Saturday - free cell phone calls

Apologies to all the people I owe Thank Yous. I am going to get to them. You can be assured I think of you everyday, even if you haven't received a note in the snail mail. I will get to them, but not at this moment.

Can't spend too much time writing this am. Spoke with Kay and we have a plan for Kay and Skip and me to go to Venice to the Arts and Crafts thingie with a stop by the Venice rookery to check on the birds.

Skip has agreed to spend ONE HOUR at the Arts things. I have no plans to buy anything. I like to look at what the artists and crafts people are displaying. The Sarasota Arts thing was great - huge, with a number of great booths. I'm not sure what Venice will be like, but we'll see.

Kay tells me she will turn 85 this April. I think her birthday is the same day as our wedding Anniversary or a day one way or the other. I'll have to ask her. She has more energy that most people I know and she is interested in lots of stuff. We plan to go to the Opera, Skip and Kay and Brooke, Lois' daughter who is spending time with her husband at their place in Aspen before returning to play in the tournament on the 9th- that Brooke. We plan to go after the Tournament and before the Opera closes. :-)

I'd be interested in going to the Magic Flute. I've always been a Mozart fan. However, Skip went and was not that impressed. So, I guess, it will have to something other than The Magic Flute, unless I go alone. And why not go to the Opera alone, I say. Who's to stop me?

Anyhow I think the choices are Joan of Arc or Hansel and Gretel or "Pag and Cav" as Skip refers to Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci. The description of Cav and Pag in the brochure: Two operas, two betrayed husbands, two tragic ends." Who knows? But I think Skip has made up his mind. Kay could care less, isn't that interested in The Magic Flute. Brooke mentioned Joan of Arc, but Skip isn't for that. I'm going along for the ride or, probably, driving everyone, so I'm O.K. with whatever everyone decides.

However, if I had my choice: #1 The Magic Flute "Enter the enchanted world of a noble prince searching for his princess, a bumbling birdcatcher hoping for a mate, and an evil queen plotting against the forces of good.".....a story of delightful comedy with a search for wisdom and truth." My kind of opera.

#2 Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc) "The French warrior saint, a poor illiterate peasant who led her country to victory" etc. #3 Hansel and Gretel "Who can resist the spell of this favorite Brothers Grimm fairy tale of two mischievous children who outwit the wicked witch?" And #4 Cavalleria rusticana & Paglliacci. As previously described plus "In true theatrical tradition Pagliacci's clown tries to go on with the show, but his real life humiliation and despair lead to a grim climax." I've never been fond of clowns and I'm tired to death of that Cry Now Pagliacci tune, but I have a feeling that is exactly what I'll be listening to at the Opera this year.

Maybe I will take myself to the Magic Flute. The cost of Opera tickets here is very little compared to the Met in NYC. I don't need to eat first at Cafe Bijou as all the "swells" do. Not that the cafe isn't a nice place, but as far as I can tell, having been there once with Kay and Skip last year before the Opera, it is overpriced, the waiters and workers tend to look down on the diners- the reverse snobbery thing going there- and can you really enjoy rubbing elbows with a lot of people who are all dressed up in their designer clothes to be seen who want to be the only people in the Cafe who receive service? I didn't notice much chit chat among the diners as we waited to be taken to our table. The orchids were a nice touch and the Valet parking could be a plus if anyone needed it. Unnessecary, except perhaps for the handicapped. Why can't people park their car and simply walk to an eatery? What red-blooded American gets enough exercise these days? WALK for God's sake. GET OFF YOUR (FAT) BUTT, AND WALK!

Hasn't anyone been reading the newspapers? There is an Obesity epidemic out there in America. Everyone is stuffing themselves full of gourmet food or McDonald's or just plain junk food. A huge number of Americans are OVERWEIGHT! HELLO.

It isn't genetics. It isn't some fluke. It is called OVEREATING AND UNDER-EXERCISING. Look around. It is killing people and it is killing the Health Care Industry. The costs are astronomical: Quality of life (How many flights of stairs can you climb quickly without huffing and puffing?) How much fun is it playing tennis when you can't run very well?) and costs of health care caused by the myriad of problems caused by being overweight.

What kills me is so many people I run into say. "You have no problem staying thin." or "You're so thin!" "It must have always been thin."

THINK AGAIN. I stay thin because I watch my weight and I am very careful about what I eat. I weigh myself every day or every other day. If my weight goes up I don't eat dessert or I exercise more. I try to keep my weight within 5 pounds either way of a weight I find comfortable, around 110 pounds. For someone 5'4" or probably less than 5'4" as I age, that is a reasonable weight.

When I was thinking about running the Boston Marathon back in the 70's I was told by someone who did run the Marathon that I needed to loose weight to do it. At the time, in my late 20's/ early 30's, I weighed about 115-118, I exercised a lot. I played squash, rowed on the Charles, rode my bicycle 7 miles each way into work and back. Arlington to MIT and back. I was told I needed to weigh under 110 pounds to be successful at Marathon running. I didn't pursue my idea of running the Marathon. Too much time to train. I had other things I was interested in doing. I finally adopted the idea of fitness for me which was this.

Each year I would go out to Fresh Pond, the Reservoir in Cambridge. It was 2 1/2 miles around, perhaps it still is. If I could jog/run around the Pond, the 2 and 1/2 miles without stopping and I felt good when I finished I thought I must be in pretty good shape. I did that for a number of years. Ran around the pound once a year, no problem, I went on with my life.

When I was a kid, see the photos not on this blog, I was chubby at 2 or 3 years of age with very blond curly hair. Thin at 5,6,7. Chubby in my Junior Bridesmaid's dress at my sister's wedding when I was 8. Up and down through my teens. No really chubby, but solid, I guess I'd say. I don't know what anyone else said. I was on the basketball team, briefly. I was a cheerleader at Edgartown High School and then at the MV Regional High School Class of 1960.

It was the year I had to work between being 17 and 18 that I gained weight.

Gotta Go. Kay is here. I'll finish this later. FAN