I’M JUST CURIOUS: Time to think

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by Debbie Walker

I believe I had just a few too many minutes to think today. That happens sometimes. All I had was a little bit of driving time today but that is all I needed. I hope you will once again, bear with my opinions. Remember please, these are my opinions, not those of The Town Line.

Most everyone has heard all they want about COVID-19. I admit I am also tired of it. And now I can’t believe the frustration of trying to get an appointment for the vaccine ritual. I was here at home two different mornings, on-line, waiting for a chance to register for my friend. That is two mornings that I waited over two hours only to get the message saying they “gave out all available appointments, try again.” Oh yeah, she would have no knowledge of how to do the computer thing for the appointment, how many more folks are in the same place she is with that issue?

My friend qualifies. She is 89 years old (lives in her own home still) and has a severe problem with asthma. Her doctors have approved of her getting these shots.

Okay, let’s say the day comes that my friend finally gets her two shots. Will that give her any freedom? I don’t believe it will. She has been isolated since way back last spring. She doesn’t leave the house unless absolutely necessary. I don’t believe there will be more freedom for her and many others. She hasn’t had the shots yet and already there are “new strains” of this mess. Will these shots help toward the new strains? Do they (whoever “they” are) have any idea? We aren’t really sure of the affects of these first two.

Will my friend ever be able to go out to eat again? Will she ever feel protected enough to have visitors? In her case, as with many others, this is truly life or death. So, we protect her as well as we can and hope for the day we can offer her a bit more of life.

There are so many lives affected by these and I am sure I can’t cover them all with this writing, wish I could but here are a few I have reason to know about:

One man discovers he has cancer and for some reason the first doctor who spoke to him, spoke a little too soon. The man was told he had a truly short time left. I don’t think he heard anything past being told he would be in the hospital. His fear was not of dying, but of dying alone because there were no visitors allowed in the hospital. He was really afraid for a couple of months. He did finally get a doctor who has been able to assure him he is not going anywhere that soon, in fact they believe they have it beaten.

How many people have seen their family member or friend go to the hospital, never to see them again? It has happened to several people I know. To me that is just true torture for patient and family or friends.

There are more people and families behind in payments for everything. How long will it take for them to get back on their feet? Businesses lost. Education of our children is lacking. Depression is at an all-time high; I’m not even listing anything else.

I’m just curious what you have been curious about. Contact me with question or comments at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful healthy week.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: A collection of tidbits

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by Debbie Walker

Well, I’ve been reading again. That, of course, means I have some tidbits to share with you tonight. These are all coming from the 2021 Farmer’s Almanac. I love those little books! They are loaded with ideas and information, not just the weather or gardening. So much more.

I’ll share these with you:

• One kind word can warm three winter months.
• You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream, and that’s sort of the same thing.
• Peel and freeze bananas for use in smoothies. Toss into blender, no need for ice.
• Have you ever bought baguettes and the next day they are too hard to break off apiece? Sprinkle the crust with water, wrap in foil and bake in toaster oven for five minutes.
• Broken a glass? Get a slice of bread and wipe up the glass pieces.
• Freeze lemons – not something I ever thought of. Slice a lemon and freeze the slices for use in your water. First pat them with a paper towel and place in single layer on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, then you can bag them up.
• Oranges – save and dry the orange peels. They work well as fire starters.
• A pants hanger makes an effective recipe holder. Hang from cabinet door and use the clips to hold the recipe card or pages for smaller cookbooks.
• Place a binder clip on the head of razors to protect them and your fingers when traveling. (It works!)
• Wish I knew this one when I was working with first and second grade kids! When shoelaces won’t stay tied, wet the shoelace, and then tie it. It will stay tied.
• Gum in your pet’s hair? Saturate the gum with olive oil, shampoo the dog as you normally would.
• As counterintuitive as it sounds, foods that are hot – in temperature and spice – may be better at cooling you off than ice cream.
• If seagulls fly over the sea, do bagels fly over the bay?
• If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth?
• If the plural of goose is geese, shouldn’t the plural of moose be meese?
• If tomato is fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?
• If pro and con are opposite, is congress the opposite of progress?

