I had to run outside when I saw these clouds last night. The colors were stunning.
Not long after I saw this, I saw what I’m pretty sure was a young fox trotting down our busy road. Not across it, as I’ve seen before, but on the road, headed somewhere. Very strange. And then, of course, I worried about him.
Very low key around here lately. Don has been resting from his very active weekend. I’ve been dealing with anxiety, reading a lot, listening to classical music, meditating. I sometimes listen to the app, Classic FM, which is London-based. It tends to calm me, as the music they play tends to be rather traditional. I like it. And I use the Calm app for meditating. Even though I’ve been railing a bit lately about tech and the dangers of too much tech, I have to admit I’m grateful for tech advances like these two apps as well as others that I use frequently. (By the way, I’m going to post more about AI soon. Now, it’s hitting Zoom, which I use for coaching. I may have to find an alternative.)
I’m loving The Man Who Died Twice, the second in Richard Osman’s series about elderly detectives. Though, nowadays, when I read the someone is ‘elderly’ at the age of 75, my first response is “Elderly? No!” But back to the series – a lot of you have already read these books. What a joy they are! They’re also extremely well-plotted mysteries with plot twists that often catch me by surprise. I am also impressed by Osman’s characterizations; full-blooded, complex human beings who, despite being of a certain age, have lived full lives and are still living full lives.
I remember being young and thinking of elderly people as sweet, but gray. I never thought about the entirety of their lives, what they’d done, experienced, and lived through. Ah, the arrogance of the young. Now, of course, the shoe is on the other foot, and I know otherwise.
Has evolution given us a gray-haired appearance as we age in order to fade into the background as we get nearer to the end of our time here on Earth? I often complain about my gray/white hair combined with the pale skin I’ve had all my life. I could have dyed my hair, of course, but I chose not to, so gray and pale is what I am nowadays. I miss the beautiful brown hair I had, which was full of all sorts of natural highlights. The other day, Don said to me, “Well, you could dye your hair. Nobody’s stopping you.” I am stopping me because I don’t have the patience for dying my hair or touching up roots. Besides, I’ve been gray for a number of years and reversing that would look silly. And obvious.
Anyway, kudos to Osman. It’s about time we have a novel with complicated, rich characters who happen to be in their later years – who are active despite their aches and pains, whose minds are sharp – and who make us laugh. Miss Marple for this century.
Hopefully, I’ll do some painting today. We also need to mow, but I’m so congested today that we’ll see.
See you on Friday!
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
That is a beautiful photo of the sky. A good subject for a painting.
First, I am not a hair dresser but I have been at the salon and women with gray hair have a process done which is similar to high lights but have a darker color interspersed in their hair. It looks good. This process has a name but I do not know it.
Take Care,
Kaye
But expensive, I bet! Heck, I have Don cut my hair to save money!
Thanks so much, Kaye.
Stay safe.
P.S.
Then you have to keep it up, which leads to more expense. I do not enjoy going to a hair salon, some people find it relaxing. The only think I do like is the uninterrupted time reading for a period of time.
Kaye
I would simply rather spend any money I have on other things!
xo
Kaye I believe it is called reverse high lights. It’s adding dark high lights to your gray.
hope the congestion leaves soon so you can better enjoy your day and everything that fills it.
from your posts and other people’s comments, those osman books have moved to the top of my “tbr” list. who couldn’t use more laughter? and appreciation of older people? need to finish the current book, then will get the osmans. thank you all!
i started finding grey hairs by my early 30s. not a problem anyway, but also they didn’t show much on my blonde hair. have lots more grey now and i’m feeling like “bring it … i’ve earned it”. :)
grey sky and sprinkly sort of rain here now … love it!
happy wednesday to everyone. stay safe (including the fox)!
kathy
I remember finding my first gray hair when I was in my late twenties. Only one, but I saved it for years.
Stay safe.
Osman’s books are laugh-out-loud funny, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of them! I think as a “woman of a certain age” I find the characters even more appealing and the situations they find themselves in even more funny because I can sooooo relate to their predicaments!
Exactly! They’re wonderful.
Stay safe, Martha.
Lovely post today, Claudia. I’m glad you’re enjoying your mystery stories. Always fun to find a new series. I know what you mean about how old is “old”. When we were young we never even thought about what it would be like to grow old. My mom used to say “I wasn’t born this old” meaning she had had a vibrant life when she was young. She lived to be 94. Continue to enjoy your music, read your books, paint your pictures. Hugs, Elaine
Yes. We all have a full and vibrant life in our younger days that not everyone knows about.
