Our Exciting Journey!

Keeping things chronological, last Thanksgiving Jim and I finally made it to Charlotte, NC, to visit son Jeff and family. It was wonderful after the times we couldn’t get out of Colorado due to blizzards and cancelled flights. We had a great visit!

We followed that up with Ron and family coming here at Christmas. It was so much fun to have them all here for games, hot springs, dinners etc. etc. Our grandkids are growing up so fast, adults already. Sigh….

And that visit was immediately followed by Jill and Chet and kids. The lake had frozen enough to allow for a lot of fun with sleds and their Golden, Jaxon. Then in February Laura and Taylor drove down from Denver for a few days with their dog and guinea pig! Gary was swamped with work and couldn’t make it. Son Tom has had back issues and couldn’t go anywhere!

Life was so busy overall that Christmas cards never got written. Sorry about that but will have lots of news for next year! I’ve been lazy as far as marketing my latest book, “Ageless Never too Old, Never too Late.” It’s non-fiction and has won two awards…Finalist in the International Book Awards, and Winner in the health section of e-books. Hopefully it’s helping some people laugh and appreciate their lives by making changes.

And that brings me to my own life which I nearly lost in January. Had a pulmonary embolism, a big one in the “saddle” blocking both lungs. Being a stubborn, tough female of Yankee heritage, I made it…after an ambulance ride to Mercy Hospital in Durango, 5 days in ICU…”do not even put a leg over the side of the bed!” At the time I had no idea how serious this was but I do thank God daily for helping me survive along with blood thinners.

The whole thing (acknowledging that I may not be “Ageless” forever!) prompted us to decide to move to a lower altitude while we have the strength to do it! Everything has fallen into place so far. We got financial pre-approval, took a short trip to Grass Valley in California, found the right house with a view and trees… and bought it that day. Then we sold our vacant property here, and Jim is very excited about year-round golf. It’s a fun town, decent sized and friendly.

We now need to find the perfect buyer for our amazing home in Pagosa Springs. We have the best view in town with the lake and mountains, and, well, I could go on. We’ll try to sell it ourselves for a while, then turn it over to a realtor, but we intend to stay here until it sells. In the meantime, we’ve been “decluttering.” Our grandson Brandon from LA, flew up to help us pack up a U-Haul with heavy cartons, hard to ship stuff, and he and Jim made the two day road trip to Grass Valley. It’s now unloaded and they’re testing out a golf course.

Brandon cheers…”We Made It!”

Jim will be setting up a landscaper, plumber, handyman etc. for small things that need to be done this week. Brandon flies home Monday and Jim’s BFF Tom Doak is flying to GV Friday for some golf and bonding. Hopefully Jim will get back here by the 28th. Anybody interested in a snow blower, lawn mower, garden tools, treadmill, etc.? Just not needed when we get there.

Unfortunately Jim had a close encounter with a big deer at 5:15 in the morning on the way to the airport a couple of weeks ago. Insurance totaled his BMW…a surprise since Jim is just fine, thank God. That led to a trip to Durango and the purchase of an absolutely gorgeous MKC Lincoln, now called “Blue Thunder.” Everything but the kitchen sink is in it, another computer on wheels. It arrived Friday. I’m happy to say I finally figured out how to start it! Have now studied the book and made it to the mailbox. Tomorrow I’ll learn how to start it from in the house using a keyless system. Maybe. I may be getting too old for this kind of thing!

So, summing it all up…Jim is in fantastic shape (14,000 steps today!), I’m doing great although now experiencing hot flashes and night sweats since I had to give up estrogen…but I’m alive, just a bit cranky at times! We’re excited about the move, meeting new friends, decorating, being able to see more of our kids and grandkids, and visiting old friends in Reno once again. The hardest part will be missing our dear friends in Pagosa. We’ve been here 18 years and there are many wonderful memories we’ll take with us.

I’ll keep you posted on the new adventure!

