It's Party Time Tonight on the House!

     Yes, this is the first party at Hiawatha House! Everybody is invited. See the big crowd behind me? They all have their hands raised and are clapping!

      I wish!

       But there is a milestone of sorts on Hiawatha house tonight.

      This is my one thousandth post! How about that?

       I started Hiawatha House in 2008. I think I wrote two posts.

      In 2009 I wrote about 50 posts, but most of my time was taken in discovering how blogger worked. I wore out a copy of "Blogging for Dummies."

      I don't remember 100 posts of 500 posts. I do remember looking at 880 and thinking,"This is getting close to 1000 posts.

     When I started in 2008 I had no idea what was involved in writing a blog. I only knew that I wanted to write and keep up some writing skills.

     I think it was about 30 or 40 posts before I got a comment. I was surprised by the notification as I didn't know that's how you got a comment. The comment really excited me. Jen at Cottage Country Reflections was the first blogger to make a comment. Connie at Far Side of Fifty was the next to visit and make a comment. These two will never know how much encouragement was  given just because of the comments.

     The 1000 posts have been a lot of fun. I've met many fantastic people through the blog. Relationships developed through blogging have been quite unbelievable.

    I never ever thought that I would write 1000 posts!

    So tonight is a happy time.

Marking Milestones with Celebration.

       In just a few hours a very well celebrated milestone of the year is about to be recognized and celebrated. We emphasize New Years by celebrating the Eve and also the first day of the year. Some bloggers have already written a post on New Year's Eve or New Years Day. Most people are very aware of the new year even if they don't celebrate.

      For many it is a time to stop and take stock of their life. In the past year what are their achievements? What are their losses? What are they going to do in the New Year? Do they want to improve themselves in the New Year?  How will they change in the next year? There is much agonizing of resolutions to be made for the next year.

     There are other milestones that we like to recognize. Who would forget Thanksgiving? There are different dates for Thanksgiving and each culture has their own spin on what Thanksgiving means.

     We put tremendous importance on birthdays, anniversaries and deaths. The first two we like to celebrate.      New Years has a special significance to me as that's the first date I had with my wife. So Dec 31 of 1963 bis an important date for me. It is difficult to put our losses out of our mind when loved ones birthdays or day of death come around. These are all times when we have reason to stop and look at our present stage in life. Who hasn't made the birthday wish?

    We seem to need to recognize important dates to help us think back to what has happened in our life. We celebrate and mark our achievements. We also take stock and look to the future and how we can survive and prosper.

     So I am a few hours early for New Year's Eve, and I'm listening to classical music which is celebrating the new year. I had never thought that  there would be two hours of classical music.

      So celebrate the passing of 2012 and welcome the coming of 2013.

      Happy New Year to everybody and I wish everybody a prosperous 2013.

65th Wedding Anniversary: Awesome

        This weekend I attended a celebration for friends Betty and Howard's 65th anniversary. This is the first 65th I've ever attended and it was a very moving affair.

        Betty and Howard's five children put on a dinner and program to honor their parents. One son spoke of his parents and how they were a Mom and Dad and very family oriented. He covered happy occasions, sadness and how generally the family functioned extremely well. Their life was not just a smooth ride  

 as they also faced hardships and devastating loss. He described how his mother and father were extremely hard workers and that they also worked very hard for family growth as well. An excellent picture album was put together to show each child's life in the family as they grew up. All grandchildren were briefly featured as well.

      Some of the older friends and neighbors made comments which were humorous and also added to the description of this couple's life.

      As I reflected on this occasion I couldn't help but think about how vibrant and energetic this couple was and is. They each had tremendous energy as individuals and also put tremendous positive energy into their relationship. They also had time to participate in the community and were ever ready to help others. They are also both physically vigorous and enjoy life. The pictures gave a vivid description of the length of time that goes into a 65 year relationship. The styles through the decades made it simple to see how much time was involved.

       Betty and Howard certainly influenced their children in a positive way and have also

been an inspiration to many other people.

Time Flies

        Yesterday I read a fine  post on how the last ten years for the writer have flown by, yet they have been the most important in his life. I find the passage of time to be more than just interesting. Why does time seem to pass by so rapidly?


        Today is my brother and sister-in-laws 49th wedding anniversary. It only seems like yesterday that we were young people standing at the front of the church for their wedding. What an awful lot has happened since then. They have become great grandparents. What a milestone!


       I retired in 1997. It was an important date in my life as my lifestyle was to change dramatically. I've thoroughly enjoyed my retirement, but it has gone by rapidly.


      Last year I celebrated my 70th birthday. It seemed like a more important birthday than many others. I still feel as if I am the same person I was at say age twenty! At least in my head I still feel like the same person. My body won't let me think that I am still twenty. I enjoy life and have lots of interesting things to do and interesting people to associate with.


     There is  a mathematical reason for feeling that time races by us. When I was five  a year seemed to be forever. When I was eighteen a year seemed like a long time . Ted is 40. One year in his life is 2.5 % of his total life. Ted's son is ten. One year in his son's life is 10% of his son's life. So mathematically the ratios are different so the old person experiences a yea of life as a smaller proportion of his life. Now i know I've lost some people and their eyes have completely glazed over. Future shock explained this to me many years ago and I've  never forgotten it.

      So for Ted and his son and everybody else this is why time seems to fly and I hate to tell you that it will speed up as we age. I hope that all people enjoy life as it passes rather than let life pass them by.