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Blog archive

November 2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Jumbo Joy

By Karen Bagnard
Posted: 04/24/2023
Tags: karen bagnard

As I shuffle my slippery new deck of cards, I feel joy!  Chelsea bought me new cards… the ones with jumbo numbers and letters.  There are two decks in a pack, one red and one blue.  I chose the red ones to use first.  Red is my favorite color.  It’s the color of the Danish flag, Yule Nisse, the cherry on top, my favorite lipstick, my dad’s favorite cufflinks that fascinated me as a kid.

 

As I’m shuffling and dealing… BTW, I’m addicted to Solitaire… I realize how happy I can get over a new deck of cards.  Who else gets this happy over a deck of cards?  Melania Trump?  I doubt it!

 

My addiction to Solitaire is not just an idle sport.  It’s a meditative practice.  I use it to relax and take a break or to avoid doing something I don’t want to do.  It’s thinking time for me… and planning time, too.  Sadly, it’s also a barometer of my vision loss, as well.  I used to be able to see red vs. black and diamonds vs. spades.  Now, even with jumbo print, I have to be a bit more careful.  I make lots of mistakes but, whenever possible, I give myself grace… correct the mistake and keep playing.  Someday, I may not be able to play anymore so I don’t feel guilty about this.

 

Playing Solitaire with my jumbo deck affords me time to do some creative thinking about my art, my socializing, my work with Journey House, my family, and so on.  I spend time with thoughts of gratitude, as I play.  Sometimes I even keep pen and paper close by to make notes.

 

Jumbo joy comes to me at other times, too.  In my patio swing on a sunny day or my front porch bistro table or the backyard bench by the treehouse.  Jumbo joy is the feeling I get when I think about the small things in life that bring me so much joy… like friends, family, bird songs, parrot fly-overs, the sounds of people having fun at Farnsworth Park… and, of course, memories.  Even memories of old loves that ended badly… even they have good times to remember.  Maybe some of those old guys are still out there somewhere remembering those same times!  Who knows?  Maybe!

 

I can’t help but wonder what brings jumbo joy to Melania.  Is it the gold toilets, the ridiculously expensive clothes she wears, all those good times with the Donald, her son?  Maybe she enjoys bird songs, too!  And parrot fly-overs.  Maybe she plays Solitaire and enjoys it as much as I do!  I’m just sayin’… maybe.

 

Whatever jumbo joy is, it comes to me regularly.  It’s knowing I am loved and worthy and gifted.  It’s knowing that losing my vision is opening new doors.  It’s knowing my life is full.  It’s having friends who will listen to what I write!

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