You may remember some references in my book, “Ageless!”, where my brother was a big player. This is one of his memories, but the comments about our mom are right on. She was, indeed, a very special woman and teacher. There’s a lot of wise information in here…please enjoy it!

My Mother Taught Me Well

by Jeff Bowen

I called my mom Mrs. Bowen when we were together in the classroom.  It just felt natural and necessary.   She was my fifth and sixth grade teacher in the mid 1950s at Harvard Street School in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Long before I thought about teaching, and eventually recruiting them as an administrator, the worlds of  home and school were unforgettably connected by my mother, Sally Bowen.                                                          photo:  Jeff and Judy

At the time, my father was the junior high school principal. I know now that he and my mom worried about whether it was a good idea to put me in her classroom.  Ultimately, they decided it would work because I was a very serious kid, and because other teachers travelled just one route to a destination while my mother found five different ones and tailored them individually.

I was fortunate to learn from her that great teachers could be like great moms to a whole slew of children at the same time.   Special I might be when I was at home, but in school Mrs. Bowen went out of her way to avoid playing favorites. Years afterward, she sheepishly admitted a single dilemma.  I had won a secret ballot for class president by one vote.  She gave someone else the nod to preserve the appearance of impartiality.

Mom treated all her students evenhandedly. Yet she also convinced each one they had special talents and potential.  It was no surprise her former students returned for confidence boosts year after year

Whether teachers are male or female, the best ones nurture the whole child and, like my mother, do most of the following:

• think like the children they teach and are childlike in their enthusiasm and imagination.
• trust their students and let them start with a clean slate often.
• laugh easily and see the lighter side of life and learning.
• love what they do and communicate it in ways that make kids want to please them.
• create excitement and trigger curiosity as they do things together with their students rather than just for them.
• provide constant feedback without too much standardized testing.
• state expectations clearly and prompt students to focus on them.
• help kids practice winning without arrogance and losing without loss of self-esteem.
• arrange the classroom as a home away from home where students feel they belong, can take risks and still be safe.
• assign kids different roles and responsibilities that fit together so each child values teamwork and feels like a decision maker.
• celebrate each child’s interests and encourage exploring them via an abundant reading, writing and contextual vocabulary.

I recall becoming intensely interested in dogs when Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were dominant television personalities.  With my teacher’s encouragement, I devoured every one of the local library’s adventure books about dogs. I cut out every picture of dogs I could find in magazines.  To this day I can pinpoint and name any breed from a single snapshot.

Years of working with teachers have shown me that excellent teaching balances skill and knowledge with spontaneous inspiration. Mom effortlessly kept this balance.  She simultaneously engaged the academic, social, and emotional intelligence of the children.  But she never strained while doing it because she thought from a child’s point of view.   Some of this was her personality.  Yet she also learned to dramatize the behaviors that would hook her kids on learning for life. It worked for me. I see my mother’s legacy in every great teacher.

photo:     Mom with Jeff and Judy

Dr. Jeffrey M. Bowen  

SNOW MAGIC MEMORIES

“Judy! Wake up! It’s snowing!”Bolting out of bed, heart pounding, I run to the window, press my nose on the cold glass and watch with awe and wonder as the soft gentle perfect flakes drift out of nowhere, slowly building a winter wonderland on earth.

“Put your shoes on, you’ll catch your death of cold!”

No way, not me. I knew I couldn’t catch a cold on a day like this! My tummy warmed with hot oatmeal and Postum, I wait, holding my breath, listening intently for the firehouse sirens to signal “no school.” It would just be impossible to hike the mile to school! Besides, I needed to build a snowman and a tunnel and make snow angels with wings and…

The perfection of God’s snowflakes take my breath away as they land on my navy blue wool snow suit and linger just long enough for me to marvel at the intricate designs before they melt away. And the complete and utter silence is so intense it makes me want to whisper….

