Pickle Blessings!

Last year, soon after I started blogging, I wrote a post about letting go, about how menopause and midlife were encouraging me to give up on activities and goals and commitments  that aren’t working for me.

You can read the pickly post here:  

In the post, I announced my decision after 26 years, to give up on winning the pickle counting contest at the North Carolina State Fair.

But, I added, my husband Cliff had not given up.

And it’s a good thing

Because this year,

HE WON!

He doesn’t remember how many pickles he guessed were in the jar, but whatever number he put down  was the RIGHT ONE!

So this Thanksgiving, 

As I count my blessings,

I’m thankful for that shiny jar

Of floating baby dills and for the

Mount Olive Pickle Company,

Who sent the winner’s letter to our house,

And most of all, I’m thankful for a world,

Where people who love pickles,

Never, ever, give up.

Happy Thanksgiving, and if you’re in our direction, come on over the river and through the woods and stop on by for a taste from the winner’s prize:

PICKLES!

A Halloween Menopause Riddle

How is menopause like Halloween?

Because sometimes you feel like a witch,

and you just don’t know which sort of witch you are.

Sometimes, you want to hide away in a pumpkin patch,

 And other times, you’re bursting with energy, ready to turn over a giant new leaf.

Some days, your friends and family think you’ve morphed into a monster,

or they’re sure the old you has gone missing, hidden behind a skeleton mask.

Sometimes, you’re as confused as  jack-o-lanterns with grumbly grins.

Menopause can make you think you’re coming unstitched.

But wait!

Here’s the super cool Halloween connection.

Menopause is like Halloween because you get to pick your own costume.

Your stuffing is changing.

So stuff yourself with new stuff.

New hobbies.

New treats.

New adventures.

Just like a brave and proud  purple scarecrow lady,

put on your new straw hat

and greet the world.

Photos were taken by me at the North Carolina State Fair. Thanks to the artists and craftspeople and gardeners and cooks who make visiting the fair a highlight of our  year.

Fun and Games!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

George Bernard Shaw

Enough said. 

Go play, and happy Labor Day!

Wait!

Before you go, tell us your favorite way to play.

Photo: A favorite way to play for the Youngers:  the North Carolina State Fair, where I snapped this photo last October.

Giveaway: Holiday congratulations to Barbara of Texas, who won the copy of The Guest Book.

Baby News: Baby news is my grandson is taking his time. He needs to get himself born so he can start playing with his toys and all of us!

Letting the Pickles Go…

For twenty-six years, I have entered the pickle guessing contest at the North Carolina State Fair.

For twenty-six years, I have made a brilliant guess as to how many pickles are in the jar.

For twenty-six years, I have lost.

No glory for me from the Mount Olive Pickle Company.

So guess what?  This year I didn’t enter.  I’m giving it up.  I’m letting it go.

That’s what The Great Pause will do for you.  It helps you figure out what to keep and what to toss.  I’m getting to be a pretty good tosser:   Hurt.  Anger.  Regret.  Resentment.  Activities I don’t enjoy.  Skills I just can’t master.

T. S. Eliot writes, “Teach us to care and not to care.”  To that I might add a line from the Serenity Prayer:  “And the wisdom to know the difference.”

Letting go makes space for more joy, more love, more confidence, more engaging activities, and more new skills.

Hold this thought tight:  With menopause, comes the wisdom to let go.

Celebrate with a big old pickle or maybe even a whole jar!

Photos:  Above is this year’s pickle jar.  No announcement yet as to how many pickles it holds.  Below are photos of my husband Cliff entering the contest for the twenty-seventh time.  He hasn’t given up yet!  But that’s good, because he really wants to win, and besides, he likes pickles a whole lot more than I do.

Happy Birthday on November 1st to Cliff, who loves pickles, Duke basketball, pizza, reading, Star Trek, backpacking, American Flyer Trains, the morning paper, barbecue and hush puppies,  Bald Head Island, kids,classical music, Butterfingers, waterlilies, the Appalachian Trail, wine and beer, potluck suppers, cats, Blues artists Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor (among others), nice snakes, gardens, old buildings, the North Carolina State Fair, science fiction, magnolia trees, the Rolling Stones, Christmas, the New Jersey boardwalk, and Chinese buffets ALMOST as much as he loves me (and our children!)