Day 348 Morning Mistake

November 22, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

I was especially glad to wake up this morning because it allowed me to escape my nightmare. Seldom do I have bad dreams but this was an especially bad one. David said I was mumbling incomprehensibly. It’s no surprise because my nightmares usually involve me losing much of my voice so no one can hear me. I cannot even scream. Upon awakening, I remembered further details that thankfully have faded as today unfolded. 

David diverted my thoughts by offering his feet for me to massage. With his feet propped up by pillows on my lap, I could not easily retrieve the wonderful mint foot cream that a friend sent to me, so I picked up a tube within reach and began to massage each needy dry foot. I made sure that I paid special attention to his heels and his relaxed face showed his pleasure. It had been way past my turn to reciprocate.

Once finished, I remarked that he had not gotten the premier cream and that I had instead used—wait! This wasn’t what I thought I was using. I had just massaged my husband’s feet with SPF 55 sunscreen! Laughter began to rise to a bellow, which lasted long and loud. This time there was no problem with anyone hearing me. And there’s no danger that David will get sunburned feet today.

The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” ~ Mark Twain

My gift today is waking up this morning.

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> Day 349: Broken


You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 264 Mallets

August 30, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

It wasn’t the ride to the Eastern Shore, smooth sailing with little traffic. It wasn’t time on the beach with two Belarusian women who had never met any ocean. It wasn’t the walk on the beach, with the roar of the ocean waves and the skittering piping plovers. It wasn’t the walk on the boardwalk with sounds and smells stirring up senses from my childhood. It wasn’t the steamed crabs.

All these things were enjoyable, but the best thing today was a crab feast with daughter Lauren, son-in-law Matt and our two Belarusian visitors in Ocean City. We met Lauren and Matt as they docked their boat at Captain’s Galley and instructed granddoggie Roxy to hold down the ship.

Kate and Regina had never eaten Maryland steamed crabs, and Matt kept asking if they knew what they were getting into. Lauren laughed as she envisioned their reactions to brown paper for a tablecloth and wooden mallets instead of proper silverware. 

The steamed crabs arrived and Kate and Regina received instructions on how to eat their dinner. Matt asked them questions about their country, Lauren laughed joyfully and David made silly jokes. As it turned out, these Belarusians were very smart and caught on to the Maryland tradition of devouring steamed crabs. We all washed down our meal with two pitchers of beer.

No, it wasn’t the crab feast that was the gift, but rather the catalyst that the spicy crustaceans created for a fun time. It was the laughter, friendship and pure joy that were the gift.

My gift today is laughing together at a crab feast.

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> Day 265 Shit

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 249 Climbing the Bus

August 15, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

Mara Neimanis and Mark Harding outside the Creative Alliance

A pleasant August night in Baltimore, visitors from Belarus and Japan, and a clown duet in praise of pizza—this was a good combination at 10 p.m. And to make things even better, our friends Stacy, Rayned and poodle Ace showed up. We waited in the street across from a BUS sculpture for Mara Neimanis and Mark Harding to appear somewhere on the roof of the Creative Alliance. Fake grass mats with lawn chairs awaited a crowd of spectators who kept looking up in anticipation. (The sculpture is actually an art piece created for a real bus stop just outside the Creative Alliance where empty pizza boxes are often left by people waiting for a bus.)

Soon we heard a bold, raucous voice and saw Mara and Mark on the roof near the marquee. That was the beginning of a whimsical performance based on craving for pizza. The performers wound up on the huge BUS sculpture, bantering with the audience and each other while pretending great awkwardness as they climbed on the sculpture letters. Exaggerated body language reached out and tickled the audience.

Slapstick clowning appeals to everyone, regardless of age or verbal understanding. Belarusian Rehina, who sat next to me on a bench, does not speak English but she laughed and clapped enthusiastically at the antics throughout the performance. Words did not matter. Body language ruled tonight and craving for pizza was satisfied with free pizza for everyone.

Everybody laughs the same in every language because laughter is a universal connection.” ~ Yakov Smirnoff

My gift today is pizza laughter.

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You can read more about the BUS sculpture and last night's performance here:


http://www.creativealliance.org/blog/2014/07/bus-sculpture-unveiling
http://www.creativealliance.org/events/2015/unexpected-places-4for-unexpected-aerials-east-eastern-clown-duet-praise-pizza

> Day 250 Maps and Names

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 216 Copulation and Cornholes

July 13, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

A drive to Maryland’s eastern shore to visit our daughter and son-in-law led us to a day in the sun followed by an evening boat ride and dinner at a popular seashore spot.

It had been a long time since David and I had gone to the beach, and daughter Lauren made sure that she re-introduced us to this pleasure. Her friends, Kristin and Tony, have a pontoon boat, which took us to Assateague Island with dogs Roxy and Maddie. Our daughter’s friends made sure we enjoyed ourselves with beach chairs, umbrella, music, drinks and a game of cornhole—though I’m not too sure they were pleased with David winning most of the games. We laughed a lot and relaxed, and I had a wonderful fruit drink with a mysterious recipe.

During this laid-back afternoon,  we witnessed horseshoe crabs mating—even a ménage-a-trois. With lots of giggles, Lauren filmed a video of Tony doing a fake newscast about the horseshoe crabs. After a walk to the ocean’s edge, Lauren and friends jumped for me as I took photos. Giggles and laughter wove their way through silliness. That evening, son-in-law Matt took us on his boat to Seacrets, a popular place among the Ocean City young set. Dinner and company were relaxed and I noticed how spontaneous Lauren’s laughter was, even in moments of interaction with the waiter.

What stands out in my mind this day is our daughter’s contagious laughter. It seemed to thumb its nose at health and employment issues and affirm the joy of embracing the moment. Sometimes parents lose perspective and it is their children who help bring them back to pure enjoyment of life.

My gift today is laughter.

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Day 217: Re-connecting

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html