Letter from the Editor 1 Senior Perspectives 2

A quarterly publication of, by and for the Redwood Coast Senior Center community
RC
SC
EDWOOD
OAST
E N I O R
ENTER
July/September 2 0 1 4
GAZETTE
Letter from the Editor
Senior Perspectives
Poems
Kitchen Garden Footprint
Circle of Elders Brightens Lives
Betty’s Baby
1
2
4
5
7
8
Whale Watching Trip of a Lifetime10
Twilight in the Purple Rose Zone 12
What If?
14
A Pass to the Present
17
Senior Center Acupuncture
18
Senior Center T’ai Chi Chih
19
Announcements, Stories, Poems, Humor and Ads are scattered throughout The Gazette
Senior Center Activities and Projects
Seniors Jazz Chorus
Seniors Exercise Classes
Toastmasters Speaking Club
Small Stakes Recreational Bingo
Ping Pong
North Coast Quilters Guild
Duplicate Bridge Club
Senior Peer Counseling
Acupuncture Clinic
T’ai Chi Chih
Caregiver Support Group
Tax Returns Counseling
Grass Roots Cribbage Group
Computer Lab and Instruction
Managing Chronic Illness
Writers Workshop
Senior History Project
Knitwits Knitting Group
Drivers Training Program
Blood Pressure Clinic
Organic Gardening
Painted Senior Portraits
The Best $5 Hot Lunch in Town!
The Redwood Coast Senior Center needs Underwriters, Donors and
Volunteers to support these wonderful programs as well as The
Gazette. If you can help in any way, with time, or money, or energy,
please step forward and help keep this vital community resource
growing. See our website at RCSCenter.org or give us a call at 9640443 for details on how to participate. We really need your help!
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
1
Letter from the Editor
I never lived in a small town before, so
I have no idea if the experiences I’ve had
here on the Coast would be the same in
any other small community.
I was born in New York, moved to
Houston, Texas at age 6, left at age 18,
traveled for 3 years in the Army, followed
by a couple of years in the merchant
marines, and found myself in Oakland at
age 23, where I lived for 40 years before
moving to Little River in 2007.
But never in a small town.
For me, geographically, my small town
extends from The Zen House in Point
Arena (my motorcycle repair place) north
to Westport, where I play music at the
annual Westport Fireman’s BBQ, to
Boonville for the County Fair.
In between are all the places where I
shop, look at the ocean, visit friends, go
to the movies, hike, bike, get gas, and
generally live my life.
Queenie’s in Elk. The Little River Inn.
The Good Life Cafe in Mendo. Dick’s
Place. Frankie’s. Headlands Coffeehouse
in Fort Bragg. Harvest Market. David’s in
The Boatyard. Los Gallitos.
What’s really interesting to me is that I
know that all of you who are reading this
know all of these places as well, along
with many others. It’s that shared set of
experiences that I’m beginning to realize
is the essence of living in a small town.
I enjoy knowing that wherever I go, I’m
going to see people I know.
The overlapping circles of friends and
the tiny degrees of separation make a
kind of ever-expanding extended family
like I’ve never experienced.
We live in The
Woods in Little River, a retirement community with 109 homes. I know many of
the people here. We have our Woods
family. When we first moved here, we
joined Fog Dodgers, a Sunday hiking
group. Folks we met there introduced us
to their friends, and from there, our circles exploded. Nancy loves hiking, she
has hiking friends. I ride my old motorcycle and play guitar, I have riding pals and
music buddies. Nancy does small business consulting, she has clients all over
town. We enjoy celebrating with our
dynamic Jewish community. We shop at
the Farmer’s Markets in Mendocino and
Fort Bragg, and have formed relationships
with many of the vendors. We love to
cook and eat and drink and schmooze,
folks come to our house for a meal, we
go to theirs. A community of foodies!
And, now, for me, the Senior Center.
This community is the most fascinating
of all. Talk about shared experiences!
There are no degrees of separation. Just
being human, on the North Coast, and of
a certain age gets me membership into
the vibrant community that is our Senior
Center. The volunteers, staff, clients; circles overlapping. Nice people. A community of communties, united in this small
town. It’s a good feeling for me.
Cheers, Rick
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Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
July/September 2014
Senior Perspectives
Who Are We and
Why Are We So Strange?
By Charles Bush
Now that we are over 60 we are officially
elders, the biggest bunch of us in history.
However, we are the strangest version who
have ever lived on the planet. We are the
first of the millennial elders, and we lived
through the last 60 years of the greatest
and most significant changes in human civilization. Furthermore, the incredible,
accelerating rate of change is increasing
every year. In our lifetimes, we watched
machines and technology learn to do a lot
of the worst and most tedious labor, and
that trend is just really getting started. In
addition, the world shrank before our eyes,
and what had always been private has
become massively public. Radio, television,
phones, and computers made nearly everything we know accessible to almost everyone. Combined with automobile and airplane travel, that means we can go almost
everywhere, find out about anything, and
learn whatever interests us.
We are now the most experienced people
on the planet in living with massive rapid
change. So much about how we relate to
one another in our societies must be
redesigned, and we are the best source for
new ideas. No generation has ever reached
old age with such wonderful responsibilities and such amazing capacity. In only five
generations we’ve doubled our life spans,
and we are rapidly headed to 100 years
being normal.
