Category: Old Age

Link to my post from 7th of December 2017

Here is the link and what I wrote yesterday after reflecting on a quote by  Noam Chomsky.

https://auntyuta.com/2017/12/07/december-diary-2017/

. . . .  the expression “diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable” demands my attention. As a pensioner in Australia without major assets (except for owning own house), I would have to count myself to the bottom half in the population. And yet I must say I lead a comfortable life with most medical expenses covered by Medicare. Is it because the general population in Australia is “diverted to consumerism”? Or is it “hatred of the vulnerable” especially hatred of so called illegal migrants that makes us prosper in Australia? Well, this is something to contemplate. If we stop being “apathetic and passive” does our good life end then? How important is it to have a “good ” life at the expense of the vulnerable? Would the vulnerable have a better life if we stopped consuming so much?

So, the powerful think they can do as they please. They may think they can do it, but surely eventually this must lead to some kind of disaster. I mean some major disasters like wars are affecting the vulnerable already, but maybe it is only a matter of time when major disasters hit everyone on this planet. So should there be any survivors, they are going to have a lot to contemplate . . . .

Today, Friday, I want to reflect a bit more on Chomsky’s quote. He speaks about the powerful and that they “can do as they please”.  I ask myself why do they seem to think that they “can do as they please”? Does anyone know the answer to that?

Here is Chomsky’s quote again:

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Uta’s December Diary 2017

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The other day Peter made some “Papierschlangen” (paper snakes). He remembered how he learned to make these as a nine year old at a boys’ home in Friedland (Silesia) where he was to be away from the bomb raids over Berlin.

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Peter did hang up his paper snakes at various places in our living room.

 

 

 

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He also found some colourful electric lights to hang up. I think we used to have them on our old Christmas tree.

Here are some books for the great-grandsons to enjoy when they come to visit.

December Diary 2017

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Well, so far I survived for eighty-three years. So what is there to contemplate? The answer: There is a whole lot to contemplate!

I looked this up in Wikipedia:

“Avram Noam Chomsky(US: /ævˈrɑːm ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/ (About this sound listen) av-RAHMNOHM CHOM-skee; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as “the father of modern linguistics,” Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. He holds a joint appointment as Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and laureate professor at the University of Arizona.[22][23]

Born to middle-class Ashkenazi Jewishimmigrants in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. At the age of 16 he began studies at the University of Pennsylvania, taking courses in linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy. . . . .”

It seems, that today is his birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Noam!

From the above quote the expression “diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable” demands my attention. As a pensioner in Australia without major assets (except for owning own house), I would have to count myself to the bottom half in the population. And yet I must say I lead a comfortable life with most medical expenses covered by Medicare.. Is it because the general population in Australia is “diverted to consumerism”? Or is it “hatred of the vulnerable” especially hatred of so called illegal migrants that makes us prosper in Australia? Well, this is something to contemplate. If we stop being “apathetic and passive” does our good life end then? How important is it to have a “good ” life at the expense of the vulnerable? Would the vulnerable have a better life if we stopped consuming so much?

So, the powerful think they can do as they please. They may think they can do it, but surely eventually this must lead to some kind of disaster. I mean some major disasters like wars are affecting the vulnerable already, but maybe it is only a matter of time when major disasters hit everyone on this planet. So should there be any survivors, they are going to have a lot to contemplate . . . .

 

Diary in December 2017

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe

This morning I went to Wikipedia to look for a certain quote by Johann Wofgang von Goethe. When I saw the above Wikiquote page I was immediately hooked. My thoughts were, that this page is very, very interesting. I could not look enough at it. How wonderful it would be if I could study it for hours and hours!

I have the feeling time is running away with me. What with more and more medical tests and all the every day things in life that still need doing if one wants to live independently, one would love to have a bit more time left for reflection and writing.

In old age everything does slow down a lot, in my case maybe more physically than mentally. But the mental capacity is very much reduced too, I am sure. It is often difficult to concentrate on just one thing. The frequent dizzy spells do not help in this regard.

