In my excitement last week to share positive ideas, I clearly overshot the mark. Five things that move me each week?All of a sudden I felt like I had a job again! Must think of five things. Must write every week. How to turn happiness into have-tos!!

Nope. I ain’t gonna do it! Maybe I’ll only pick two things each week. Maybe I’ll only write 2x month. Who’s gonna tell me different! My blog is NOT the boss of me!! So, my new goal is to share without being a slave to it.

This week, I have three things to share:

Cabbage

Cabbage is having its 15 minutes of fame. Open any social media app and you’ll find people demonstrating, proclaiming and devouring cabbage. I am among them.

Cabbage is cheap, healthy and way more versatile than being relegated to a coleslaw staple. My son turned me on to steamed cabbage with soy and olive oil. I’ve also been roasting cabbage as a side veggie and adding it to all my soups. I resuscitated my old Chicken Adobe recipe that calls for chicken and cabbage to be slow cooked with spices, soy and vinegar into a spice savory stew. It’s all so delicious, low calorie, high nutrient and always available.

Lewis Carrol wrote “The time has come to talk of many things…of cabbages and kings.” So, it’s fitting that I am talking about cabbages today… right after returning from protesting Kings!

Making a new friend

Friend-finding isn’t easy when you are older. It takes work. When we moved from N. Cal to S. Cal, we needed to actively pursue friending opportunities. Luckily, we have a Newcomer’s Group in La Jolla that helps foster new relations. We are grateful for finding many new and beloved friends. over the past few years thanks to this well-established group.

But this past week, I made another friend. We stepped out of our comfort zone and attended a fancy, artsy fundraiser for Vanguard Culture, the arts organization I write for. And providence provided a lovely person to talk to where I knew few. We sat together at dinner, chatting and charmed by all the things we have in common.

I followed up by emailing her for a coffee date Friday and she accepted. More chatter, more charm. And we are moving on to a bigger date with spouses soon. It feels good to find kindred spirits in this world. And so worth the effort of trying.

Positive Gratitude

This phrase may become my new mantra. I was reading The Washington Post this morning and came upon a wonderful interview with Diana Nyad, the world renowned swimmer. The last paragraph of the interview, the often throwaway question of interviewers– “Anything else you’d like to add”– yielded this reply:

“I said when I did that swim, which was 12 years ago, that that was the prime of my life. And honestly, at 76, I’m even better now than I was then. As long as I keep this energy and this positive gratitude toward this life, as long as I’m this atheist in awe, things have gotten better and better.”

My blog’s motto has always been “aging with attitude.” But aging with “positive gratitude” is definitely part of the equation of a good life.

Thank you my kind and faithful readers. There will be more good things to share…but just not on deadline!! And please share things that move you, too

3/28/26