Despite inequalities among countries,
and within our own culture, we are definitely the richest and most prosperous people whoever lived. By nearly any measure
we have the highest
standard of living
ever. We have more
and better houses,
access to travel, a
wide assortment of
amazing things, and a greater variety of
accessible activities than ever before. Of
course this luxury has made us wasteful,
and we have no clear vision about how to
deal with long years of retirement, and a
gradual disconnect between income, and
the shrinking necessity for everyone to
“work for a living.” As we continue to succeed, long lives and automated production
demand that we conceive new ways to
engage ourselves, and new ways to share
ever-growing wealth. And of course we’ll
have to repair the crudeness with which
we’ve treated mother nature.
Despite the news of problems everywhere
that the media present, we have in fact
become the most decent people ever.
Worldwide, and here at home there are
fewer poor people than ever, and poor people are in fact better off than they’ve ever
been. We’ve become profoundly more
inclusive, tolerating a wide range of difference of opinion, perspective and lifestyles.
Volunteering, spontaneous helpfulness, and
personal philanthropy are at an all-time
high everywhere. Violence of every kind is
at an all time low. This does not mean that
poverty, inequality, selfishness, and the misbehavior don’t exist. But continuing trends
point to continuing rapid improvement.
In our lifetimes we’ve accomplished a lot
for elders. We have just barely guaranteed
income for life through Social Security,
accomplished access to healthcare for
seniors, and created Senior Centers across
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
the nation that provide food, transportation, personal support, socialization and
education for all of us elders. It is a magnificent system, but we need to make it
more generous to elders, and then available
to everyone in our society. The work of
many generations culminated with us. We
are the first elders to live in a time of success, when there is demonstrably enough
resources and know-how to extend wealth
to everyone without compromising the
planet.
3
That is a measurable fact. That is our
legacy. It brings the responsibility to use
the wisdom we have gained from our
absolutely unique lives, not only to deepen
the joy and the ease of elder life, but to
extend that opportunity to everyone. It is
not time to retire, it is time to provide leadership and vision. We are the generation to
move past conservative versus liberal politics. That is so old fashioned – yesterday’s
ideas aren’t enough for today's marvelous
opportunities – but we are!
Thank You
HARVEST MARKET makes weekly vegetable, fruit, and
bread donations — HARVEST MARKET supplies much of
the fresh produce for the 800 lunches we serve to elders
every week, in the dining room or delivered by Meals On
Wheels to shut in seniors at home.
HARVEST MARKET also collects close to $900 a month for
the Senior Center through their bag purchase program.
Without this generosity we literally could not operate the
lunch-for-seniors service, because our federal subsidy does
not cover the cost of the program.
HARVEST MARKET makes it possible to assure that no
senior is ever turned away.
HARVEST MARKET is truly an anchor for Redwood Coast
Seniors food services. Many, Many Thanks.
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
4
July/September 2014
Poems
Queen of the Charlotte Russe
By Laurel Moss
When Rhododendrons Bloom on the Mendocino Coast
By Ed Spini, age 90
Do you know summer’s end?
You would if you were from Brooklyn
When you pass that luncheonette
the glass display case
Packed with ice
The rounds of whip cream covered
Cake with the maraschino cherry
On top,
You’d know!
The Queen has arrived.
Crowned and cherried
When the rhododendrons are blooming out along the
Mendocino Coast,
With its beauty and its splendor it’s the thing I love the
most.
Their many shades of color like the rainbow in the sky,
It’s a lonely traveler’s paradise, one you won’t pass by.
You’d know before the
Clerks on their way
Way to work
You’d know when ambling on
to school by the way
The mouth juicifies,
The tongue thickens
You’d know by the way
your hand in your pocket
Reaches for coins and counts the
cash
Once you oozed into the cream
Pushing the cherry aside
Once you swung your tongue over
the cool
Over the sweet over the slippery
smooth
Reaching for the yellow spongy bed
Charlotte Russe has arrived
And Autumn.
The beauty of the coastline with its sandy beaches too,
Is a welcome sight for travelers, a paradise anew.
You’ll love the peace and quiet and scenic ocean blue
Now you’ve found a second heaven, yes you’ve found a
home anew.
We have a fishing fleet a Noyo with the mooring basin too,
And the party boats are waiting to take you out on the blue.
A fishing trip to remember with its beauty and splendor too,
Is something you will cherish now and your whole life
through.
You can dine and dance in the evening to music old and new,
With your choice of a lovely dinner in restaurants quite a
few.
So if you want to see our wonderland with memories to
linger too,
See the Mendocino coastline and a bit of heaven too.
The scenic beauty of our redwoods and the streams and
oceans too,
Are just a part of our wonderland enhanced by
rhododendrons too.
So for a little bit of heaven for our travelers old and new
The Mendocino coastline is a travelers’s dream come true.
(More poetry on pages 7 and 16)
July/September 2014
5
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
Kitchen Garden Footprint
This harvest will include:
Radishes, lettuce, spinach and endive for
the salad bar.
Celery for soup. Red and green mustard,
rainbow and swiss chard, and kale. Also
Chinese vegetables: cabbage, broccoli,
bok choy and tatsoi. Plus green onions
and parsley.
To take part in harvesting the bounty,
come to garden workday. Every Monday
(except in pouring rain) from 1 to 3:00.
See you in the garden, Linda
Our Garden Quiz: Food plants are beautiful! There are many colorful plants growing in the wine barrels at the entrance to
RCSC. Which ones are food?
