As my readers know, I have a garden that I planted last spring. By mid-May it was producing quite well, and it is still producing. So I thought I would do a video of the garden and explain some of what has been happening lately.
The Ultimate American Adventure: Lewis and Clark at Cape Disappointment
Lewis and Clark on November 7th in 1805 finally make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean, but winter strikes right away even before they have a chance to build a winter fort.
Today we plan to visit Cape Disappointment where Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and Fort Clatsop where they spent the winter. Chuck and I spent the night in Seaside, Oregon and the next morning got up and drove north on US 101 to Cape Disappointment, Washington which is just across the bridge from Astoria, Oregon. Crossing the four-mile-long Astoria bridge was very interesting. It is near the mouth of the Columbia River where it meets the sea.
There were hundreds of boats down below in the river, and they were obviously fishing for something. Of course, that piqued my fishing crazed husband’s interest.
Driving north to Cape Disappointment
We stopped in the village of Chinook on the Washington side to ask, and the ladies at the bait shop said that they were fishing for all kinds of salmon. This is the period of time when the salmon run. We asked what kind and they said all kinds–Chinook, sockeye, steelhead, silver, all kinds.
The ride on the north side of the river today is dotted with fishing villages, forests, and hills running down to the water’s edge. Today is clear and cool in the shade, a beautiful day to be outdoors.
Just east of the bridge is a place called Dismal Nitch. This is where Lewis and Clark spent some scary days toward the end of their journey to the sea. They were so close, yet not quite there. A rare winter storm hit in early November of 1805 and pinned them down in this little cove that Clark called “that dismal little nitch”. They spent days there cold, wet, and hungry. It is on SR 401.
This was also the home of the Chinook Indians. Their village was unoccupied at the time because they had relocated to the south shoreline of the river to their winter village. This was a bad omen for Lewis and Clark. They were planning to stay on the north shore in a place now called Cape Disappointment.
Driving the north shoreline of the Columbia River near Cape Disappointment
We visited Cape Disappointment State Park. At first, it was like entering canopied road with massive firs and spruces.
Then the views opened up to the river and the Pacific. They were beautiful, and the museum well worth our time.
Imagine Lewis and Clark’s delight upon finding this place and then their disappointment when they realized that it wasn’t a good place to spend the winter.
Located just within the mouth of the river on the north side is the port of Ilwaco, where we stopped to eat lunch. If there is one drawback for traveling in Washington and Oregon’s rural areas, it is the lack of vegetables for lunch. My body is too old to live on hamburgers, sandwiches, fish and chips. We seemed to find little else in rural Oregon.
Lewis and Clark spent ten days at Station Camp between Cape Disappointment and Dismal Nitch before moving on to the south shore of the Columbia where they built a small winter fort which they named Fort Clatsop after the Indians who lived there.
Inside Fort Clatsop
So like Lewis and Clark, we crossed the Columbia to the south side–they in their dugout canoes and us on our four-mile bridge.
A full-scale replica can be explored at Fort Clatsop National Park on the south shore. Here Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1905-06. There are actors in period clothing to guide you through the experience.
Fort Clatsop Reenactor
They wrote in their journals, fished, explored the area, and got ready for the spring return. The woods are beautiful, and there are great trails for walking.
The forests at Fort Clatsop
Chuck and I got to try our hand at writing with a quill as this was how they wrote in their journals. This would be a great place to bring the grandchildren.
The Ultimate American Adventure: Lewis and Clark in the Columbia River Gorge
Can you imagine what Lewis and Clark thought about the awesome majesty of the Columbia River Gorge?
You actually can by read what they thought through their journals. Both wrote about it, as did several of their men.
As for us, we thought it was awesome too. We really did enjoy the Columbia Gorge Inn last night. Both had a good rest, and the smoke cleared out this morning. Though a little pricey, the beds and pillows were good, and the views were awesome. Before we left, we took more photos from high up on the south side of the gorge. Can you imagine how Lewis, Clark, and their men felt as they floated through this beautiful gorge?
The gorge was created by the Columbia River as it cuts through the Cascade Mountains.
We had breakfast in the formal dining room downstairs with the old-fashioned 20s style windows overlooking the gorge. This is not a bed and breakfast so we had to pay for our breakfast. We’ve learned that the more you pay for a hotel, the fewer amenities you receive; but we also understand that it takes a lot of money to maintain these old gems.
Chuck ordered oatmeal, and I ordered an omelet. The omelet was enough for both of us so we shared it. Everything was delicious, the service was great, and again the views were amazing.
One thing we learned is that this is one area where you want to stay on the interstate. Interstate 84 follows right next to the shoreline of the Columbia River’s southern shore. The drives are sweeping beautiful views. There is no blue highway that has such river scenery on this side of the river. Historic US 30, though, does move east to west through this area, but it is a more forested drive.
We took this photo from the north shore of the river. That is I-84 in the distance.
By the way, US 30 also known as the Historic Columbia River Highway was the first highway in America built specifically for scenic touring, thus the reason that our hotel was built at the same time as the road.
All up and down I-84 there are historical signs about the expedition and viewpoints. Of course, I didn’t want to miss a thing, so Chuck got a little tired of stopping, I believe.
After we left the gorge we entered an area where we ran into smoke, smog, or fog. We’re just unsure exactly what this was. We ran into this close to Multnomah Falls not too far from Portland. You access the falls from the interstate by a parking lot in the median of I-84.
Multnomah Falls is a really beautiful cascade falling from high over the rocks above. It is the second tallest continuous waterfall in the United States at over 600′ high. It is also Oregon’s biggest tourist stop probably because it is right next to the interstate.
Lewis and Clark camped nearby and wrote about it in their journals going to the Pacific and again on their return.
We hiked up to the upper bridge. Chuck fell and hurt his knee while fishing in Idaho earlier, so we felt it probably wasn’t a good idea to go the mile and a half farther to the top of the falls.
The falls according to local Indian lore were provided for a beautiful Indian princess who needed a place to bathe. What a great bath tub!
