I heard some lovely words of wisdom last night at a small gathering of neighborhood women.
Connie, a realtor and Martha, a columnist for our local paper, The Keene Sentinel, got the idea to host small parties for women every few months to get some cross-connection going. Wonderful nibbly things are produced, the wine flows freely, and the conversation is lively.
I was whining (no other word for it) about getting a high quote for a small roofing job on our home. Several others gave their own sad roofing stories, and we were commiserating about the high cost of roofs. But Jackie, our neighbor across the street, finally said, "You know what, it's a problem you can throw money at. And there are a lot worse problems in life you wish were that easy to fix."
With that simple insight, a lot of things fell into place for me last night, and I left the party with a lighter heart.
Granted, if you have little or no money, it gets harder to deal with the problems that "just" need money thrown at them. But it still palls in comparison to those problems even money cannot fix...
I resolve to stop whining about the roof.
And for today's funny moment: My husband and I ran into our good friend Larry Welkowitz a few nights ago, and we walked on to the college library at Keene State College to return some books. As Jon wrangled with the stacks upstairs, Larry and I perused the magazine racks.
The listings made very little sense. National Review nestled near Smithsonian Magazine. I said to Larry that I couldn't figure out what order the magazines were in.
Without missing a beat, Larry said, "They're in HYPOTHETICAL order."