Answer:
1. Calendula
2. Red Mustard
3. Sun Chokes
4. Parsley
5. Sea of Red Lettuce
As I write this it is raining.
In December the gardeners
mulched the garden with
straw. We are trying to keep
the soil moist. During one
heavy rain I noticed dark colored water dripping from our
white table beds. A bucket
under each of those drains
now collects compost tea.
This feeds some rows and the
flower barrels in front of the
building. Between rains the
folks in the kitchen collect
clean recycled water in 2 large
watering cans. This, also, goes
on the flowers. In small ways
RCSC intends to keep our garden fruitful
and use water wisely.
CANCLINI
TELEVISION & APPLIANCES • MATTRESSES
Marilyn (Pixie) Canclini
636 S. Franklin, Fort Bragg, Ca 95437
707 • 964-5611 • FAX 707 • 964-8227
cancliniappliance@comcast.net
Stop in and say hello to
Pixie, Lynn, James, Miles
6
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
July/September 2014
WE WANT YOU! NOW!
The New Redwood Coast Senior Center
GAZETTE
A Quarterly Magazine For and About the Senior Center –
Staff, Volunteers, Clients, Board Members, everyone who
uses or is involved with our Senior Center
• Here’s your chance to get published! •
We Want Your PERSONAL: Recipes • Poems • Stories • Histories
• Anecdotes • Photos • Articles of General Interest • No Politics, No Religion
This is YOUR Magazine! Come Tell Your Story! Come be a part of our Publication!
We welcome all SIGNED comments, questions and suggestions.
ALL SUBMISSIONS MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY OR LENGTH.
Rick Banker, Editor, RCSC GAZETTE • 707-937-3872 • rick@wrecklessmedia.com
43300 Little River Airport Rd. #93 Little River, CA • Thank you all!!
MATERIALS MUST BE PLACED IN THE BOX ON THE FRONT COUNTER OR
EMAILED DIRECTLY TO ME OR PROGRAM DIRECTOR STEVE JORDAN.
SUBMISSIONS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY YOUR NAME AND YOUR
ASSOCIATION WITH THE SENIOR CENTER TO BE CONSIDERED.
DO NOT SUBMIT ANYTHING SOMEONE ELSE HAS PUBLISHED.
PLEASE CALL ME IF YOU NEED HELP GETTING YOUR MATERIAL TO US OR
IF YOU NEED SOMETHING TO BE PICKED UP. PLEASE SEND US YOUR STUFF!
TO ADVERTISE, CALL RICK @ 937-3872 OR SYD BALOWS @ 937-1222
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
7
Circle of Elders Brightens Lives
Elizabeth Morton, LCSW
The “Circle of Elders” Social Day Program kindles new spark in the lives of some elders in
our community. A part of Redwood Coast Senior Center, it serves elders in all stages of
Alzheimer’s as well as those experiencing dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or who have had a
stroke. Some simply feel isolated or depressed and need connection and more fun in their life.
Mingling with peers and having a group to which they belong enhances their self esteem as
well as bringing vitality and interest to life.
Each day is different. Local musicians Jan Kessner, Earl Oliver and Marcus McCallen offer
live music. Linda Spector teaches lighthearted and creative Imaginative Journey workshops
which evoke memories, our senses and imaginations. Restorative Tai Chi is offered by Dyana
Sangral. Other activities include art, singing, adapted circle dance, poetry, exercise, and games
which spark laughter and camaraderie as well as promote coordination, dexterity and a sense
of accomplishment. The cost is $55 per day and scholarships are available. Low cost wheel
chair accessible transportation is provided. Presently, there are openings for elders as well as
for caring volunteers. Call Elizabeth Morton, LCSW at 961-4310 for information.
This poem was created by those in the Circle of Elders as a tribute to spring.
The Wonders of Spring
What happens in the spring?
Budding shoots happily push through the earth
Causing all of nature to sing
Fruit trees bloom amidst brilliant green leaves
New birth!
Flowers blossom…Awesome!
Daffodils come in yellow splendor
Green grasses deck the fields where
little lambs frolic and play
Even as the sun shimmers on the ocean spray
Lilies show their glory during the season of Whitsuntide—White Sunday
Whales surge through the sea with power
Shepherding their young…North
Bees relish in the blooming flowers
while Canada geese never veer from their course
A young man’s fancy turns to love
Drawing blessings from above . . .
and a girls heart flutters
Ahhh - the wonders of SPRING.
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Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
July/September 2014
Betty’s Baby – by Henrietta Bensussen
Betty had a small house filled with
every kind of electrical appliance, and a
large attached garage, where she kept her
tools, an electric saw, portable drills,
mower, and a shiny generator. Her two
dogs, a half-breed St. Bernard, always trying to climb into her lap, and a German
shepherd, always hungry, kept her company when she collapsed on the sofa after
another long day of managing her tax
business.
But the dogs and tools, the house with
its appliances and gadgets, none of this
was enough. Following a phone call,
Betty caught a plane to Oklahoma and
returned five days later carrying a very
young baby with black hair and olive
skin. Betty, blond and blue-eyed, had had
doubts about the baby, but when the
birthmother expressed doubts on her
side, Betty’s competitive instinct took
over. An extra payment for “doctor fees”
was the catalyst for an agreement, signed
and sealed by the court. She named her
baby Diana.