Can Birds Predict the Weather?

If the rooster crows on going to bed,
You may rise with a watery head.

Or – If a rooster crows at night,
There will be rain by morning.

People have observed that an approaching storm makes birds restless. And it was believed when a rooster can’t rest , he tends to crow more.

If birds fly low, expect rain and a blow.
Or if birds fly low, then rain we shall know.

A drop in air pressure causes air to become “heavier”, making it difficult for birds to fly at higher altitudes.
Birds on a telephone wire predict the coming rain.

There’s no real evidence that birds just resting on a wire indicate any sort of weather approaching.

I’m just curious about the one ‘when cows are laying down it means rain.’ They didn’t mention that one. I hope all this gave you a smile. Please remember these all came from the 2021 Farmer’s Almanac. Any questions or comments can be sent to DebbieWalker@townline.org. Have a safe, healthy week. Thanks for reading!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Unusual uses for toothpaste

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by Debbie Walker

Hi! I want to share some things I came across today. Pour a cup of tea or coffee and find a comfortable seat. Relax. Some of these things you may already know so I apologize , but just maybe you needed a reminder, as I did with some of these items.

I collected these from numerous magazines and online.

The first I came across today was just plain old fashioned white toothpaste (not gel or whiteners). One way was to use the toothpaste is to clean your faucets. I believe I have done a little cleaning with it but quite by accident, pure laziness. And little did I know…

You can also clean your car headlights with that white pasty stuff. Just use paper towels to rub the paste on then wipe clean with a damp cloth.

Toothpaste can be used to remove ink from fabric (so can hair spray. That one I have used.) Put a dab of toothpaste on the spot, put fabric face to face, rub until stain starts to disappear. Rinse and toss into washer.

This tidbit was perfect timing for me to use to hang pictures. It said to put a dollop of toothpaste on the hanging loop of each frame, level it and press it against the wall. Toothpaste will be left on the wall. Ta-Da, a spot for the nail or hanger.

I can’t wait until one of you try this one and let me know. I don’t have any glass tabletops. The story is to rub a dime size dollop of toothpaste into the scratch on the glass top with your fingers. Let set until dry, then wipe away with a soft cloth.

When I was still dying my hair, I could have used this information. Auburn dye is hard to clean up. Massage a dab of toothpaste onto counter areas until pigment disappears. Warm water washes it away.

One little tidbit is if you are having trouble lighting a candle, match not long enough to reach. Clip a match into a clothespin and you have a longer match. No burns.

With wet hands in the shower, I often lose my grip on my shampoo bottle, before next use put a wide rubber band around the bottle. This gives you a grip without a slip.

Other hints to help:

Cut snow shoveling in half, spread one cup of shortening over the paddle of your shovel (or move to Florida).

To remove food odors from your skin sprinkle salt on your palms, rub all over hands then rinse clean.

There is also a note about salt sprinkled over a carpet for ridding fleas, let sit overnight, then vac in the morning.

These were someone’s version of new words:

Prairie Dogging: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.

Woofs: Well-off Older Folks

I’m just curious if you will find these helpful or at least interesting. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with your questions or comments. Have a great week and thank you for reading.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Illusory truth effect

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by Debbie Walker

Have you ever heard the term “Illusory Truth Effect”? I went looking for an answer and found it on Wikipedia, a website on the internet. My question was, “If you hear something enough does it become real?” The following is what I learned:

“Illusory Truth Effect is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure.

“Repetition makes statements easier to process relative to new, unrepeated statements, leading people to believe that the repeated conclusion is more truth.”

“Illusory truth effects impact on participants who knew the correct answer to begin with but were persuaded to believe otherwise through the repetition of a falsehood.”

“Illusory truth effects play a significant role in such fields as election campaigns, advertising, news media and political propaganda.”

I read this stuff and I understand what they are saying but it set my mind just a buzzing. I was thinking about the negative words that some people live with day after day.