Stay safe, Elaine.
Good morning Claudia! Beautiful picture. Foxes are adorable. We had one as a visitor at our camp site recently. Just a nod and off to whatever it was up to. I now wonder how it’s getting on.
I think Mother Nature lets our hair become the color that best matches our skin as we age. Dark hair for me would be much too harsh, and expensive, and I love my white tresses. Surprisingly, many young ladies have commented how lovely it is to them as well. It takes a lot of confidence to go natural, but I’m happy I did it.
Love these books. Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourne is a fun read as well.
Have a great day!
Hi Verna,
I really enjoyed Killers of a Certain Age. I’m hoping the somewhat open-ended ending means there’s another book in the works!
I don’t think my hair best matches my skin. My skin needs a contrast. White and pale are not a good combination!
Yes, I’m happy I went natural. Never seriously thought of doing otherwise.
Stay safe, Verna.
Oh, the Osmun books are so wonderful. I continually cast (and recast them!) Alun Armstrong as Ron, Art Malik as Ibrahim, Penelope Wilton must be there but is she Elizabeth or Joyce? Helen Mirren would be a fine Elizabeth, too. And the young woman cop from “London Kills” is Donna! I’m going for Douglas Reith as Stephen. And Bogdan…. who is Bogdan?!
I dyed for years and finally stopped during Covid (I looked terrible, by the way, because I didn’t get it cut, either and when it grew out it was two toned. Not ombre. The white half and the brown half. Needless to say, since it’s been cut I am so relieved. It’s 80 percent white, maybe a little more (definitely in front) and apart from it making me look my age, which I wasn’t quite ready to deal with, I love it! Be very glad you didn’t fall into that trap!
I’m enjoying https://radio.garden which has stations from all over. Right now I’m listening to Scala/London, which is mostly classical with an occasional Broadway thrown in but we often listen to CBFM from Cape Breton. It’s fun listening to things from all over the world!
My hair looks pretty white now, but underneath, it’s still brown.
I have Radio Garden as well!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Hi Claudia, very broody photo of the sky and clouds.
I hope your anxiety is lessened each day, as you escape into a book or into your painting, as well as the techniques you’ve learned through the years.
I’ve been anxious about all the wild fires in the world. Having been to Portugal and Greece, including some of the islands, I’m sad that the places I’ve seen have been destroyed. Then this morning, I read about the fires on Maui and how there are many building destroyed or damaged in Lahaina, where my husband had proposed to me. The lost of life is heart-breaking, but those who survived have lost everything, including their livelihood, as much of the work involves tourism in all three of those areas.
I’ve been to the salon twice, when I was in my very early 20’s. One was a beauty school and I had a partially bad experience when the instructor tried his hand at rolling my hair for the perm. The student had to undo everything he did and reroll the hair. She was very apologetic but I said I’d be fine if my hair turned out fine. (It did.) my Dad always cut my hair, and then my husband, and now one of my daughters. One of my friends, who goes to the salon twice a month, remarks that I’ve saved thousands of dollars. So, as my black hair is now interspersed with increasingly more strands of white, I’m embracing the look, and not coloring my hair.
The fires everywhere are tragic. I’ve been reading about the fire on Maui. It’s so heartbreaking.
Don cut my hair last week – he took 3 1/2 inches off of it!
Stay safe, Wendy.
Hi Claudia! I love gray hair! I used to dye my hair…just that wash in stuff that didn’t last very long, but got tired of fussing with it. It’s interesting about getting older…. sometimes I have to stop and remember my parents, as well as my grandparents, when they were the same age I am now…a senior citizen! How did that happen!
That was a gorgeous photo you took of the night sky!
Dyeing, unless it’s very expensive dyeing, never looks totally natural, either!
Thanks, Barrie.
Stay safe.
Gorgeous picture…I can see why you dashed out to capture it.
My hair and I have come to an understanding. It’s always been naturally curly/wavy, coarse, and a light mousy brown. So after feeling bad for a number of years I had highlights added. Now it’s just a matter of doing that twice a year, and both my hair and I are happy. The grays come in and play well with others. Have I earned my gray hairs? Absolutely. But…I want them to blend in, like my wrinkles…lol.
Enjoy your day! ;)
I grayed rather beautifully – the process, I mean. It appeared in subtle streaks, with my brown and red tones there as well. For years, people asked me if I had my streaks professionally done. Nope. I was very fortunate that it happened that way and, of course, I can take no credit for it.
Stay safe, Donnamae.
There is nothing wrong with grey hair.