In spite of the difference in their
genetic makeup, Diana grew up to be
very like her new mother. She learned
early how to shoulder aside the dogs to
ensure her own food and affection. By the
age of two she had enough of a vocabulary to stand by her demands until they
were met. By three she could wield a
hammer well enough to construct her
own tool box and in general spread mayhem everywhere.
Betty needed a larger house for her
growing family. She traded in her small
tract house for a ranch on an acre of land
and bought three horses (she had a soft
spot for horses in need of a home) and a
terrier-spaniel mix to be Diana’s special
pet. Everything went well. There was
always candy in the cupboard and Fruit
Loops on the shelf. The dogs became
more frantic and needy horses multiplied
but there was plenty of room for all.
Diana learned to read early and by first
grade had become a little princess who
demanded obedience from her subjects.
She called her mother Bett-tee. She
treated the horses as if they were overgrown dogs. Betty would sit at the
kitchen table sipping coffee and shake
her head in amusement while Diana
buzzed about, busy with her own imaginative tasks. When things became
unbearably hectic, Betty would shoo
them all--Diana, the dogs, herself--into
the yard, where it would be time to rake
up horse droppings, or water the vegetables, or mow the front lawn. Betty grew
thin and sleek with all this exercise and
Diana grew into a bronze amazon.
But soon the questions began. Kids at
school asked Diana why she didn’t have a
father, and Diana asked Betty, and Betty,
who had promptly forgotten about the
role of the father as soon as she had
adopted Diana, made up a story that
seemed to have no more substance than a
fairy tale. So Diana took things into her
own hands, declaring to her friends that
Bett-tee was the only parent any child
would want. She was luckier than they
were, she said. At her house there were
no mean fathers, no beatings, or drunken
fights.
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
Is it like the Virgin Birth?, a Catholic
friend asked. Is it like Protective Custody
and Bett-tee is the Social Worker?,
another asked. Can you stay up late?,
asked a third. Better than any of that,
was Diana’s answer, and they dared not
disagree.
On Diana’s birthday her whole class
was invited over to ride horses and eat
cake, and stuff themselves with peppermints, lollypops, rainbow ice cream,
sweet red punch and chocolate cookies.
They all brought gifts guaranteed to be
easily broken, had a wonderful time, and
went home with stomach aches. This
happened every year until Diana turned
twelve. Suddenly she grew up, just as
Betty began to grow old. Together they
gave up sugar for carrots; together they
watched “The Simpsons,” and while Betty
laughed Diana took notes on how to
avoid the pitfalls of family life.
Over the next few years Diana organized classes on dog-training and horseback-riding, which she much preferred to
babysitting jobs. She made top grades in
math and P.E. She won a scholarship for
girls from single-parent households who
had black hair and played soccer. At college she led clubs, organized marches,
excelled at everything, and wrote to Betty
faithfully every Friday night.
Betty, feeling lonely with Diana gone,
acquired another dog, but it died after
two days from distemper and took the
rest of the dogs with it. She signed up for
a cruise but an outbreak of shipboard
influenza cancelled the trip. She tried an
art class but she hated confining a paintbrush to a small rectangle of paper. Then
she met Sam.
9
Before, the dogs and their incessant
barking had kept mail delivery to the
front gate, but now that the dogs were
gone Sam the mail-carrier brought Betty’s
mail to her door and even accepted an
invitation for a cup of coffee. It became a
daily ritual for them. Betty always had
doughnuts or coffeecake on hand, and
Sam was always ready for a coffee break.
Betty explained her weekly letters from
Diana. Sam told Betty about her recent
divorce and how her life was taking on a
new direction.
One morning as she was adding cream
to her coffee, Sam looked at Betty and
Betty looked at Sam and then they left
their cups of coffee cooling on the table
as they moved to the sofa in the living
room and then to the bed in the bedroom
and when Diana came home during
Easter break to tell her mother she had
decided to major in French literature
instead of veterinary science, she was surprised to find she had become a child of a
two-parent family at last.
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
10
July/September 2014
W h a l e Wa t c h i n g T r i p o f a L i f e t i m e — b y S y d B a l o w s
A
good friend of mine last
year went Whale Watching
in San Ingancio Lagoon in
the California Baja. Gary gave us
glowing reports about how touching
whales had such an impact on his
life and soon it was an item on my
bucket list! One of the reasons this
particular lagoon is so great for being
with whales is that is strictly regulated (i.e. how many boats in the
water at any one time, what time of
day we could go out, etc.).
We started out at a Fairfield Inn in
Old Town, San Diego, where most of
the 23 folks in our expedition were
staying the night before the big day.
There was an air of excitement in the
lobby during breakfast, because all of
a sudden we were mixing with our
travel buddies who were also getting
ready for this exciting adventure! The bus
picking was us up was due in fifteen minutes. Let the adventure begin!
In the front door come Angie, Lynn, and
Joel who made sure we got over the border
into Tijuana, Mexico and to the Tijuana
International Airport. There we boarded two
single-engine fourteen passenger prop planes
that looked like twins. We were allowed one
30-pound duffel bag for our five days in the
lagoon watching whales. Twelve of us were
on one plane and eleven on the other. When
we boarded the planes we met Jose, one of
the whale guides, who was returning with
last week’s group and was taking us out to
base camp. The flight took two hours, the
entire 600 miles between 12 and 1800 feet.