We are told that we need to be careful of the things we tell our children. After reading about the truth effects the first thing I thought of was the children who are told they are stupid or dumb, etc., each day.

Or the child who is told day after day by a parent that they are just like the other parent, none of which was compliments for them. The child hears the negative words and internalizes them. Sadly, the parent doesn’t understand yet.

Women who are dealing with abuse coming from a spouse are often criticized and misunderstood by all. People don’t understand why she would take such abuse. The thing is, this woman has been told for years that she is worthless, an anchor around his neck, dumb, not worthy of how nice he is to her, etc. Is it any wonder she has no confidence, she may not be able to put words to it but this would be one big reason?

Like I said, it started my head just a buzzing. What do you think?

This is short tonight. I’m just curious where those three little words take your mind. Let me know, I am interested. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thanks for reading and have a great week.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Cabin fever can take on many looks

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by Debbie Walker

How are you doing with your winter this year? I say this year because it is a little different than most. This year winter is following almost an entire year of isolation. Life has definitely been different than most years before it.

The winter months and the weather are usually the reason for some folks to experience cabin fever. Restlessness, irritability, and loneliness are all symptoms of cabin fever. Sound familiar? I believe it sounds familiar to a lot of people who experience a New England winter.

Even if you enjoy aspects of winter such as skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing, and ice skating, I doubt there are many who enjoy shoveling and driving on slippery roads. It brings its own stress.

Some will experience deeper bouts of cabin fever, actually consider the word depression. Don’t assume family and friends or your neighbors will know to reach out to you to help. If you are aware of what is going on, seek help.

Please keep in mind sometimes it is easy to help others. Maybe just a phone call every few days. Maybe offering to pick up things for someone who really needs to stay isolated due to severe health problems. We can all help someone and that will make us feel better, as well.

I know you still have restaurants that are closed or only open for take out meals. In a normal winter we can always get into conversations with other patrons of that type of business. There are usually interesting conversations and laughs. So many of our servers are the only friendly faces that some people experience in a day. I wonder how many folks had to learn how to make their own coffee!

Don’t forget the children. They have had to deal with the new experience as well. Children miss seeing their friends. Maybe they don’t understand why they can’t visit their friends or other family members. Why can’t we go to the movies? Watching a movie on TV is not like going to the latest cinema movie, they don’t understand why the movie house isn’t open.

School is at best, iffy for some. There are struggles to get these children a good education. Some families are able to be more help than others. It’s a shame but that is the reality. The teachers are limited as well, both in school and in virtual teaching.

Anyway…. I guess what I am asking for is kindness for yourself and others. And that is my two-cents worth on that subject.

Wait, no, I forgot. One more thing. It is winter, and your pets will be forever thankful if you will take a little extra time for them. Don’t assume that having a heavier winter fur coat means they are toasty warm and comfortable.

We are having some cold weather here, too. It’s been in the low 30s several mornings with more headed our way. Our winter days here are similar to your fall weather.

I’m just curious how you are doing with cabin fever. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with any questions or comments. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Other uses than intended

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by Debbie Walker

I haven’t done one of these columns for a while now. But have no fear I had not forgotten about these many uses. What I have been doing is buying my “FIRST for women” magazine, every time I see them displayed. Each month two pages are for uses other than originally intended. So… Let’s see what I can find…..

Dryer sheets: Put nail polish remover on a dryer sheet and scrub off that glittery nail polish that comes off with difficulty. Also: use a used dryer sheet to rub down a silver sink and it will sparkle. I believe you can use dryer sheets to clean bugs off car.

Plastic straws: Any time you travel put those pretty, little necklaces in a straw. Open the clasp and slide it down through the straw and put together and close the clasp. Half the necklace is in and half out and there will be no tangles. This works, I have been using it for years. You can use a straw to carry spices, it saves room in your camper.