After Multnomah Falls we left the interstate and started following Historic Old US 30, the highway originally built through here. We immediately climbed higher up over the Columbia River Valley into the forest, and the forest drive was beautiful, a green-shaded tunnel of vegetation. An entirely different scenery. We took this road so we didn’t have to drive near Portland. I-84 goes through Portland.
We stopped at a restaurant called the Tippy Canoe and ate outdoors on their patio, a wonderful lunch of a Reuben, soup, and salad. A salad seems to be the only vegetables I can find here in Oregon. The mountain air was cool and refreshing.
We found that this area is very expensive to travel through. The hotels are expensive as well as the food in the restaurants. And to add insult to injury the bed and gas taxes are expensive as well, though there are no sales taxes.
Like Lewis and Clark we are on our way to a little town called Seaside, Oregon which is just south of Astoria. Between Seaside and Astoria is where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter after spending some time at Cape Disappointment. More on that tomorrow. We traveled west on US 30 until we got to US 101 going south.
Seaside is just as its name implies and is ocated on US 101. There are numerous hotels and motels, great streets for walking, shops for shopping, and a vast beach. On the beach was a big beach volleyball tournament. There were lots of nets available for private practices and games, too. It was a festive atmosphere.
We stayed in a downtown hotel within walking distance of the beach. We know that Capt. William Clark came through here sometime in the winter of 1805-1806, because he mentioned in his journal that the Indians alerted him to a giant whale that has washed up on the beach near current day Cannon Beach. He used the beach to explore this area on his way to see the whale. There is a statue of him and Lewis in Seaside at the water’s edge.
The Ultimate American Adventure: Lewis and Clark Reaches the Columbia River
You know, it was the first truly great American adventure–the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The entire nation watched them leave and waited for their return, a nation that was less than 30 years old.
Yesterday, we left the Lewis and Clark eastbound trail in Waitsburg, Washington, on US 12 and followed US 12 to Walla Walla. Walla Walla County has a great Lewis and Clark Trail brochure that shows both trails and their campsites. The eastbound trail at Waitsburg continues on SR 124 following the Touchet River.
Though we were following their eastbound route, Chuck and I were actually traveling backward moving west. Lewis and Clark canoed westbound on the Snake River through this area on October 12th and 13th of 1805. Clark noted in his journal that the 13th was a dark, windy, and rainy day.
Chuck and I left Walla Walla, Washington about 10 o’clock in the morning and made our first stop at the L’Ecole estate winery tasting room. We are still following US 12, though we are far from the Snake River at present. I’m sure Lewis and Clark didn’t run across any wine tastings, but what the heck. I’m sure they liked wine, too.
L’Ecole Estate owns several wineries including the Seven Hills Winery, where we planned to do a tasting last night. Today, though, tasted six different wines (yes, it was morning) and bought a bottle for our trip. The rest we shipped home, a very good Cabernet Sauvignon.
We continued west on Highway 12 until we got to where 12 turns and continues north into Washington state while Highway 730 picks up and begins driving on the south bank of the Columbia River. We took SR 730. The expedition reached the confluence of the Columbia River on October 16th.
The expedition reached the confluence of the Columbia River on October 16th and continued their westerly route.
SR 730 is a beautiful drive, though it is still smoky. The entire west seems to be burning, and we have had smoky days now for three full days. It did get a little better around Walla Walla.
The terrain changed again to a parched, almost treeless landscape. We are now driving on the Columbia Plateau.
Today, the Columbia River is the border between Washington and Oregon.
We drove westward on the south shore of the river, and here it is very very wide and looks as if there is obviously a dam somewhere. It is a vast deep flowing waterway used for commerce. In their day, though, Lewis and Clark found it to be full of rapids and cascades.
While driving westward on SR 730 we came to a turn off for Hat Rock State Park. Following the turnoff, we drove past the entrance of the state park and kept straight to dead end at a small a wayside park with good restroom facilities. This little park provided access to where the commemorative Lewis and Clark Trail runs through the park. This Trail followed the Indian path they used on their eastbound route.
We took some time to walk up the trail to a place high on a hill overlooking the Columbia River. It was a beautiful site but we realized two things. One, the trail is very wide and in their day it was probably nothing more than an Indian path. And two, the Columbia River is very wide here because of the dam and reservoir. Still, though it was worth the trip to walk in their footsteps.
Hat Rock, too, is a very interesting geological figure. It looked like a shorter and smaller Devil’s Tower sans the woods. Maybe an older Devil’s Tower, one that the elements of nature already chiseled down.
We continued on SR 730 until we got to Interstate 84. Here Interstate 84 drops down off the plains to skirt the south shoreline of the Columbia River. Within a short while, though, the views change again and become wooded and rugged, and I-84 becomes another type of scenic drive. The interstate continues to run alongside the river with awesome views. There are rest areas along the way with heritage signs telling the story of the expedition.
Our plans were to stay near Hood River, Oregon at the Columbia Gorge Inn. Built high on a bluff overlooking the Gorge, an investor built the mission style hotel in the 1920s when the first road was built through this area for tourists to see the Gorge. Inside were great photos of the hotel’s past glory days. Shirley Temple stayed here as a child, among many other celebrities of that era.
We drove down into the towno f Hood River for dinner, and it is an artsy type place with plenty of variety and a great place to walk around. I actually found a place that provided green vegetables, something I’m having trouble finding unless it is a salad made of plain lettuce.
We walked after dinner all over the manicured grounds of the hotel, which was built over a waterfall.
A trip to this hotel is special even if you do not plan to stay.
The Ultimate Guide to Following Lewis and Clark on the Clearwater River
In one of the longest portages ever Lewis and Clark stumbled out of the mountains in search of another water route and found the Clearwater River.
Last year I wrote about another section of the Lewis and Clark Trail in the “Following Old Trails” series. I blogged about this segment of the trail from Great Falls, Montana to the Weippe Prairie in Idaho.
