Living arrangements
When I went downstairs to vote this morning, the lady who was doing the signature/sign-in book, who has lived here for 11 years, asked me something along the lines of whether I felt settled in, now that I've been here for 15 months. I told her that I am grateful for the apartment but that I miss my house in Texas and always will. This evening, I began thinking over more specifically how I "feel" about my living arrangements. "Grateful" is definitely the strongest feeling. I can't say I'm "happy" here or that I "like" living here or "want to be here." Although I have to focus on maintaining the second most obvious attitude, I guess that would be "contentment." I have to remind myself that I am at least "content" to be here.
To live in Bucks County, PA ... if not the most expensive county in the state, certainly one of them ... for the very modest rent that I am paying can only be described as a privilege. The state even sent me over $400 last month as a "2010 rent rebate," making the rent last year even lower.
I have to admit that I do a fair amount of daydreaming about what I would do if I had a great deal more assets than I do. The daydreaming probably stems from the time I have on my hands every week, along with my awareness of all the little and big factors that are missing from my day-to-day existence.
As I say to friends frequently, I'm glad I'm 77 and not 27. Considering the state of the country and the world, and in view of the limitations inherent in my current living arrangements and lifestyle, at least I know there are only a limited number of years in which gratitude and contentment are the foremost attitudes in my portfolio of feelings, at least when I'm here at Grundy Hall.
To live in Bucks County, PA ... if not the most expensive county in the state, certainly one of them ... for the very modest rent that I am paying can only be described as a privilege. The state even sent me over $400 last month as a "2010 rent rebate," making the rent last year even lower.
I have to admit that I do a fair amount of daydreaming about what I would do if I had a great deal more assets than I do. The daydreaming probably stems from the time I have on my hands every week, along with my awareness of all the little and big factors that are missing from my day-to-day existence.
As I say to friends frequently, I'm glad I'm 77 and not 27. Considering the state of the country and the world, and in view of the limitations inherent in my current living arrangements and lifestyle, at least I know there are only a limited number of years in which gratitude and contentment are the foremost attitudes in my portfolio of feelings, at least when I'm here at Grundy Hall.