Oh, this one is neat. It may make you cringe a little but hold back your first thought. If you are having a big party and serve a punch you could use a ‘never used before’ waste can, make your punch with room to spare. Once the party is over, clean it and ta-da you have a new waste can!

Dog hair on the furniture and you can’t find the lint brush. Use a pair of panty hose. Put your hand up into the leg and brush it across the fur. It works.

Stretch panty hose over the bristles of a broom. It will easily pick-up pet fur, dust, or dust bunnies.

Unclog a slow drain? You can experiment with this one. I haven’t tried it yet. Pour one-fourth of a cup of hair conditioner down the drain. Let sit 20 minutes and then pour a pot full of boiling water down the drain. Good luck – Let me know the results.

You can use hair conditioner to soften cuticles. Rub it into the cuticles and then soak the fingers in warm water for a few minutes. Use a cotton swab to push back cuticles.

If you spill cooking oil don’t rush to wipe up with paper towels, they just spread it around. Sprinkle coffee grounds over the oil, give then a few minutes to work then wipe them and the oil up. Should be much easier.

If you have to clean out a fireplace of soot and ash let damp coffee grounds make it easier. Leave on 5 or 10 minutes. The grounds will weigh down the ashes, preventing dust, easier clean up.

Is swallowing large pills difficult for you? Try rolling them in vegetable oil and then swallow, they should slide easily.

Remove stuck on price tags with veggie oil. Soak a corner of paper towel in the oil and rub the sticker. The oil breaks down the sticky part.

One last tip. Before you put on rubber gloves dust your hands with flour. Been on the sandy beach? Sprinkle flour on feet and brush off sand and dirt.

I’m just curious, what are some of the things you have come across? Share, please. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with any questions. Thank you for reading and have a great week!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: The Christmas crunch

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by Debbie Walker

I wish you the happiest and healthiest New Year! Hope you remember anyone who will be alone for the holidays.

We are all down to “Crunch time” for those Christmas projects, unless you are one of those …… I don’t knit or crochet, but I can cover empty toilet paper tubes with wrapping paper! I can imagine you are wondering, “Why in the world would you want to do that?”

With any luck at all I will be able to send a picture of my finished product to be put in with my column. (If it doesn’t get there, I am making Christmas trees with the tubes and wrapping paper.)

A friend asked me if I could make her eight of these trees. No problem. Remember that number. Last year I used it to package some gifts and not just be a decoration. This appealed to my friend who ordered eight trees. The number grew to 12, no problem, the number has since grown to 17 plus five others of my friends want one. “Crunch.”

I “planned” on starting this process up the first of November. Do you ever make plans like this? (There was no room to store these ‘til Christmas in a 26-foot camper!)

“Things” happen, of course. Nana Dee, of the Wandering Nanas, had open heart surgery November 9 to remove a benign mass. I have been shuttling back and forth to my home and hers for the “Keep Nana convalescing in her own home project,” by her family and friends. She is doing amazingly well. After just a month she has been released by her surgeon.

I have a lady for whom I do errands, grocery shopping and take her to appointments. I also just spend time with her. She has been a friend for years. She is 89 years young and has definitely earned the right to have somebody’s assistance. She is still able to live at home with the assistance of a cleaning lady, a handyman and me. I pick up the slack for her family. They are in Pennsylvania and Australia. I am her Florida family.

Okay, then I have the project of putting together 50 of my “I’M JUST CURIOUS” columns into a booklet for some of my family and friends. Finally figured out that I would make one copy and let one of the office supply stores make the rest of the copies. AND we all have had plenty to squeeze into this past week!

Hoping you enjoy this little added humor:

The traditional English folk song, The Twelve Days of Christmas was revised for a school Christmas program in Donna, Texas. The gift list: twelve fields of cotton, eleven owls a-hooting, ten deer a-running, nine jacks a-jumping, eight bonnets-blue, seven doves a-mourning, six armadillos, five oil wells, four prickly pears, three ruby reds, two Brahman bulls and a mockingbird in a magnolia tree.

“Christmas is the season when people run out of money before they run out of friends.”

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.”

Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy, New Year! Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thank you for reading, as always.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Baby boomers’ symptoms of aging

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by Debbie Walker

I found an interesting calendar at Nana Dee’s (Wandering Nana’s). You just never know what can be found there. This calendar is for no particular year, it’s more a desk entertainment, I am sure.

Anyway, Baby Boomer Blues is published by Great Quotations Publishing Company. I never really understood who or what was a Baby Boomer, at least now I know.

The definition:

• The generation born between 1945 and 1965.
• Most powerful demographic group in America.
• The most politically active.
• The hippest (and the most fun!)

In this calendar there are a few different categories: Symptoms of an Aging Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer Trivia, You Know You’re an Aging Baby Boomer When…., as well as a few more. We are going to start with Symptoms:

You know you’re an aging Baby Boomer when:

• Your fantasy is to have two men – one for washing and one for ironing (ought to have one for cooking, too.)
• You’re into Metal, i.e. Gold teeth, silver hair.
• You’re knees buckle but your belt doesn’t.
• You’ve quit smokin’, drinkin’ and carousin’ and you still don’t feel that good.
• You go to the mall for exercise.
• Your conscience doesn’t keep you from doing things, just enjoying them.
• You wear tank tops as underwear.
• You are too old for the Peace Corps but too young for Social Security.
• You hope you don’t look as old as you feel.
• You don’t mind kissing your kids goodnight, but its hard to wait up for them.
• You buy a sports car for the mileage.
• The president of the United States is younger than you.
• You’d live in sin but there’s no closet space.
• Your favorite night spot is on the couch, in front of the TV.
• You don’t care where your spouse goes, just so you don’t have to go with them.

There are many more, but I want to give you examples of all categories in the next few weeks, when appropriate.

Baby Boomer Proverbs:

• The shortest distance between two points is usually under repair.
• Be true to your teeth or your teeth will be false to you.
• When the body is submerged in water, the phone will ring.
• Exercise daily. Eat wisely. Die anyway.
• A clear conscience is often a sign of a poor memory.
• Tell your boss what you think of him and the truth will set you free.
• There are few problems in life that wouldn’t be eased by the proper application of explosives.
• You can be sincere and still be stupid.
• You have to live life to love life, and you have to love life to live life. It’s a vicious circle.
• If you look like your passport picture you may be too sick to travel.
• It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life. – Irish proverb
• Easy street is a blind alley.
• Gravity isn’t easy, but it’s the law.
• The closest anyone comes to perfection is on a job application form.
• Tell the truth and run.

Okay, well that’s enough for now. I hope they brought a smile to your holiday stressed body. Find a way to relax, it will help get you through the next couple of weeks.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: The holiday season 2020

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by Debbie Walker

Okay, so the holiday season of 2020 has begun. It is sure to have some differences for just about everyone. I hope you all had a great turkey day, enjoying good food and loving family and friends.

Included in my family’s celebration was our new little one to introduce to the holiday season. Thanksgiving was a small group of family: grandparents, aunts, and uncles, all looking forward to spending time with six-month-old Addison Grace. She is full of curiosity and two new teeth. Every day is an adventure to her.

Our weather here in central west coast Florida was a bit warmer than yours, we were able to still spend a good part of the gathering time outside without freezing. Now, that being said, I want to tell you that tonight is a reminder for me. A reminder of the cold in Maine. At 9:51 p.m., in Lecanto, Florida, on December 1, it is 36 degrees! I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, however… Just the other day it was in the 80s! Day before yesterday it was 60+ degrees at 7 a.m. This 36 is not acceptable! Good thing it is only supposed to last two days.

OK, I am finished with the latest weather update, I am including a few jokes I found in a book from Reader’s Digest. Laughter, The Best Medicine – Holidays. Published in 2012

“One of the great unsolved mysteries of life is how you can get 24 pounds of leftovers from an 18-pound turkey,” by Robert Green.

“A three-year old’s report on Thanksgiving, ‘I didn’t like the turkey, but I liked the bread he ate.”’ by Art Linkletter.

