Alphabiography Reflection

Well, I rose to the challenge and made it through the entire alphabet. Not only do I feel a sense of accomplishment in having completed the Alphabiography, but here we are at the end of May, which means I've been writing almost daily for three whole months. The goal I set for myself was "every day", but when I fell short I decided that it would be okay to make up a few entries along the way, as long as I made them up in the same month. I kind of changed the rules as I went along.

What I've enjoyed most about all of this writing is that there is a small community of fellow writers who are also writing daily or nearly so. Checking in on their pieces every several days entertains me, wows me, and encourages me to keep writing.

The Hundred Day Challenge is not quite over, so I guess I'll be back tomorrow!

Alphabiography Review Poem

A is for applesauce which tastes so sweet

B is for braids that look so neat

C is for cousins who bring us fun

D is for doorways which lead us to sun

E is for elevators that stretch to the sky

F is for FaceTime bringing smiles to the eye

G is for gardens both large and small

H is for home where the heart is for all

I is for iris, short ones and talls

J is for juggle, with three tennis balls

K is for kudos to all who deserve

L is for lantana, full of verve 

M is for maps that show us the way

N is for neighbors who greet us each day

O is for omelet so tasty to eat
P is for Play Ball! a sound so sweet

Q is for quarantine that drags on and on

R is for roses that greet the dawn

S is for is for swimming in lakes or pools

T is for is for toiling with all the best tools

U is for umbrella, protection from rain

V is for for vegetables, fancy or plain

W is for Waldo, my first kitty boo

X is for x-ray that’s long overdue

Y is for yodeling, a wondrous sound

Z is for for Zoom, where meetings abound

Z is for Zoom

This past Sunday evening we finally Zoomed with Grandma Kathie. All four of us were no match for her excitement at seeing us there, all lined up in our little squares, smiling and laughing. She was like a conductor, bringing us all in at the right moments and keeping the tempo of the visit constant. Before saying our goodbyes, we resolved to do another Zoom with the entire Dunbar clan, or at least the Illinois folks, next weekend.

Life Lesson: Keeping in touch with the people that matter is important.

Y is for Yodeling

According to my brief research, alpine yodeling originated in the Swiss Alps as a means of communication between livestock herders. It is a form of singing that alternates between the head voice (also called falsetto) and the chest voice, which is a normal singing voice. Yodeling was also used to communicate between alpine villages, but no amount of yodeling will cause an avalanche.

One of my all time favorite songs from childhood comes from one of my all time favorite childhood movies. "The Lonely Goatherd" (Rogers and Hammerstein, 1965). As a school aged child I would sit in the living room between the back of the sofa and the family stereo console belting out songs from The Sound of Music in sync with the well-worn vinyl record. I knew every word of every song. I even knew to account for the skips in the record. (Years later when I listened to the same music on CD, I was taken aback by the missing skips!) But my favorite song of all was "The Lonely Goatherd".

In the movie, Maria and the Von Trapp children sing and yodel while putting on a lavish marionette production for Captain Von Trapp and his fiance, the Baroness. Enterprising Max, a family friend, looks on hungrily, dreaming of the riches he could make promoting this family singing troupe, if only their father would grant his permission. The story of a young goatherd and his first crush is heartwarming, and the entire production riveting against the backdrop of the Captain and Maria falling in love with each other during the Nazi annexation of Austria.

Life Lesson: Singing feeds the soul, in good times and bad.

X is for X-ray

X-ray technology has come to my rescue in a number of situations over the years. When I had plantar fasciitis, my chiropractor used ultrasound to break up the offending scar tissue. When I had a mysterious tunnel wound, interventional radiologists worked with the wound clinic to finally provide healing after months of treatment. Even an MRI could not definitively explain how a hematoma in one part of my hip led to a stubborn tunnel wound in another area. When I had appendicitis, I ingested barium sulfate prior to the x-ray that rushed me into emergency surgery. So I am no stranger to x-rays.

I recently realized that I'm overdue on my annual wellness checkup, my A1C fasting blood draw, my annual mammogram and a dental cleaning (not to mention haircut and nail appointments). I'm going to conveniently ignore the fact that I'm also due for another colonoscopy. Most of this negligence is because I dislike signing onto a portal to manage everything. This willful negligence does not extend to my children, however, who are all caught up with their medical and dental wellness since those anniversaries fall in autumn and winter. But mine are all in this spring of the Great Quarantine.

Of the above-mentioned procedures, the only one I detest is the colonoscopy, and really it's not the procedure itself, but the prep. The procedure is fascinating. To think that cameras can be used in those places! Places that x-rays alone cannot peruse.

Why aren't there an abundance of X words to choose from so that I don't have to write about my medical history? Perhaps I should have chosen Xenophobia.

Life Lesson: Always remember to take care of yourself. 

W is for Waldo

Waldo jumped out of a Christmas stocking and into my life on December 24, 1995. He was a gift from my childhood bestie who was in veterinarian school at the time. I remember how unsure I was about taking on a kitten, but she promised to take him back at New Years if I hadn’t formed an attachment by then. But I was a goner before twenty-four hours had passed.

My first-ever feline friend saw me through some hard, lonely years and into two new phases of life: marriage and motherhood. Along the way he taught me to make time for play and laughter every day. I miss my orange guy. He was an old soul, gone too soon at only thirteen. But life goes on. Our sweet girls, Izzy and Bella, have wormed their way into my comfy chair, the laundry baskets, and of course my heart.

Life Lesson: Love the one you’re with.

V is for Vegetables

Let this summer hereby be known as the summer of heathy, colorful vegetables! From rainbow chard to multicolored carrots, from sun gold tomatoes to green beans, from yellow squash to red peppers and purple potatoes... let the growing season begin! On your mark, get set, everything in the ground by the end of May, and go!

Life Lesson: You are what you eat.