Preparing to land, we looked down on a
dirt landing strip and realized the next
adventure was really in process! We touched
down in a cloud of dust and soon we were
munching down on tortilla chips, guacamole
and cold Mexican beer in a little dirt floor
cantina. Next, two dusty white 10 passenger
vans showed up and loaded our duffel bags
and us up. After a 15-minute bumpy ride in
the vans, we were dropped off at the edge of
San Ignacio Lagoon where we saw our first
whales sky-hopping. Wow! What a sight!
Seeing a 40-ton animal coming mostly out of
the water was truly awe-inspiring! For the
last leg of the journey into camp, we all
rolled up our pants, put on our water shoes
and climbed into the small 10 passenger
panga boats, which headed across the
lagoon. Our campsite was perfectly located
just after the entry point from the Pacific
Ocean into the Lagoon, as well as jutting
nicely out into the lagoon for ideal 24/7
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
whale watching. Our safari-type two person
canvas tents were outfitted, each contained 2
cots (with thick pads, fleece-lined sleeping
bags, pillows, and blankets) a solar reading
light, and a solar flashlight. This was home
for the next four nights! Adult camping!
What fun! Not far from the tents were very
clean porta-potties, solar showers (fun!) and
the dining tent which was always filled with
snacks, an open bar, games and the kitchen.
The next morning after breakfast, our first
whale watching adventure began. We were
instructed to keep our expectations low. We
outfitted in life jackets, hats, water clothes,
water shoes, and sunscreen then went into
the water and climbed into the panga boats.
When we got just off shore, the whales were
very close to us and the other boats. Soon a
“friendly” mama whale and newly born calf
come up close. We were allowed to splash
the water gently with our hands to encourage them. The mom encouraged her calf to
come up the side of the boat and we all
crooned and petted it and some even kissed
the baby! The mama and her calf came up to
the side of the boat. We leaned over the edge
and touched these amazing creatures. The
skin is soft and velvety, and there is sponginess; I realized the babies had a healthy layer
of fat growing! As we went through the
seemingly endless days filled with adventures, this happened innumerable times,
even though we were told repeatedly to “Not
have high expectations!” Not all the gray
whales are “friendly” and we were only
allowed to interact with those that chose to
interact with us. There is no chasing after
whales. They come to you if they want to.
Another activity we participated in was tide
11
pooling. When the tide was out a huge flat
of lagoon floor was exposed revealing thousands of shells, many past their original use
and harboring whole new microenvironments of tiny sea creatures. We witnessed an
octopus being born, and coyotes on the open
tidal flat looking for sushi! We had opportunities to kayak, and also to bird watch from
the boat in mangrove groves.
The trip was truly a bucket list vacation!
We felt very safe and extremely well cared
for during the whole adventure and would
recommend it to everyone! The Redwood
Coast Senior Center is making plans to
sponsor its own Whale Watching Expedition
to Baja around the first full moon in March
2015. Stay tuned for details!
HACKLEY PHYSICAL THERAPY
Shawn Hackley, PT
Rachael Franco, PTA
707 • 961 • 6191
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
12
July/September 2014
Twilight in The Purple Rose Zone
— by Doug Fortier
Tuesday is my night to cook, a euphemism
for dining out, usually at The Purple Rose
for our favorite Mexican food and outstanding margaritas. It’s close enough to walk, but
on this night, it had been raining heavily for
several hours, and we drove with the windshield wipers at maximum for the three
minute trip. Low visibility blurred a car leaving the restaurant parking lot, sliding sideways, throwing up a rooster tail of stones
behind it.
Both of us said, “Jerk,” then faced an
empty parking lot surrounding the dark outline of the building shimmering in the rain.
We didn’t drive around, but I decided there
must be cars on the other side of the building, near the door to the bar. Unusual pulses
from the colored lights inside the windows
drew my attention for an instant before they
returned to normal.
A slow night meant we’d enjoy a quiet
dinner after a busy day. We hopped from the
car to the covered walk along the building
then stood, arm in arm, facing the storm and
the sheets of water filling the night. The rain
continued its deluge.
To get me moving, Claire turned me
toward the front door, edged for the first
time in the colored lights of the windows.
When I crossed the transom, my peripheral
vision fluttered, and I wondered if something
could be wrong with my eyes.
When it’s bustling, the hostess has menus
and leads us to a table. Along the way we’d
say, “Hi,” to Greg behind the counter where
he works in the kitchen adding final touches
to the plates. His crew of two in the background often waved and smiled.
None of the usual sounds bounced from
the kitchen or the bar: no blender, no gay
laughter. This time, Greg wasn’t there, and
the two familiar faces were frozen in a stare
that made me uncomfortable. I looked away,
toward the empty hostess station where
Claire pulled two menus from the holder.
When I moved my head, the kitchen guys
flickered in my side vision. I worried about
my eyes again. Nothing else appeared out of
place — the mementos of travel in Mexico
and the images of J.F.K. were where they’d
always been.
With menus in hand, Claire swooped an
invitation with her arm to the right, into the
empty dining room that led to the bar. I
pointed to the other empty room for thirty
people, it had the bathrooms nearby. The
menu hadn’t changed in a long time, but we
always found new ways to try something different, like whatever has the most syllables.
We sat on the side with the windows facing
the parking lot and wondered why a waitress, or the hostess, hadn’t appeared with
salsa and chips.