As you probably remember, the Lewis and Clark Trail is a historical water trail which followed the path that Meriweather Lewis and William Clark took at the request of President Thomas Jefferson in 1805-1807. I ended that segment in the fields of Wieppe where they literally stumbled out of the mountains starving, cold, and wet. You can read about that here to refresh your memory. Only stop reading when I begin to talk about the road back through the Clearwater National Forest. I had car trouble and it gets too long.
Today, Chuck and I began this “Following Old Trails” journey in Orofino, Idaho at the Best Western River View on the Clearwater River near Wieppe Prairie, a great place to stay, by the way. Weippe Prairie is where Lewis and Clark began, again trying to find a water route to the Pacific, a northwest passage. Chuck and I are 130 miles from Lolo Pass, and yesterday we followed the lower route which was not the route that Lewis and Clark took. If you remember from last year’s blog post they took an upper route following a ridge line through the Bitterroot mountains. It is a rough forest road that travels approximately one hundred miles up there.
We are driving on a 202-mile scenic byway (US 12) called the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, and it follows a trail that the Nez Perce Indians used and that later Lewis and Clark used. Unfortunately, today there is lots of smoke, and the views are not as good or are restricted. However, I traveled through this area last year and the views were beautiful. Today, though, there are numerous wildfires throughout the west.
The scenic byway commemorates the Lewis and Clark expedition’s quest for a watercourse through the Rocky Mountains connecting the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. Of course, there was no watercourse all the way through, which is why they took a long portage over the mountains going west and coming back east.
Today, we left Orofino, traveling west on US 12 with our destination being Walla Walla, Washington. In Wieppe Prairie, Lewis and Clark cold, wet, and starving stumbled out of mountains having made it to the western side of the Bitterroots. An early winter storm made it treacherous. On the other side at Wieppe Prairie, they found the Nez Perce Indians, a friendly tribe who were very helpful. They were fed food made from the camas root, which was a staple in the diet of the Indians but which made the expedition very sick. It was sustenance, though, and they were starving.
The Lewis and Clark expedition was the ultimate American adventure. Back home every newspaper wrote about them. They were famous overnight, but now they were in truly uncharted territory. The risk was greater, and no one back east knew their fate. Not even President Jefferson who sent them. The men who took their ship back from the Mandan village earlier that spring were long home, so the east knew that as of early spring 1805 the rest of the men of the Lewis and Clark expedition were safe, but now it was fall of 1805 and no word could be expected for quite some time.
Lewis and Clark were racing against time and the elements. It was September again and they wanted to reach the Pacific before the winter set in.
Just west of Orofino on Highway 12 is a little park that’s called Canoe Camp. In this park is the beginning of an interpretive trail where you can see the Dworshak Dam across the Clearwater River. There is also a beautiful view of the river here, and there is a replica of the dugouts made by Lewis and Clark for the remainder of their trip.
About halfway down the trail at this park, I ran across another one of the brass monuments that were placed to commemorate where Lewis and Clark stopped to camp. A surveying society used Clark’s coordinates to mark the spot. This one commemorates what he called the Canoe Camp, thus the name for this little wayside park.
This site was selected by Clark because of the many large ponderosa pines that grew here. This is where they came to make their canoes for the trip west. The canoe makers chopped out small portions of the pine logs then used fire or hot coals to carve out the wood. This made it easier to then chip out the inside of the canoes.
They were taught how to do this by several of the Nez Perce Indians who also joined them at this campsite to help them. The expedition stayed here 10 days and made five of these canoes. This camp was where they made the transition from the overland travel to travel by water again. The expedition also needed this camp as well as time to recuperate from the dried salmon and camas that they ate when they came out of the Bitterroot Mountains.
This took place here in late September 1805. Lewis and Clark built of the five canoes, four large and one small one so that the 34 members of the expedition could continue. The large canoes were about 50 to 55 feet long and could carry a minimum of seven men and 800 to 1000 pounds of their gear.
Today in this place the river has been extensively modified. There is the hydroelectric Dworshak dam that we can see in the distance.
About 10 days after they left Lewis and Clark entered what is present-day Washington State. Guided by Nez Perce men as they were still in Nez Perce country, they beached the dugout canoes and camped on the Snake River on the north side each evening. They stayed here several days, and they traded with and recorded observations about these people who were very friendly and helpful to their journey.
This camp is just west of present-day Clarkston, Washington. Clarkston and Lewiston are twin cities that set across the river from each other–Lewiston in Idaho and Clarkston in Washington state. The terrain changes from tree-lined rivers to plains.
From here the expedition continued west on the Snake River. From this point, we traveled west right beside the Snake. The river here is very wide and seems to be a bit of a reservoir. We are still on Highway 12 headed to Walla Walla, Washington.
Several times yesterday on the Clearwater River we noticed people tubing down the river. The river is cold like our spring water and very clear. I can see why they wanted to tube down it. It is very beautiful plus temperatures here are in the 90s, and I’m hearing it going to be over 100 for the next couple of days. The kids appear to be still out of school out here. Not too far down US 12, our road pulls away from the south bank of the Snake. There are no roads that follow the river closely here. We lose sight of the river in the distance.
About 30 minutes west of Clarkston we came to a rest area where you can read more about the Lewis and Clark expedition. We discovered that we are following the path of their return trip which was in 1806. The Snake is about ten miles north, and there are no roads that follow it closely on either side of the river.
At the rest area, they quoted a journal entry that said that this is where they broke camp on May 4, 1806, a cold and disagreeable morning. We are high on a summit and the wind is blowing furiously through here. No wonder they got so cold. Not a tree in sight, but I have no idea if there were trees then or not. noticed that this had rich soil here, that is was fertile with a dark rich loam.
The expedition noticed that this area had rich soil, that is was fertile with a dark rich loam. Today, this is one of the worlds most productive agricultural regions where farmers grow wheat, dried peas and lentils, barley, and other crops. In every direction, we can see the planted ground to the horizon. It is really quite beautiful.
By the way, the expedition also found great quantities of Quamash a root which the natives used. The expedition used it themselves to make their own food.
