ISI June/July 2016

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Educator and Outdoorsman Warren Bakes

By Jack McNeel Idaho native Warren Bakes has carved out an incredible career in Idaho education – one matched perhaps only by his love of fishing, hunting, and outdoor pursuits in general.

His itinerant early education – attending 16 schools in 12 years including three schools in three different states as a first grader – resulted from his father’s being in the Navy and Warren being a navy brat.

His dad’s family was well educated.

As Warren relates, “They included everything from a Supreme Court Justice to lawyers and engineers.

But I graduated from high school by the skin of my teeth with a 1.54 cumulative GPA.” But that GPA did not reflect his intelligence.

From early in life, outdoor activities intrigued him.

“I was interested in fishing and hunting by the time I was about four,” he says. “My grandfather was an Idaho native on the Payette River and he and his family had always hunted. My dad didn’t fish but I knew it was something I wanted to do. I was always fascinated with hunting, fishing, rifles, and fishing gear. By the time, I was six I was walking down the ditches in the Boise valley fishing for anything – whether it was fish, frogs, or whatever. If there was water, I was in it. If there was any place to be out looking and hiking, I was in it.

That’s just how I spent my time.

“I had a BB gun by the time I was five, and a .22 and driving tractors by the time I was eight. By twelve, I was going down to the Snake River south of Caldwell and Nampa to hunt jackrabbits and fish the Snake River.

I’d take my lunch in a bucket and a box of .22 shorts and my little pump .22 Winchester chasing jack rabbits, fishing, and whatever kind of devilment I could get into.”

A little later, a bicycle gave him the transportation to get farther away and find new haunts.

“My friends and I would take a can or two of something from home and strike out on our bikes with the gun and fishing rod strapped to the handlebars.”

They’d fish whatever water they found for carp, suckers, and shiners.

“Whatever there was to catch, we’d get them. I would get a can and punch it with haywire for cooking. We’d take our BB gun and shoot three or four starlings and breast them out and throw them in the pot along with carrots and potatoes for dinner.” Sometimes it was a big sucker or two, which they’d bone out for the dinner pot.

That early fascination for hunting, fishing, and the outdoors in general has not waned for Warren; the only difference is that now it’s hunting deer, or fishing throughout the northwest, in Alaska, and off the Pacific Coast, as well as fishing on Christmas Island.

After those early years, Warren’s grades improved markedly leading to three degrees from the University of Idaho. His lengthy education career

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began as a classroom teacher, then school principal, followed by Superintendent of Schools in Coeur d’Alene. He then did some instructing via the University of Idaho plus working with the University in placing student teachers in schools around the region and tracking their progress.

Warren will soon turn 77 and he’s still employed by the University with over 50 years in education!

His enthusiasm for the outdoors hasn’t diminished.

“I’m still at it,” Warren says. “Not with the same vengeance I had a few years ago but my friends have either passed away or don’t go out anymore. They say they don’t sleep well on the ground anymore and I say I don’t sleep well at home so it doesn’t make any difference whether on the ground or in bed at home – you might as well be having fun.”

Christmas Island (Kiritimati Island) has been one of his fishing highlights.

“It’s about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii, right over Midway, and about a half degree north of the equator. It’s just excellent fly-fishing. It’s so

fun also because the people are so wonderful.

They’re friendly, lovely people and the surroundings are magnificent! Wading in those crystal clear lagoons! You’re actually stalking the fish, watching for them as they move out of deep water onto the flats to feed. It’s home to trevally, barracuda, and bonefish. A five or six pound bonefish is probably the most violent hard bodied fish I’ve ever had on a rod and reel.”

Warren has fished much of the western U.S., annually buying season licenses in several states, but not much on the east coast. “I prefer to fly fish but I’ll fish with a cane pole and a piece of string if that’s what’s available. I’m not a purist and I’m not a snob. I just love to be out, love to be fishing.

I’ll fish salmon, perch, crappie, and trout. I just want to be on the bank or in a boat. Whatever it is I want to be there and want to do it.”

His love of fishing and hunting doesn’t end with the outing. He enjoys not only the field preparation but follows that up with preserving the game for the kitchen.

“I do a lot of canning,” Warren says. “I can

venison, salmon, and a lot of tuna. Ling cod, it’s absolutely wonderful!” But it doesn’t end there. “I make pickled asparagus and sauerkraut. I make bread. I make pickled eggs. Oh man, are they good! I still pick several gallons of huckleberries.

I start every meal off with a health drink. I put in fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, either blueberries or huckleberries, and ice cubes. I mix a little orange juice with it in a blender. I have one of those for breakfast every single day. I need to feed this old body to keep it running the best way I can.”

He even takes it a step farther. His home on Hayden Lake has an entire outdoor kitchen. “I have a gas grill and a smoker plus a big deep fat fryer I can cook a turkey in or if I’m lucky to get a goose, I can do that.”

Warren’s enthusiasm for all things wild is unbridled.

“I think I must have come from hunter/gatherers some place along the line because that’s so much my preferred method of taking care of myself,” he says with a laugh. ISI

A Real Canadian Love Story That Will Bring Tears To Your Eyes

Submitted by Jim Meade Alan and Lorraine lived on a cove on Osoyoos Lake in British Columbia. It was early winter and the lower portion of the cove had frozen over. Alan asked Lorraine if she would walk across the frozen part of the cove to the general store and get him some smokes and beer.

She asked him for some money, but Alan replied, “Nah, just put it on our tab. Old man Stacey won’t mind.”

So Lorraine, being the good wife that she was, walked across the ice, got the smokes and beer at the store, and then walked back home.

When she got home with the items she said, “Alan, you always tell me not to run up the tab at Stacey’s store. Why didn’t you just give me some money?”

Alan replied, “Well, Lorraine, I didn’t want to send you out there with cash when I wasn’t sure how thick the ice was!” ISI

Idaho Senior Independent A Barrett-Whitman Publication

P.O. Box 3341 • Great Falls, MT 59403-3341 208-318-0310 • Toll Free: 1-866-360-5683 Fax: 406-761-8358 www.idahoseniorindependent.com E-mail: idahoseniorind@bresnan.net The Idaho Senior Independent is published six times each year in February, April, June, August, October, and December by Barrett-Whitman, 415 3rd Avenue North, Great Falls, MT 59401 and is distributed free to readers throughout the state of Idaho.

The mail subscription rate is $10.00 per year (6 issues). The Idaho Senior Independent is written to serve Idaho’s mature population of all ages. Readers are encouraged to contribute interesting material. Views expressed in opinion stories, contributions, articles, and letters are not necessarily the views of the publisher. The appearance of advertisements for products or services does not constitute an endorsement of the particular product or service. The publisher will not be responsible for mistakes in advertisements unless notified within five days of publication.

All copy appearing in the Idaho Senior Independent is protected by copyright and may be reprinted only with the written permission of the publisher. Advertising copy should be received or space reserved by the 5th of the month preceding the month of publication.

Jack W. Love, Jr., Publisher/Editor Colleen Paduano Lisa Gebo Jonathan Rimmel Sherrie Smith

Natalie Bartley Holly Endersby Gail Jokerst Craig Larcom Jack McNeel

Office Manager Production Supervisor/Sales Graphic Designer Admin/Production Assistant

Contributing Writers Connie Daugherty Cate Huisman Bernice Karnop Liz Larcom Dianna Troyer © 2016

Contest Corner Contributions

Many thanks for selecting my National Parks Trivia puzzle for the Contest Corner entry for the April/May edition. I thoroughly enjoyed developing it and hope readers will have a fun time coming up with the answers. As this is the centennial for

the National Park Service and a week in April was proclaimed to celebrate it, I felt it would be an appropriate and interesting topic for many. Again, many thanks.

Gary Bores Boise ISI

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JUNE/JULY 2016

I am 79 and still active in outdoor sports including X-C skiing (not as aggressively as I used to), bicycling, white-water rafting, and motor head

play on ATVs and snowmobiles. I am a member of RAFT out of Lewiston-Clarkston and do good deeds with this group on local rivers cleaning litter of the beaches. I am financially secure.

I am a non-smoker and drink socially. I do not go to a church and have no children. I have taught in public schools and was a professor at Lewis-Clark State College. I retired from a bicycleski shop that I owned and operated in Pullman, Washington. My graduate degrees were earned at the University of Idaho College of Mines in the earth sciences. I seek a companion for the above outdoor activities and especially for travel.

My wife and I were well on our way to circling the globe via cruise boats, but she died one year ago. I have two legs yet to do… one is across the Atlantic and the second leg is from Singapore to Beijing. Other travel I still enjoy includes an annual trip to Hyder, Alaska for salmon, which we smoked and canned for family Christmas presents. We also lived in a home that I built on a beach in a gringo community on the Baja peninsula, for winter stays.

I plan to do an annual winter trek to the Baja in a pickup with camper, and I hope my future companion can pay her share of the cost for airfare and cruising. As a couple, we would share gasoline for treks to Alaska and Mexico. I already own all kinds of motor toys and I make house payments that would not be my new companion’s responsibility.

I own a five-acre mountain cabin site with a big lodge (2,700 square feet) 4300’ elevation in the Blue Mountains adjacent to the northern boundary of Umatilla National Forest and 15 miles south of Pomeroy, Washington. This lodge bunks 34 guests and was our X-C Skiing focus for 20 years while doing business in Pullman. Interested? Please reply. Reply ISI, Dept. 12201, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Single man wants to meet with single gal for a date & relationship. I like holding hands and kissing, camping, dinning out, and candle light dinners. Must be able to drive. 40s or 50s. Let’s get together. I would like your company. Either blonde or dark hair is fine. Reply ISI, Dept. 12202, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

SF, almost 60, fit, 5’4”, 125lbs. Youthful independent free spirit with city smarts and a country heart. Living active outdoor ranch/farm type lifestyle in far NW Montana. Athletically inclined tomboy on the outside, but all woman inside, and I clean up real nice. I favor public broadcasting and have an eclectic spiritual bent. Recreational interests include all water sports/activities, hiking, biking, bird/wildlife watching, winter skiing, some travel, and more. Home interests: gardening, houseplants, animals, cooking, reading, aerobic exercise, yoga, and similar practices. Occasional visits to the city for dining, concerts, symphony, theater, movies, and museums. ISO one good man with similar/ compatible interests who is a physically active, open minded, honest, emotionally mature, financially secure, in his 60s with good dental hygiene, and in the Idaho Panhandle area for intermittent companionship initially, and who knows what the future holds. Not interested in rushing into any-

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Idaho’s warm days are finally here, and with them come all the family reunions, 4th of July celebrations, farmers markets, ice cream socials, fairs, expos, carnivals, camping, and outdoor activities that make Idaho summers great! Isn’t this just the time to find a friend or special someone with whom to share these summer days and nights?

Take a moment today to write a personal ad or reply to one of the personal ads on these pages.

Just pick up your pen or dust off your keyboard, start writing, and find out who’s waiting for you!

To respond to any of these personal ads, simply forward your message and address, phone number, or email address to the department number listed in the particular personal ad, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, P.O. Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

We will forward your response, including the address, phone number, and/or email address that you provide to the person placing the ad. When you respond to an ad in this section, there is no guarantee that you will receive a response. That is up to the person who placed the ad. Please submit your correct address plainly printed, so you can promptly receive replies.

Respond to the ads in this issue, and also sit down now and prepare your own ad to run in our next issue. There is no charge for this service, and your ad may lead you down the path of companionship and true love!

You may submit your responses to personal ads appearing in the Idaho Senior Independent at any time. However, to place a personal ad in the August/September 2016 issue, the deadline is July 7, 2016.

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 3

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thing. Do not like emotional drama or head games.

If interested please send short letter to include address or phone number – sorry no email. Reply ISI, Dept. 12203, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Built heavy and strong... just a little on the short side. I have had a small raised garden, but got tired of all the critters. I love dogs, I have one about 60 lbs. Most of my life has been hunting, fishing, and hiking. I wanted to be a fisherman, so I built my own boat. I fished in Alaska for 25 years. Reply ISI, Dept. 12204, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

They say that rock n’ roll is dead but in the hearts and minds of baby boomers the world over, the music of icons like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Otis Redding will live forever.

Take some time to think back on the cultural melting pot of the 1950s that threw together rhythm and blues, folk music, boogie woogie, and swing to produce the rock n’ roll adventure that captured the mood of independence, exploration, and rebellion that flourished in post WWII America. Dust off your record player, pull out a few of your favorite LPs, and listen to the music as you try this month’s challenge.

JUNE/JULY 2016

Divorced male, 70, 5’9”, 160lbs. Retired, non-smoker, financially stable, degreed education, home-owner, Lewiston area, easygoing and tolerant, humorous outlook, fit and healthy, non-religious, drink in moderation, no allergies or dietary restrictions, computer literate but do not subscribe to any social media web sites, enjoy outdoor activities, ballroom style dancing (waltz, foxtrot), travel. Would like to meet a compatible, lighthearted lady companion, travel partner, someone not looking solely for financial support.