As the snow swirls around our Pagosa Springs home, I can still feel those intense New England blizzards. Gale winds whipped snow against the windowpanes and winds whistled around the chimney and corners. Huge drifts blew up and over stone walls and fences creating graceful unique sculptures. Nor’easters kept us inside for a while but it always felt like a celebration. We’d work on picture puzzles and bake cookies, play games and read by the fire as Mother Nature vented her wrath. Hot chocolate helped, along with many trips to the window for a running update on the storm’s progress.

Snow meant shoveling, clearing the skating pond, and icy cold feet as well as pink cheeks and cold noses. And, of course, there were snowball fights and snowmen with charcoal eyes, carrot stick noses and mufflers around their necks. Funny how the snow seemed so much deeper then. For years I thought the winters were getting less severe in New England but I was just growing taller and taller.

My children loved snow as much as I did, although I do recall the hassle of spending half an hour bundling three squirming excited boys into mounds of snowsuits, mittens, boots, socks, scarves and hats. Barely able to move, they were out the door and into the freezing cold air for a romp in the snow. And then…I knew it was coming…I would hear, “Mommy, I need to go potty!”

I remember the rush of pure unadulterated joy when I stood at the top of a snow-covered mountain, skis on and poles in hand. The magnificent vista took my breath away. Thanks to my boys, I became a good skier. “Mom! Keep your feet together!” echoed across the runs. It was my mountain and I carved and glided my way over the trails to the lift once again, thighs burning, but exuberant, invigorated and ready to go until I dropped ─ or froze to death! The crunch of the snow under foot as we walked to the warming hut at the end of the day was music to my ears.

The first flakes of winter still affect me as they did years ago. I watch in wonder and marvel at God’s gift to the universe. As soon as the snow reaches a few inches, I snap on the cross-country skis and off I go to break my own trails across the fields and into the woods where silence and peace become part of my soul. There is such a deep inner need, a longing for winter inside of me. My body moves quicker, my thoughts are clearer, creativity blossoms, and I find myself humming and two-stepping around the house.

And then I think of “home,” the home of my childhood, my family and friends ─ those “good old days.” I can’t recapture the past but I can cherish the memories and make new ones whenever we’re blessed with snow once again. And today in Pagosa, so many years later, I’m once again so grateful for the white stuff falling and flying through the sky. And so are the skiers!!

“What is it?” Jim asked. “I have no idea…I haven’t ordered anything.”

“Well, this is one heck of a big package,” my observant husband said.

“Big?! It’s huge…and heavy!” I, being equally observant, said. “Let’s open it and see what it is.”

“I can’t see anything on the outside as to where it’s from.”

“Just open it!!!”

So we did and found something nestled in all kinds of wrappings. Seeing a small part of it, I commented, “Maybe it’s from an alien on another planet? Or maybe it came to the wrong address.”

We finally uncovered it…an amazing metal sculpture, a big gal with flying hair and arms, an adorable carved skirt, and she stood about three feet tall. “There’s a tag…what does it say?” My curiosity was now killing me.

“It says, ‘Congratulations on your book! From one diva to another! Love D~~~~’”

OMG! Our amazing part-time neighbor had sent it from Oklahoma. We admired our new gift and set her on a little bench. Jim went to get the camera as I kept looking at this wondrous sculpture that was, indeed, a diva. Then I looked more closely and let out a yelp.

“Jim, come quick!”

“What’s wrong, are you alright?”

“Yes! But look at her skirt!”

“Oh, wow! It says ‘Ageless!’”

Neither of us had noticed, but the now-newly-named “Annie the Ageless Diva” is definitely part of the family. She’s supposed to be able to stay out in the garden or snow or whatever…but she’s not doing that for a long time. She’s waves at me when I come and go, has held my hat a couple of times, and always reminds me that it’s a very good thing to be an Ageless Diva! (I googled it to make sure).

And here’s Annie!                                 

