Never left the house Tuesday. It was so windy I saw white caps on the mud puddles left behind by thunder and lightening storms that came charging across Keloland all day. This morning it’s been snowing and the forecast is for below normal cold the rest of the week. Ah, March; just when you think she’s agreed to finally come in and cure our cabin fever by opening the South door and letting some warm air and sunshine in, she does an about-face and slams it shut again. “Just teasing,” March laughs..sounding very much like Dorothy’s wicked witch in the “Wizard of Oz.”
The month of March reminds me of a girlfriend I had in high school. I dreamed about her all winter. By spring, I’d finally built up the nerve to ask her out and felt a flush of warmth come over me when she said yes. But before long, and much to my surprise and disappointment, her affections for me eventually turned cold when another guy with a nice car showed up. March stinks!
Elizabeth Taylor has died. Reports say she had just turned 79 last month which reminded me of the day 50 years ago when I remember thinking she was already really old. I happened to be in our local drug store just as Mr. Tupper was stapling a new shipment of magazines shut before putting them up on the racks for sale. One had a picture of Liz on the cover and the headline read” Elizabeth Taylor at 29” She still looked gorgeous, of course, but at age 14, I figured 29 was way over the hill. To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan. Never got over what she and Eddie Fisher did to poor little Debby Reynolds.
I don’t watch “Dancing with the Stars” but tuned in for a few minutes the other night to see how Kirstie Alley did. I always liked her on “Cheers.” It was a tough job replacing Diane (Shelly Long) on the show but she was so good that audiences soon forgot all about Diane and embraced the sexy brunette, Rebecca Howe. After the series though, Kirstie Alley gained a lot of weight and pretty much disappeared from the spotlight. The tabloids and late night comedians had a field day at her expense. But then, Kirstie dieted her way back into the public eye as a spokeswoman for Jennie Craig.
Her appearance on Oprah caused a lot of jaws to drop. But before long, Miss Alley had returned to her former eating habits and went back into semi seclusion. Now, here she is again having lost about 70 pounds, dancing up a storm and looking darn good for a woman who just turned 60. I root for her because I can identify with some of the things she, and Oprah too, have gone through..especially the part about getting fat..losing a bunch of weight..gaining it back..losing it ..gaining it back and eventually just giving up and hating how you’ve become.
That’s where I’ve been for the last several years but now, thanks to Kirstie, I feel inspired to give it another go. I welcome your encouragement but, please, no diet suggestions or reminders about the importance of exercise. I know them all. My problem is a basic laziness..the cure for which must come from my own determination and, perhaps, a little divine intervention which I have been repeatedly requesting. Wouldn’t it be something if God decided to answer my prayer by sending an angel down to tell me that I must take Linda dancing under the stars each night?