On the front page this morning:
Surprising Signs You’ll Live to 100
From what you eat to how you live, it is the little things you do that add years to your life.
By Sandra Gordon
You're In a Drama-Free Marriage or Relationship
"Good interpersonal relationships act as a buffer against stress," says Micah Sadigh, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Cedar Crest College. Knowing you have people who support you keeps you healthy, mentally and physically. Chronic stress weakens the immune system and ages cells faster, ultimately shortening life span by 4 to 8 years, according to one study. Not just any person will do, however. "You need friends you can talk to without being judged or criticized," says Sadigh.
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I had a dream last night.
I was a young woman. I was walking around the countryside, an apparent 'drifter', when I came upon a man working at the side of the road. He seemed to be an average sort of man. I could not see his face.
He was methodically shoveling straw into a huge ditch. I stopped to watch, drawn by his large yellow dog who was lying at the side of the ditch. The friendly sort; I squatted to make his acquaintance and he licked my hand, which made the man smile.
"What are you doing?" I asked the man, and he proceeded to show me. With careful hands he filled the ditch with straw, then let it fill with water, building a matrix. As I watched him work and listened to the slow rhythms of his speech, I was hypnotized. I felt suffused with a calm and a sense of grounding that I had never felt before.
He continued to work on his project, and after a while I picked up a shovel to help out. He guided my hands, showing me where to place each piece in order to build a strong base. I placed the straw while he moved to another pile, beginning to shovel steaming asphalt hot mix into the trough. It steamed and hissed when it hit the water, solidifying almost instantly. Together, shovelful by shovelful, we filled the great gaping hole until it was gone, his diligence and care smoothing the surface until you could not see that a hole had ever existed there. All the while the yellow dog lay contented on the grass, smiling at us.
I knew only that I must follow this man, to wherever he might travel next. I lay down my shovel and turned to him to really see him. His eyes met mine, and I was amazed; he was not plain, he was beautiful. When he smiled, it was as if his whole face broke into radiant light, and I could not tear my eyes away from his.
I reached out to touch his arm, marveling at how like his body was to mine, like an iteration of myself built only one size larger and stronger. His skin was sunkissed, warm and fragrant. Silently he lay me down in the long soft grass, while the sun shone down and idle clouds rippled across the sky. When our bodies joined, I saw birds wheel slowly in the air, and then I closed my eyes and saw him, only him.
I woke then, and he was awake, smiling at me in that way he has, the smile-lines around his beautiful blue eyes spread out like the rays of the sun. He rolled me over into his arms, and I pressed my cheek close against the soft skin of his shoulder, breathing him. It was right, it was secure, there were no holes. I gave thanks, again I gave thanks. I felt like the morning was endless, and that we could lie there in the warm covers, lie there in the warm grass, forever and ever.
O, we will live forever.