Have any of you once had a passion, a love of doing something creative, something that allowed the real you to come through and bring you joy? Perhaps it was painting landscapes or portraits, dancing, playing a musical instrument, or maybe it was writing. Then life seems to get in the way. We have careers, not always what we’d necessarily choose, or it could be marriage and a family (and having children can definitely stall the process, albeit in a good way), and a whole myriad of things occur that seem to bury joyful pursuits we once had…our passion.

My husband, Jim, started singing at the age of five, had leads in school plays, and with a friend, played Kingston Trio type music to put themselves through college. His voice is beautiful…and yes, he wooed and won me in piano bars many years ago. I didn’t have a chance {smile} . So many years went by with his talent on the back burner. And now, finally, my silver fox is really enjoying entertaining and hearing the applause…and so am I!

I, too, had dreams of being an actor, a dancer and a writer. I accomplished the first in college and Community Theater. I still love dancing (especially the jitterbug) once a week at our local bistro. My love of the written word started as soon as I learned how to print somewhere around age 4-5. I painstakingly printed out copies of a journal about neighborhood families, and happily distributed them door to door. The passion followed through high school and college. Then marriage and kids took precedence until they began school when I once again began a newsletter for the grade schools in Los Altos Hills, CA. That was back in the mimeograph days, and I was covered in purple ink most of the time! I called it “The Pur-Bul News,” short for Purissima and Bullis schools—and it was, indeed, purple.

Years later when I returned to college for a BA in Journalism, I interned for a newspaper but fell in love with television production. That was a different way of being creative—teaching, shooting and editing a public service program every week for the Reno ABC affiliate. Much has happened since then, including divorce and marriage to Jim.

A lot of time had passed from my original dreams to finally publishing my first book, “EarthShift—the Ancients Called it the Shift of the Ages.”  This was followed by “Soul Shift—2012 and Beyond” a few years later.  And now my third book has been published! “Ageless! Never too Old, Never too Late.” Non-fiction, it’s good advice served with humor, from the heart and experiences of an “older” woman. It’s incredibly exciting to still be creating. It’s never too late!

How wonderful would it be if you, too, could hang onto those talents and passions of yours through your life, to enjoy the fulfillment as soon as you can. There’s no doubt the world will be better if you do—and so will you!!

Have you ever noticed that you feel uplifted when you see the wonderful perpetual smiles of a dolphin or a Golden Retriever? They’re born with them and are blessed to be able to bring joy to so many just by being. There’s a lesson here.

People have been even more uptight this year, in part due to the earth changes, spiritual changes, and most certainly from emotional changes that are exacerbated by the energy shifts going on. The political sandbox is full of something besides sand!

My new book, “Ageless! Never too Old, Never too Late,” talks a lot about making changes and how to get started, but right now I’m jumping to the last chapter… “Love, Life and Laughter.” Sometimes one just needs to find the little button that turns a frown upside down. Make a smile, even if it seems to not come from the heart.

Try a little experiment. Look at the expressions of folks in grocery stores who are either on a tear, racing through the aisles, or others who appear almost bewildered as though wondering why they’re even there, let alone where to find something. But if you can catch their eye, try smiling,  give a little nod, sort of an “I understand” communication.

The response doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you did it. But nine times out of ten, you’ll get a smile, albeit puzzled, back. The result? You feel better and so do they. It’s like seeing the Golden or a dolphin … it lifts the soul, takes a bit of loneliness out of life. Especially heartwarming is the smile you share with a small child sitting in a cart or in a restaurant who’s a bit unsure at first, but then offers a big smile, maybe even playing peek-a-boo for a few seconds.

So don’t call it a New Year’s resolution … those usually don’t last long term—at least mine don’t. Make it a life resolution. Smile and the world smiles with you. Try it. It’s joyful and contagious and so good for the soul. Turn those aging frown lines into smile lines!  And if you’re not careful, you might even find yourself humming, wondering what changed. It’s a great way to have a Happy New Year!