Between Clarkston and Walla Walla, we took a side trip up to Palouse Falls State Park. It is a beautiful 20-minute 20 miles drive north from Highway 12. It was especially scenic crossing the Snake River again.
The falls are beautiful. They flow quite nicely even though it is August. We hiked for a while. We also took a picnic snack with a small bottle of wine and just sat at some picnic tables and watched the falls for a while. It seems dry and very hot in the sun, but as soon as you get into the shade, it becomes very comfortable. You know you’re no longer stressed when you just sit there and count the number of cows on the hills in the distance around the falls. The count was always changing because the cattle walked behind bushes appearing and reappearing. They were few but hard to count.
The drive on into Walla Walla was quite scenic. It included mile after mile and hill after hill of wheat fields. The hills were rather high though not mountains, and they had crops of wheat all the way up on top of those hills. It was truly like the song “with amber waves of grain.”
It was like this all the way into Walla Walla, even though Walla Walla is well known for its wineries and tasting rooms.The wineries are sporadically placed throughout these hills.
A town that we especially liked on US 12 was called Dayton, Washington, a quaint little town with all kinds of small shops and a good Best Western Plus. I think if we had known about this we might have stopped here and spent the night, but we have reservations in Walla Walla.
We got some bad advice I believe about Walla Walla, Washington. We did like it. It was a beautiful small city with a wonderful downtown area that was great for taking a walk at night. It reminded me of Thomasville, Georgia.
Also our hotel The Marcus Whitman was very special. It is in an old building and is one of the oldest hotels in the area. They have done a major renovation, and it’s very elegant and very nice. The rate for the night was a very low $129, a bargain for what we got.
The wrong information though was about the drive in and the tasting rooms and the restaurant where we ate. I feel certain we got the wrong restaurant because the Seven Hills tasting room was supposed to be across the street, and it was definitely not there. Also, the restaurant was very expensive. There was a story online about it being very very reasonable. Chuck just wondered if maybe it was reasonable to the people out here. We found this part of the west, especially later in Oregon to be more expensive all around.
Having said that though the food was very good. It was called the Olive Café. We both liked Walla Walla,, and we wished we had gone to one of the tasting rooms before dinner, but it was late and we were starving.
When Should You See a Neurologist for Memory Loss?
My husband has memory loss. It is getting more advanced lately, so we finally went to see a doctor.
It started out with memory lapses. Sometimes, Chuck asked the same question like ‘where is the rake.’ It would be where it always was, but I would tell him anyway. Then a few minutes later after getting distracted for a moment he would say, “Where’s the rake?”
It came more frequently, and then it got quite unsettling. I tried to joke about it, as I did when I wrote a blog post called, “Driving in the Fast Lane” a few years ago. You can read it here.
I learned that it gets worse when someone is stressed. Both of our jobs were super stressful.
We even lost a client once. Chuck totally forgot that we were under orders to not do something. He not only broke the orders in an email while working late one night, but then totally forgot that he did it.
When it hit the fan several days later and we were searching for who let the cat out of the bag, Chuck told me he had no idea. As far as I can tell this man didn’t even lie to his parents as a teenager. He is that honest. I knew because of his past behavior that he didn’t remember doing it at all. He retired within a few months after this incident, though at the age of 70 he was phasing out clients anyway.
Lately, I noticed that he kept getting lost while out driving. I’ve become his GPS when he drives. I constantly have to say “turn left here” or “turn right there.” If I don’t all of a sudden I look up and we’re four blocks in the wrong direction. And these are on streets he’s been driving for years.
By last fall he seemed to have entered a new phase. He remembers things that never happened. We went west for vacation, and he had only been in this area once in his life as a young twenty something on a long trip across America with a college friend. He kept asking me, “Don’t you remember this? We’ve been here. I even remember this waitress.” I’m thinking, “Boy, she aged well.” We had never been there.
Chuck has always had memory problems somewhat. We both have. Our jobs required great concentration, and we were both good at our work. Writing legislative language and negotiating our client’s way through the complex political morass in our state required much thought. We lived in our heads.
Our kids even knew how to break this concentration. I remember the girls placing their hands on each side of Chuck’s face and saying “Chuck!” loudly and forcefully when they wanted to make sure he was listening.
But what was good for our careers isn’t worth a tinker’s damn for our current life as retirees. We need to be more in the moment, which brings me to what Chuck is currently going through.
A Visit with A Neurologist
About two months ago, he visited a neurologist. I tagged along because it was important both of us hear what the doctor had to say. This was apparent by the time we got home, because all Chuck heard was that he was fine.
His doctor asked Chuck a series of verbal questions, designed to help him determine and diagnose Chuck’s situation. Afterwards, the doctor had good news. He said it is not Alzheimers or dementia; but to rule out anything else like a brain tumor he ordered an MRI.
He also thinks that Chuck doesn’t get enough quality sleep. Chuck twitches and jerks all night long, so we wonder if he really gets enough rest. He suggested a CPAP for Chuck.
The doctor did talk to us about being in the moment. He said that Chuck needed to retrain his brain to pay more attention. He mentioned games and crossword puzzles.
A List of Things to Do
When we got home, all Chuck remembered was that the doctor said he was fine. He totally forgot the MRI, the CPAP, or the changes he needed to make to retrain his brain.
So I found an app called ENHANCE and got him started working with it daily. Also, I think games will help. We both played a little bridge when we were young so we may want to try to take it up again. Chess might be an option, too.
We will start with something very simple, though, which will help us both. I tend to live in my head too much, too.
When to See Your Doctor
If you’re concerned about memory loss, see your doctor. He or she can conduct tests to judge the degree of memory impairment and diagnose the cause.
He or she will have a number of questions for you, and it is important to have a family member or friend along to answer some questions based on his or her observations. Questions such as:
• How long have you been having memory problems?
• What medications do you take regularly including prescriptions, over the counter and vitamins?
• What tasks are difficult to perform?
• What have you done for your memory problems? Have these helped?
• Have you recently been ill? What medicine did you take?
• Have you fallen and injured your head?
