https://ceenphotography.com/2016/10/17/share-your-world-2016-week-42/

Share Your World – 2016 Week 42

If you wanted to de-clutter where you live, what room / space would you start with?  (And why, if you’re feel like admitting to it.)

Well I Live in one room. I have my bedroom. My room-mate has his bedroom and the rest of the house is a common area. All the furniture you’ve seen in previous blog posts belongs to him not me. All my furniture is in storage. One day if I ever get back on my feet I hope to get a small studio apartment.

Basically when things get too cluttered in my room I throw stuff out into the garbage.

If you want to remember something important, how do you do it (sticky note on the fridge, string around your finger, etc.), and does it work?

I use my Cell Phone to input notes, add reminders, Calendar etc…  Sometimes it still does not work. Forgetting names, dates, times, appointments is all a part of getting older. Sometimes I go downstairs to the kitchen and forget what I went down there for, then when I go back upstairs to my bedroom I remember what I wanted in the kitchen! Sigh…

If you could create a one room retreat just for yourself, what would be the most important sense to emphasize:  sight (bright natural light, dim light, etc.), hearing (silence, music, fountain, etc.), smell (candles, incense, etc), touch (wood, stone, soft fabrics, etc.), or taste (herbal tea, fresh fruit, etc.)?

Well as Lil Abner used to say If I had my ‘Druthers’ and lived in my own house with numerous rooms I could decorate to my hearts desire here is my Wish List.

Natural Light but with plenty of overhead lights. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts my vision is 20/100 so to avoid crashing into furniture and tripping over things every room would have an Overhead Light and lots of lamps. Everything is a big blur in my left eye so I really need well-lit rooms!!

Sound ~~ Sometimes total silence which would be a big change from the inner-city where alarms, sirens, buses, cars, honking horns, barking dogs and people arguing occur 24/7/365!!  Maybe some of that mood music, something like Classical music which puts me to sleep.

Smells ~ Yes!! Incense and light fragrance. Scented candles.

Touch ~~ I’m a tactile person. Natural materials like wood and stone. Also soft fabrics and leather.

Taste ~~ I’m all for the Herbal Teas and Fresh fruit. Also freshly baked wheat or whole grain bread.  I Love to eat! Food is my friend but some foods like dairy products are no longer friendly towards me thus off limits. However on that note I need to improve my diet with more fruits and veggies so bring on the Cornucopia!!

If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask?

My Great, Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead.  Now if it were possible and the eternity’s veil could be drawn back for 5 hours I’d Love to sit down and break bread with his mother, my Great, Great, Great Grandmother whose name is known only to God.

In December of 1863 my Great Great Grandfather, William Henry Halstead, who lived in Tarrytown, New York, traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to join the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry. On his Volunteer Enlistment papers it notes his occupation as a farmer. He enlisted for three years and was discharged on the 24th day of October 1865. He married and had five children. William Henry Halstead passed away in 1888 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, New York. His wife moved to New York City with her five children. Her children grew up in Harlem and belonged to various organizations such as Odd Fellows, Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Daughters of New York.

William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DC

William Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy Hollow

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Well I’m glad that I was able to book my upcoming days off for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Stephen Time!

I’m grateful for the lovely chat I had while posted in the Asian Wing of the Museum with a retired Chinese Lady Professor who schooled me in Chinese history shared some of her story of coming to America at age 19. She has been in the USA for 66 years!! She speaks like eight Chinese dialects!! I just drank in and absorbed her knowledge and wisdom.

Her husband was from Soochow, China. Wow!!  If I remember correctly she taught at Boston University. Her daughter had driven her from Boston where she resides to New York. Glad I met her and her daughter. I’m always interested in hearing the stories of immigrant women and Women of Color as to how they overcame struggles in America to have successful Lives.

Looking forward to overcoming my struggles and having a fulfilling Life!