What haven't you done?

I've lost three friends lately, although only one of them was close--a woman a bit older than me who has befriended me for years. I liked and admired her and looked forward to our visits--she was always upbeat and fun to be with. We cared about each other's families and compared notes, shared memories of the good old days. Then there was the husband of my high school best friend--I knew him of course. We'd had good visits, most recently when they were here two or three years ago for a weekend. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather, active in his community and his church, devout. We differed politically but that's minor, and I was fond of him--above all because my friend loved him and he made her happy. Then there's a man who I may not have seen even in passing in ten years but when our children were little, his then-family and my then-family were close--makes me think how people and family situations change. This man was exactly my age. So each of these losses hit me in a different way but each had its impact. I said sort of idly last night that it's hard when your contemporaries die, and my neighbor looked at me and asked,
"If you didn't wake up tomorrow, what would you have not done that you want to do?" He went on to point out that I've raised beautiful children, I have wonderful grandchildren, I've had a good career, I've finally written the mystery that I wanted to--I could have added and I've been to Scotland. That was a biggie for me.
Those of you who read this blog frequently know that I often end a post with "Life is sweet." I told Jay last night that's why I want to wake up in the morning. Religious theory about the afterlife aside, I'm probably happier with my life now than I ever have been. I want to eat right, exercise, do all those things so I can keep enjoying this good life.
No, there's not much in my life that I really wanted to do and haven't yet done--but that doesn't feel like an ending. It feels like a beginning, because I always find new things I want to do, accomplish, new plans to make, family visits to anticipate, a new book to write. No regrets but I'm sure not ready to get off the merryground.
How about you? Is there something  you'd regret not having done?
Thunder is rolling outside, and Jacob claims he can't sleep because there's a tornado outside his window. He's in my bed now, but still bright-eyed. I have given up the idea of constructive writing for the night. Even so, life is sweet--just extra busy this week.

Thunderstorms

'Twas a dark a stormy night--that's really the way it is in Texas tonight. Last night there were severe tornados to the north and west of us, and tonight we're under flash flood and thunderstorm alerts--"some may be severe" they say. That does a lot of things to your psyche. For a couple of days I've not been as upbeat and happy as I usually like to think I am, and I remember a psychiatrist whose wife said when barometric pressure fell their phone rang off the wall.
But I am also reminded of my friend Charles, 90 years old, who announced the other day that he had changed his attitude. I asked how he'd done that, and he said he'd had a talk with himself. I said I often had talks with myself and they were usually neither as effective or quick acting as his seemed to be. His reply? "I had a very intelligent listener." Today I'm wondering if my listener is not as intelligent!
Storms really bring two complications to my life: Scooby, my dog, and my computer. Scooby is terrified of storms. When I got him, an abused dog from the Humane Society, he literally went ballistic during storms. The first storm after I had him he hid under my desk and pawed at my legs until I had bruises. He's gotten better over the years (four now) and I think it's because he feels more secure. But he's really unhappy tonight, even bolted inside when I put his food outside--and he never overlooks food! Just now I explained he had to go potty before he came in for the night, but he went reluctantly--and only because I put a leash on him.
And then there's the computer. I'm terrified of losing it--partly because of the information stored on it and partly because it's such an integral part of my routine. I sit at my desk and work in the evenings, and I always have one ear listening for new emails. Without a computer, my days would be empty. I view that as sort of a deficiency confession and wonder if I should give up the computer for a week, as some people give up TV. I'm not ready for that, though, so I unplug and disconnect it every time I hear near thunder--I dismiss distant thunder--and then hook it all up again. A royal pain! But tonight I've gotten lots done--several writing projects--and I'll turn it off before I go to bed. And of couse I'll let poor Scooby in so he can sleep next to my bed.
So far we've had gentle rains, really good for gardens. But I keep moving some potted plants under cover that I think might suffer if we got a heavy rain--always a threat. So my pencil tree, cilantro, and new pot of chives are under the porch roof. My old pot of chives that comes up remarkably year after year is so hardy I never worry about it.
Tomorrow I must take my car in to see why the brakes groan when I back out of the driveway and then never make another noise all day. Nuisance, nuisance, nuisance.
I would say my outlook is not positive tonight, but it will be better tomorrow--even though storms are expected.