• If you drink alcohol, how much do you drink daily?
• Have you felt sad, depressed, or anxious lately?
• Have you experienced a major loss, change, or stressful event in your life?
• What is your daily routine? How has your routine changed lately?
The questions are designed to help your doctor test your memory and other thinking skills. He or she may also order blood tests and brain-imaging tests like Chuck’s MRI that can help identify reversible causes of memory problems.
Seeing a Specialist
Your general practitioner may refer you to a specialist in diagnosing dementia or memory disorders, such as a neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or geriatrician. Chuck was sent to a neurologist, a physician who specializes in problems related to the brain and central nervous system.
This specialist will try to identify any reversible cause of memory impairment so that you get appropriate treatment.
Stress, anxiety, or depression can cause memory loss and make a person more forgetful. Early on while Chuck was still working, we could tell that stress caused him the most problems. Also, dealing with life changes can leave a person confused or forgetful. Retirement or the loss of a spouse can do this, too.
Retraining the Brain
The doctor made suggestions on how to retrain the brain and how to help Chuck’s brain retain new information. He wants Chuck to try to reconnect the circuits in his brain–the ones that he stopped using when he focused on what was in his head instead of what was in the present.
For example, he suggested that Chuck practice doing only one thing at a time. He also suggested he work on avoiding distractions. Easier said than done. How many times have I seen something on my way to completing a task. I am like a dog who sees a squirrel. Squirrel!! And then I’m off in the opposite direction doing something else.
The other day while in our bedroom, I remembered that I needed to add an event to my calendar in the office. Leaving the bedroom, I noticed several items in the hall that needed to be put up in the guest bath. I made the detour and then noticed some items in the bath that needed to go to the guest bedroom. So I made another detour, and I think you get the picture. By the time I remembered the appointment that needed to be added to the calendar, it was three days later…after the event.
Striving to Stay in the Moment
He also wants Chuck to fully concentrate on whatever he is doing. He advised him to stay in the moment and not think about what he is planning to do next or what he just did. This advice reminded me of Yoga, where we try to bring our minds into the room and leave behind the outside. I’m wondering if Yoga or meditation can help in brain training.
He also told Chuck that if he really needs to remember something to say it several times out loud. This can help him remember important pieces of information. In other words, he wants Chuck to practice remembering things.
Chuck and I are working to retrain our brains. Then Chuck will have another meeting with the neurologist in August. We’re hopeful.
Does anyone in your family suffer from memory loss? Would retraining the brain help or is it something more serious? What have you discovered from consulting with your doctor? Please share your experience in the comments.
Mixing Nutritious Cocktails Shouldn’t be Complicated
What do coconut cream, pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, rose’ wine, orange juice, coconut cream, and lemon juice have in common. Well, several things actually. They make great cocktails, and they’re all good for you. Let me explain!
I’m from Florida, and it goes without saying that Florida orange juice is a great mixer. It also has lots of vitamin C. One of our favorite is what Chuck and I call a Jack and Orange. It is simply orange juice and Jack Daniels, but there are other equally nutritious mixers.
Coconut Cream
Coconut cream can fill you up. Coconut oil is high in natural saturated fats, but this saturated fat is a medium chain triglyceride. Medium chain triglycerides not only increase the healthy cholesterol (known as HDL) in your body, but also help to convert the LDL “bad” cholesterol into good cholesterol.
By increasing the HDL’s in the body, it helps promote heart health, and lower the risk of heart disease. Our bodies handle these better, or though they say. The story behind coconut oil is everywhere right now, as they tell us it can slow aging, help the heart, and much more.
My doctor puts it in his coffee–a tablespoon a day. Me, I just love a pina colada so I was already sold. Best of all though is it is supposed to help with losing weight. Pangs of hunger? Try this, and it is supposed to suppress your appetite for up to 4 hours. WOW!
Coconut Rum Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 jiggers of coconut rum
- Ice
- 1 jigger of cream of coconut
Fill a martini glass with two jiggers of the rum, add the coconut cream to the rum, and then pour into a shaker full of ice. Shake vigorously, strain, and pour back into your martini glass. You can also use a blender to blend the concoction with the ice for a frosty cocktail. I added a sprinkling of nutmeg, which will make a great fall martini.
Pomegranate Juice
POM Juice is something I’ve been adding to cocktails and mocktails for quite a while now. I love it mixed with just about anything but especially club soda. Did you know that it has natural plant estrogens and can help with hot flashes?
Well, I didn’t either.
Try this POM cocktail. It is also a source of Vitamin C which can boost your immune system. You can even rub raw pomegranate on your face, and it can help with boosting collagen.
Pomegranate Cocktail
- 2 jiggers of pomegranate juice (I use POM juice)
- 1 jigger of vodka
- 1/2 jigger of orange liqueur
- Chilled champagne or sparkling rose to fill a glass
Mix all together in a glass. Voila!
Lemons
We’ve been adding lemon to water for years to help us with weight control. Well, why not add it to your cocktail? We all know how it can improve our liver’s ability to burn fat for energy. So add it to our alcohol since we need it to activate detox enzymes in the liver anyway.
Lemon Drop Martini
- Jigger of vodka
- 1/3rd jigger of orange liqueur
- 1/2 jigger of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- simple syrup to taste
Shake it all together with ice, strain and pour! I shake the first four ingredients then add the fourth to taste and shake again.
Rose’
Oh my achy breaky ❤️! I’m not a super fan of red wine, but I do like sparkling rose’. And the antioxidants in red or rose can help with those free radicals that cause inflammation. You know we old people know a thing or two about inflammation. They say that rose’ wine can even help us slim faster.
Rose’ Spritzer
- 1 bottle of rose’
- 1 bottle of sparkling water
Mix the two and make a spritzer out of it. For an extra nutritious and delicious beverage add a couple of strawberries to a glass, muddle the strawberries, and then add the rose and sparkling water. I drink spritzers when I need to lose a little weight. I cut out all the other alcoholic beverages.