I very much wish to approach the end of my life in a calm, thoughtful way. Haste in any form is obnoxious to me. Alas, quite often it cannot be avoided. Maybe sometimes I feel rushed unnecessarily. But this is how I often feel: “Not being able to accomplish things as promptly as required!” Is that the reason for my blood pressure going sky high? Or are there some other underlying causes?

I am looking forward to some relaxing Christmas celebration with joyful company, some alcoholic beverages and a choice of excellent food. Plus I hope for some soothing music and at other times also some very joyful, exuberant music.

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The other day I bought myself some beautiful sandals in this special shoe shop in Piccadelli, Wollongong.. Afterwards I sat down in that cafe opposite for some coffee and a snack while I was waiting for Peter to return from his medical appointment.

On another day I waited for Peter in the car in Burelli Street in Wollongong. The car happened to be parked where some more retirement building is going on. I took some pictures from the car. When Peter returned we talked about how very convenient it would be to be able to live in an apartment in that new retirement building in the centre of Wollongong. Alas, we would have to have at least half a million to afford a place like this. Our place in Dapto is worth quite a bit, but not quite this much! So I guess we will be staying in our beautiful place in Dapto for as long as possible, trying to look after it as well as possible while we are aging more and more.I really do feel sad sometimes that our place shows some signs of neglect. but on the other hand it is really a beautiful not too  expensive place, and we love it!!

Birthdays in December 2017

Today is the 59th birthday of one daughter, and only four days later another daughter of ours is going to turn 39. We are going to celebrate both birthdays with the whole family this coming Sunday. I am very much looking forward to this.

Early in the morning I checked on our tomatoes. I got a surprise when I saw that one tomato is turning already a little bit red!

The first picture is from this morning, the other pictures I took recently on different days:

 

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Towards the End of November 2017

We had quite a bit of rain. Our old wine stock did get some new leaves that seem to be wandering off. I like the look of the fresh green leaves.

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This ‘White Princess’ plant did bend over in the rain. Maybe we should try to lift the stems up a bit by inserting some stakes?

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I am glad this Jasmine plant is coming back to life again!

 

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This stuff is growing well after all that rain. Quite amazing!

We enjoy all this growth. But we are not proper gardeners. Everything grows sort of ‘wild’ in our backyard. From time to time we do a little bit of planting or a bit of cleaning up. But most of the things in our backyard just seem to grow on their own, especially  after a bit of rain.

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I believe these yellow flowers are some snow peas flowers. So far the snow peas seeds I planted a long time ago, never developed properly. Just now, I looked up a few hints how to grow snow peas in pots. This makes me want to try again. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time if I observe some of the rules!? Here is one of the videos I had a look at. Usually I skip the ads, But on this video, the ads in the beginning were actually quite beautiful to have a look at! After the ads comes up a bit about growing peas in containers::

 

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The wild strawberries come up in lots of places. Occasionally we pick some and eat them. They are not very tasty. But maybe they are full of vitamins? We also have strawberries growing in our ‘garden bed’. We had already harvested quite a few of these strawberries.DSCN3500.JPG

It looks like some more strawberries may be coming!

 

I think it was last year when we planted two plants: One Loganberry and one Raspberry!

These plants never seemed to grow. I few months ago I noticed these plants were still a bit there. I cleared the surroundings and gave them some worm juice (diluted with water!). And now – since we had recently quite a bit of rain – they do grow a lot all of a sudden. I wonder whether we are going to be lucky and get some fruit of them eventually.

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This is actually our lemon balm which grows plentiful too after all that rain. It grows close to the berry ‘bushes’, and we have to watch it that it does not spread too close to those berry bushes!

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We have some very strong looking tomato plants. Perhaps some of the leaves need to be discarded?

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And this is my very own chilly plant for Peter does not like hot chilly.

 

My Ancestry

Having just had a little bit of sweet red wine with lunch today, I felt a pit tipsy.