Slender to petite body type preferred, spontaneously adventurous but who also enjoys simple

pleasures and quiet times. Laugh lines would be a plus. Reply ISI, Dept. 12205, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403.

This month’s quiz was submitted by Gail Jokerst to test your knowledge of our great rock n’ roll music tradition. Thank you and congratulations to Gail, winner of the $25 cash prize.

Thank you to all who participated in our National Parks Trivia – Celebrating our National Treasures quiz in the April/May 2016 issue. The winner of the $25 prize for submitting the correct answers is Susan Sankey of Hayden. Congratulations, Susan!

Two $25 cash prizes are awarded from the “Contest Corner” in each issue of the Idaho Senior Independent. One prize goes to the person

who submits the winning answers to the featured quiz from the previous issue. The second prize goes to the person who submits the entry that our staff selects as the featured quiz or puzzle in the “Contest Corner” for this issue. Be creative and send us some good, fun, and interesting puzzles!

Please mail your entries to the Idaho Senior Independent, P.O. Box 3343, Great Falls, MT 59403, or email to idahoseniorind@bresnan.net

by July 7, 2016 for our August/September 2016 edition. Be sure to work the crossword puzzle on our website at idahoseniorindependent.com.

SWF 68. ISO an easygoing single gentleman.

Going out and about, around town, touring back roads, watching wildlife, traveling, maybe have a boat? Someone who really enjoys dancing. Must wear a really big “white hat” – the “best” life is yet to come. Please write. Reply ISI, Dept. 12206, c/o Idaho Senior Independent, Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403. ISI

Rock n’ Roll... What Music!

By Gail Jokerst Nothing brings back memories like music. Take this quiz and enjoy a trip back to the fabulous 50s and early 60s. Just match the correct performer’s letter to the numbered clue, send us your answers, and you may win the $25 cash prize!

1. Who sang The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance?

2. A respected recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who originally sang gospel.

3. With a real last name of Deutschendorf, this singer-songwriter loved the Rocky Mountains.

4. This entertainer popularized the dance known as the Twist.

5. A heartthrob who performed on the Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen Shows.

6. Which three entertainers were killed in a plane crash the day the music died?

7. Which rockabilly star had a hit song that later titled a 1990 movie starring Richard Gere?

8. This New Orleans pianist received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton.

9. Who took a hat off to Larry and sang about a little runaway?

10. Among the 40 biggest hit makers of the rock era, this person worked with Burt Bacharach.

11. Who traditionally began every concert with, “Hello, I’m…”?

12. This entertainer sang duets with a brother.

13. At age 13, this artist recorded a Christmas tree song that has since sold 25 million copies.

14. Early teen idol who said hello to Mary Lou and whose parents had a TV show.

15. Detroit is closely linked to this entertainer who sang in a famous trio.

16. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is this individual’s signature song.

17. A name that is synonymous with the electric guitar.

18. This mellow-voiced King of Sweet Soul had 29 Top 40 hits starting with You Send Me. 19. Singer of The Wanderer, this person’s style epitomized the music of the Bronx streets.

20. Who received the Kennedy Center honors and sang about papa’s brand new bag?

21. This pianist was nicknamed “The Killer” and married seven women.

22. Who originally wrote and recorded Blue Suede Shoes?

23. Carole King’s babysitter whose hit created an early 60s dance craze.

24. Which lead singer claimed that big girls don’t cry?

25. A gruff-voiced artist who broke down the barriers between sacred and secular music.

A. Del Shannon B. Neil Sedaka C. Jerry Lee Lewis D. Buddy Holly E. Brenda Lee F. Dion DiMucci G. James Brown H. Frankie Valli I. Chubby Checker J. Johnny Cash K. Ricky Nelson L. Carl Perkins M. J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson N. Little Eva O. Sam Cooke P. Dionne Warwick Q. Elvis Presley R. Ritchie Valens S. Diana Ross T. Roy Orbison U. Aretha Franklin V. Les Paul W. John Denver X. Phil Everly Y. Fats Domino Z. Gene Pitney AA. Ray Charles ISI

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 5

Answers to National Parks Trivia – Celebrating Our Nation’s Treasures Submitted by Gary Bores 1. R 2. W 3. F

4. M 5. H 6. U

7. P 8. B 9. K

10. Y 11. S 12. G

13. O 14. C 15. J

16. T 17. E 18. Q

19. N 20. I 21. V

22. L 23. D

ACROSS 1. Urn contents 6. Mischief-maker 9. Yahoo 13. Turf, as opposed to surf 14. Bygone bird 15. Slow, musically speaking 16. *“I’ll knock you off your broom!” he said 17. Barley bristle 18. Type of flu 19. *“My precious!”

21. *“I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

23. ____ Francisco 24. Hindu woman’s dress 25. Apple’s opponent, 2016 28. *“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”

30. *“Et tu, Brute?”

35. Not to be broken?

37. Finish a road 39. Chef’s headgear 40. Seed covering 41. *“Sign your name across my heart,” sang Terrence ____ D’arby 43. Botticelli’s Venus, e.g.

44. Tsar’s edict 46. *“Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,” sang The Kingston ____ 47. It propels some boats 48. Abscond 50. Month of Purim 52. Disk operating system 53. Inlaid furniture decoration 55. Witness 57. *“May the Force be with you.”

61. Slanting character 64. Roundish 65. *“If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude,”said Amy ____ 67. ____ of Pergamum, Ancient Greece 69. Short for pinafore 70. Santa’s helper 71. Leaning 72. Middle of March

24. X 25. A

73. *“If you want to be happy, be,” said ____ Tolstoy 74. Not o’er DOWN 1. Mary Kay’s last name 2. Rudolph, e.g.

3. *Bette Midler: “Did you ever know that you’re my ____.”

4. ____ Grey and James ____ Jones 5. U.S.’ first manned space station 6. Mosque V.I.P. 7. Yard work 8. Shoots-eating bear 9. Prefix in levorotary 10. *The Fonz: “Sit ____ ____!”

11. Home to Bryce Canyon 12. *“They’re grrreat!” he exclaimed 15. Cowboy’s rope catcher 20. Unsuitable 22. Middle-earth creature 24. More than one 25. Ponzi scheme, e.g.

26. Dr. Preston ____ of “Grey’s Anatomy” 27. Relating to #62 Down 29. *“Ai, caramba!”

31. Ages and ages 32. Small group of soldiers 33. A in AV 34. Rods and ____ 36. *“The cold never bothered me anyway.”

38. Children’s author Blyton 42. Breakfast side 45. Personify 49. Afghan monetary unit 51. *“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” 54. The Eagles’ “____ California” 56. Make one ecstatically happy 57. Arizona Indian 58. Like a devoted fan 59. “Master of ____” on Netflix 60. Deadly ones 61. Facts and figures 62. Hipbone 63. Medieval Northern European 66. Draft pick 68. Indefinite degree ISI

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JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 7

Auto Insurance Discounts for Older Drivers

By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior, I’ve read that many car insurance companies offer a variety of discounts to older drivers when they retire or reach a certain age. What can you tell me about this?

Discount Seeker Dear Seeker, Most auto insurance companies offer policyholders a wide variety of discounts, many of which can benefit retirees. Auto insurers love older drivers because they’re experienced behind the wheel and they drive less than younger age groups, which makes them a lower risk for accidents and a safer bet for insurance companies.

While discounts will vary by insurer, many of these benefits can reduce your overall premium by 15 percent or more, and you are usually allowed to combine discounts to increase your savings, though total discounts are often capped at around 25 percent.

To find out what discounts may be available to you, contact your auto insurer and inquire about these benefits and any others that may apply.

Age discount: Many auto insurance companies offer a general senior discount that will reduce your premium just because you’ve reached a specific age. The actual name and amount of the

discount will vary by insurer. Allstate, for example, provides a senior adult discount of up to 10 percent to drivers who are at least 55 years old and aren’t actively looking for full-time work. Liberty Mutual offers a newly retired discount to drivers who reach that employment milestone, regardless of age.

Low mileage discount: Most insurers offer discounts to customers who drive limited miles each year, which is often beneficial to retirees who drive less because they don’t commute to work every day. The fewer miles you drive, the lower your odds of getting into an accident. The parameters of low mileage discounts differ by insurer, but generally about a 10 percent discount is available for driving less than 5,000 to 8,000 miles each year.

Smaller discounts may also be available to those who drive less than 15,000 miles a year.

Drivers Ed discount: Many states require insurance companies to offer defensive-driving discounts to drivers who take a refresher course to brush up on their safety skills. The discounts usually range from five to 15 percent. Driver safety refresher courses usually cost $20-$30 and can be taken in a classroom or online. To locate a class contact your local AAA, aaa.com, which operates a Driver Improvement Course for seniors, or AARP, aarp.org/driversafety or 888-227-7669, which offers the Smart Driver Course to members and

non-members.

Club member discount: Insurers offer discounts to members of clubs and associations with which they have partnered. These could include professional associations, workers’ unions, large employers, or membership organizations such as AAA, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the Seniors Coalition, and AARP. You could even qualify for savings based on the college you attended or the fraternity or sorority you belonged to decades ago.

Safe driving discount: Many insurance providers now offer discounts based on how and when you use your car. To do this, they would place a diagnostic device in your car that transmits wireless data on how you drive (including how fast you’re going and how hard you’re braking), when you drive, and how much you drive. Drivers are rewarded for safe driving, low mileage, and for not driving late at night. In addition, many insurance providers also offer discounts to drivers who do not have any violations or accidents for three or more years.

Send your senior questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. ISI

Protecting Your Land

By Eric Grace, Executive Director, Kaniksu Land Trust If you own land that has habitat, farmland, woodland, or scenic values, which you would like to see remain protected into the future, you might consider working with a land trust to achieve your goals. Many planning tools can be used not only to protect the property, but also preserve your wealth.

We use tools that ensure the land remain free from development, while meeting the economic needs of the property owner. The community benefits from maintaining quality of life and better public health.

Land trusts are also working to connect (or reconnect) people to land and nature. In this modern day of technology and busy lifestyles, we have lost our appreciation for the natural world, and the negative ramifications of this are staggering. All people, from kids to the elderly need opportunities to unplug

and play outside. Studies show that doing so has tremendous mental and physical health benefits.

The Kaniksu Land Trust is one of 19 land trusts that operate in Idaho.

For more information, see the advertisement in this section or contact the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts at idaholandtrusts.org. ISI

How To Replace Lost Or Stolen Vital Documents

By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior, Can you tell me how to replace important lost documents? My wife and I recently downsized to a retirement community, and somewhere in the move, we lost our Social Security and Medicare cards, birth certificates, marriage license, and passports.

Worried Ron Dear Ron, Replacing important documents that are lost, stolen, or damaged is easy if you know where to turn. Here are the replacement resources for each document you mentioned, along with some tips to protect you from identity theft.

Birth certificate: If you were born in the United States, contact the vital records office in the state where you were born. This office will give you specific instructions on what you need to do to order a certified copy of your birth certificate. Fees range from $9 to $30. Visit cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm for contact information.

Social Security card: You can replace a lost or stolen Social Security card at no cost. If you live in the District of Columbia, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, or Wisconsin, you can order your replacement online at ssa. gov/ssnumber.

If you live outside these areas, you’ll need to fill out Form SS-5 and take it in or mail it to your nearby Social Security office, along with your U.S. driver’s license, a state-issued non-driver ID card, or a U.S. passport. Photocopies are not accepted but any documents you mail in will be returned to you. Visit ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf to print a copy of Form SS-5. Call 800-772-1213 or see ssa.gov/locator to find a Social Security office near you.

You also need to be aware that losing your Social Security card puts you at risk for identity theft. If you find that someone uses your Social Security number to obtain credit, loans, telephone accounts, or other goods and services, report it immediately to the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft. gov (or 877-438-4338). This site will also give you specific steps you’ll need to take to handle this problem.

Medicare card: To replace your Medicare card for free, just call Social Security at 800-772-1213 or contact your local Social Security office. You

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JUNE/JULY 2016

can also request one online at ssa.gov/myaccount.

Your card will arrive in the mail in about 30 days.

By losing your Medicare card, you also need to watch out for Medicare fraud. So check your Medicare Summary Notice for services you did not receive. If you spot any, call the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 800-447-8477 to report them.

Marriage certificate: Contact your state’s vital records office to order a copy (see cdc.gov/nchs/ w2w.htm). You’ll need to provide full names for you and your spouse, the date of your wedding, and the city or town where the wedding was performed.

Fees range from $10 to $30. Divorce certificates can also be ordered from your state’s vital records office and divorce decree documents can be obtained from the county clerk’s office for the city or county in which the divorce was granted.

Passport: A lost passport also puts you at risk for identity theft, so you need to report this as soon

as possible to the U.S. State Department. Go to travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/ lost-stolen.html and fill out Form DS-64. You’ll receive an e-mail acknowledging that your report was received. Within a couple of days, you’ll receive another e-mail, or letter if you request that option, confirming that your passport has been entered into the Consular Lost or Stolen Database.

