What I Know Now.....

There are some advantages to getting older and that old adage, "mother knows best" does come true if you live long enough.  But here are some things I have learned, so far......

1) Buy every photo of your horse

Hubby used to encourage me to buy each and every good photo of my horses when I was showing the circuit.  He was right but I did not always listen to him.  Now I am going back and trying to find every photo of Alfie I never bought.  But now I have a hallway in my upstairs that houses 8 x 10 photos of my family (mostly the horses with a few relatives tucked in).   My next project is a very nice leather photo album full of my early Alfie photos.  This was before we had iPhones.  There are definitely some disadvantages to our digital world - when I am old and weary and want to recall those days with him I don't want to be doing it through a phone.  This is an early photo of Sega in Ocala.

2) Buy fewer better quality clothes, especially shoes and handbags

My clothing habits have changed through the years and certainly in 2020 but as we return to a new normal, I am reminded that good clothes last a very long time. I still wear my Lilly, my Tory Burch cardigans, my old J Crew Collection coats, my lined wool pants.  Clothing is so cheap these days nothing lasts.  I check labels for fabric content.  Buy the good stuff.  Shoes will make or destroy an outfit and nothing upscales a blah outfit like a good handbag. Love my older Tory Burch cardigan (the older ones are lined in silk and this one has pearl buttons) with a vintage Lilly skirt.

3) Buy quality furniture

I never had an issue not wanting to buy good furniture.  With an eye for antiques over Ikea since I was a teenager, the collection buzz hit me very early.  It's so easy these days to find good quality wood furniture.  Paint it if you don't like brown.  This stuff will last.  

4) Research companies and buy from those who support your values

This is something I have learned only recently but will carry forward from now on.  We no longer invest in fossil fuels.  I won't purchase from Coke, Home Depot, fly with Delta and other Georgia-based companies that support the voter suppression laws enacted there recently.  The only thing that matters in America now is money.  Vote with your wallet. 

5) Learn how to cook

It amazes me how people don't know how to cook and complain they just don't know how.  Cooking is reading directions.  Living off fast food, processed food, boxed anything is painfully bad for your health.  We don't appreciate good food in this country and it shows with our ever increasing waist lines. Learn basic cooking skills. Make salads, fish, pasta.  One of my favorite recipes is what my father called "sweet sauce" and it's olive oil, basil and tomatoes with a few extra spices, cooked hours for perfection.  Healthy?  Yes! Easy? Yes!  Cheap to make?  Yes!  Freezes?  Yes!  People have these wonderful kitchens today and do not use them for cooking....

6) Learn a profession

I totally disagree with the mantra that everyone needs to go to college.  What everyone needs is a profession - one that cannot be automated, replaced with AI or outsourced.  There are thousands of jobs today that will not exist in a few more years and with everyone working from home, do you think that your job cannot be replaced by someone sitting in a low cost country who also has a phone, an Internet connection and speaks good English?  Don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.  But there are many jobs that will be needed in our new world order that do not require a six figure loan - auto mechanics, carpenters, painters, landscape architects, hair dressers, plumbers, electricians, appliance repairers, dental technicians, etc.  It's a very long list.  What each person needs is a skill - one with a high barrier to entry - that must be done here in the US by a real person - not a robot.  The robots are coming - laugh now, but they are already here. Exercise rider anyone?

Enjoy your Friday.  Hug your horses today and watch the three Derby prep races this Saturday - the Wood Memorial, the Blue Grass Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby.  Great ones to watch!