Now is Not the Time to Buy Green Bananas

My friend Dan taught me that saying. Translation: Don't waste time, because we don't know how much of it we have.

The question of the day on my favorite Spanish-language morning show--and I'm so darn proud of myself for being able to understand it!--was, "Do you think the world is coming to an end?" This was, of course in reference to the disasters of late, and you can take your pick from natural (earthquake, tsunami) or man-made (Libya, global warming leading to flooding). Given the news of the day, I voted "Sí."

One of the things I've been putting off for decades is learning how to speak Spanish. I took French in high school and in continuing ed classes. When I got to Paris, I could only speak in fragmented sentences about basic necessities, such as more wine and a larger size skirt. I had absolutely no idea what people were saying; it might have been, "You've had enough, lady," and "I could've told you that, J. Lo," for all I know.

The combination of getting older becoming more mature and el mundo looking very much like an Irwin Allen disaster film is making me re-examine life's little to-do list, mostly moving things up. I write cards to say thank you. I tell people that they're important to me. And since I've actually lost work because no hablo español, I'm moving the language lessons up from "someday when I'm in the nursing home" to "ahora." (Of course, part of the idea behind this entire blog was reduced to hilarious ashes here.)

I don't really believe the world is coming to an end, though I do ache for all the suffering that's going on. After prayers are said and donations are made, I choose to take advantage of the time I have by not waiting for any more bananas to ripen.

Besos, chuletas locas.