You can apply for a replacement passport at a Passport Application Acceptance Facility. Many post offices, public libraries, and local government offices serve as such facilities. You can search for the nearest authorized facility at iafdb.travel.state. gov. The fee for a replacement passport is $135.

Send your senior questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070 or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior book. ISI

New Tax Credit Would Help People Age In Place

At age 62, Susan Gross of Barboursville, Virginia, is nearing retirement age, but has no plans to stop working yet High prescription costs and the need to provide care for a disabled adult son and her 90-year-old mother are major reasons. With rheumatoid arthritis medication, Humira, costing $3,900 a month, both Susan and her husband continue to work full time. Susan is dependent on the health insurance coverage available through her husband’s employer to help her afford her medications.

But in addition to health benefits, Susan needs the income from work to help cover the expenses of family caregiving. Her 43-year-old son Andrew was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant and has lived at home with Susan his entire life.

Suffering from seizures, a speech disorder, and difficulties walking and moving around safely, Andrew requires daily care. Recently Susan moved her 90-year-old mother home as well. With day care help from other family members, Susan has been able to keep her son and mom where they want to be, out of institutions and at home with family, while she continues to work.

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penses, Andrew, who is too disabled ever to have worked, is dependent on Medicaid and receives only a modest monthly Social Security disability benefit of $756. Susan and her husband cover all the rest of Andrew’s expenses, housing, food, uncovered medical expenses, transportation, clothing, and anything else.

“The Senior Citizens League believes that as retirees and disabled people live longer, thousands of older Americans like Susan and her husband are working hard to make ends meet while at the same time providing care and support to aging family members and disabled adult children,” says TSCL Chairman Ed Cates. The Senior Citizens League recently endorsed The Credit for Caring Act (H.R. 4708), legislation that would provide a tax credit for caregiving expenses.

Introduced by Representatives Linda Sanchez (CA-38) and Tom Reed (NY-23), the bill would provide up to $3,000 in a family caregiver tax credit.

Expenses like groceries, modifications to a home, transportation to doctor visits, or hiring someone to look after an elderly patient or disabled child would qualify for the credit. “A caregiving credit would be a much needed help,” says Susan, “It would benefit me and benefit a lot of other older families that I work with.”

“When family caregivers don’t get the support they need, and few get enough, they are faced with leaving their jobs, taking on significant debt, or moving their loved ones out of their homes and into costly assisted living facilities,” Cates notes.

TSCL believes this growing problem must be addressed to enable older and disabled Americans to live with dignity in their homes and communities.

TSCL encourages the public to contact members of Congress and ask elected lawmakers to support the Credit for Caring Act (H.R. 4708). To learn, more visit SeniorsLeague.org. ISI

You Gave, Now Save To Increase Health, Food, and Utility Benefits An analysis released by the National Council on Aging, NCOA, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, n4a, finds that more than 4 million low-income older adults could increase their annual budget as much as 29% with readily available benefits programs.

There are thousands of public and private programs available to help these individuals pay for health care, prescriptions, food, and utilities, yet millions of eligible seniors don’t know about the programs or how to apply. As a result, too many make dangerous trade-offs like foregoing needed home repairs, avoiding social engagements, skipping meals, and cutting pills.

“There is more than $20 billion in available benefits that go unused annually, but often seniors don’t know how to access them. The You Gave, Now Save campaign puts that information in their hands,” said Sandy Markwood, CEO of n4a, “Area Agencies on Aging also have a vital role to play because they offer in-person counseling to not only help older adults understand their benefits, but also to encourage them to use them.”

Launched by NCOA and n4a, You Gave, Now Save combines a newly updated educational guide for older adults, online tools, and one-on-one assistance for seniors and their caregivers to understand and apply for benefits.

“Nearly 20% of Americans over age 65 struggle to cover their basic needs,” said Leslie Fried, Senior Director of NCOA’s Center for Benefits Access, “The information in You Gave, Now Save makes it easier for older adults to learn about their options and take action to remain independent. Older adults are an important part of every American community, and it is incumbent upon us

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 9

to strengthen their economic security.”

In its analysis of the costs of aging, NCOA and n4a found: • Older adults are struggling to cover their basic expenses. Older adult households spend, on average, $28,644 annually on the basic costs of living. Yet, roughly 8.5 million older Americans have annual incomes below $24,000.

• More older adults are living in poverty. The percentage of seniors aged 65 or older living in poverty, defined as an income below $11,880 for an individual in 2016, has increased from 8.9% in 2010 to 10% in 2014. Over the same period, the total number of seniors living in poverty has increased from 3.6 million to 4.6 million.

• Seniors could increase their annual budget by 29% with available benefits. A two-person household with an annual income of $21,000 could be eligible for more than $6,000 a year in benefits, freeing up 29% of their

annual budget. Without benefits, the same household could incur more than $7,500 in debt that year.

• Debt levels for seniors are double 2001 levels. Over 60% of households headed by a person aged 60 or above had some form of debt in 2013.

Among them, the median debt was $40,900 – double what it was in 2001.

Older adults and caregivers can learn more about benefits they may be eligible for through two free and trusted resources: • BenefitsCheckUp® BenefitsCheckUp.org/campaign, is NCOA’s confidential online screening tool that contains more than 2,000 public and private programs for seniors with limited income.

• Eldercare Locator, 1.800.677.1116 or eldercare.gov, is a public service of the U.S. Administration on Aging that connects older adults and caregivers to local agencies and organizations that can help them access a wide range of benefits and supportive services.ISI

Thousand Pieces of Gold, a biographical novel

By Ruthanne Lum McCunn; Beacon Press, Boston, 2015 Reviewed By Connie Daugherty “You are my quanjin, my thousand pieces of gold,” Lalu’s father often told her. Meant as a term of endearment, this phrase of love could imply much more. In China in the late 1800s, girls were also a commodity to be sold as wives, slaves, and prostitutes. Pretty girls with small feet brought the most money. The decision to sell a daughter was not made lightly but most often out of desperation.

Ruthanne McCunn’s novel, Thousand Pieces of Gold, is based on the life of Idaho’s legendary Polly Bemis of Warrens. Polly’s life began as Lalu Nathoy in Northern China. And while the novel follows the imagined life of one woman, it also pays tribute to hundreds of Chinese women, paper brides and slaves, who found themselves far away from home and everything familiar helping to settle not only Idaho, but the American west during the gold rush days and early 1900s.

Set in Idaho, Thousand Pieces of Gold is an extensively researched, tightly written story in which cultures clash and come together. The descriptions are vivid and picturesque, the dialog realistic, and the characters alive with passion. It is a story of struggle, of strength, of love, and finally of triumph.

When a storm wipes out the crops on the family farm in Northern China and they can no longer afford the hired helper, Lalu volunteers to help in the fields. Her feet unbound and seeming to get bigger each day, she works beside her father. “Lalu now knew that her toes would never lie completely flat again, but calluses had formed; and though her walk was somewhat strange and rolling she felt only pleasure … in the fields.” Each year she became more and more valuable as a helper in the field and less and less valuable as a woman. Yet she is with her family and she is happy. Then the bandits came.

“Lalu stared at her father… she twisted her face away… she heard him snatch the bag and scoop up the spilled seed. She had been sold.

She belonged to Chen.” Lalu was just eighteen and in those few minutes of desperation, her life changed forever. Within weeks of her capture, she finds herself on a ship to America. With each new shame, she holds on to a glimmer of hope, but it is a hope that is repeatedly shattered.

“This: the dingy basement room, the blank faces of women and girls stripped of hope, the splintered boards beneath her feet, the auction block.

This was her America.” Once again, she is sold, this time to the highest bidder and once again, she is loaded on the back of a mule and led off into the wilderness. Next stop, Warrens, Idaho, one of many newly established mining camps.

“There are sixteen hundred men in Warrens, twelve hundred Chinese… there are eleven women… they are all white. You will be the only Chinese woman, an attraction that will bring men, Chinese and white from miles around.”

In Warrens, everything is taken from Lalu, her self-respect, her dignity, even her name. Her new owner, an old Chinese man, calls her Polly and from then on Polly she becomes. Men flock to the saloon to see her. They are allowed to look but not touch. The old man reserves that right for himself.

Polly accepts her new name, but not her fate. She dreams of buying her freedom with the gold dust she sweeps from the saloon floor each night. Then one night Charlie Bemis, the white man who owns a competing saloon, challenges her owner, Hong King, to a poker game. “Without a word, Charlie turned over his hidden card… He had won.”

Once again, a man with an agenda of his own decides her fate. “Like a frog at the bottom of a well, she had seen nothing beyond the small circle of blue sky that meant freedom… piling up the gold she needed to reach it, never once considering it might be gained another way.” However, whatever freedom, respect, and love Charlie was prepared to give her had its limits.

Many of those limits were imposed by prejudice and discriminatory laws.

Even when people insist that she is one of the lucky ones, Polly seems to take one-step forward and five back. Her hopes and dreams are always just beyond her reach.

“She had become knowledgeable of Western foods, customs, and laws, a part of the community… friends. Yet she was a stranger to them.”

She was also rejected by the miners in Chinatown “who could not forgive her past, her choice of Charlie as a mate.” She doesn’t belong anywhere.

Then one day Charlie takes her way up into the mountains, to an isolated, but peaceful canyon along the Salmon River. “The sun felt warm, the peace palpable… she scooped up a handful of sand. It glittered like the copper coins in her father’s hands when he had gambled and lost, the gold Charlie had gambled with Hong King and won. And now she too must gamble.” Charlie wasn’t telling her what to do, he was asking her. Asking her to make her own decision, to take a chance on finding happiness, and a chance of finding a place where she belonged.

Ruthanne Lum McCunn has published eight books on the experiences of the Chinese people on both sides of the Pacific. Her award winning work has been translated into thirteen languages, published in twenty-two countries, and adapted for stage and screen. Thousand Pieces of Gold should definitely be considered one of her finest works. ISI

PAGE 10 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

Working with the Pros: Tips for Communicating with Healthcare Providers

By Lisa M. Petsche If you are caring for a relative with a chronic illness, you will encounter various healthcare providers in various settings.

These days, health care is viewed as a partnership between patient and provider, with both parties responsible for ensuring a constructive relationship.

Patients and caregivers are taking a more active role than ever in this regard.

Good communication is essential to any positive relationship. Use this list to make the most of your interactions with healthcare professionals: • Prepare questions in advance of phone conversations and meetings, and prioritize them.

• If you or your relative have a hearing or vision impairment, let the person know at the outset of the conversation. You may need to remind them in subsequent contacts.

• Share information that will help them to better understand and assist your relative: medical history, relevant social history, lifestyle, abilities and limitations, temperament, likes and dislikes.

• Educate yourself about your relative’s health conditions. Don’t try to be an expert, though. While consumers can access a wealth of information and many seek to be informed, be tactful if you wish to challenge findings or recommendations. For example, it is less threatening to say, “I’ve read about a new therapy called X; what do you think of it for my mother’s situation?” rather than, “Why aren’t you doing X?” • Educate yourself about the roles of involved professionals, and inquire about their goals and plans for your relative. Adjust your expectations if necessary, or try to negotiate a different plan of care.

• Ensure you are dealing with the right person by briefly stating any questions or concerns. If they can’t help you, ask them to direct you to someone who can. Get a name, title, and phone number as well as times the person is usually available.

• Ensure the person has time to talk if you have numerous questions or a major concern. If they don’t, ask them to schedule an appropriate block of time for you.

• When making telephone contact, be prepared to leave a concise voice mail message if the person is not available. Include the date and time, your name, your relative’s name and your relationship to him or her, the nature of your call (in one sentence), your daytime phone number and the best time to reach you.

Speak slowly and clearly.

If either of you is hard to reach, set an appoint-

ment to talk by phone or in person.

• Write down key information provided during conversations and conferences (keep a note pad and pen handy). Request a layperson’s explanation if you don’t understand medical jargon, and ask for clarification when instructions aren’t clear.

Summarize information to check the accuracy of your interpretation.

• Recognize that some of your questions may not have easy answers.

• Maintain good communication with other involved family members, keeping them aware of your relative’s status, activities, and plans. It’s not a good use of professionals’ time to have to address similar questions or concerns with multiple people.

This takes them away from direct patient work. If necessary, set up a conference call or request a family meeting.

• Learn to be assertive and proactive in your role as advocate.

• Address a concern directly with the relevant care provider. Express it as calmly as possible and in a timely fashion. Provide detail and include an example or two; prepare notes if you tend to become flustered. Involve the person’s supervisor only if the issue does not get resolved.

• Keep in mind that you and your relative’s healthcare providers are partners, even if you don’t always speak the same language or agree about diagnoses or plans. Do your best to work with them rather than against them.

• If you blow up and later regret it, apologize in order to get communication back on track. Rest assured professionals understand that sometimes frustration or caregiver stress causes people to overreact or otherwise behave uncharacteristically.