I unclasped my iPhone, then thumbed it
on. Seconds and minutes were displayed, but
they weren’t moving. I turned the power off
and on; it came back to life with the same
minutes and seconds. That didn’t make
sense at all.
“What’s going on,” Claire said over the top
of her menu. “Where is everybody? I want a
margarita.” We’d never been there on such a
rainy night, or when they were so short of
staff, and without other customers.
To me, the empty room didn’t right true;
why weren’t there any other people here? I
put down my menu, crossed the room and
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
opened the hallway door to the bathrooms,
ready to wash my hands. Women’s first, then
men’s, a walk I’d taken several hundred
times. This time could have been my last.
The men’s room door opened to stars and
galaxies and death if I hadn’t held onto the
knob to keep myself from falling in.
I screamed and slammed the door in
reflex. That brought Claire into the hall to
find me with my back against the wall.
“What? Why did you scream?”
I held onto her hand and opened the lady’s
room door. A new panorama stretched from
the threshold: stars and galaxies. She
shrieked and propelled us to the back of the
hallway as I slammed the door. When we hit
the wall, I wondered, “What is going on
here?”
Once clear of the hallway, we walked
toward our table, befuddled by the Purple
Rose as a special room in space that serves
great margaritas. Another couple had come
in while we were gone. They sat across the
room and didn’t look up from their menus,
neither did they move.
“I’m going to talk to Greg,” I said as I
moved away from the table. This time the
flickering centered on the couple at the table
while the rest of the room remained solid. I
felt relief that the problem with my eyes wasn’t me, and instead caused by space aliens in
charge of this space-time continuum.
The two kitchen workers hadn’t moved.
When I called, “Greg,” into the connected
rooms, there was no answer. I did it again,
louder. This time an Asian man I’d never
seen rounded a corner at the far end and
said, “He’s not here,” twice before he
returned to the shadows.
Claire grilled me about what had happened. I stopped her with a finger saying,
“One moment,” and moved toward the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
13
“Checking if the bathrooms are still the
same.”
Once inside the hallway at the edge of the
men’s room, I unzipped my pants, opened
the door into space and aimed toward the
galaxies. As the liquid left me, I hoped this
wasn’t a dream.
Back through the hall, past the flickering
couple, Claire had a fierce look about her,
“What’s going on? Are we stuck here forever?”
We left the menus and headed toward the
door. The two guys stared from the kitchen,
but nothing stopped us from pushing
through the twinkling lights back to our
dimension.
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Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
July/September 2014
What If — by Jay Frankston
They came to the cemetery in black limousines and mourning clothes, hiding their
happy faces under black veils. I was too
young to understand. There were men,
women, and children, young and old, and a
priest saying something about what a wonderful man he, my grandpa, was. They all
stood around while the diggers dug up the
grave and brought out the coffin. It was
made of highly polished mahogany with
carved brass handles. Several men carried it
on their shoulders and loaded it into the
hearse. Then they all shook hands heartily
and got into their cars and drove off.
The family followed the hearse home and
they took the old man out of the coffin and
laid him in the big bed, propped up on a
huge white fluffy pillow. I had never met my
grandfather before. He looked so old and
wrinkled. The whole family stood around
anxiously awaiting the undying.
Grandma sat on a chair by the big bed,
looking better than she had in a long time.
The room was quiet except for a whisper or
two and all eyes were fixed on the thin body
that lay perfectly still under the sheet. Suddenly the old man coughed violently and
opened his eyes. The woman brought her
face right up to his and shouted at him
through the cough: “Milton, Milton, it’s me
Marge. You’ll be better in a few minutes.” He
convulsed and continued coughing. His eyes
were a filmy gray and had a far away look.
“Milton” the old woman kept on shouting
into his face “we’re all here waiting for you.
Look, even Sonny is here”. She nudged me
standing by the night table. “Come on
Sonny, waive at Grandpa”. I hesitated but
everybody sort of leaned forward and looked
sideways at the old man and waived at him
as through the window of a train.
When the coughing subsided grandpa’s
eyes cleared and shifted around the room,
recognizing and acknowledging each one
separately with a barely perceptible nod of
the head. Then his lips quivered and he
opened his mouth, straining his neck. The
old woman put her hand on his forehead.
“Don’t try to speak Milton. There’ll be plenty
of time later on. You rest now.” Then, turning to the family, she signaled them with her
head and they all filed out of the room whispering excitedly.
It was only a few days before Grandpa was
out of bed and ambling around the house
with his cane, shouting cantankerously at
Grandma, or sitting by the stove with his
reading glasses and his paper, sleeping. He
was bald and had false teeth and a hearing
aid, and he suffered from a bad case of
arthritis. But it was alright. He knew his
arthritis would get better and completely disappear within a few years. He also knew that
his hearing would improve and, in time, his
hair would grow in and he would acquire a
certain amount of good looks as he grew
younger.
Then there was Marge and she was growing younger too. She stopped playing Mah
Jong and going to garage sales and took up
jogging and tennis. She began to enjoy the
things she had as she had less and less of
them. She got into fussing with the house
and the kids and scolding them and spoiling
them, and nagging Milton at the same time.
And he couldn’t wait until the kids were
unborn so that he and Marge would be free
to travel. They would go to Paris and Rome.
