Riverkeeping!!

DC has a fabulous organization:  the Anacostia Riverkeeper.  There's also a Chesapeake Waterkeepers, too.  I went on a boat tour led by Anacostia Riverkeeper Emily--8 miles from the DC Waterfront to the start of the Anacostia River--two days ago, and I am still thinking about it.  We had a huge rainstorm here yesterday, and the riverkeeper's words about why the Anacostia is no longer 40' deep, but 20'--because of the silt washed from the DC storm sewers into the river.  and I was inspired to pick up some trash at the bus stop across P Street NW from Whole Foods.  Somebody's grocery bag had split open, and I stacked the salvageable parts (4 cans, 1 bag of rice, two fresh peaches) under the shelter, and then picked up the half-eaten pear, an open bag of whole-wheat pasta, and tossed that in the trash can next to the shelter.  This is a good occupation for an old retired woman who doesn't see well enough to ride a bike or drive a car.  Keeping the trash out of the river before it gets there.

Often Wrong....Never In Doubt

Hard to imagine, but we all do make mistakes--especially mistakes in perceptions and assumptions.  I have always had supreme confidence in my perceptions and assumptions--of course, I've been a proofreader and editor for more than 30 years.  I have a bunch of books to back up my assumptions, especially.  Perceptions?  Well, that's one of my weaknesses.  I'm deaf, for one thing--much deafer than most people think--and I can't see very well now, either.  Bleah.

So, last week, when I went to get a replacement for my Senior Smart Trip metro card, I mistook what the clerk was asking me.  I thought she was asking to see the second SST card that I had been issued.  I said, "but I'm sure I didn't get two copies....just one, and I've lost that."  Well, the angels were working on my behalf.
A kind young Metro worker asked me if I wanted to come inside the building (the window for purchasing, etc., is outside.  You just walk up, and make your request......It was in the mid-90s that day, and very hot.)  I was sweating and uncomfortable and had to change the batteries in my Cochlear Implant, and needed a place to sit down.

So the kind young Metro worker led me inside to a comfy bench in the air-conditioned building, where I could breathe and replace the batteries, wipe the sweat off my face, and put the CI processor back on my head and....HEAR!!!  When my CI was back in operation, I told the young Metro worker about not having received TWO copies of the SST card, and she said, "Oh, no....she just was asking you for two dollars to cover the cost of the new card."  That's a major misperception/assumption, and that kind of thing has been my life since I lost my hearing at age 27.  I'm 80 now, and it's still going on, though not quite as often if my CI processor is working, and I have it on my head.

Anyway, I've been reading a wonderful book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, and these are the four agreements:

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don't take anything personally.
3. Don't make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.

Easy to write them down, but not so easy to put into practice.  Especially the part about making assumptions--if my perceptions are faulty to begin with. 

"O L H"

As indicated, the title of this post is a quotation.  It's from the fabulous CDB by William Steig.  CDB is a book--small, slim, inventive--masterfully drawn and written by Steig.  It supplies more of my quoted texts these days than the Bible.  CDB? Just say the letter names out loud, and you'll catch on.  I used to have at least one copy of this book, but no more.  Why oh why do I give away these priceless books, when my later years (Steig calls them O L H) has revealed them as mainstays of my life?? Yup.  I'm in O L H now--turning 80 impressed this fact on me.  O L H...very O L.

The sun is still shining on the lawn across the drive......I am not getting NE younger, but Steig's books do light up my mind and heart.  Have to start buying copies and mailing them to my precious great-grandchildren, whose birthdays i have of course lost/forgotten.  But you can still have a wacky great-grandma who sends you a present just cuz you're you and on the planet, not because it's your
birthday....ha....you don't remember yours, either. Oh, well.....Or as Steig would say, "Y R U YNN?"