• Express appreciation when you are pleased with the care your relative is receiving, a little goes a long way in forging a positive relationship.

Lisa M. Petsche is a social worker and a freelance writer who has personal and professional experience with elder care. ISI

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IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 11

Caregiving Transition – Adapting to Long-Term Care

By Lisa M. Petsche When a person moves into a long-term care home, both the individual and their caregiver can find the transition difficult.

Caregivers lose a companion and the rhythm of their days changes significantly. They must schedule visits in order to spend time with their relative.

Transportation may pose challenges, especially if they do not drive.

Feelings about the situation may include sadness, anxiety, anger, and guilt. Caregivers may wonder if they made the right decision. They may worry about their relative’s ability to adjust. They may also worry about how well he or she is being treated. They may wonder what role they now play in their relative’s day-to-day life.

If you find yourself in this position, read on for some suggestions.

Relating With Care Providers • It’s important to perceive and position yourself as an integral part of your relative’s healthcare team and their life in a long-term care home.

• Share as much as possible about your relative’s routines, likes and dislikes, and any tips that can help make care provision easier.

• Educate yourself about the roles of the various healthcare professionals, and ask about their goals for your relative. You may need to adjust your expectations or negotiate changes.

• Let staff know how involved you wish to be in terms of hands-on care.

• Get to know the staff, in order to develop a

partnership of trust and mutual sharing. Show your appreciation if you are pleased with their care.

• Think twice before you criticize. Some family members initially find fault with virtually everything professional caregivers do. This makes it hard to establish constructive relationships.

• Address concerns directly with the relevant care provider. Express it as calmly as possible, and in a timely fashion. Involve the person’s supervisor only if the issue is not resolved.

Relating With Your Loved One • Be prepared for your relative to have many initial complaints. If a concern seems legitimate, discuss it with staff. Otherwise, provide a listening ear and allow your relative to vent. Be attuned to underlying feelings and empathize with them.

Discourage your relative from dwelling on the negative. Change the subject if necessary.

• If your relative asks you to take them home, gently but firmly reinforce that they need more care than you can provide. Reassure them that you’ll return soon, and plan what you’ll do together.

• If your relative shares a room, inquire about private areas for visiting.

• Develop a regular pattern of visiting so your relative knows when to expect you and can anticipate your next visit. Telephone between visits if you can’t get in as often as you would like.

• When you visit, bring items like a newspaper, flowers from your garden, or a favorite food.

• Re-create routines from home, such as playing cards, watching a favorite TV program together,

or sharing a meal.

• Show interest in your relative’s daily activities.

Join them for some special recreational events.

• Keep your relative up-to-date on news about friends and relatives.

• Plan activities outside of the facility. Go for a walk around the neighborhood or to a nearby park or take a drive. If your relative uses a wheelchair, get them registered with local accessible transportation services. Then you can go out shopping or to community events together.

• Continue to include your relative in family celebrations. If members’ homes are not accessible, choose a restaurant that is, or ask staff to help you plan a gathering onsite.

If feasible, arrange for your relative to come home for a few hours.

• Keep in mind that even though you are no longer the primary caregiver, your role is still important. With the primary responsibility lifted, you can focus your energy on meeting your relative’s emotional and spiritual needs and enjoying your time together.

In conclusion, spend time with friends and relatives who support the move to long-term care.

Family members of other residents as well as staff, especially the social worker, are also valuable sources of support. Initially you may need lots of reassurance that this was a good decision. Be patient and give yourself and your relative plenty of time to adjust. ISI

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Door Number Three

By LaDawn Whiteside Last Saturday morning, I thought about options people have related to eldercare. As a mediator, my job is directly related to working with options – giving people more options to solve their problems, and as I see it, there are three choices when resolving eldercare problems.

Choice one is to solve eldercare problems relying on only their own skills and life experiences.

Some people bully their way to a solution. Some threaten others into a solution. Some take on a martyr status and some give up in frustration. Some people can cuss and discuss a problem for years in order to wear down the target of their concern.

And some can even negotiate the decline or loss of a parent with fortitude, logic, and grace. I applaud those people who are able to figure out problems on their own without sacrificing their financial future or health status. As my grandmother frequently said, getting old isn’t for sissies.

Choice number two involves seeking assistance from an attorney or a regulatory agency to solve a problem. During the 25 years I spent in healthcare regulation, people submitted over 2,000 formal complaints to me about healthcare facilities and I offered options within the regulatory parameters available. In most cases, my agency conducted an investigation and cited deficiencies that violated state or federal regulations. In some cases, the complainant was happy, and in others, the outcome did not meet their expectations. This option allows another person or entity to verify and solve the problem for you. Walk your fingers through the yellow pages if you are seeking legal assistance.

Five years ago I found choice number three, mediation. Though many families dealing with the issues of eldercare overlook this option, mediation

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Mediation is a fabulous opportunity where parties make informed choices. Mediation helps people identify what is most important to each party. Mediation is not bound by state or federal healthcare regulations. It is not bound by civil monetary penalty structures.

It is not bound by fears of apology. Generally, mediation is not precedent setting. The solution is not achieved by public opinion or the media. When a mediation agreement is achieved, both parties are satisfied with the outcome.

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JUNE/JULY 2016

Choosing a Hospice Care Program

By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior, Can you offer any information on hospice care, how to choose a good provider, and whether Medicare covers it? My grandmother has terminal cancer and wants to die at home, if possible.

Grieving Granddaughter Dear Grieving, Hospice can be a wonderful option in the last months of life because it offers a variety of services, not only to those who are dying, but also to those left behind. Here’s what you should know.

What Hospice Offers Hospice care is a unique service that provides medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support to people who are in the last stages of a terminal illness – it does not speed up or slow down the process of dying. Hospice’s goal is simply to keep the patient as comfortable and pain-free as possible, with loved ones nearby until death.

The various services provided by a hospice program comes from a team of professionals that works together to accommodate all the patients’ end-of-life needs.

The team typically includes hospice doctors that will work with the primary physician and family members to draft a care plan; nurses who dispense medication for pain control; home care

aids that attend to personal needs like eating and bathing; social workers who help the patient and the family prepare for end of life; clergy members who provide spiritual counseling, if desired; and volunteers that fill a variety of niches, from sitting with the patient to helping clean and maintain their property.

Some hospices even offer massage or music therapy, and nearly all provide bereavement services for relatives and short-term inpatient respite care to give family caregivers a break.

Most hospice patients receive care in their own home. However, hospice will go wherever the patient is – hospital, nursing home, or assisted living residence. Some even have their own facility to use as an option.

To receive hospice, the patient must get a referral from his/her physician stating that their life expectancy is six months or less.

It’s also important to know that home-based hospice care does not mean that a hospice nurse or volunteer is in the home 24 hours a day. Services are based on need and/or what you request.

Hospice care can also be stopped at anytime if the patient’s health improves or if he/she decides to re-enter cure-oriented treatments.

How to Choose The best time to prepare for hospice and consider your options is before it’s necessary, so you’re not making decisions during a stressful time. There are more than 5,500 hospice programs in the U.S., so depending on where you live, you may have several options from which to choose.

To locate a good hospice in your area, ask your family doctor or the discharge planner at your local hospital for a referral, call your state hospice organization (see hospicefoundation. org/hospice-directory for contact information), or search online at sites like the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization at nhpco.org.

When choosing, look for an established hospice that has been operating for a few years and one that is certified by Medicare. To help you select one, the American Hospice Foundation provides a list of questions to ask at 16HospiceQuestions.us.

Who Pays Medicare covers all aspects of hospice care and services for its beneficiaries. There is no deductible for hospice services although there may be a very small co-payment – such as $5 for each prescription drug for pain and symptom control, or a five-percent share for inpatient respite care.

Medicaid also covers hospice in most states, as do most private health insurance plans.

For information, see the Medicare Hospice Benefits online booklet at medicare.gov/pubs/ pdf/02154.pdf. And if you have financial questions or concerns, talk to your hospice provider.

Most hospices offer financial assistance to help families.

Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior book. ISI

For the first time in 70 years, there’ll be not a single veteran of World War II sitting in the House of Representatives or in the Senate when 114th Congress convenes on January 3, 2015, the Association of Mature American Citizens notes.

Michigan’s John Dingell, who is 88 years old, and 91-year-old Ralph Hall of Texas are the last of the Greatest Generation to serve.

Dingell, a Democrat, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944 when he turned 18 and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1955 and holds the distinction of being the longest serving member of Congress.

Navy Lieutenant Hall, a Republican, joined up in 1942 and was an aircraft carrier pilot. He was elected to the House in 1980 and has held his seat for 17 terms.

Veterans’ advocate Seth Lynn, director of the independent Veterans Campaign, said, “World War II, as awful as it was, broke down many barriers.” Those who served, he said, developed a “camaraderie that lasted for the rest of their lives.”

Representative Hall said the bond held firm among members of Congress who served in the Great War. “When we differed on the issues, we respected each other and chose to respectfully disagree. That was part of our military training and experience.” ISI

The End Of An Era

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Extra Brainpower The Association of Mature American Citizens reports that a new study at Duke University shows that older people may have an edge when it comes to the hectic chore of shopping for the holidays.

Nichole Lighthall, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, put it this way, “For healthy older adults, even though their memory might not be as good, they can naturally recruit other brain regions that are not typically

involved in the task. It seems that it allows them to perform at a higher level.”

The study found that seniors have the ability to access the brain’s ventromedial prefrontal cortex when decision-making becomes more demanding.

The next step, say the researchers, is to find ways to promote easier and greater access to that part of the brain among the elderly. ISI

The Amazing Grandma Scholey Did you have a hard time writing cards and buying presents for loved ones this past Christmas? The Association of Mature American Citizens suggests you take a tip from 82-year-old Mary Scholey of Yorkshire, England. She manages to do those chores with a smile each year, despite the fact that she has ten children and a total of 80 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

And, she has four more great-grandchildren on the way!

“My mum is simply amazing,” says her son, Stephen Gregory. “She gets through packs of Christmas cards. She writes the majority of the cards herself and she goes to local markets to find presents. It’s a massive task for her. I don’t know how she does it.” ISI

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Provided by the Association of Mature American Citizens They’re calling him the “hamburglar” because when he broke into the Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant in Washington DC recently he seemed to spend more time deciding on what he wanted to eat and less on what there was to steal.

Surveillance footage shows the man busily making himself a couple of burgers to go, helping himself to a chilled bottle of water to wash them down, and then heading out the door in the wee hours of the morning. ISI

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 13

No one has to tell you that Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating way to spend the rest of your life. The Alzheimer’s Association says that the prognosis for family and friends can be almost as distressing and demoralizing as the individual’s suffering from the disease itself.

Here are a few random facts from the Alzheimer’s Association that show just how bad things have gotten for patients and their loved ones.

In the last year, five million Americans were diagnosed with the disease and more than 15 million volunteer caregivers provided more than 18 billion hours of their own time to care for loved ones. Caring for a relative or friend with the disease can set you back upwards of $5,000 a year. The

annual price tag for the nation is currently estimated at $236 billion.

Meanwhile, the disease is spreading at a rapid rate. New cases of Alzheimer’s are diagnosed at a rate of one every 66 seconds and by 2050 the pace will skyrocket a new diagnosis every 33 seconds. The disease is already killing people faster than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Perhaps the most chilling news of all is that Alzheimer’s is the only disease among the top 10 causes of death in America that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. ISI

The Painful Truth

Big Doings, Texas Style Things are bigger and better in Texas and the citizens of Bowie, located deep in the heart of Texas, are out to prove it.

The townsfolk got together and amassed enough money to commission a Bowie knife that even the legendary hero of the Alamo would have had trouble wielding. One and a half tons of stainless steel were used to create the 20-foot long replica of Jim’s trusty blade.

The citizens of Bowie are planning a big official dedication ceremony in June to unveil the knife of knives. To make sure this monumental monument gets the recognition it deserves, they’ve invited the Guinness Book of World Records to bear witness. You can be sure the eyes of Texas will be upon them. ISI

PAGE 14 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

Curious About Cuba

to-people trip in which we visited with individual Cubans for specific purNatalie Bartley For years, I was curious about Cuba, an island nation in the Carib- poses through a carefully structured educational program. A visit to two bean. My experience volunteering in Cuba this April was a perfect blend artist communities, plus lectures on the education system and church hisof close-up views of Cuban life and the opportunity to contribute to a local tory, brought us in contact with Cuban professionals. We stopped at some of the area’s famous attractions community. such as the Museo Hemingway, the I chose to go to Cuba with Malecón waterfront avenue, and the the non-profit organization Global Museo de la Revolución. Our group Volunteers. They helped obtain also posed for photographs in front my Cuba visa and the travel afof the newly established United fidavit license from the U.S. Office States of America Embassy. of Foreign Assets Control. Global Some of my personal highVolunteers arranged my air travel lights included learning to dance to from Miami, Florida to Santa Clara, Cuban music at five different musiCuba as well as my bus travel to the cal venues and riding in antique project home base in Ciego de Ávila.

