Anymore just living can get complicated. Just going to the grocery store and choosing a box of cereal is complicated. But choosing cereal is simpler than buying a bottle of shampoo. And buying shampoo is simpler than picking out a tube of toothpaste. And on and on it goes until you just make a decision and get out of the store as quickly as you can.
What happened to the days when you had to choose only between white bread and wheat bread and between vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream? The other day after a good evaluation by my cardiologist, I was driving by the Baskin-Robbins store and decided to treat myself to an ice cream cone. It was not an easy choice. First came the question, “Do you want a regular cone, a double cone or a waffle cone big enough to hold about a quart of ice cream?” I decided to splurge on that one but now I had to choose the ice cream. Doing that with 31 flavors is almost too much. I had settled on the “old-fashioned” butter pecan but then the young man behind the counter said, “Would you want a second flavor?” and that complicated things considerably. Now I had to go up and down the counter finally settling on the butter pecan and the cherries jubilee. The price at $5.35 was not a factor in my decision.
Another choice
Each year on Mother’s Day one of my children buys me a new rose bush. This year I didn’t get one and I needed one as I lost one over winter. Picking a new rose bush is hard to do. There are hundreds of choices.
However, if I could have only one rose it would be the Medallion. I picked two of the first blooms and I kid you not, they were as big as a small dinner plate. This rose, which I found a few years back at Home Depot, is a large, tall and hardy plant. It starts the blooming with a huge ivory, pinky, and coppery bud and unfolds into a creamy combination of all those colors. It is just stunning and the blooms stay for a long time.
I would have a hard time choosing a second favorite, but right up there is Double Delight and Autumn Gold. I also have two of each of them.
Keeping it simple
During the last few years we have downsized our garden and yard and only now have the rose garden next to the patio and four geranium buckets in front. We’ve made our old age gardening pretty simple.
If you too are downsizing just keep remembering more is less and less is more. More time to smell the roses and less time to pick out new ones. And you know that old saying, “life is short, eat dessert first.”
Quote of the Week
“These days a politician is someone who divides his or her own time between running for office and running for cover.”
– Main Street Memories
Stay well, stay involved and stay tuned.
Vi June is past Democratic state representative for House District 35. She is a former mayor of Westminster and a former newspaper publisher. A Westminster resident for more than four decades, she and her husband, Bob, have five grown children and eight grandchildren.