"Golden years"

Google says: "Golden years" refers to the post-retirement phase of life, typically starting around age 65 and lasting through age 80 and beyond.

Life begins at 60 is even the title of a book for retirees. 

I do feel privileged to be enjoying life now in small-town West Virginia, out in the rural countryside here with my son. I'm still experiencing fairly good health approaching my 88th birthday,

When we went out driving after 2 days inside because of the snow, the roads had been cleared, also some fields where animals had been let out to graze, The weather was cold but sunny, with the very bright sunlight reflecting off the sparkling snow and hurting our eyes. My son put ou sunglasses to drive. Red barns even seemed redder when emerging from the pure white snow. In some places, the newly fallen snow looked like whipped cream.

Based on current forecasts for late January 2026, Berkeley Springs, WV will experience very cold,, below-freezing temperatures, with highs mostly in the 20s-30s°F and lows dropping into the single digits to mid-teens°F. Light snow showers are possible early in the period, with generally cloudy conditions prevailing through early February. 

Here are 2007 Lincoln Town cars currently for sale, just like the one my son drives, a model no longer made. These are being offered on-line for prices ranging from $6,000 to $12,000. My son bought ours second-hand for much less than that and it's still running very well after more than 200,000 miles. Living out in the rural countryside, we do need a car, as it's quite a long walk into town.

Here's our local weather forcast: Based on late January 2026 data, Berkeley Springs, WV, will experience a 

cold, mostly dry, and breezy week with temperatures mostly in the 20s°F-30s°F for highs and dipping into the single digits to teens°F at night. Light flurries or snow showers are possible early, with increased, though still low, rain/snow chances later in the week.

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The national mood of the electorate has been moving toward advocating for protesters and away from supporting the Trump administration's strong-arm law enforcement and anti-immigration tactics. We'll have to see what happens now at the midterms, but I suspect that Trump will be rebuffed. 

Why don't our leaders encourage folks to be kind and generous for a change, making life easier and more peaceful for us all, instead of pitting groups against each other? Fomenting internal strife is no way to run a nation. 

Chatting with folks here in Berkeley Springs, or even with neighbors back in DC, I've not found anyone with experiences around the world anything close to mine--or even like my son has experienced. Many folks have lived their whole life in one place. None of our friends here speak another language. Unfortunately, my son Jon, born in and adopted from Colombia, never learned Spanish. though I tried to teach it to all my kids  But when I spoke with the kids in Spanish, they simply tuned me out. And my late ex-husband, who was blind, encouraged them to ignore me when speaking Spanish, a language he never had learned himself.

How is it that I've made in-depth humanitarian missions to so many countries, unlike other members of my family or even my friends? And I really never even got started until after my late ex-husbnad had abandoned me/had abandoned us. So then you might actually say that he did me a big favor because I never would have had such a wide ranging, interesting, and useful late life humanitarian career had I simply remained married to him.

Because my late husband of 24 years was blind, he therefore depended on me daily (even for picking out his tie and shirt). Since he didn't speak Spanish, I had avoided using Spanish much before he left us, just translations of written material. And after devoting so much effort to helping him become successful, I will also even take some credit for his MacArthur Award, which he got after he had left, though he was certainly very smart and very creative, which had attracted him to me in the first place. His award was something like $500,000, with nothing whatsoever being shared with us. In fact, I had to go to court to even get child support. What had I done to deserve this, which also affected our kids? Whatever had happened to him, to the 2 of us? I had broken up with my family to even marry him to begin with, nor did my family attend our wedding when I married him at age 21.

My efforts throughout our 24 years together were never acknowledged by my ex and his new, much younger second wife, who had assisted him in taking over all our bank accounts. All that was quite a shock to me. But I actually did just fine completely on my own, after starting out again right from scratch with zero dollars to even feed the kids. My ex only spoke with me once after he had left, in a surprise phone call asking about some of my articles appearing in the local press. And I was never mentioned in his obit nor invited to his funeral, but readers already know that story. 

A whole new life actually opened up to me then, beginning with joining the Peace Corps in Honduras in 2000 at age 62, when the Spanish I'd learned earlier in life all came back. So now in 2026, nearing my 88th birthday, I celebrate 26 years of being totally on my own, even longer than the 24 years I actually was married, after starting out all over again from scratch with a completely empty bank account. My life has not turned out as I had anticipated, but it actuslly has turned out pretty well, except for the terrible tragedy of losing my older son. And I'm still not done yet, so please stand by. 

I can't remember ever being bored, not even since moving here to West Virginia. The internet has been a real life line and a wonderful connection to so many friends all over the world. No longer do we have to cut off communication with those living nery far away. No more costly long-distance phone calls or air-mail letters that may never arrive. As a veteran world traveler, I do appreciate that so much.

So many folks  have contributed to the development of the internet.

 Google says: Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf are credited with developing the TCP/IP protocols, which are the fundamental rules that allow computers to communicate and form the modern internet. Additionally, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989, which is the system of interconnected pages and hyperlinks that most people use to access the internet today. (I remember when that happened, a real breakthrough.)

Whenever  the electricity goes out, we can remain connected via cell phones. Yet some rural towns all over the world remain completely isolated and self-sufficient, even without any electricity or running water. I have visited some in Latin America, being accorded a hearty welcome, although as a complete stranger. No sense of deprivation is expressed by these residents, who experience their life as something compltely "normal," just as our own ancesters did. [Readers, I've tried to fix the odd spacing just above to no anvail.]

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Now apparently more Americans want to abolish ICE than actually want to keep it going. Even many Republicans believe ICE should be abolished after attacking people on our own national soil. And we really still need most immigrants just to stay right here, which is why they actually have come. As said before, we are not producing enough babies/children/people here in the US now, only an abundance of oldsters like me.

YouGov, Today more Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE.

                And here is an ice sculpture created in my old neighborhood back in DC. 

    Giant pandas have been playing in the snow at DC's National Zoo, which has now                 reopened. 

From my good friend Stephen in Nigeria, who had once stayed with me in my DC home, I just received this message. (I no longer remember just how I came to know Stephen.}

Hello madam Barbs.

Happy new year to you. I'm happy you're doing well with your son.

We're doing well here in Nigeria, too.

Wishing you a very fulfilling year and a happy new year. Stephen

Mexico’s president says cancellation of oil shipment to Cuba is ‘sovereign’ decision | Mexico | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/27/mexico-cuba-trump-oil

Do you believe that? She must have felt some pressure, even if not overt. 

Venezuela military, police pledge loyalty to interim president

On 3 January 2026, the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro, as well as his wife Cilia Flores, then removed them from Venezuela.  As a result, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez became the current acting president.

Cuban poet, journalist, and independence leader José Martí born on this day, January 30, in 1853.

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