Cranberry Juice
Last but not least is cranberry juice. Are you having trouble with bloating? Don’t we all?
For bloating, cranberries are our friend, as they can break up the waste in our bowels and can also stimulate the release of extra water. That’s good enough for me–the appearance of being slimmer!!
Cranberry Vodka Mule
- 1 jigger vodka
- 1 jigger cranberry juice cocktail
- 1 jigger pre-sweetened lemonade
- 1 ginger beer
This is an easy four ingredient recipe. Mix together the jigger of vodka, the jigger of cranberry juice cocktail, the jigger of pre-sweetened lemonade, and add to a mule cup. Fill the cup with ice and ginger beer. Stir. Yum!
For a super antioxidant and another cocktail, mix the cranberry cocktail juice with the sparkling rose! Perfecto!
By the way I field tested everyone of these. Field tested by OldAgeIsNot!
So there you have it. My list of quick and simple cocktails that can help all of us stay healthier. Only remember ladies, we’re only allowed one a day!! That is the US Dietary Health guidelines for women of all ages. Beyond one drink, and it affects our health.
But it is only a guideline!
A Cure for Social Isolation
It occurred to me that we seniors suffer from two types of isolation–social isolation and technological isolation. I personally don’t have a problem with the former, but I do suffer from the latter. Many seniors, though, have a problem with the social isolation, and our statistics reflect this.
According to the latest census, more than a quarter of us over 65 live alone. Unfortunately the percentage will only rise as we age, due to a natural progression of life. While not all seniors living alone are socially isolated, living alone certainly predisposes us to the condition of social isolation.
Photo from Pixabay
Preparation for this Phase of Life
My mother-in-law must have instinctively known this. She was in her late 60s when Chuck’s father passed away.
By the time she was in her mid 70s she moved closer to two of her children, leaving behind a vibrant community of friends and neighbors. She explained that she thought it better to do the move at that age instead of later when she might be unable to make new friends as easily. I believe she knew that social isolation would be a problem as she aged.
Her fortitude amazed us. Within a short time after the move she joined the local Woman’s Club and Tallahassee’s First Baptist Church. In no time, we were being introduced as Dody’s son and daughter-in-law. She made friends quickly and remained as active as she had been back in Fort Lauderdale.
Dody prepared for what she had to face, but losing people is a fact of life for all of us.
Losing Loved Ones–A Fact of Life
My Grandmother Roe used to lament about how she was the last one left in
her rather large immediate family. One of the older siblings, she was the lone survivor of eight brothers and sisters. Also, her husband passed away 38 years before she did.
It is a fact of life that if we live long, many of our loved ones and friends will pass before us. This is another predisposing factor for social isolation. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is an inevitable occurrence either for ourselves or someone we love.
Sometimes They Just Move Away
Sometimes, though, it doesn’t take a death to create the conditions for social isolation. This same grandmother was another case in point. She lived next door to us my entire childhood, so she had lots of social interaction coming from right next door.
But that all changed in the mid 1970s, about the time I left for college when the rest of my immediate family moved to central Florida. My father’s company promoted him to a company-wide supervisory position, but it required the family to move away. It left my grandmother by herself. She was in her mid 70s.
Back then she was considered a “shut in”, a term we no longer use. She did not drive, so she depended on others; otherwise she was totally independent.
Mom and Dad came back to visit once a month, and I drove over from Tallahassee every other week. She also had other family members and friends nearby who helped with her more pressing needs.
What I remember her talking about, though, was the loneliness. She became someone she had never been before–a real talker. She would talk your ear off, where before she was a fairly quiet woman. She just needed someone to talk to.
I realize now that she was socially isolated during this six year period. By 1980 I moved back next door with my husband and toddler and another child on the way.
TeleConnect4Seniors May be the Answer
In May a company called TeleConnect for Seniors contacted me and asked if I would try out their new service recently launched in May. Their service is a US-based call center designed to be used by people like you, me, and others like my grandmother who might need help.
It is a subscription-based service, but they offered me a year’s subscription to try them out. They were obviously very trusting because they set up the service with no signed contract and no strings attached. Teleconnect offered me the third (Premium) level so I could try it out fully. This has been my only compensation.
The service runs 24/7, 365 days a year. So it is always available to help, always there when I need to call.
Not only are they there to answer general questions, but they can also conduct online research for me, provide help with my appointments, and best of all provide help with computers and mobile devices. They can even serve as a “wellness check” service, calling you or a loved one to periodically see how they’re doing and if they need anything.
How TeleConnect for Seniors Can Be Used
Can you imagine what kind of help it may have provided for my grandmother Roe, especially when combined with today’s companies that deliver groceries with only a phone call? She might have had trouble with the technology but not TeleConnect making the order for her.
I can envision someone calling her and asking her if she had any needs for the week. She might have said that she was running low on milk, which she often did. Or maybe Anacin. She took Anacin for arthritis like it was candy. What a relief it would have been to my dad when a stranger on the phone took care of her grocery order for the week.
And can you imagine how helpful it would have been to have someone call her a couple of times a week just to talk? For her that might have been the best service of all. It could be a tool to combat social isolation.
TeleConnect for Caregivers
TeleConnect for Seniors can also work very well for those of us still in the workplace who have to care for a senior parent or spouse that is less mobile but wants to remain independent.
My parents and grandparents (mother’s parents) were all ill at the same time back in 2003. I just about went crazy dealing with all the insurance and Medicare forms and issues for the four of them, a job that my Dad did until he was stricken with pancreatic cancer.
I would have given anything for this service then–someone to help me wade through the endless paperwork, the forms, the lists of medications. I used to lose a few brain cells every time I had to figure out which medications to change to when their meds fell off the “accepted insurance” lists. ??
TeleConnect for Myself
But what about my needs today? After all I am 63. Well, a few weeks ago, I found myself in a technologically-challenging situation. I have one of those newfangled routers that has nodes throughout the house for more even coverage. So the technology is new.
But it wasn’t a problem for Cynthia, who answered the phone at Teleconnect for Seniors. I found Cynthia respectful, patient, and understanding. To fix my problem she worked directly with the company who sold me the router. I earlier tried to reach them with no luck.