Chevrolet and Ford convertibles Located in the plains of central along the waterfront in Havana.

Cuba, this town of over 100,000 is These taxi rides are a must-do if the capital of the Ciego de Ávila you go to Havana. province. Far from the tourists in HaEven though Cuba is now one vana, residents of this rural area rely of the most desired travel destinaon transportation provided by men tions according TravelAge West, pedaling bicycle-taxis and by horsecertain travel restrictions remain drawn carriages. Old Americanin effect for U.S. residents. Under made vehicles from the 1950s and U.S. law, tourist travel to Cuba is still newly imported vehicles are also in prohibited. Though travelers from the transportation mix. We regularly A must-do activity in Havana, Cuba is a taxi ride in an American-made 1950s car. [Photo other countries travel independently used horse-drawn carriages for our

by Natalie Bartley] as tourists in Cuba, U.S. citizens taxis in the evenings. currently can’t enter as tourists and During the mornings, we helped roam the country freely.

A travel affidavit-general/specific license for legal a Baptist churchwomen’s group make crafts for an upcoming fundraiser and practice their English skills. Some of the Global Volunteers team travel in Cuba is needed. Twelve categories qualify for authorized travel.

Fortunately, the members assisted in a community garden or on maintenance projects.

U.S. rules and allowEvenings consisted of conversational English lessons with the citizens of ances are changing Ciego de Avila at a neighborhood community center.

Working with the locals made it easier for me to form friendships with a rapidly. Starting March wide range of Cubans. 16 individuals could I learned Cubans are travel on their own if friendly, sweet, resil- they comply with a fullient, and creative. De- time agenda of educaspite our government’s tional exchange activistance towards Cuba ties resulting in meanover the years, the Cu- ingful interactions bebans I met did not seem tween the traveler and to hold ill feelings to- individuals in Cuba. A neighborhood Cuban band provides listening and danc dancwards us as Americans. On May 1, Carnival’s ing opportunities in Havana. [Photo by Natalie Bartley] After 12 days in Ciego 704-passenger cruise de Avila, we said a ship was the first to sail from Miami to Havana in 50 years. Expect more sad adiós to our new loosening of restrictions in the upcoming months.

As I reflect on my 14 days in Cuba, I treasure the friendships offered friends. We departed 8 Hotels in the heart of the Canadian Rockies by the women, men, and children of Cuba as we worked towards a comfrom our hotel, rode an air-conditioned bus mon goal of producing crafts, sharing cultures, and learning languages. I BANFF through seven prov- will save my beach vacation with snorkeling and scuba diving for another HOTEL ROOMS SUITES CONDOS inces, and arrived in trip to Cuba in the near future.

Tips for Traveling Havana six hours later.

1-800-563-8764 For the last few days in in Cuba Convert your U.S. www.bestofbanff.com Cuba, we shifted into an educational people- dollars to Euros before you leave home for a better exchange rate.

Bring all your needed lotions and medicines since most U.S. products are not yet available.

Be careful when crossing roads because pedestrians do American-made cars from the 1950s serve as taxis in not have the right-of- Havana. [Photo by Natalie Bartley] way. Carry a washcloth or bandana for baths and showers. And importantly, open your mind to a different way of doing things. There is much to learn!

Natalie Bartley is a Boise-based author of trail guidebooks Best Easy Day Hikes Boise and the newly updated Best Rail Trails Pacific Northwest. ISI

Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sin in the lifeboats.

– Voltaire

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 15

Snohomish County: Changing The World Article & Photos By Dean & Nancy Hoch So, just where in the world is Snohomish County?

And how is the word pronounced?

Most importantly, in what way is this remarkable place changing the world?

First, this huge Washington State county has its southeastern border located just minutes northeast of Seattle, and it extends east from Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountains – making it a terrific jumping off point for exploring a huge part of the Pacific Northwest.

And pronunciation isn’t very hard: snow-HOEmish.

Regarding changing the world?: Well, Snohomish, among other claims to fame, is the home of the city of Everett, which, in turn, is a key player in the transformation of the changing airline flight industry that’s affecting the entire world. Everett is home to the colossus that is Boeing – a company that has already changed – and will continue to radically change our world.

stored to their original condition and flight-worthy.

Yet another is the Museum Of Flight Restoration Center. Here you walk through the huge work center where volunteers often labor for years to breathe life back into historically significant aircraft so they can go on display at the Museum of Flight

Two of us beside BAD KITTY

in Seattle. One plane has been in the restoration process for 19 years!

Airplanes aside, Snohomish County joins other Native American centers across the country in changing the way all Americans view the culture that existed in our nation before Europeans came on the scene – people searching for their own

Two of us at Boeing airport

In this city’s immense plant, the two newest airliners… the huge cargo Dreamlifter and the even larger Boeing 787 Dreamliners are being produced – the latter to the tune of rolling out seven of these majestic behemoths every four weeks – and they’re selling like Ivar’s clam chowder.

With orders in place for hundreds more on the ramp, worldwide air travel will never again be the same. Imagine windows on these babies twice the size of those on conventional airplanes – and the ability to travel virtually jet lag free all over the globe. For example, there is the adjustment of the interior lighting that simulates conditions at your destination, i.e., dawn, day, dusk, and night.

If you go for a visit, be sure to take an informative tour to see how these new airliners are being mass-produced inside the largest building (most volume) in the world. It’s an amazing place to tour, simply because of its sheer size and what is produced within its gigantic walls – the only tour available of a commercial jet assembly plant in North America.

We suggest you take the combined Boeing Tour and Future of Flight Aviation Center Tour, which are made possible through the joint efforts of the Snohomish County Public Facilities District and the Snohomish County Airport/Paine Field where the Boeing plant is located, as well as the Boeing Company, and the Future of Flight Foundation.

Snohomish County is also home to several other fabulous – but smaller – flight centers for those who love to pursue the history and ongoing fantasy of flight. For the past 100 years, the ongoing passion and innovation can be seen in various venues located just minutes from the Boeing plant.

We especially enjoyed the fabulous Flying Heritage Collection, the rare and private collection of Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. Located just around the corner from the Boeing plant, this collection is extremely well designed and features combat aircraft and tanks from 1935-1945, used by the U.S., Britain, Germany, Russia and Japan.

The collection is “Home of the Flying Warbirds” as well as informative videos and huge prints of photos taken during this historic era.

We also toured two other fascinating venues near the Snohomish County Airport. One is the pristinely maintained Historic Flight collection of vintage planes from 1927 to 1957 all beautifully re-

Restoration of Boeing Comet plane

life-changing destinies.

One of the finest of these centers is located in North Snohomish County’s largest city, Marysville. It’s the Hibulb Cultural center of the Tulalip Tribes. For those not familiar, Hibulb (pronounced HEE- bulb) is the Tulalip name for “place of white doves.” And that’s another tongue twister pronounced two-LAY-lip.

This thought-provoking cultural center is a not-to-be-missed venue. It features 23,000 square feet of exhibition galleries with interactive displays and a 2,500 square-foot longhouse exhibit. Especially impressive are the military photos of tribal members who served our country, and there’s a well-appointed gift shop.

Our well-informed and enthusiastic guide pointed out the carvings and displays of totems, canoes, woven baskets, and more. From her, we learned much of the history, cultural values, and spiritual beliefs of these gentle people. For more information, check out hibulbulbculturalcenter.org Snohomish, this unique and easily accessible county can change lives in so many more ways.

Guide Lois at Hibulb Center

From seaside diversions to the stunning mountains, Snohomish is rich in countless mind-bending delights for those seeking adventure, as well as rest and relaxation.

There’s superb year-round camping, kayaking, hiking, scaling of mountainous walls, bald eagle river float trips, whale watching, class IV river rafting, winter snow shoeing, and nature-based tours a specialty. Most of the activities are to be found short distances from first-class conference hotels, oodles of shopping, downtown city life, and more.

The city of Snohomish, meanwhile, located in the colorful Snohomish River Valley has more than three hundred antique dealers and is known as the Antique Capital of the Northwest. Added delights in this community are the Victorian boutiques and houses, and some great restaurants.

Can you see how this amazing Northwest County can – and is – changing the lives of so many in so many ways? So, why not make a trip to see what all it has to offer?

The base for our visit was the beautiful and welcoming Hilton Garden Inn – a wonderfully accessible property for all the flight venues we’ve described, located just a few hundred yards from the Boeing runway where the big fellows are tested daily. We were fortunate to be on the fourth floor with a superb view of the west end of the huge Boeing complex replete with dozens of aircraft on the tarmac – especially colorful at night with the brilliant blue and white lights.

We agree that normally staying at a hotel so near an airport runway may not be at all that appealing; however, in this venue, we didn’t find the occasional muffled noise to be a problem at all. In fact, it was exciting.

Be sure to check out: Snohomish.org. ISI

PAGE 16 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

Tom Hogan’s Immaculately Restored Cars Turn Heads Article and Photo by Dianna Troyer Instead of tucking his perfectly restored cars and trucks safely in a garage, Tom Hogan drives them to run errands throughout southeast Idaho, where they turn heads.

“They’re meant to be used and functional, not to just be a pampered showpiece,” says the 65-year-old Malta resident who has won hundreds of awards at car shows during the past three decades. “A lot of times, when we have to run errands in Burley, we’ll pick out one of the restored cars to drive for fun.”

His light metallic green 1967 Chevy twowheel drive pickup truck has been photographed

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frequently.

“I don’t like seeing wiring or tubing, so I built a “When we drive down the interstate, people stainless steel box to keep the battery in. I used have rolled down their windows and leaned out some chrome tubes instead of hoses in some to take photos,” says his wife, Ilene. places.”

Tom’s restored cars and trucks have turned While Tom appreciates his many trophies, he heads of countless judges at prestigious national also says it was just as gratifying to have his firecar shows. He has won more than 800 awards cracker red 1932 Ford coupe featured in the April including more than 100 trophies, more than 600 2011 issue of Street Rodder Magazine. A staff plaques, and dozens of coats. Yet, the prizes fail writer saw it at a show in Logan, Utah. to motivate him.

Tom says, “I was so honored he picked this car.

“I’d do this even if People and judges like it I never won anything,” because it’s the car in the says Tom, who goes to Beach Boys’ song Little about 20 shows annuDeuce Coupe.” ally. “I’m just a barnyard The car is unusual mechanic who loves because he built it from to create something parts instead of finding with my own personal the frame of a coupe and touches. We love going restoring it. It has circular to shows, visiting with 9-inch headlights, suicide people, and seeing what doors that open toward they’ve done with their the front instead of the cars. I can’t sing or paint, back of the car, chrome but I can be creative with vents, and flames painted cars. They’ve been good on its running boards. to me.”

He nicknamed it the Another one of Tom’s “Cursed Coupe” for all errand cars is a blackthe quirky things that hapand-chrome 1969 Chevpened during the 5,000 rolet Chevelle SS. He Tom and Ilene Hogan relax in their 1932 Ford Coupe hours it took to build it. has driven more than featured in Street Rodder Magazine. It has flames on “You’d think the parts 88,000 miles in the eye- its running board, chrome engine components, suicide for it would have all fit catching muscle car. doors, and 9-inch headlights. [Photo by Dianna Troyer] nicely, like a puzzle, but Like a time machine, the they didn’t,” he recalls. “I rumbling Chevelle transports Ilene and him back had to modify this and that. Then the engine caught to the day, triggering teenage memories. fire. I still don’t know what caused it.”

“Whenever we drive this, it reminds us of our He reconfigured the engine several times behigh school days when we listened to songs by fore it finally met his precise specifications.

Journey, Chicago, Boston, America, or the Beach Several years ago, Tom’s meticulous restoraBoys,” says Ilene, 55. “We both love rock and roll tion work and gregarious personality caught the from the ’50s to the ’80s.” attention of Goodguys Rod and Custom AssociaThe Hogans grin as they cruise through Malta tion, the largest hot rod organization in the world. on Highway 81. Once clear of town, Tom floors it “One of their employees asked me to be a naand shifts gears. The powerful acceleration pushes tional rep,” says Tom. As a rep, he selects cars at passengers back in their seat. shows to feature in Goodguys’ monthly publication.

As he returns to town and slows down, he A truck driver, Tom restores cars in his spare says, “Listen to this. Heads turn when you run open time. For work, he drives “a plain 1990 Chevy headers.” As the dual exhaust mufflers thunder, pickup. It gets me there and home again.” the car vibrates.

Wherever he goes, Tom keeps an eye out for Back home near Raft River High School, the his next project.

Hogans buff the immaculate Chevelle. After buy“You never know what you’ll see or what deal ing it from a teen-ager in 2004, Tom spent about someone will offer.” ISI 3,000 hours restoring it.

Volunteer Larry Cottom Is Driven To Help Veterans

By Dianna Troyer Every Tuesday, Larry Cottom awakens at 4 a.m., knowing his imminent daylong mission will brighten his day.

