mind can be a whirling dervish. Hubby and I are both recovered from our alien bugs; the snow has long melted morphing into clear, but cold days and the active mind? I’ll simply say that hopefully, it will be a long time when anymore housebound days occur in this household.  And, if it happens anytime soon, I’m prepared with a pen and notepad, ready to take notes on further random and scattered thoughts. . . . .