After I turned my problem over to her, Cynthia was friendly, helpful and promised to get back to me in 15 minutes. And she did! Wow!! She told me that they would call me momentarily, and they did. Double Wow!
TeleConnect for Seniors offers three different levels of service, starting at just $29.95 per month. For more information about TeleConnect For Seniors, call 877-271-9599 . Or go to www.teleconnect4seniors.com.
How it works
All of us wish to age with independence and our dignity intact. I believe TeleConnect for Seniors might be able to help with this process. Most seniors I know do not want to be a burden to their families. Having a company to help them cope might be the answer.
Super Simple Recipes for the Garden’s Bounty
I’ve had a bumper crop of various vegetables from this year’s garden, and we gave away as much as we ate. Because some of these are new vegetables or vegetables I don’t often buy, I’ve had to come up with some new recipes. You can read about the garden here. Below are my favorite recipes.
Vinegared Cucumbers
The variety of cucumbers I planted is called “Jumbo”, and they got big. We prefer them, though, not quite so big so we harvested them a little smaller and more tender. The vines bloomed and produced now for almost two months. Those three vines gave us a bumper crop of cucumbers. Maybe this is why my Grandmother Hamrick put up so many pickles.
So I wanted to try and replicate her vinegared cucumber recipe. Vinegar wakes up the flavor in foods, something I learned from my her. I can still see her in my mind’s eye pouring a little vinegar into her vegetables as she cooked. She lived to be over 99.
Vinegar brightens up a dish. It cuts the richness of the food and wakes it up, making it taste fresh and flavorful. If a dish is dull or missing something, add a little vinegar, especially instead of more salt.
I remember her using a product named Accent and I made sure it was in my kitchen when I married, but as I grew older I realized that it was the vinegar that she added to so many dishes that made a difference. That was her secret.
There was no measurement. She just opened the bottle and poured a little into the pot. She cooked a lot of vegetables, and vinegar was always added. I just don’t remember what kind.
Vinegar comes in so many flavors. Rice wine vinegar is tart, while balsamic vinegar is sweet. Try balsamic vinegar on strawberries. It is yummy. If you serve strawberries in a salad, make sure you use a balsamic vinegarette dressing.
For my cucumbers, I use white wine vinegar. Here’s the recipe. No canning needed. These are kept in the frig, and must be eaten before they get soggy.
Peel your cucumbers, enough for your container. It needs to be a container with a lid that can be placed in the frig. Slice the cucumbers about an eighth of an inch thick and almost fill the container with them. Next, take a measuring cup and fill it with 1/3rd cup plus two tablespoons of white wine vinegar. Then add 2/3rds cup minus 2 tablespoons of water. Next, toss in a tablespoon of sugar and stir well. I also add salt and pepper at this stage. About a half teaspoon of each. Stir again.
Next pour the solution over the cucumbers. Make sure you cover the cucumbers. You may need to make more of the solution to cover them. Then place a lid on it, shake it up, and put it in the frig. It will be ready to eat in a few hours. It can sit in the frig until the cucumbers get soggy, but don’t wait that long to eat them. They are too good to let ruin.
Custard Beans
Another bounty from the garden has been a variety of wax beans called Custard Beans. I think if General Custer had had these beans at home, he might not have run off to that fateful meeting on Little Big Horn Creek.
This recipe is super simple. I snap off the ends and boil the bean pods in water with some salt until tender. Then pour off the water and place them still hot in a bowl with a pat of butter. Let it melt and then add some crushed whole wheat Ritz crackers and stir. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Yum! These are the best beans I’ve ever eaten.
Peppers Aplenty
Jalapeño Poppers
We’ve been getting a lot of peppers, four different kinds. For the jalapeño peppers, we have been slicing them in half, removing the seeds, and filling the halves with a cream cheese mixture of cream cheese mixed with a little liquid smoke. Wrap each in a slice of bacon and hold with a toothpick. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or more if needed. I got the basic recipe from the Betty Crocker website which you can find here.
This makes a great appetizer, and not too spicy either. The cooking and cream cheese take care of the heat.
Stuffed Banana Peppers with Curry Chicken
For the banana peppers, I bought a bag of curried chicken and rice by evol. Then I cut the top out of each pepper being careful to remove the top while pulling out its seeds at the same time. Just circle the pepper below the hard part below the stem being careful not to cut through the center under the stem. Then pull. Much of the seeds will come out, but you can rinse out the rest of the seeds. Or you can leave them in.
Then carefully stuff each pepper with the curried chicken and rice mixture. I try to stuff them more with the small bits of chicken than just the rice and vegetables. Place the stuffed peppers in an oiled Casserole dish and add the rest of the mixture on top. Next, add small lumps of either paneer or cottage cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. This makes a great dish, and it is simple to make. I’ve also used evol.’s Chicken Marsala.
I also stuff the bell peppers and tomatoes the same way, except I leave out the paneer. I remember my mother stuffing tomatoes with hamburger helper. The point is that you can use all types of pre-prepared frozen or even canned foods. I sometimes sprinkle bread crumbs on top of my stuffed tomatoes.
So there you have some of my favorite recipes for produce straight from the garden. You’ll notice that I didn’t give you exact measurements.
For years I always cooked exactly from the recipes, until about 15 years ago when I realized that I was unable to find recipes for several of my grandmother’s dishes. So I went experimenting, and the experience made me a better cook.
So what you have here are the ingredients and some instruction. Experiment and figure out the flavor you like best. You just about cannot mess these up, and you’ll become a better cook for it.
Grocery List
Cucumbers
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Custard Beans
Butter
Ritz Crackers, whole-wheat
Salt
Pepper
Banana Peppers
Frozen Thai Style Curry Chicken by evol or another brand
Cottage Cheese or paneer
Please do share, because the garden is still producing. What recipes have you discovered for these vegetables? Do you remember your grandmother’s cooking? What was her secret ingredient?
