Seeing
Maggie Fenton

During the last month, I’ve had cataract surgery on both eyes. It all went well and now I am learning how to see again. My vision is better at mid and far distance than it has been in a very long time. What had grown to be a bit cloudy is now vibrant — red cardinals, blue birds, yellow goldfinches, red-orange tanagers, the crazy hairy woodpecker who thinks he’s a hummingbird, hummingbirds (I can tell the difference now between male and female!) – what a wonder. For reading and close work, I need my readers and am back to having a pair in every room and usually one on my head. I know some of you can relate. To avoid the frustration, I’m thinking about bifocals with a clear top and ‘reader’ bottom. All suggestions appreciated.

But … seeing. Is it true that we see better with the distance of years? When my grandson was complaining about the recent cost of gasoline, I told him we’d had a similar increase in the 1970s and it eventually got better. And it has. We see heartbreak in ones we love and know that it will heal in time; we know we can’t fix it but can offer comfort. We see some of our own limitations and are more accepting of those in others.

We’ve always seen hate crimes and meanness. Perhaps we see it more openly now and maybe that’s a good thing; we need to see it is present in our midst and then act to do something about it. Seeing forces us to be aware. We see the effects of climate change around the world and know this is different than what we’ve ever seen before.

Daily, we see acts of love, survival and courage. I think they are in higher proportion to the other but not as prominent. Maybe it’s up to us to celebrate them, talk about them and help others see them.

Dear Elsie

Dear Crones. The word from Pixler Hill is that Elsie is taking a late summer break to go in search of someone or something from her distant past. Could it be a memory of her young days on the edge of the Beat Generation, reliving the high of Woodstock or perhaps finding the enlightment of a spiritual moment in a New Age commune?

Or she might be lazing on a tropical beach with an umbrella drink in one hand and a book in the other, enjoying the attention of the cabana boy.

Download the Climate Action Now App
By Laurie Dameron, the Climate Crone

Please download the Climate Action Now app. (see what it looks like, image attached). This organization does everything for you to make it simple. They provide content and have legislators’ email addresses and phone numbers, EPA, green organization info, contact info for oil & gas and any corporations that need to hear from us.

All you have to do is spend 5 minutes or so a day. The app will notify you every day with important actions where you will send emails, make short phone calls, sign petitions, write to legislators, green orgs and corporations that are doing harm to us and the planet.

I have the app on my phone and generally get notifications in the morning and just do it! Everyone is talking about the Climate Action Now app and so far they have taken 635,567 actions with a goal of ONE MILLION! The more folks taking action the more effective! Be part of the solution! Find it in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Mastering The Art of Falling
By Robin Kidder

“I have mastered the art of falling” the twentyish Gen Z-er said to me the other day. We were talking about horses and falling off, but I said to her “What a great title, “Mastering the Art of Falling” and I’ve been thinking about that line all day.

Have any of us Mastered the Art of Falling? I don’t believe I have. And I’ve had a lot of falls that have knocked the breath out of me—literally and figuratively.

How about all those times I was told I’d never succeed as an Airline Pilot? Instructors told me, check pilots told me, even my own mother told me that I’d never succeed. Girls don’t become airline pilots (especially in the 1970s). And short, big, boobed girls certainly never would succeed. And each time someone said it, it felt like I was knocked down. But those punches I could take, and I got up and just tried harder until success finally was mine.

The punch of a miscarriage. I think I left a little of myself behind on the ground when I tried to get up from that blow. From joy to sorrow. I still can vividly remember my father keening when he told me that not only had I lost a baby that day, my sister and sister-in law had too. In the morning there were four grandchildren on the way, by that evening there were none. We’d all lost our babies. That left a scar. Read more.

Divorce. That was almost a knockout. No one start starts a marriage thinking it will end in divorce. Mine lasted twenty-five years. My ex and I still like each other (although sometimes that wears thin…) but I’m pretty sure there’s a scar that says “divorced” on my body somewhere.

We fall down a lot in our lives. We are knocked down, tripped, we stumble and sometimes we are pushed. Mastering the Art of Falling would be a great talent to have. To be able to be gracious right away, to get up and say “I’m ok” and be able to mean it and move on would be a great skill to have.

To not have the hurt that the death of your best friend brings, or the pain and anguish the suicide of her daughter inflicts, but to be able to look at the experience and just learn from it would be nice. But I always fall over. Grief, abandonment, self-doubt, all of these are the obstacles that constantly trip me up and make me fall.

There’s probably a technique out there to deal with life’s falls. I don’t yet know—but I’m pretty sure a twenty something could tell me what it is!

Robin writes about herself: In 1977, after graduating George Washington University, I was working on a film with some fellow graduates at the Flying Circus Aerodrome outside of Washington DC. We were trying to make a film as a sample of our post graduate work. One evening I was offered a ride a biplane flown by a United Airlines captain. When we landed, I turned to the pilot and said, “That was fun!” and he answered, “It sure beats working for a living.” From that day forward I set off on a journey to become an airline pilot.

I flew for 5 airlines in my career. In 1999 I got hired by Northwest Airlines, and retired From
Delta Air Lines in 2019 after 37 years in the airline industry. I was part of what I call the “second
wave of women airline pilots”. Some women had started paving the way, but we were still
unique and not totally welcome.

I married another pilot, and our marriage lasted almost 25 years, but was stressed by each of us
working opposite to each other so one parent was always home with our two daughters.
Since I retired I have spent time working riding and working on my horse farm In Kentucky, I
bought a small antique airline, and right before the Covid lock down I started taking writing class with Women Writing for a Change.

July Crone Times Available Now

Check out articles such as: To Be or Not to Be …an expert by Maggie Dickson, Experts and Expertise by Pat Allen and My thoughts on “Expertise” by Simone La Drumma. Download it now.