Well, does anyone socialize anymore? Or know how to? If you move into a new neighborhood and don't know anybody, you would think that people might give you a fruitcake, drop by, say hello, invite you for tea? But noooooooo, people don't do that today, not even in this relatively small town I live in now.
So, the other week I invited a number of people, including retired women and a few neighbors, to visit me for some tea and cookies. And did they come? A few said no, one said maybe, several didn't even respond, including the next door neighbors. Some people have a lot of family and old work friends. But if you are new to an area, your coworkers are much younger and don't invite you over, AND you have no family nearby, it can be a bit isolating sometimes. Maybe I should just concentrate on my writing. People don't know how to socialize today. (One person showed up for all that work cleaning up the house!)
They said it is not healthy to be isolated. It can affect how your body works, especially if you get depressed. On the other hand, I feel like I have this nice little house to myself and can fix it up just for me. And wear a bathrobe half the day if I want, as no one comes by. They are working or busy with family or old friends.
And speaking of that, I have been unhappy with my big, unsocial (they do little if any socially oriented activities, like a Christmas play and dinner, hiking group, newsletter a writer like me can contribute to, couples' group) Catholic church. So we went to the church of a fellow Democrat. It is much smaller and they have a "reception" after every service, I guess. Maybe I will alternate between the two, as I still "feel" like a Catholic and the Episcopalian church near me in Radford is very, very similar. But the pastor talks more to an adult audience, I think. The people after church were certainly friendly to me. (The next step would be to go from friendly to friends. Once you hit over 50 friends are harder make.)
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Start of school has new smells, stresses -- life experiences too
This year in my teaching I am going to try to be more relaxed, more knowledgeable about my different topics, which may make the teaching experience less stressful.
I know that some of my students are not too with it when it comes to getting their books on time. And following directions. That is a simple thing older students can learn to do but a number of them don't, and goof off a bit. And I had, interestingly, one of my classes in the science building and man, could I smell it! It smelled a bit like urine and something else. I pointed this out to a science professor and "he" said it was mothballs. I went into his calss and and got a whiff of a faint smell of formaldehyde, you know, that preservative they use that also promotes cancer (if you're alive, that is).. The smell has since faded but maybe I've just gotten used to this smell in the halls of science.
Been reading off and on conservationist John Muir's crazy adventures -- he slid down a glacier, rode a tree in a windstorm, caught malaria and almost died, charged a bear, etc. And when he ventured to the Gulf of Mexico from Wisconsin, the smells of the sea reminded him of his early childhood near the craggy shores of Scotland. There isn't a particular smell of childhood I remember, but the taste of salty ocean water at Jones Beach on Long Island is prominent. And chocolate I think is my constant mood enhancer, even though I am (perpetually) trying to lose weight. Roses have a calming, slightly sweet scent, but most classrooms have the scent (or did) of pencil shavings and chalk. Medicinal, dental office smells never really put me at ease.
And I can't sense any smell of "fear" in my students. Can they smell fear in me? Hopefully not. We live in a smelly world, no matter how you slice it (sliced fresh bread smells and tastes gooooooooood).
I know that some of my students are not too with it when it comes to getting their books on time. And following directions. That is a simple thing older students can learn to do but a number of them don't, and goof off a bit. And I had, interestingly, one of my classes in the science building and man, could I smell it! It smelled a bit like urine and something else. I pointed this out to a science professor and "he" said it was mothballs. I went into his calss and and got a whiff of a faint smell of formaldehyde, you know, that preservative they use that also promotes cancer (if you're alive, that is).. The smell has since faded but maybe I've just gotten used to this smell in the halls of science.
Been reading off and on conservationist John Muir's crazy adventures -- he slid down a glacier, rode a tree in a windstorm, caught malaria and almost died, charged a bear, etc. And when he ventured to the Gulf of Mexico from Wisconsin, the smells of the sea reminded him of his early childhood near the craggy shores of Scotland. There isn't a particular smell of childhood I remember, but the taste of salty ocean water at Jones Beach on Long Island is prominent. And chocolate I think is my constant mood enhancer, even though I am (perpetually) trying to lose weight. Roses have a calming, slightly sweet scent, but most classrooms have the scent (or did) of pencil shavings and chalk. Medicinal, dental office smells never really put me at ease.
And I can't sense any smell of "fear" in my students. Can they smell fear in me? Hopefully not. We live in a smelly world, no matter how you slice it (sliced fresh bread smells and tastes gooooooooood).
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