The Real Truth About the 4th of July…
and Why We Don’t Say Happy 2nd of July.
Know what today is? It is 2nd of July! It is the day that the Continental Congress officially declared our freedom from Britain—a declaration of independence. So why do we celebrate July 4th as Independence Day instead?
The 2nd of July was the day Congress voted for independence, but it took two more days to finalize a document which explained it to the public. A committee of five proposed it in draft form. Those five were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston. It took two more days for Congress to agree on the edits. They made 86 changes to the draft. The final adopted version of the Declaration was primarily written by Jefferson.
Of those five men two would sign not only the Declaration of Independence but also our Constitution.
Then those that were there signed it, and they printed 200 copies. They distributed these 200 copies throughout the thirteen colonies. Today, only 26 of the 200 remain that we know of.
One of those 26 wasn’t discovered until 1989 in Adamstown, Pennsylvania at a flea market. Actually, someone bought an old picture in a frame for $4, and behind the old picture was one of the original 200. Norman Lear bought it for $8.1 million. The last copy found was in 2009 in the British National Archives. It was hidden in a box of papers seized during the Revolutionary War.
So we celebrate the date of the approval of the final version – July 4th. It wasn’t completely signed though, until November 4 of the same year. The names of the signers were withheld publicly until early in 1777. A year after the declaration of independence on July 3rd, several men remembered that it had been a year since we declared our freedom. Thus, July 4th became the day that we celebrate, not the 2nd of July. It wasn’t until 1941 that Congress declared it a federal legal holiday.
In a nutshell, the document stated the reasons we wanted to be free of England’s government; that the authority to govern belongs to the people, not a king; and that all people are created equal and have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Written in three basic parts: an introduction with a statement of the philosophy (an idea); a list of grievances or complaints; and a formal Declaration of Independence, there are five references to God.
How important is the Declaration of Independence?
Well, it only left our nation’s Capitol twice. Once for the War of 1812 when the British attacked Washington and another time about two weeks after Pearl Harbor when they packed up the Declaration and Constitution and the military escorted them to Fort Knox in Kentucky. They remained there for several years.
Burning of the White House in the War of 1812
Burning of the Capitol in the War of 1812
They moved it to an unused gristmill in Leesburg, Virginia, when they took it from Washington for the War of 1812. The British burned the White House in 1814 and much of the city including the Capitol. My third great grandfather was born in Washington, DC in 1811. He was only three years old when this took place. When the Declaration was moved it traveled rolled up and likely by light wagon or horseback. When it was first brought to Washington though it traveled by boat. During War II it traveled by a Pullman train.
All 2.5 million of the colonists were not united in seeking freedom from the crown. Twenty percent of the colonists were Loyalists. The crown declared Congress traitors by royal decree.
Did you know that the Declaration was signed in the Pennsylvania State House? The building’s name changed after the signing and became Independence Hall.
How was the 4th of July Initially Celebrated?
The first public reading of the Declaration was on July 8th in Philadelphia. The crowd summoned by the Liberty Bell, which sounded from the tower of Independence Hall on that date. Can you imagine standing in that crowd and hearing those words for the first time?
This is why every 4th of July the ring Liberty Bell. Actually, they only tap 13 times in honor of the original thirteen colonies. After all, it is cracked.
Also, a one-gun salute for each state called a “salute to the union” is fired at noon on Independence Day by any capable military base.
General George Washington ordered that the Declaration be read to the American army in New York. A riot ensued., and the crowd tore down a nearby statue of George III, a statue which they subsequently melted down and made into musket balls for the American army.
How was the Declaration Protected During the Revolution?
First remember that there was no Washington, DC. They initially moved the Declaration from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Maryland when the British threatened Philadelphia on December 12 of the same year. At the same time, Congress adjourned and moved to Baltimore, too. The document stayed in Baltimore until March of 1777 when they returned it to Philadelphia. Congress moved several times throughout the Northeast before finally moving it and themselves to Washington, DC in 1800.
Did you know that there was no “United States of America” in the Declaration? Instead, it reads “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”
Thomas Jefferson in his original draft listed the crown’s support and importation of slavery to the colonies as one of America’s grievances. He wrote, “He (the crown) has waged war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.” Unfortunately, the grievance was edited out to appease the delegates from South Carolina and Georgia.
What About the Signers?
The signers of the Declaration took their lives in their hands. Signing the document was an act of treason, punishable by death. That is why the names of the men who signed were not announced until January of 1777.
Were all the signers born in America? No, eight were born in Britain, though not all of England. Two signers were only 26 years old. The oldest to sign was Benjamin Franklin at 70 years old. The average age of the signers was 45. Twenty-four of the signers were lawyers, eleven were merchants, and nine were farmers or planters. Eight were educated at Harvard, though there were few universities then.
Robert Livingston one of the original drafters never signed the final copy. Only two presidents signed the document—Adams and Jefferson. John Hancock was the first member to sign the document because he was president of the Continental Congress.
Nine of the signers died before the Revolution ended in 1783. The British captured five of the signers, but all were eventually released. One, though, released after harsh treatment recanted his signature.
Two colonies remained loyal to the king. Did you know that there were actually fifteen colonies? The other two were East Florida and West Florida. After the revolution, Britain sold them back to Spain.
There is something written on the back of the Declaration. It says “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776.” No one knows who wrote it.
Our Founding Was Indeed Unique
The driving forces were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You will notice that this phrase does not include religion, clan, or even nationality. America was founded on an idea…on a philosophy.
The enlightenment movement was part of that era. People questioned traditional authority and embraced rationalism. Whereas our Declaration called on “certain unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, a British philosopher named John Locke in 1689 talked about “life, liberty and property” in his “Two Treatises of Government.” Surely, Jeffersonread his treatise.
Best of all, though, the United States of America did not even exist until after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Happy 4th of July!!
Now for some interesting trivia. Can you name the three presidents who died on July 4th? And can you name the president who was born on this date? Also, which famous contemporary actress is a direct descendent of one of the 56 signers? Please answer in the comments below.
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