Peter said, he read two interesting blogs today from Polish people, one written in English the other one in German. I cheered him, I said, after all I am half Polish, aren’t I? Well, Peter pointed out, I might actually be more Russian for when my father was born in Lodz in 1904, the place was Russian.

But you see, my father was actually German by descent, and as far as we know, he never gave up his claim on German citizenship. When later on in life he moved to Germany, he had no problems at all being recognized as a German for he was definitely totally German by descent.

So does that mean I am neither Russian nor Polish even though my father was born in a Russian place which later became Polish again,  and then during WW II was occupied by Germans? All this is very confusing, isn’t it?

I am an Australian citizen now, have been for some time. However, Peter said, I probably could not be a member of the Australian parliament. How so? I had to renounce my German citizenship, didn’t I? Any German embassy could vouch for it, that I am not allowed to carry a German passport anymore. I had to hand in my German passport as soon as I acquired Australian citizenship. So doesn’t that make me eligible for the Australian parliament? I bet it does!!  🙂  🙂

By the way my mother is from Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, same as her father (my grandfather), whereas her mother (my grandmother) comes from Bavaria. Seems to be a straightforward German ancestry on my mother’s side.

Lots of Rain in Dapto on Saturday, 18th November 2017

Peter went outside to save some of our strawberries:

 

 

While I ‘m at it I’ll insert some more of our recent pictures. First here are some pictures that Peter took the other day when we went for a little walk in the morning:

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Peter took this picture of a Jacaranda Tree in Figtree, a Wollongong Suburb.

Only last Wednesday Peter went to see his ophthalmologist in Figtree. His eye pressure turned out to have somewhat deteriorated, and she prescribed him some stronger eye-drops.

https://auntyuta.com/?s=Gossips+Coffee+Lounge&submit=Search

I had some Chai and a slice of lovely warm banana bread at the Gossips Coffee Lounge while I was waiting for Peter to return from his appointment. The Gossips Coffee Lounge is in the Figtree Grove Shopping Centre. They have a huge Fruit and Vegetable Shop where a lot of produce is offered at reasonable prices. Before we drove home, we used the opportunity to buy some fresh things.

https://figtreegrove.com.au/centre-info/about-us

Last Tuesday Peter saw hiss oncologist in Wollongong. Peter is doing well, but for a little infection that was detected in his urine she prescribed for him precautionary some antibiotics. But he was allowed to continue with his BCG treatment in Wollongong Hospital. It was his fourth treatment in this series. Everything went well. So this was then last Thursday. He parked in the Hospital Carpark in a special area that is set aside for cancer patients. The parking is free for him.

At the hospital  I stayed with Peter only for a couple of hours. Then I caught a bus in front of the hospital. This bus took me to Ribbonwood Centre in Dapto where I always have on a Thursday at 12,30 with about a dozen other seniors a ‘slow movement exercise class’. After the class I waited for Peter at the centre. He arrived after his treatment a bit after 2 o’clock to pick me up. It is always good to be back home after an outing like this.

Last Thursday I had taken a sandwich with me for lunch. I always take some water with me too. The other Thursday I bought at the Hospital Coffee Shop some lunch: A Gourmet Salad! It was very much to my liking:

 

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Peter had to be at the Cancer Care Centre of Wollongong Hospital by 9,30 in the morning. We arrived early and I had a cup of tea in the waiting room. Peter was of course not allowed to have any drink before his treatment.

The other day a nice tea lady gave me a delicious biscuit. I took a picture of the wrapping to remember the brand name for I want to try and buy it somewhere. It tasted so very nice.!

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From 2 pm to nearly 5 pm I played Scrabble and Rummy with my lady friends. (Same as always on a Friday.)  I was back home by 5 pm. Then from around 6 pm to 11 pm we had constant thunder and lightning. Sometimes it came very, very close! Peter and I gave TV a miss last night and just spent some time with playing Rummy with our Rummy tiles. Peter won this time. This made him very happy!

It rained through the night and most of the morning. Very good rain for the garden!