I am happy with my grey hair. I got lots of compliments when I was in Canada where most women dye their hair. Like you, I don’t like to spend any money on my hair. One simple hair cut costs about 85 Swiss francs that’s ?100 dollars. Once I decided not to be the most beautiful teacher. Between us, I am the most beautiful teacher anyway ;-)
All the best!
Oh, I’ve written about graying naturally before on the blog. I’m a big fan of just letting it happen.
And you ARE the most beautiful teacher!
Stay safe, Regula.
dear Claudia/Don — I like your ‘new’ posting schedule — hope it relieves some stress re posting. Monday’s pic of hydrangea is so lovely. All of my auburn locks turned white/gray very early, like in my 30s — tried dying it but proved to be a waste of time/money, ha! Mr said the other day I should dye my hair or get a wig for when grands are coming to visit as a surprise — they would s**t a brick !!!! btw. this was one of Myma’s sayings, ha! hope y’all continue to do well w/more ‘restful’ activities.
That’s one of my favorite sayings by the way – I use it often!
Thanks so much, Linda.
Stay safe.
I regard each of my (many many many, in fact mostly!) grey hairs as badges of honour: each earned with hard work, worry and care for others! I wear them with pride.
I ‘m sorry you are grappling with anxiety. Our daughter ha s OCD so anxiety has been a big part of our lives for close 30 years and I know just how much of an impact it can have on your daily living. Take care of yourself.
Thank you, Denise. I mowed today, which helped – though it’s very tiring! But giving myself an activity takes me to a different place and that’s a good thing.
Stay safe.
Like that you decided to post less. I always felt bad if I did not read it everyday! Well, we are
frying here in Phoenix. We have NEVER had a summer like this. All my plants have shriveled away except for a couple trees. I am watering those like mad because I would cry if we lost those. Our yard has never looked so bad. PLEASE rain!! I am a redhead and have put blonde highlights in every so often. I really do not have much gray at all. It will change in time. Just got back from having my yearly mammogram done. Everything is fine. So happy! I also deal with anxiety and depression. Not fun. It gets worse in the summer when I can’t get out much. Fall can not come soon enough for me. Take care!
I feel so sorry for you and everyone coping with this extreme heat, Deb! I hope you get some rain soon.
Stay safe!
I am so glad you are enjoying the Osman books. They are a joy. I especially love Joyce’s journal entries. Her view of happenings and her tangents are such a delight.
She’s a real kick! Love her!
Stay safe, Lori.
Now I’m in my seventies I’m having a hard time thinking of myself as “elderly.” Makes me wish I’d treated my grandparents differently. I’m jealous of your beautiful gray hair. This summer I asked my stylist as she stood over me if she saw predominantly gray in my hair now. She shook her head. I still have too much blond. Now I know why previously brunette movie stars have become blond. You really cannot see any gray it blends in that well.
I like the Calm app too. It does help me settle. Trying to concentrate on enjoying the rest of summer and tuning out political stuff. It’s done wonders for my blood pressure. Speaking of music apps, have you heard of Radio Garden? It’s a free app that lets you listen to radio stations all over the world. My favorite is Scala Radio in London. It’s mostly classical but they’ll throw in some show tunes, Gershwin, stuff like that.
Take care,
Kay
Yes, I have Radio Garden, but I haven’t listened to Scala Radio, Kay. I’m going to try it today as I do a bit of painting.
Thanks so much!
Stay safe.
I spent a whole weekend about 6 wks ago. On the advice of a young shop girl I brought some products home. I went from orange and brown to bright yellow to orange! Each time I drove across town in a cap to see what I’m needed to do next.
I phoned my dad to warn him about me. Finally, Mike and I bought the cheapest brown hair color and that solved it pretty much. Now I do have an odd looking hair color. Dad didn’t say anything. My hair story
Love this story, Irene!
I have one I’ll share with you sometime about henna!
Stay safe.
I love my hair color…..looks platinum. I wear it shoulder length and get many compliments….What I do not like are the bags under my eyes. I could not help but relate to what you wrote….about fading color…fading into the background. Well…..sometimes when I put on a charcoal turtleneck, my jeans and some eyeliner…..and walk with purpose….I catch a glimpse of the way I want to look. I have seen your photo…..class. Just remember who you are and not what you were.
Hope the anxiety you are experiencing fades away. You are one of the more vibrant people I choose to communicate with.
Maria
I definitely need makeup when I go out for anything other than grocery shopping. Lip color, brows, mascara, etc.
Thanks so much, Maria.
Stay safe.