Here are two comments from readers, one long and one short. Also, one on aging from me.  So glad to hear from readers, or as Julie Powell calls them in her book Julie & Julia, “bleaders,” a blending of blog and reader. A friend sent these photos of ice waves in Michigan or Minnesota (from last year.)  I don’t know the person in the picture, but the photos are so awesome, I wanted to share them.

“I’m so proud of myself–I have a cooking suggestion for you.  After cooking spaghetti squash, I usually freeze what we cannot eat.  It becomes a side dish for another meal and still tastes good.” Sandy from Florida

On Aging:  ”Routines and balance I believe are what save us.  Simplicity is the key to a hardy breakfast of fruit and whole grain cereals.  I strive to read and write each early morning, and then I walk at least two miles, often breaking it down to four or five times around the pond each morning and another two before supper.  The mind needs to be exercised in order to give a wholeness to life.  Each day takes on more meaning if we explore and create new channels of understanding and discovery in the brain.  Interact with your grandchildren because they accept you for how well you listen and contribute to the fullness of their lives.  Don’t look for compliments but when you get them from a child you’re doing something right.  My seven year old grandson said to me while we were playing hide and seek, and I was running back and forth keeping up with him,  “You’re the fastest old lady I ever met!”  When you create activities or make-up stories you’re adding a personal touch to their lives, which often comes from canned entertainment.  The paragraph I originally wrote was different, but this will do.  Best to you for your efforts to improve the lives of so many women!

Just to add a footnote:  Simplicity in diet, complexity in thinking.    Another thought.  Since I still remain very active, on icy days or days when the footing is not very good, I anticipate the trails I take, knowing the worn middle ground will be slippery, and so I walk along the sides where the most vegetation is.  I have learned how to fall through skiing and skating, and understand I must relax my body to avoid serious injury.  When I swim in very cold water, I try to keep the shore in close proximity so I have an easy way out.  I was using my granddaughter’s scooter going down some steep hills, but understanding the risk I used my foot to slowly brake before I lost control.  You can do the same things you did when you were young, but you have to be smarter about it.”

Mary Lou Meyers, whose poetry book I reviewed last July: Whisperings Along the Octoraro.

Leftover from  Aging: I am reading a book called The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription by Vincent Fortanasce, MD (Gotham Books 2008). Early in the book, the author notes three definite lifestyle characteristics in common:

1. Poor quality sleep (jobs that required 18 hour days or be on call all night)

2. Unpredictable stress ( staying in a  state of  high alert”, as an ER doctor)

3. Sedentary lifestyle because of time constraints (devoted to work without any downtime)

Soon, I hope to review the part of the book most applicable to Menupause, which is The Anti-Alzheimer’s Diet, which may or may not surprise you.

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