“Bless oh Lord, these delectable vittles. May they add to thy glory and not to our middles.” By Yvonne Wright.

When my mother began teaching, she was known as Miss Smeed to her grade one students – or so she thought. She found out differently when she met one of the dads the following January.

“I’m so glad to meet you, he said warmly. Do you know it was Christmas before I found out your name wasn’t Mincemeat!”

So writing this column has taken a couple of days of putting together. I have been at Nana Dee’s (Wandering Nanas) for the past couple of weeks during her recuperation from open heart surgery. She had a mass they had to get rid of (like my medical terminology?!) and thankfully it is a total success. That means we will be wandering still!

The follow-up to our weather was this morning’s numbers. Sandy, Nana Dee’s dog, doesn’t care what the temperatures are, she still expects to be walked. Today that was my job. You will have no sympathy for me, I understand. Roxie’s and my time outside was in 28 DEGREES!

I found an article in our local Seniors paper about Surviving the Holidays and the writer was Beverly Thomassian.

One thing she pointed out was Sleep is particularly important. You need about seven hours of sleep. It helps you make better decisions.

Keep active. Try for 30 minutes of activity. Could be exercise, it could just be playing music and dancing or even playing cards.

Keep hydrated by enjoying plenty of water.

Limit alcohol to one drink a day for women and two for men. Do I know why the difference? Of course, I don’t, that kind of stuff irritates me.

You are already sweet enough. Limit sugar.

List the things for which you are grateful. This would be a great thing to do every day just to help create perspective.

I’m just curious what you might add to this. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with any questions or comments. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great week!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Old traditions create memories

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by Debbie Walker

Oh yeah, it is that time of year, the time to start preparing for the holidays. In a Woman’s Day magazine, April Franzino honored her family’s Thanksgiving tradition of serving dinner to homeless. However, her spin on it is to volunteer at a local food pantry. And, of course, either of these would work any day of any week.

An editor of Woman’s Day, Kaitlyn Pirie, focused her traditions on children. Again, hers was done for Turkey Day. Between dinner and dessert, they play games. They put butcher block paper for a tablecloth. Draw rectangles around each place setting and let them decorate.

Yet another tradition, by Lizz Schumer, of Woman’s Day, wrote that they take a walk around the neighborhood after dinner. They like to get moving and continuing conversations. Once they get back, they eat dessert.

Christy Pina, associated with the same magazine, says after dinner her mom asks everyone to write down for what they are thankful, (to me it seems we could do this on a daily basis and it wouldn’t hurt anyone). They all take turns reading them aloud and sharing.

One thing we started doing in my family years ago is called a “Memory Jar.” Because we only get together every so many years the memory jar had multiple uses. My mother and the Maine grandchildren used to enjoy reading about the memories we all had at that gathering. In later years Mom always had it handy. We took that idea and requested memories for Mom’s Celebration of Life party. No one seemed to mind. And we soooo… appreciated the words.

Don’t be afraid to add new traditions and with that thought I would like to recommend a tradition worth adding, for peace in the home:

I believe this applies mostly to the ladies. Year after year I hear women complaining about their spouses awful gifts to them for Christmas. “I don’t know what he was thinking to give me this. What am I going to do with a bread machine, I don’t bake!”

You may have been dropping hints for weeks. HE Won’t Get It. You can drop hints to your female friends, and they will understand but sad to say most men will still be without a clue!

I learned years ago to cut out a picture from a flyer. You are still leaving it to chance. You and I know very often we get to the store and “Oops” it’s gone. There were only three to begin with.

My answer to that was when I find something I want; I buy it, and much to his happiness he doesn’t have to struggle. The other option is order online with him sitting with you or you go to the store together. My history tells me he wants nothing to do with the store, shoppers, etc., so I would buy. Just a suggestion, but in my experience, it made for a peaceful holiday for all.

I’m just curious if you will share some of your traditions with me. You can, find me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Please share. Thank you all for reading and have a great week!