Sometime ago, we watched a TV program in which a lady (I do not recall who she was) talked about fulfillment in life, and how to achieve it during the retirement years. According to her, one just needs to re-find the inner child in themselves. To do that, we simply need to come back to the activities we enjoyed best in our childhood.
I thought, “What was it that I liked doing best when I was little?”
The answer came, “Nothing in particular.”
A few seconds later, I reminded myself, “Cemetery!”
When I was a kid, at least once a month, I went with my mom to the local cemetery where my grandma had been buried. At that time, there was no paid grave care service – people cared for their relatives’ graves on their own. What we usually did at the cemetery - removed weeds/ leaves from the tombstone and its area, put flowers and put/lit lanterns on the grave. The candle/lantern light is a sign somebody remembers the person whose body is buried there.
Once a year, before All Saints’ Day, we also cleaned the tombstone.
When I was little, mom did most of the job, I carried bags with leaves to the trash can, brought water from the nearby tap, and lit lanterns.
You could easily tell which graves were not attended to. They looked forsaken. I called them “abandoned gravies”. I did not want them to look sad and forgotten so I always put and lit a lantern on each such a grave in the section where my grandma’s tombstone was. I also enjoyed relighting lanterns (blown out by the wind) on other nearby graves.
During our visit, at the cemetery, mom was usually busy tidying up grandma’s burial place, I was running around lighting candles. Once, I was so much into it that, accidently, my new jacket caught fire. Luckily, mom was close and saved me and the jacket. Later, she fixed it in such a way that no one could tell in which spot the burned hole was.
When I grew up, we still visited the cemetery quite regularly, but not as often as it was in my childhood. I did not do my used to be “lighting lanterns” routine, though. Well, at least not that much.
These days, I still like visiting cemeteries especially places where old graves are. Lighting candles, however, where we live now, is not allowed here due to fire safety rules. I do something else instead.
Presently, most people still look after their family graves personally, not relying on paid care.
Reflecting on the above mentioned TV program, I realized that nowadays, one of the things I enjoy most is what I call “helping the ones who passed away to not be forgotten”. I mean not only researching and writing about our late close and far relatives but also doing the same regarding other persons, who lived before our time, not related to us at all. Somehow, I can feel they all want to be remembered.
In a way, I have made a circle and come back, in a bit different way, though, to what I used to do in my early years.
The cemetery we visited in my childhood is a real necropolis - so large, the size of a small town.
You do not need to wait until the retirement to re-discover the kid in you. Find the time in your life to do what you enjoyed doing in your childhood. Most likely, the activity will be an adjusted version of the one from the past due to the changed life circumstances, and also to the current you, your present abilities and possibilities. Play and have fun.
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Photos taken on All Saints' Day - November - many years ago
Today a few words about some SF shows we have watched. If you want to learn more about a particular series, click on the title to go to a description site.
Colony (2016/2018) - different layers of the plot, interesting and complex characters, good acting. The fourth season (that was never made) was going to be even more interesting than the three previous ones. What a disappointment the series was discontinued!
In our opinion, all of the above series are very engaging and interesting. We almost "swallowed" those episodes. Such a great pity those shows were canceled due to the lack of interest from the audience. It all makes me think we are not the average type of viewers.
Swamp Thing (2019) - "Swampie" was a good guy. We quite liked him.
What we learned from the series: all aliens speak English and on every planet, the air/atmosphere is good for people to breathe. Anyhow, the stories were interesting even though the technology available when the series was made, these days seems a bit funny.
Quantum Leap (1989/1993) - the original series - remakes of which were made later.
It seems the show was planned for for seasons only. The four made a complete quite intriguing story. To our impression, the fifth one was plainly made to squeeze some more money, but it was a total flip which spoiled the overall impression.
Ancient Ones
We have enjoyed watching some really old series. It is a pity not too many episodes of each show survived till today. Sometimes, the quality of the filmed of those saved ones was so bad that we strained our eyes while watching them. The special effects of the time might seem rather funny now, but the stories were quite original and well-written
What else was interesting about the ancient ones? In some of those old series, you can see the actors who were "nobodys" then, but became famous stars much later. They are also available on YouTube.
This is not a TV show, but it is our favorite piece of the musical (1978) by Jeff Wayne, based on the book "War of the Worlds". Richard Burton reads the intro. Denny Laine, the late vocalist of the Moody Blues, is the singer.
So we have taken up clogging. Totally new to us. When I first heard the name of the dance, it made me think of the two pairs of Swedish-type clogs I had left behind in Poland.
Clogging is fun and quite good exercising too. An hour of dancing makes you feel some heat on your back.
Anyhow, soon, we'll dance like little Georgie in the video below. We just need those Welsh clogs...
American-type clogging is a bit different but requires a lot of leg work/movement as well.
