| Recent Journal Entry ArchiveJanuary 10, 2010, 7:09 am New Year's Un-resolutions |
 Since posting “A Holiday Season to Remember” just before Thanksgiving I’ve managed to slice, dice, sauté and bake my way through several States while visiting my family and enjoying eats and drinks at every opportunity – think of The Food Channel’s Anthony Bourdain hosting Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives with a British accent and you’ll kinda get the picture.
Driving 3705 road miles in six weeks means not only having a flat behind and a stiff right leg but also many Interstate miles with nothing to do but think; and as the New Year approached, my thoughts turned to resolutions for 2010.
In ... |
continue reading 36 comments December 12, 2009, 10:16 pm The season for giving |
 I guess I’ve reached the age when there’s nothing I actually need for Christmas any more.
It’s nice, however, to get a little something that’s a completely unexpected surprise, like the Ziploc sandwich bag that someone left on my desk a number of years ago.
There was no From/To label, and my initial reaction was to discard it because it looked like it contained nothing but a collection of junk that someone else was in the process of tossing out. But then I read the small printed sheet inside.
It explained the contents of the bag. It read:
Here’s…
A crayon for you to color ... |
continue reading 33 comments November 21, 2009, 8:51 pm Senior Moments by Gouldthorp - A Holiday Season to Remember |
 I’m full of gas and ready to explode!
Hmm. That doesn’t read right, does it? Let me try again – the camper is full of gas and I’m ready to explode from trying to contain the excitement of getting ready to visit one of my sons for the holidays. I just haven’t decided which one to disturb, er, I mean surprise. I guess I’ll just flip a coin.
You see, it all started a year ago when the boys came to visit me for Thanksgiving. As soon as they burst through the door, I could tell how much they were thinking about ... |
continue reading 29 comments November 15, 2009, 4:57 am A couple of Thanksgiving suggestions from Gouldthorp |
 My own experience (as well as that of many of my friends and family) has been a tendency to overindulge at this time of year and the internal conversation with ourselves goes something like, “Well, it’s the holidays; there’ll be parties and get-togethers; I don’t want to offend anyone by not eating what they made for the party; I’ll only have one bite of everything; anyway it’s only six weeks until the New Year and then I’ll start a diet as one of my New Year’s resolutions.”
Been there, done that, right? Well, the week after Thanksgiving last year, someone broke ... |
continue reading 18 comments October 7, 2009, 5:59 pm Senior Moments With Gouldthorp (Oct 09) |
 An Indecent Proposal
“A what?” I sputtered into my wine glass.
“You heard me,” my friend grinned as he set his own glass on the table, lowering his voice to no more than a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ve decided that what you need is a wife.”
Heart and mind racing, I stared at him in disbelief with the metallic taste of fear in my throat. “Look, Dan, our evenings together; a glass of wine, some nibblies and an hour or two of pleasant conversation are something I always look forward to. So why go and spoil it with such a depressing topic?”
You see, Dan’s ... |
continue reading 25 comments September 14, 2009, 8:27 am Senior Moments With Gouldthorp (Sept) |
 Living in the South
Having lived and worked in some of the world’s largest cities, I’m finding retirement south of the Mason-Dixon Line to be – what’s the word? – um, different.
Let me say right up front that what follows here is my own slightly lopsided view of life “down here” as seen by someone who “ain’t from these parts” and is not meant to offend any of my friends or neighbors who staunchly defend their second amendment rights. Life is good here, even if the question posed most frequently to this poor old Englishman is, “You talk funny; you ... |
continue reading 34 comments August 17, 2009, 1:12 pm Senior Moments With Gouldthorp (Aug) |
 A Winner
It’s back-to-school time in my part of the world and as I wandered past the high school’s sports fields the other day, I stopped to watch the young folk going through their pre-season paces.
While the marching band oom-pah-pah’d its way back and forth across the soccer field, the tennis team practiced their serves and backhands and a few of the basketball players played a quick shirts-and-skins game on the outdoor court before their coach showed up and hustled them into the gym. The monsters of the gridiron were busy banging helmets and shoulder pads, and fine-tuning their fearsome line-of-scrimmage ... |
continue reading 32 comments July 20, 2009, 11:22 am Senior Moments With Gouldthorp(July BONUS) |
 What’s in a name?
Plenty. Take Mike, Sally, Jimbo and Peggy-Sue. How ‘bout Alexis, Buffy, Charlotte and Mo.? Throw in Ravi, Alejandro, Zahur, Vashti, Liam and Olesia and you’ve got the makings of a chorus to reprise Coke’s famous old advert, “I’d love to teach the world to sing….”
We’ve all got a name. It’s the blessing or the curse that’s on our birth certificate. It’s the moniker we’re stuck with; how we get called to dinner or how others refer to us in our absence.
They evoke images and stir memories. Some names carry the scent of crisp linen and ... |
continue reading 32 comments June 21, 2009, 5:44 pm Senior Moments With Gouldthorp (June) |
 THE GREAT RACE
I’ve written before about the two types that hang out at the gym; those who are just there to be seen and admired, wearing fully coordinated ensembles, looking cool, and not doing much besides talking the talk; and then there’s the rest of us plodders who have spent our hard-earned dollars on a membership in the hope of shedding a few pounds and getting in shape. And we’re not at all bothered if our outfits aren’t new or look just right. All we want to do is get our money’s worth and sweat for an hour.
Personally, I’m too ... |
continue reading 26 comments May 24, 2009, 8:50 pm SENIOR MOMENTS with gouldthorp |
 Age is just a number.
Horse-feathers. Whoever thought that one up obviously isn’t old, arthritic and have one foot in the grave. The only positive I’ve found about getting old is lying about my age. Instead of knocking years off, I like to add on a good fifteen or twenty. That way everyone I meet says, “God, you look good for your age.”
Aging is such a touchy subject. When we’re young, we can’t wait to get older, to assume the mantle of maturity and an air of gravitas. But somehow, all of that seems to stop at thirty-something when the lines ... |
continue reading 29 comments |