Oh! Yes they would! He was sure of it
because he had seen the two of them in front
of the Eiffel Tower and on the steps of the
Coliseum in photographs that were in their
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
family album. And the nagging, well, it
didn’t matter because they both knew that
soon they would be young and good-looking
and in love, so very much in love.
It’s interesting to think of life in reverse
like that. You’d look forward to “the good
old days” because they were in front of you,
not behind; to being young, energetic and
alive. You would know where you were
going but not where you had been. You’d
forget the past and remember the future. In
time, you’d go to school to unlearn the
lessons and remove the clutter from your
brain. You would become less practical . . .
and more idealistic. You’d untie the knots of
your accumulated experience and ease your
psychological load, becoming lighter and
15
more childlike in the process.
One day you’d find yourself at your own
three year old birthday party and see the
world through the glitter of the three candles
on your birthday cake. There’d be things to
discover, toys to play with, and rosies to ring
around.
At the last, you’d wind up at your mother’s
breast, wrapped in warm blankets of love.
Isn’t that a better scenario than the one we’re
stuck with?
When you add it all up, whether forward
or in reverse, the percentage of happiness
remains the same. But it plays better in
reverse and no one cries at births, they just
hand out cigars.
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16
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
From — by Mare Dunham
I Am From the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock
the Keosaukwa Nation
corn fields in Nebraska
and men,
with strong backs and worried minds
I Am From orchards of fuzzy peaches
the watermelon patch
salt pork drippings
and women
in homemade dresses with busy hands
I Am From Mama’s cracked bleeding nipples
my shame and my hunger
fiddle players smokin’ stogies
bad breath
and Uncle Wiggley
I Am From hand me down dresses
feather beds
grandpa’s white horse
seedless grapes
mustard plaster
I Am From army convoys
dancing women
Doughty’s café
Gone With The Wind
Paper Dolls
Noxema Skin Cream
I Am From pincurls
saddle shoes
Mrs. Lyerly’s Literature class
vinegar hair rinses
“show me your friends and I’ll tell you what
you are.”
I Am From Catcher in The Rye
The Human Comedy
Edna St Vincent Millay
Eleanor Roosevelt
Katherine Hepburn
and Jesus
I Am From An unknown longing
A longing unknown
July/September 2014
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
17
A Pass to the Present — by Dominic Noel
Sitting with a glass of warm brandy always
brings thoughts to mind. Most are real; a few
cannot be told; while others are just mystifying. This is one of the latter and it is not to
be believed but just passed through.
When looking through the amber in the
glass I often see scenes of a previous life.
There is a young boy who is playing in the
melting snow. Making small rivulets of water
flow together and away from the tents on
this otherwise treeless steppe that would
soon be covered with grass and shrubs. A
group of strong and gregarious middle aged
men are gathered around the camels and
laugh and joke while letting the younger
men gain the experience they will need to
control the animals. Other men, dressed
slightly differently, are doing the same with a
large group of horses.
Starting late last spring, when the camels
molted, the women collected the hair. The
longer hair has been used to make felt for
the tents and their clothing while the finer
down was blended with wool for bedding. A
few of the wives are seated in conversation
while braiding the remaining camel hair into
rope for the riders.
The younger kids are kicking a leather ball
in no particular manner that seems to be too
heavy for them to handle otherwise. A congregation of old men is setting around a
forge and are hammering metal into weapons
and everyone seems to be working towards
some predetermined goal.
This scene repeats over and over for many
days until one evening a very large group of
armed men enter the compound and set up
camp. In a few days all the older boys and
men join them and ride off to the south in
groups of ten. On the open countryside it is
easy to see that all the men have either a
curved sword or a lance with a light bow
with animal horns at both ends. Along the
way there are other camps with many men
and boys that join the group that slowly
grows larger and moves towards a wide flowing and shallow river with high snow-covered mountains in the background.
At the river an older man who knows the
trail over the mountains holds riding and
archery games for the boys and has selected
a small group of ten, including me, to be the
vanguard of all the armed men. It was quite
well understood that we would lead the
army over the mountain pass and into the
lands of the enemy. If the vanguard was
attacked we were to retreat and warn the
troops in the rear. The obvious thing was
that most of us would not make it back but
our demise would save the lives of the much
stronger men for the upcoming battles.
As we approach the crest of a long hill in
the early morning the sun breaks through
the clouds and its brilliance is overwhelming. We are then quickly overrun by a large
group of men on strange looking mounts.
It was on this cold, icy and nameless pass
that my vision ends. As I peer into the amber
liquid It seems that the pass may have been
nameless only to me. These are just some of
the things I see when looking into a glass of
warm brandy on a wet winter night.
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18
July/September 2014
Senior Center Acupuncture
— by Nancy Tulley
One day after reviewing my age generated
list of limitations, and the extra maintainance required, I realized how stressful
ageing is.
Stress creates tension in our bodies,
restricting blood flow and limiting oxygen
uptake. I was a nurse for thirty-five years
and have been a licensed acupuncturist for
twenty years: a one track mind.
A simple ear acupuncture procedure
immediately came to mind to relieve stress.
It is commonly used to treat groups. But
where could I do group treatment?
Some days and months went by, and then
I noticed Charles Bush was in charge of the
Senior Center. I phoned and made an
appointment to talk to him.
About thirty-two years ago, I knew of his
work at the Community School, and he knew
I was Gever Tulley’s mother. (Gever was an
unforgettable boy, but that’s another story.)
