Can the weather stress you out?  Oh, yes it can.  I am living proof.

Can you control it? No, but you can move, or stay comfortable and find shelter.

I don’t care how much you like snow, last year, New Yorkers were done with the bitter cold.  And even if you were a dry heat lover and your ideal retirement weather was hot, you wouldn’t appreciate weeks of heat waves, would you?

Weather does affect people.  Statistically, there are less crimes committed during the winter and there’s always a spike in the summer.  The lack of sunshine in your life can depress you and you can slip and fall on ice but can I just vent here?  I love it cooler.  I love pines and clean air.  I love a grey, greenish morning.  I love it when it rains.  Heck, I am fascinated by downpours.

We are totally impacted by our environment.  If you love palm trees, dry heat, pastels and the desert – you are going to be semi-unhappy living in a cold, moist, rainforest – let’s say in Washington state.  If you adore sand between your toes, the sun shining on your body 24/7 and breezes, maybe you should look into moving to Hawaii.

But  ideally, My psyche needs green and water, temperatures cool, from a low 55 to a high of 75 max. I am such a limited gal, I know.  I am not much one for change although I like variables but not big, giant fluctuations.

I crave drizzles, mist and reading by the fire.  Unfortunately, we have been inundated not by moisture, but by hot, hot heat and plenty of sunshine.  Even the lizards cannot linger and are running for cover under leaves  –  the birds are flying in desperate searches for water sources and heading up… north.  Maybe sun worshippers are enjoying this but I am clearly done -stick a fork in me.  It is not even cooling hardly at night, yuk.

I am grateful for air conditioning, ice and all the comforts of home but when I step outside, I feel like I can’t breathe.

What’s your favorite weather and does the opposite influence your mood?  Where should you really be living?  Where do you escape to for vacation?

As the most recent contestant, Willie, left the Master Chef show, he quoted his grandmother, “Attitude will always determine your altitude.”  I imagine this in reference to how your disposition decides how high you can achieve a dream.

Today, as our Hummel flies out of Germany, into Paris and then on to New York, I ponder determination, choices and aspirations.  Reach for the stars is an old slogan that bears revisiting.  I believe that the Universe conspires with you when you are committed to your vision.  And, if it is not meant for you in the scheme of things, it will not happen.  I also know, it never looks or unfolds, like you think it will, if it does come true.

Below, is a picture V took on her adventure.  Imagine being 21 and seeing this for real!  A dream come true for all us fairy princesses who have grown up.

Reach for the Stars and Dream Big!

Our youngest chickadee left very early this morning for her sophomore year in college.  Here we are, alone again like two young twenty somethings.  Except we are smack dab in the middle of our fifties and have 5 pets living at home still.  Three cats, one doggie and one hamster.  I am quite content and look forward to our ‘alone again’ time.  I am even more madly in love with this man I call my husband than ever.

Today, cell phones abound and they are teeny and smart.  High definition and flat screens are de riguer and most everyone has upgraded to stainless in the kitchen.  The internet, the web, video calling, playing, chatting and movie watching is a common scene on small computers we call laptops or notebooks.  The world has really changed in the last twenty years or so, even more than at any other time.

Even between my son and my youngest daughter, a span of five and a half years, there is quite a difference in the exposure and face of technology but a lack of evolution on the human compassion scale and historical level.

The Simpsons and Seinfeld debuted in 1990.  The Hubbel Space Telescope is launched and quarks are confirmed as a reality.  Personal computers are still in black and green and white only.

By 1993, when V was born, the World Wide Web was also born.  Terrorism arrives and the first bombing of the World Trade Center happens, precursor to 9/11.  Rodney King and the LA riots resemble and predate Ferguson.  Humans are cloned.  Film can now be converted into digital bits and can be cut on a computer.

When my youngest arrived in 1995,  terrorism again struck in Oklahoma and OJ Simpson was declared not guilty.  Genetically manufactured produce is first being approved by the FDA and the White House launches its first web page.  Spamming becomes a thing as e-mail use starts to climb.  “You got mail” remember that?

Today, terrorism has destroyed the World Trade Center and continues to escalate around the world, OJ is in jail for a different crime but behind bars nonetheless, Family Guy and The Simpsons meet in the new season, everything is done it seems by computer like self-checkout at the grocery store, cloning, GMO’s and computer hacking is rampant and I actually got to see multi universes in photographs from the Hubbel Space Telescope in a New York museum near Ground Zero and I have been happily blogging on my very own website for over two years.

Will wonders never cease?

Alone again, but richer experiences.  Alone again, just us two, but with a lifetime of memorable moments, traditions and pictures of our three chickadees.  Alone again, a new phase, with a fun and wonderful future agenda illuminated by a full and rewarding past.

V, my New Yorker, is in Germany for the next two weeks enjoying the country, vistas, sites, language, trains and FOOD!!!  She spent one month or so studying German at the University of Berlin, two summers ago. She is backpacking it now and living in youth hostels in each location.  She is living a dream and at 21 this is the time to do it!

Of course our first correspondence had to do with food.  She returned to a favorite ice cream parlor and had the best ice cream ever – Marzipan (almond).  Outside the Ice cream parlor – I guess EIS means ice.  Notice the passerby with cone in hand and bright yellow building in the background.  Trees in cities always makes them picturesque.

She also had the best falafel of her life she said.  It was prepared in this cozy kitchen and made to order.Fast food in Berlin

I will be reporting and posting on her whereabouts and experiences, sprinkled throughout my blog, for the next two weeks.