Famous
by Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish.
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and is not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
All I Need Now is to Move to Florida: Day 1
Due to the fact that I have nothing better to do for the next four months, I will be doing a little experiment. For the next four months, I plan to live the lifestyle of a retiree. Perhaps a blog about living the life of an old person is in itself counter-productive, given the fact that I had to spend an hour explaining the concept of a blog to my grandpa not too long ago, but I had to publish my findings in some manner and the Pulitzer committee rejected my application.
A potential warning about this experiment is that the blog may get a little monotonous at times because my days will consist of such things as going to the bank or the public library (more to come on that later), but I plan on making it as enjoyable as possible.
Day 1 of the experiment was more planning than anything. The night before, I mapped out my day with the following activities: workout at health club, go deposit checks, go to public library to get library card renewed, laundry, and go to the temple. Now you may be saying to yourself, "Wow, that sounds really exciting, Ellen." I can assure you that it was. Not in the fast-paced mode that people my age may be after, but it was exciting to putter around town doing whatever the heck I wanted to do.
When I was at the gym, I asked about classes that they have and after carefully dissecting the list of options, I have decided on three to do throughout the week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will participate in BodyVive which is a "Low impact class integrating cardio and resistance intervals with stretching and mobility work, all set to the songs of the 60's and 70's." What I glean from this is Jazzercise. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be participating in a yoga class geared towards senior citizens, which will probably be more my level anyways. I think I may also attend the fencing class that they hold on Wednesday nights (even though it is way past 9:00 bedtime). Last, but certainly not least, on Fridays, I signed up for a water aerobics class called "Noodle Mania". I think I can just leave it at that. Whether you want it or not, I will be reporting back with a description on all of them. Until then...
A potential warning about this experiment is that the blog may get a little monotonous at times because my days will consist of such things as going to the bank or the public library (more to come on that later), but I plan on making it as enjoyable as possible.
Day 1 of the experiment was more planning than anything. The night before, I mapped out my day with the following activities: workout at health club, go deposit checks, go to public library to get library card renewed, laundry, and go to the temple. Now you may be saying to yourself, "Wow, that sounds really exciting, Ellen." I can assure you that it was. Not in the fast-paced mode that people my age may be after, but it was exciting to putter around town doing whatever the heck I wanted to do.
When I was at the gym, I asked about classes that they have and after carefully dissecting the list of options, I have decided on three to do throughout the week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will participate in BodyVive which is a "Low impact class integrating cardio and resistance intervals with stretching and mobility work, all set to the songs of the 60's and 70's." What I glean from this is Jazzercise. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be participating in a yoga class geared towards senior citizens, which will probably be more my level anyways. I think I may also attend the fencing class that they hold on Wednesday nights (even though it is way past 9:00 bedtime). Last, but certainly not least, on Fridays, I signed up for a water aerobics class called "Noodle Mania". I think I can just leave it at that. Whether you want it or not, I will be reporting back with a description on all of them. Until then...
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