A volunteer for the Mini-Cassia Veteran’s Service Office in Rupert, Larry drives veterans or their spouses to the Boise VA Medical Center.

“I’m not paid, and that’s just fine with me,” says Larry, 70, a Vietnam War veteran. For 11 months, he worked as a radar technician on the USS Coral Sea, an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. “I came home in 1966,” says Larry, who grew

up in the Mini-Cassia area and lives in Acequia.

“Driving the van is a way for me to show support for our veterans. I get a lot of satisfaction from giving something back to them. Besides that, I’ve made some wonderful friendships I wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Since Larry began driving the weekly route in April 2011, he has logged about 75,000 miles. The 330-mile round trip takes about 12 to 16 hours, depending on the number of appointments and road conditions in winter.

“I’ve been lucky so far and haven’t even had a

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 17

flat tire or really hazardous weather,” he says.

“All the veterans groups wanted to coordinate their programs, so we Larry began volunteering after a friend told him the office needed a driver. formed that organization,” says Larry, referring to the Disabled American He had retired from working as a mechanic at Arrowhead Potato Company Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, and the and wanted to do community service with his spare time.

American Legion.

Larry says his passengers tell him his volunteerism is vital.

Larry and other volunteers perform military rites at veterans’ funerals.

“Some people can’t drive due to poor eyesight or other health issues. Since 2008, he and other veterans have attended more than 400 funerals.

Others can’t really afford the gas to get there, and “We want to have a show of force, so families some just don’t want to drive in city traffic. Others know we care,” says Larry. “There are about 17 of don’t want to bother family members or friends to us who show up regularly. Sadly, we’re losing a lot take them.” of our World War II veterans.”

Larry never knows how many passengers he will Larry is also on the Mini-Cassia Veterans Advihave until he picks up his list every Monday from sory Board and meets with county commissioners Georgia Greenwell, the Veteran’s Service Officer every three months to discuss issues affecting in Rupert. veterans.

“Sometimes it’s just a few, or a half dozen, and People who want to support veteran’s programs other times a dozen,” he says. do not need to be a veteran, he emphasizes.

Georgia relies on other volunteers too, – Dalen “To be a driver, you just have to pass a physical White who drives the route on Wednesday, and Jane and a background check,” he says.

Allen on Thursday.

After starting his Tuesdays at 4 a.m., Larry is “Veterans in our area are lucky to have so many Volunteer Larry Cottom has logged more than 75,000 usually back home by about 9 p.m. miles, driving veterans to medical appointments in people who are more than willing to help them,” says Boise. [Photo by Dianna Troyer] “I definitely want to get to 100,000 miles,” he Georgia. “It’s wonderful to have that attitude here.” says, smiling. “I should have that in a couple of Besides being a volunteer driver, Larry is inmore years.” volved in other programs that support veteran. He is commander of the To learn about being a volunteer driver, call-208-422-1000, ext. 7555. ISI Mini-Cassia Veterans Organization, a group that formed in 2008.

Spontaneity Keeps Romantic Spark Lit For Steve And Wendy Bott

By Dianna Troyer common.

Retired teachers Steve and Wendy Bott have “She grew up on a ranch near Midvale, and no idea how they will celebrate their 46th wedding I grew up on dairy in this area. Plus, we were anniversary on June 3. both majoring in education. From the first time “We don’t have any set traditions for our an- we met, there was a spark. We hit it off, and it niversary, or summer vacations, or Valentine’s snowballed from there. Pretty soon I realized I’d Day,” says Wendy. “We’re better not let this one go.” spontaneous and usually Wendy says, “He was decide that day what we’ll kind, had a good sense do depending on what’s of humor, was outgoing, going on.” and had a lot of friends.

The rural Rupert resHe could talk to anyone th idents spent their 25 and make them feel at wedding anniversary at ease.” the 6th District Rodeo FiAfter dating for two nals in Rupert, where years, they were married they cheered for their on June 3, 1970, during son Trevor and daughter their senior year of colBrandi who were competlege. Steve and Wendy ing. still do date night on The Botts say flexFridays as they did when ibility, open-mindedness, they first met. spontaneity, and their “We keep the spark faith have kept the roalive going out to dinner mantic spark lit in their or shopping or whatever marriage. One of their we feel like,” says Steve. most memorable summer “Everyone gets busy vacations was unplanned. with hobbies or work or Steve and Wendy Bott of Rupert say they will be “Three years ago, we volunteering, but you were done helping at the spontaneous when celebrating their 46th wedding should take time for your anniversary on June 3. [Photo by Dianna Troyer] fair,” says Steve. “We spouse like you did when came home, and I told you started dating.”

Wendy, ‘Pack some clothes. We’re outta here.’

Wendy says couples should do little things She asked where we were going. I told her, ‘I don’t for each other every day. have a clue.’ Then she asked for how long. I told “Make the other person feel special and say her I didn’t know that either, but probably about please and thank you and mean it,” says Wendy. a week.”

“When we’re together, I’ve never had to open a They started their impromptu vacation in car door because it’s one of the little things he Boise. does for me. Put God at the center of your life, “Then we went up to northern Idaho and Mon- too, and blessings will come.” tana and back home,” says Wendy. “We didn’t Steve says not to let little things become have hotel reservations, a schedule, or deadlines. big things. To resolve inevitable disagreements, It was wonderful. If we wanted to stop and see Wendy suggests talking it out. something, we did.”

“You might not agree, but you can still listen.

Steve and Wendy agree it was a relief to be Instead of starting a sentence with ‘You did this free of deadlines and schedules. or that,’ say ‘I feel …’ ” says Wendy.““ That way, In 2005, Steve retired from teaching agricul- you’re not pointing the finger of blame.” ture at Minico High School for 34 years. Wendy Wendy says she has always appreciated taught elementary school before retiring in 2010, Steve’s open-mindedness and his willingness finishing her teaching career with16 years at the to support their kids’ interests even though he Idaho Youth Ranch. might not have shared the enthusiasm.

During the past decades, time has not tar“I didn’t like pigs and wanted Trevor to do nished the traits that attracted them to each other cattle for a 4-H project because we were raising when they met at the University of Idaho nearly them,” says Steve. “So wouldn’t you know it, 50 years ago. when he was 8, he wanted to raise a pig. Then “Her sister introduced us in the cafeteria,” we took a family vote, and I lost three to one. I says Steve. “Wendy had a bubbly personality couldn’t believe what he wanted to do the next and a great smile.” year. He wanted to start raising pigs. I lost that As they talked, they found they had a lot in family vote, too. So needless to say, we were in

the pig business for the next 30 years.”

One of the little things Steve has done for his appreciative family is to make gifts. Wendy and their children rely on his carpentry and metalworking expertise.

PAGE 18 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

“I like to keep busy and make things in my shop,” he says of a 45-foot-by-60-foot building that houses more than a dozen machines for working metal and wood.

“Over the years, I’ve picked up all kinds of equipment. A lot of it was used or headed to the dump because it wasn’t working. I repaired a lot

JUNE/JULY 2016

of these machines and am still using them today.”

Every Christmas, he handcrafted toys for Trevor and Brandi.

“Now I make toys for our four grandchildren,” says Steve.

When Wendy recently saw a wooden love seat on rockers, Steve built one for her in a couple of weeks.

“My next project is helping our daughter remodel her kitchen,” says Steve.

As for their anniversary celebration or summer vacation, Steve and Wendy wonder what they will do.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” says Steve. “We don’t know yet either.” ISI

Problems Are Mere Puzzles For Retired Engineer And Teacher Keith Price eventually earned a degree in secondary education.

By Dianna Troyer “It’s all about time management,” he says about accomplishing his Instead of feeling frustrated with problems during his many careers, educational goals.

Keith Price, a retired electrical engineer and high school math teacher, After retiring at age 62 as Utah Power & Light’s training coordinator says he preferred to look at them and life as puzzles to solve methodically.

The 86-year-old math teacher at Raft River High School in Malta often for electrical engineers and technicians in Salt Lake City, he took a break tells his students, “It’s about learning to solve a puzzle, developing a certain from engineering. After 10 years of retirement, he confronted yet another problem. mindset that you can apply to everyday life. I try “I ran out of things to do.” he says. to teach them to think critically, so they can face a While vacationing at a friend’s house south problem, analyze it, and come up with sequential of Malta, he was asked to tutor some high school steps to deal with it. math students. The principal at the time heard “Whatever they do after high school, whether about him and asked him to teach at the school. buying a home or car, writing a household budget, “I wanted to develop a teaching method to or even becoming an engineer, they shouldn’t feel help students with math and problem-solving,” he overwhelmed,” he says. “They should be able to says. “I make the kids read the book first and try come up with a logical plan and execute it.” to work the examples, then go to the problems.

Before 2006 when he began teaching math at Then we go over the material together.”

Raft River High School, Keith confronted countIn his classroom, classical music plays softly. less problems during a 38-year engineering career “It helps them to concentrate,” he says. “As that led him around the world. His international for the homework, like with anything, you have work experience required him to solve countless to practice to get better, so I assign a lot. When puzzles. solving problems, I ask them to write out every “It was rewarding to work on all kinds of step, so I can see how they think. Sometimes after projects in the U.S. and abroad,” says Keith, “I solving an equation, they look at their work and designed footings for a radar tower, electrical are amazed. I tell them to brag to their parents systems, heating systems, and transmission lines about what they can do.” for mining.”

Keith tempers his strict teaching style with As a teenager growing up on a ranch near humor and even stuffed animals stored in a closet.

Hagerman, Keith was uncertain of how he would A student who turns in late homework gets to solve the problem of picking just one career, conhold Mr. Knucklehead, a black stuffed dog. An sidering his diverse interests: horses, math, and exemplary student gets the privilege of holding meteorology.

After retiring as an electrical engineer, Keith Price says Miss Piggy or Poopsie, a plush pink stuffed dog.

After enlisting in the Navy, he worked as a he ran out of things to do, so he began teaching math at With another school year concluded, Keith meteorologist from 1948 to 1952.

Raft River High School in Malta. [Photo by Dianna Troyer] plans to relax with his two Yorkies and his reining “I was doing the weather forecasts in the horses: five brood mares and a stallion.

Marshall Islands when atomic bombs were being “That’s one of the things I missed with my career and traveling, not tested,” he says. being around horses,” he says. “It’s great to have time to do all the things After his discharge, Keith enrolled at the University of Utah, where ISI I enjoy.” he did research on cloud seeding before eventually majoring in electrical engineering. Along with engineering, education intrigued him, so he

Woodworker Jim Brown Relies On Blueprints In Head Instead Of In Hand

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By Dianna Troyer The possibility of failure has never frightened Jim Brown, especially when building a project without blueprints in hand.

“The blueprints are in my head, so I build as I go,” says the 83-year-old Paul resident of the woodworking, remodeling, or construction projects he has tackled.

A lack of laborsaving equipment like a backhoe or crane has also never slowed him down.

“As for heavy equipment, if I needed to dig something and pour concrete, I used a shovel. If I had to lift something like a truss, I got help from family, and we used ladders,” Jim says.

Jim’s lack of formal training in woodworking and construction never deterred him from starting a project.

“Some people are afraid to try something new, but I’ve never been like that,” he says. “I’ve been a mechanic, sold insurance, and was a real estate broker until I retired three years ago. I like to give something a try and if I fail, that’s okay. It won’t be the first time or the even the last time. I keep on going.”

With more time in retirement and most of his home remodeling done, Jim has become known for building customized signs and crafting birdhouses that are so creative people keep them inside for décor. He began building birdhouses several years ago to give to his kids and grandkids for Christmas.

“I thought it would be fun, so I built 33 different birdhouses,” he says.

Jim’s clients hear about him by word-of-mouth.

“Even though I’ve always got something going, I’ll never get rich doing this. With my prices and all the labor I have in projects, I make about a nickel an hour if I’m lucky,” he says, laughing.

He estimates he invested 46 hours in one multi-story birdhouse. A 5-footlong solid redwood sign usually requires 30 to 45 hours of labor with routing the letters, sanding, painting the letters, and varnishing.

Despite meager financial compensation, Jim enjoys what he does.

“I know why God never created two of anything,” he says. “It’s impossible unless you have machines in a manufacturing plant. Everything I build is one-of-a-kind, and people seem to appreciate that. When I start a birdhouse,

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 19

I have no idea what it will look like until it’s finished.” storage area, and woodworking shop adjacent to the house.

Jim describes himself as a perfectionist when working with wood.

When his kids were grown and shopping for homes, they turned to him “My wife, Judy, says I do everything myself because no one else can build for help with construction and remodeling. to my standards. My dad always told “I’ve remodeled five to eight homes me if you do something, do it right or and built three,” says Jim. don’t bother doing it at all. I’ve always Jim also does community service lived that way. There are plenty of times projects. Last year, he put up new curwhen I’ve had to take something apart tain rods, and Judy sewed curtains for and start again to get it right.” cabins at a church camp.