I went into Charles’ office and received a
professional greeting. I explained my idea of
doing a group treatment of seniors with ear
acupuncture. I would use a stress reducing
protocol that is used to treat people living in
disaster areas, and people whose lives are a
disaster. A group treatment has been found
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to enhance the effect.
Charles was very interested, actually eager
to start. He took me on a tour of the Senior
Center, showing me little rooms. I kept saying, “Bigger,” until we got to the Conference
Room: Just right.
We went back to his office to see when
the room would be available. Charles could
find time only on Wednesdays. We adjusted
the time to before and after lunch.
Over time, people have come and gone.
There are a dedicated few who have come
almost every week since the beginning. People have reported improvements in sleep,
blood pressure, energy, comfort, seizure
activity, mood, and general well being.
I happened to read about a fifteen year old
girl who wrote a book and had it published.
She wrote about her experience at school
when she decided to go to sit at a different
table in the cafeteria every day.
She said she was shy and nervous about
doing it. It turned out to be a wonderful
experience and inspired her to write about it.
I had thought about doing that when I
started coming to the Senior Center. I took
the easy way and sat with people I know.
Watch out a change is coming. I am going
to ask to sit down at your table soon!
Michael E. Brown, M.D.
Psychiatry & Psychotherapy
347 Cypress Street, Suite B
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 964-1820
July/September 2014
Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
19
Senior Center T’ai Chi Chih
I began experiencing T’ai Chi Chih with
Dyana Sangraal about a year and a half ago,
and have been a regular at her Monday class
at the Senior Center. Dyana is very nurturing
in her teaching method. She has a calming
effect and is warm and encouraging making
sure that everyone in the class is comfortable
and “in touch” with heaven and earth as it
relates to the movements. I have learned
much from her gentle and easy nature.
The practice of T’ai Chi Chih was new to
me, but I was looking for a way to improve
my balance, coordination, and overall well
being. The experience has been rewarding
and even though I do not practice every day,
I find myself doing some of the movements
during stressful periods as well as when I am
trying to relax.
I would recommend Dyana’s classes to all
those in search of a way to live in the present and accept life as it comes.
Linda O’Day
The wonderful T’ai Chi Chih class taught
at the Senior Center by Dyana Sangraal is a
great way to improve your balance and to
help increase your ability to focus. These are
two benefits that I am receiving daily due to
T’ai Chi Chih. Our instructor is so encouraging and has over 25 years of experience
teaching! Join us on Monday at 1 pm or
Wednesday at 1:15!
Sue Felton
If you say to yourself, “I need to move this
body,” but just can’t exercise without hurting
something, then T’ai Chi Chih is for you!
My doctor told me years ago that I was
stressed out and need to find a way to relax
and exercise. “Doctor, my body has enough
aches and pains without more exercising.”
He said, “Go to T’ai Chi.” I didn’t then but
am now and have been taking the class at
the Senior Center for three years. I love it!
I never thought I could work up a sweat
moving my body slowly and not hurting
myself in a workout — but I do. I am aware
how it helps me relax. Not just in class, but
other times too. Recently when I went to get
my blood pressure checked, it was high as
always. But then I remembered to breathe
and relax like in T’ai Chi and it went right
down. Something else T’ai Chi Chih has
helped me with is my knees. My knees gave
me problems and frequently hurt. They felt
as if they would not support me and would
ache. Since practicing T’ai Chi Chih, my legs
have become stronger and the problem has
gone away.
If you want to feel better, have more
energy and fun, join the T’ai Chi Chih class
with Dyana Sangraal on Mondays at 1pm
and/or Wednesdays at 1:15 in the room
across from the dining room. The class is
one hour and the time flies because you are
having fun. See you in class??
Ruthann Sneed
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Redwood Coast Senior Center Gazette
20
DOWN AT THE RETIREMENT CENTER
80-year old Bessie bursts into the rec room
at the retirement home. She holds her
clenched fist in the air and announces, “Anyone who can guess what’s in my hand can
have sex with me tonight!!”
An elderly gentleman in the rear shouts
out, “An elephant?”
Bessie thinks a minute and says, “Close
enough.”
OLD FRIENDS
Two elderly ladies had been friends for
many decades. Over the years, they had
shared all kinds of activities and adventures.
Lately, their activities had been limited to
meeting a few times a week to play cards.
One day, they were playing cards when one
looked at the other and said, “Now don’t get
mad at me; I know we’ve been friends for a
long time but I just can’t think of your name.
I’ve thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is.”
Her friend glared at her. For at least three
minutes she just glared at her. Finally she
said, “How soon do you need to know?”
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July/September 2014
DRIVING
Two elderly women were out driving in a
large car — both could barely see over the
dashboard. As they were cruising along, they
came to major crossroad. The stop light was
red, but they just went on through.
The woman in the passenger seat thought
to herself “I must be losing it. I could have
sworn we just went through a red light.”
After a few more minutes, they came to
another major junction and the light was red
again. Again, they went right through. The
woman in the passenger seat was almost sure
that the light had been red but was really
concerned that she was losing it. She was
getting nervous.
At the next junction, sure enough, the
light was red and they went on through. So,
she turned to the other woman and said,
“Mildred, did you know that we just ran
through three red lights in a row? You could
have killed us both!”
Mildred turned to her and said, “Oh! Am I
driving?”
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