Well, we are not aiming at National Clogging Championships, though. The fun factor and staying active are what matters more.
A lady said to me not long ago: "You speak Polish and English, but you sing in German. I don't understand." I replied: "What don't you understand? If I had an opportunity to practice the other language which I learned at school, I would."
Well, I have done it before. Meaning signing in a foreign language not only to myself but in public as well.
The first time was in primary school when I was 14. Not that I volunteered to do that, oh no. I was part of the school choir then. Our music teacher, who was also the choir director, and the teacher of Russian, chose me to sing a song in Russian during a school assembly.
Poland was part of the Soviet block at that time, and every year, schools and bigger workplaces observed "the days of Soviet culture and science". The observance was mandatory and some state events related to those "days" were always reported on TV.
Anyhow, the song which I sang solo at that assembly was done to mark the above-mentioned observance in the school papers/report. Its lyrics were nothing political, though. The text (children appropriate) was about Cinderella and the ball she attended at the Prince's castle. The tune was nice, but the refrain part was full of high notes and difficult to sing. Luckily, the music teacher arranged it in a way that the school choir supported me in that. Being shy, I did not enjoy standing in front of the entire school and doing my solo part, but I did like the song.
The song was originally sang by Russian artist Ludmila Senchina, its
title was "Хоть поверьте хоть проверьте"/"Believe it or check it out."
A few years earlier, my first unofficial solo presentation took place. One day, an unexpected visitation occurred in our local youth club. Neighborhood kids (including myself) spent their after-school time in the club, doing various activities and playing games under the supervision of the club instructor. Quite out of the blue, a group of ladies, delegates from Siberia appeared in the club. My guess is that they had probably been sent there by some city officials. Certainly, it was not an accidental matter.
Anyway, the club instructor was told to entertain the ladies with the kids' performance. Since we had not worked on any program like that, it was quite a desperate situation. The counselor asked us (kids) whether anybody would want to/dare to sing/dance or do whatever proper in front of the visitors. I was one of very few who agreed. Well, I just felt how helpless the situation was. What I did - I sang some notes of a popular Russian song about gingerbread cookies. However, I knew only a few Russian words of the song, the rest was la, la, la. I also played one melody on the xylophone (I was part of the club xylophone group then). Since it was all without prior practice, to my horror, I happened to play out of tune as well.
To my surprise, my performance made a positive impression on the visitors. One lady asked me about my name and address as she wanted a Polish pen pal for her daughter, who was about my age. The girl's name was Lena and we later exchanged letters for some time.
Decades later, I was part of an international EU educational program. Then, we learned the traditional songs of all the project partners (in their native tongues). The languages were, English, German, Czech,
Tancuj, Tancuj = Dance, Dance
Slovenian,
Pobelelo Pole = The Field Turned White (with sheep)
Bulgarian,
Italian (Sardinian song),
and Cypriot.
The most important side of singing in a foreign language is the correct pronunciation of the song words. Naturally, understanding the text adds more sense to it as well. During the project, both the prior and the latter were provided by the project partners.
In quite a different program, we cooperated with an Israeli school. From time to time, the teacher and her class sent us some videos and we made some too. I taught my students an old song in Yiddish (of Polish or Russian roots). No, I do not know the language. Just found the song lyrics and their English translation. The rest meaning pronunciation came "by ear". The kids enjoyed singing the song and making the video.
Of course, it is not the video we made.
All in all, singing in German in Texas is not such a big deal. However, I admit it may be found very unexpected. Anyhow, I did learn some German in Poland. Nevertheless, a few years ago, I did not have the faintest idea I would sing in the language here. Mysterious are the ways...
Some years ago, we joined the Taoist Tai Chi group in Dallas. It is an international society with classes run by certified instructors. There are Taoist Tai Chi branches in many countries all over the world. A member, while visiting any other country, can participate in the Tai Chi classes at the organization branch club for free. A type of "when a member, everywhere a member."
From time to time, besides a weekly class, we had an extensive weekend practice with 4 hours of doing Tai Chi, instructed by a teacher from another state.
Taoist Tai Chi routine
In the Hill Country, we found a small group of Tai Chi enthusiasts as well. Although the routine we do now is a bit different from the one we practiced before, the beginner's period and advanced training we did in Dallas appeared to be quite useful here.
The harsh Texas weather, hardly ever have allows us to exercise outside.
If you have never tried doing Tai Chi, you should give it a try. It is a gentle form of exercising, beneficial for the health, and a good way to stay fit.
My Texas Alphabet is quite a personal summary of our life in Texas
including (among others) the places we visited, and the things we saw
and did. The first edition of the Alphabet came into being in 2015/2016. This post is part of the Alphabet second edition - more entries related to us in Texas.
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