Judy appreciates his meticulous “There were 56 windows in all,” he attitude and skills. says. “The windows weren’t square, so “He does fantastic work. I don’t it was challenging.” know where he comes up with all his Sometimes, Jim works in his shop ideas. It’s wonderful,” says Judy. “He eight to 12 hours a day. put vinyl siding on the house last sum“It’s easy to lose track of time out mer, so we wouldn’t have to paint it here,” he says. anymore. Whatever he does, it’s done He never loses track of the hardright.” ware items he needs, though, and Jim’s first major project was remodorganizeg screws, nuts, and bolts in eling their house. neatly labeled containers.

“It was our first home, a small GI Jim says he feels compelled to barracks from Mountain Home Air work on a project every day whether Force Base that had been moved here. for a client, his eight kids, 14 grandchilWhoever built it didn’t care whether Whatever he envisions, Jim Brown builds it in his neatly organized shop in Paul. dren, or 14 great grandchildren. or not things were square, level, or [Photo by Dianna Troyer] “I’ve always had the need to feel straight,” he says, laughing. “We were productive every day I’m alive,” he on a budget so we couldn’t really afford to hire someone to fix it up. That says. “Some days in the morning, I’m not quite sure what I’ll start working was in 1960, and we’ve been here ever since.” on, but then an idea pops in my head. I’ll keep doing my woodworking as He replaced doors, windows, and flooring, and added a room, so they long as the ideas keep coming.” ISI have a comfortable, well-lit 1,500-square-foot home. He also built a garage,

I’m Only As Old As I Feel

By Saralee Perel I just had my 64th birthday. Aging doesn’t bother me at all. Not one bit. Especially things like memory loss. And especially things like memory loss.

My birthday was wonderful. My husband (What’s his name?) made me eggs benedict for breakfast.

I looked through the paper to find a movie but I’ve joined the ranks of the can’t-read-small-print club, so I went to the bedroom to find my glasses.

When I walked in, I had no idea what I had come in there to do. Plus my glasses were on the top of my head. This “60 is the new 40” thing is hogwash.

“Bob,” I said to my husband, “I’m getting old.”

“Sweetheart,” he said. “You’re improving with age – like a fine violin.”

“Tell that to my breasts. They’re in a race to my waist. They face straight down, Bob.” The poor guy kept trying to cheer me up. He said, “Age is just a state of mind. It’s all in your head.”

“No Bob. Its location is somewhere else. You may have noticed that every time you approach me with your come-hither goo goo eyes.”

“There are things you can do to help a low sex drive.”

“I do. I scream, ‘Get away from me!’”

For the birthday outing, I decided on my muchloved jeans, a sweatshirt, and boots. Someone said to me, in a not-so-nice manner, “You dress like a teenager.”

Why on earth does what we wear have anything to do with how old we are? It’s a matter of how we feel, not what others think. I may not dress like I’m acting my age, but I’ve learned that “not

acting your age” is usually said about someone who’s doing what they want to do and having a good time doing it.

When I was dressed, I looked in a mirror and saw the depths of the crevices on my face. “I look like Mick Jagger,” I told Bob. “Gargoyles have less indented faces than mine.”

“You look good for…”

“For my age, right?”

“That’s not what I meant. You look good for any age. Age is just a number.”

“Tell that to my doctor when he talks about colonoscopies at fifty.”

After the – what do you call it? Film place?

Moving picture place? Got it, movie theater; we went to the supermarket and bought ingredients for my favorite meal of spaghetti, meatballs, and fancy garlic bread.

At home, the water was already boiling when we realized we forgot to buy spaghetti.

And so with Bob’s loving help, I cheered up.

We dined on meatballs and bread by candlelight.

His present was a new pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt, both of which I loved. My greatest present was of course, celebrating being married to such a compassionate man – my best friend who supports me when I’m happy and when I’m blue. Who loves me no matter what I wear, or do (mistake or not), or whatever mood I’m in. He is my life-long dream of a partner.

Bob doesn’t see my wrinkles, my gray hair, or my broadening belly. He sees a woman who tries to love life – at any age. He sees his lover – a woman he adores and who adores him.

When he comes in the door, I feel like I’m

twenty-one again. He lights up my heart. I see a vibrant man, full of hopes and dreams. As long as we live, our love will bloom in the richness of each new day.

On my birthday, I thanked my boundless good fortune for my husband, Bob. And especially the fact that when we went to the supermarket, we didn’t forget birthday cake.

Award-winning columnist, Saralee Perel, can be reached at sperel@saraleeperel.com or SaraleePerel.com. ISI

Things You Have Always Wanted To Know About Antelope

Submitted by Julie Brantley Q: What does a lion call an antelope? A: Fast food.

Q: Why can’t wildebeests marry? A: Because they cantelope.

Q: What do you call an antelope with a carrot in each ear? A: Anything you want since he can’t hear you!

Q: What did the grape say when the antelope stood on it? A: Nothing, it just let out a little wine!

Q: Why did the antelope cross the road? A: To prove to the possum that it could be done!

Q: When does an antelope go “roarrrr”? A: When it is learning a new language!

Q: What’s more amazing than a talking antelope? A: A spelling bee!

Q: What did the antelope say to the blade of grass? A: Nice gnawing you! ISI

Religious Cowboy

Submitted by Julie Brantley The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the prairie. Three weeks later, an antelope walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The cowboy couldn’t believe his eyes.

He took the precious book out of the antelope’s mouth, raised his eyes heavenward, and exclaimed, “It’s a miracle!”

“Not really,” replied the antelope. “Your name is written inside the cover.” ISI

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PAGE 20 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

The golden days of summer bring with them fond recollections of seasons past, and the adventures, new places, and new faces that accompany the quintessential summer job. As you read this issue’s remembrance, take time to reflect on your own bygone summers and experiences. Let the characters and natural beauty of Stanley at the foot of the Sawtooth range spark your own explorations of the figures that populated your favorite summer places.

Finally, let the story remind you of the power of new experiences and start thinking what lies around this summer’s corner for you!

This issue’s Remember When winner is Donna Brown of Burley, whose reflection, Summer 1980 – Work And Going Home, captures the spirit of the summer job adventure. Thank you, Donna, for sharing your experiences in Stanley!

Remember When contains our readers’ personal reflections and contributions describing fictional or non-fictional accounts from the “Good ol’ Days” or reflections on life in general. Contributions may be stories, letters, artwork, poetry, etc. Photos may be included.

Each issue of the Idaho Senior Independent features the contribution deemed best by our staff. The contributor of the winning entry will receive a $25 cash prize.

We look forward to receiving your contributions for our August/September 2016 issue. Mail your correspondence to Idaho Senior Independent, P.O. Box 3341, Great Falls, MT 59403; email to idahoseniorind@bresnan.net; or call 1-866-360-5683 or 208-318-0310. Visit us online at idahoseniorindependent. com.

Summer 1980 – Work And Going Home

By Donna Brown There was a note of sadness along with the eager anticipation of going home after a summer’s work in the small resort town of Stanley.

This extraordinary town is renowned for being the friendliest town in the U.S.A. It’s home to the famous 4th of July all night stomp where people spill into the street under a star studded sky to visit, dance, and enjoy the cool of the night even though it’s summer.

To stand in this town of less than 100, except during tourist season, is like standing in the middle of a picture postcard where you are sure such beauty is unmatched anywhere else on the planet.

Going home means saying goodbye to all your new summer friends gathered in Stanley from various states, colleges, and high schools with a few oldsters mixed among the young and the in-betweens.

There was little Eddie from California, age 15, who began the job with the service station just two weeks before I did and already had all the answers and was so willing to help on my first day and my second. And my third, fourth, and so on. At times, he insisted that I sit while he did my work at the gas pumps.

I wondered, “Does he respect me because I’m older or does he really like being my friend?”

After all, I was 44 and he was 15.

There was Lance, a handsome lad who celebrated his 19th birthday with a kegger for the young folks of the town. Already he had a suspended driver’s license for a DUI. Working with him over the summer, I tried to impress upon him what a waste it was to smoke and drink in such excess.

How happy I was on my last day of work when he

told me he was going to go into the ranching business with his older brother on their retired Dad’s ranch and he thought he could quit smoking and drinking. This from a boy who started smoking and drinking at age 12.

There was the boy that worked across the street at the restaurant whom I’d visited with many times but never asked his name. Then he was eagerly gassing up his car to head home to his parents, high school, and his beloved football team. He was not sure if he’d return next summer.

There was a hint of homesickness.

Marsh was the young teacher with one year of experience and happy to be returning to her classroom of 2nd grade challenges. She worked at the gas station to buy a long-awaited car.

Julie was biding her time until she could be accepted as an electrical apprentice in an area hard hit by recession. She appeared to be a happy-go-lucky girl but you sense that deep down was a very unhappy person wanting out.

Did she flit from one affair to another because of an unhappy home life?

The loveable characters, nicknamed Frick and Frack by co-workers so exasperated with them one minute and uncontrollably laughing at them the next, also worked at the restaurant across the street. Play came first with this pair and if there was time, they worked. They were always together and into trouble most of the time with their pranks.

Finally, I have to examine myself. It had been a good summer in most ways. The best part was bunking with my 19-year-old daughter and really enjoying the closeness of an 18’ camp trailer. A truly wonderful experience.

This job was so different from my 25-year career in bookkeeping. After 25 years, my husband and I had decided to work our way around the United States doing whatever job was available to see what life was like on the other side of the fence. Things hadn’t worked out as planned, so I ended up with a job in Stanley while he was at home, 200 miles away, tying up loose ends. We only got to see each other on weekends, but how exciting it was when he arrived and how sad I felt when he had to leave.

What a wonderful experience was, but I don’t want to do it again. I want to go on to another experience and another group of new friends.

Memories are so valuable!

It was time to say goodbye to the others in the trailer park, café, and store combination. We’ve exchanged baked goodies, recipes, ideas, and our dreams. Stanley is filled with miners, rich people, poor people, retired people, and offbeat characters all here for the summer, and all hold a special place in my heart. Some of the hardier will stay through the winter, but most will be going home with their memories – and I hope they feel the close bond that I feel. ISI

Spring Fishing

By Larry Roland, Missoula One beautiful spring morning at our aunt’s farm the sun shone brightly as birds trilled in the bushes, dogwood bloomed on the far side of the field by the house, and a tractor purred in the equipment shed next to the barn. Today we were going to follow the plow on its first run through the verdant grass and catch fishing worms.

With a quart jar ready to receive our treasure, we waited impertinently while the shining plowshares were hitched to the drawbar of the painting machine. When the first roll of soil turned its face to the sun, we pounced anxiously searching for our intended quarry. And there it was – a large, juicy nightcrawler fatter and longer than we could have hoped – a small snake to our young eyes!

Boy, were we ever going to catch some whoppers in the farm with that!

We plodded along in the furrow, examining the brown, gleaming rows as we went, seizing only the biggest and best that we found. Quickly our container filled, and chortling with glee, we headed for the farmhouse to show mom and our aunt. They pronounced themselves impressed but said that we could not keep bait in the house.

Well then, where can we stash our prize until we go fishing?

One of the cousins suggested that we store them in the barn – an excellent idea. So we trooped into the lower level, surveyed the possibilities, and decided the windowsill would be just the place. It was wide enough to hold the jar comfortably, and would be easily accessible

when we headed out with fishing rods in hand. We carefully deposited our treasure and went away to play, greatly pleased with our foresight in leaving our precious treasure sitting in the dust of a warm, south-facing shelf.

And then… we forgot about them until a few days later when someone wondered what that horrible smell was.

For the life of us, we could not figure out where it was coming from. The odor was so pervasive it seemed to come from all directions at once, but we couldn’t find the source… until our inquisitive eyes – and noses – spied the jar stewing in the sun.

Our worms! Our glorious nightcrawlers! The foolproof key to landing those monster bass! There they were, all turned to... gross! Now what are we going to do with them?

We pondered our options, and then went to our parents and reported the situation. “Throw them away,” came the chorus of adult voices, “and not anywhere near the house. Take them out in a field somewhere; dump them down a woodchuck hole.

Just make sure it is far away.

“Did they want the jar back?” we inquired.

“Absolutely not,” came the emphatic denial.

“Just toss the whole shebang. And here’s a lid to screw on so that you can endure the trip without gagging.”

We made a sorrowful procession to the far corner of the pasture where we witnessed the low arc of the tossed vessel. It had been a wonderful plan to hook those whoppers, and now spring plowing was over… but just wait until next spring! ISI

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 21

Are Your Ready For Fun And Competition? Senior Games Await Once athletes finish school they find there are very few organized sporting events in which they can compete. This is particularly true for the older athlete. This is why the Portneuf Medical Center Southeast Idaho Senior Games plays such an important role in the physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being for competitors 50+. With personal goals and high expectations, athletes will come together July 8-16 for the competition in Pocatello.

Participants can sign up for 32 different events

with over 108 different categories within those events. There is something for every interest and level of fitness – archery, basketball, billiards, bocce ball, bowling, card games, chess, croquet, cycling, dance, darts, disc golf, fun run and walk, golf, horseshoes, mahjong, pickleball, shuffleboard, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field, and triathlon.

The emphasis of the games is to provide participants with opportunities for competition, fun, and camaraderie.

“You don’t stop playing because you get old, you grow old because you stop playing,” is our motto. Everyone who comes and competes is a winner. The participants prove no one is ever too old to go for gold. And, with the common thread of the games, people really get to know each other and make new friendships.

Register before June 15 to get the early bird special. For registration information, visit seidahoseniorgames.org, call 208 233-2034, or email southeastidahoseniorgames@gmail.com. ISI

The Hobbyist RVer

By Bernice Beard Many RVers have hobbies they pursue both at home and on the road. Here are a variety of hobbies, resources for finding places to pursue them and useful tips.

Hobbies • Customizing and maintaining the RV itself is a hobby for some travelers. Some restore vintage RVs and belong to clubs such as the Tin Can Tourists, tincantourists.com.

• In geocaching, hobbyists use geographic coordinates shown on various websites along with a GPS or phone to find caches containing “treasure.”

The fun is in finding the cache more than in what it contains. Finders may either keep one of the items in the container and leave something in exchange or simply sign the cache’s logbook. Later they can record their find on the website that contained the original GPS information. Part of the excitement is in creating a growing log of caches discovered. To get started, see geocaching.com.

• Finding coins, jewelry, and other objects by

using a metal detector can be intriguing. Magazines such as Lost Treasure, 800-423-0029 and losttreasure.com, give how-to information.

• Needlework such as cross-stitching, smocking, crocheting, knitting, needlepoint, embroidery, quilting, and sewing make excellent hobbies for RVers, who may craft smocking projects in the evenings while watching television or sitting outside in a comfortable folding chair or perhaps knit or crochet while riding.

• Arts and crafts that RVers embrace include jewelry making, beading, scrapbooking, painting, woodcarving, letter writing, and photography.

• Most RVers carry along a laptop, tablet, and printer. They enjoy writing journals, essays, articles, poems, and book drafts; e-mailing friends and family; writing blogs; or maintaining websites.

• Reading is a hobby enjoyed on the road by those who also delight in it at home. Travelers bring the latest fiction or nonfiction book with them or borrow books, talking or print, from a local library.

• Shopping is high on the list of hobbies that

RVers enjoy.

• RVing bird watchers can enjoy their hobby wherever they go or at planned birding destinations. Birders’ resources can be found at americanbirding.org.

• Many RVers collect items – from rocks and gems to antiques and toys.

• Some RVers research family trees by visiting governmental record rooms, genealogical societies, church offices (for birth, baptismal, marriage and death dates), and libraries (for old newspa-

PAGE 22 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

pers). They take photos of ancestral homesteads, church sites, and cemetery tombstones. If you plan to visit civic offices, arrive on a day they are open – not weekends or holidays.

• RVing musicians may take along a guitar or other musical instrument for the enjoyment of everyone.

Resources • Many RV parks and resorts offer craft, woodworking, and creative arts classes for overnight or long-term visitors. Check a campground directory for specific parks offering activities of interest, or search gocampingamerica.com.

• Certain chapters of RV clubs focus on specific interests of its members. For example, the Holiday Hams chapter of the Holiday Rambler Recreational Vehicle Club, hrrvc.org, is for licensed amateur radio operators.

• Automobile buffs can find the locations of museums such as the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan, at car?stuff.com/carlinks/museums.htm.

• The National Park Service, nps.gov, preserves America’s history. Among many others, it has 70 parks that tell the story of the Civil War, cwar.nps. gov/civilwar.

Tips • Before photographing an old gravestone, wet it with water so the lettering will show up better.

BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS RAILROAD EARTH EMMYLOU HARRIS FAMILY CONCERT ANGELIQUE KIDJO NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS THE SPOKANE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

• When planning a trip, leave some free time so you can see whatever museums or other places interest you as you go along.

• At welcome centers, browse the brochures or ask the staff for information related to your hobby.

• If photography is your hobby, keep your camera and phone handy beside the passenger seat and have a purse or fanny pack that’s big enough to hold it. In a small tablet, record date, subject, and location of each photo.

Riggins: On the Edge of Wild

By Bernice Karnop Don’t be fooled by Riggins. It looks like a perfectly peaceful little town but it exists on the naked edge of wild. Tucked into a deep gorge at the confluence of the Salmon and the Little Salmon Rivers, Riggins is only 1,800 feet above sea level.

This creates a banana belt where residents raise a lot of tame fruits and vegetables. Just a few miles away, however, is the Seven Devils Wilderness area where more than half a dozen peaks soar above 9,000 feet. If they were skyscrapers they would rise a mile and a half into the air from Riggins.

Riggins, if quiet, is the gateway to all things wild – wild rivers, wild scenery, wildlife, wild fish, wild flowers, birds, forests, streams, waterfalls, canyons, and perhaps a few wild people. These wild things, the stuff that nature is made of, are in short supply in many areas and therefore are a treasure to all who love things wild. In Riggins, wild is right out the door, whether the door faces north, south, east, or west.

Riggins is headquarters to outfitters and guides that help folks enjoy the white water, the mountains, and wilderness adventures of all kinds. Its stores supply individuals who make their own plans. They have good restaurants for travelers along U.S. 95 who have reached the midpoint of the journey from Boise to Lewiston. Those who brought a picnic can enjoy it, along with the scenery, in City Park on the River’s edge.

The settlement here originally was known as Gouge Eye, one source reports, for an incident that happened in a bar fight. Mostly, however, the history is tamer, steeped in the honest work of ranching, lumber, and mining as well as river activities, hunting, and fishing.

Riggins commemorated Idaho’s Centennial by building the scow that is now in City Park. It repreThe sents the story of Captain Harry Glueke who ran augusT 4 - 14, 2016 a wooden scow down the Salmon River from Salmon City to Lewiston.

There he dismantled the

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• If you’d like to travel to a remote location such as Alaska in pursuit of your hobby but would like company, consider an RV caravan. The sponsoring group plans the itinerary and makes advance reservations for campgrounds and group activities such as meals, ferries, sightseeing, and shows.

Of course, nobody says an RVer must have a hobby. It’s just that there are so many specialinterest activities that are mobile and that enrich the RVer’s travel experience. ISI

boat and sold the wood, bought a horse, and came back home overland. This is one of the examples of the Salmon being the “river of no return.” The replica, in which the group retraced Glueke’s journey in 1990, is one of 21 points of interest where visitors stop on the Riggins Walking Tour.

The steelhead and salmon don’t consider the river that carries their name as a river of no return.

They return every year to their spawning grounds, drawing anglers to their runs.

While the Salmon River comes from the east into Riggins, the Snake River and Hells’ Canyon are to the west. Drivers take a road north of here to Pittsburg Landing on the Snake River.

“This is a remarkable drive, though in wet weather the remarks may be expletives,” quips Court Conley in Idaho for the Curious. Check locally about the drive. Unless they have changed the road, you don’t want to tackle it with a motor home.

The Snake River canyon is filled with such things as teepee rings and petroglyphs and other signs of its popularity with early Native people.

Just north of Riggins on U.S. 95, White Bird Canyon is the site of the opening battle in the unfortunate Nez Perce War of 1887. This sad event lasted for three and a half months, ending in Montana, just short of the Canadian border.

The White Bird grade on U.S. 95 is a breathtaking ride worthy of its National Register of Historic Places designation. The new road, costing $8 million back then, was completed in 1975. It replaced the winding, switchback marked road built from 1915 to 1921 as the only link between the capital at Boise and North Idaho. Signs say it took 13 hours to drive the 197 miles between Boise and Grangeville on the old road and, that if put together the curves and switchbacks of that road would make 36 complete circles. The old road was paved in 1937.

The new road is also amazing. Drivers should stop at the pull outs to take in the vast sweeping views of White Bird Canyon.

There is much more to say about the west central Idaho towns of Riggins, Lucille, White Bird, Grangeville, and all the wild country surrounding them. Visits and revisits will feed your soul’s need for all things wild. ISI

If you think you are so enlightenend go and spend a week with your parents.

- Ram Dass

JUNE/JULY 2016

Utah’s Heart of the Arts 1 - 8 0 0 - 8 8 2 - 4 433 | exp l o rel o g an.c om

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 23

June 9 – Aug. 6 435-797-8022 lyricrep.org

July 6 – Aug. 6 435-750-0300 utahfestival.org

Arsenic and Old Lace • Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery • Singin’ in the Rain • You Can’t Take It With You

Show Boat • Porgy and Bess • Ragtime • Puccini’s Trilogy • Peter Pan Concerts • Gala Dinner • Classes & More

May 30 – Aug. 5 Noon Music at the Tabernacle A wide variety of FREE concerts every weekday in Historic Downtown Logan

In Every Corner Of Idaho There Is Something Fun To See And Do Yes, there are too many fairs, rodeos, festivals, art shows, car shows, benefits, concerts, star gazings, parades, music events, wine tastings, and sporting events going on for the next several months to be able to list them all here. But we have provided a sampling of fun things that may pique your interests, and with a little searching on the web, you can fill in the gaps.

To start, we would suggest readers contact the following resources: Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau at boise.org or 800.635.5240; Hells Canyon Visitor Bureau at visitlcvalley.com or 877-774-7248; Idaho Division of Tourism at visitidaho.org or 800-847-4843; Lewis Clark Valley - North Idaho Tourism Alliance at visitnorthidaho.com; and Pioneer Country Travel Council at seidaho.org or 888-201-1063. These are just a few of the regional and community resources that you can consult in order to make this a most memorable Summer 2016!

Additional information regarding events marked with an asterisk can be found in advertisements in this issue of the Idaho Senior Independent. Many of the events listed run on multiple days, but we have listed just the first day of the event. Please call the listed phone number or visit the website for details.

Start Date

Location

Event

Phone

Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun

3 4 4 4 4 6 6 8

Fruitland Boise Challis Jerome Riggins Idaho Salmon Lewiston

Vintage Military Vehicles Theatre: Love’s Labor Lost Challis Classy Chassis Show Jerome Farmers Market Big Water Blowout River Fest *Row By Row Experience *Outdoor School Sacajawea Lewis Clark Summer Games

208-412-5653 208-336-9221 208-879-2307

Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug

11 15 17 18 18 24 24 3 3 3 7 7 8 8 8 16 16 16 16 18 19 22 29 30 30 1 4 5 6 6 6 8 12 19 19 19

Boise Wallace Coeur d’Alene Elk River Rigby Malad Post Falls Buhl Hope Wallace Craigmont Salmon Montpelier Pocatello Wallace Burley Clearwater Island Park Salmon Wallace Nampa Sun Valley Priest River Coeur d’Alene Priest River Rupert Sandpoint Coeur d’Alene Boise Potlatch Potlatch Downey Wallace Boise Pullman Salmon

NeighborWorks Paint Town *Gyro Days/Lead Creek Derby Car D’Lane Cruise and Show ATV Mud Bog Farmers Market Malad Welsh Festival Bikers 4 Boobies Fundraiser Buhl Sagebrush Days *Music by Lake Pend Oreille *Statehood Day Parade Jammin’ In The Park *Sacajawea Interpretive Talks Bear Lake Car Show Southeast ID Senior Games *Blues Festival WARP Sprint Boat Race Elk City Wagon Road Days Harriman Heritage Days 6th Annual Cowboy Ball *ATV Jamboree Snake River Stampede Wine Auction /Celebration Hot Neon Night Car Cruise Twilight Criterium Timber Days Minidoka County Fair The Festival at Sandpoint Street Fair Idaho Senior Games Scenic 6 Fiddle Show Riverside Music Fest Bannock County Fair/Rodeo *Accordian Festival Western Idaho Fair National Lentil Festival *Agai’dika Heritage Days

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Aug Aug Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep

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Wallace Boise Blackfoo Kamiah Wallace Lewiston Salmon Coeur d’Alene

*Huckleberry Festival Spirit Boise Balloon Classic tEastern Idaho State Fair Kamiah BBQ Days Festivities *Under the Freeway Flea Mkt Lewiston Roundup Rodeo *Salmon Marathon Walk to End Alzheimer’s

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Orofino Payette Sandpoint Spokane Priest River Priest River Mountain Home Lava Hot Springs Wallace Wallace

Lumberjack Days Big Nasty Hill Climb State Draft Horse/Mule Show Oktoberfest at the River Ocktoberfest Pend Oreille Regatta Idaho Star Party Oktoberfest *Fall for History *Yuletide Lighting Festival

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America’s Revolution: Rebels with a Cause

Wallace, Idaho

2016 Events: Gyro Days & Lead Creek Derby June 15-18

Statehood Day Parade July 3

Wallace Blues Festival July 8-10

ATV Jamboree July 18-23

Accordion Festival August 12-13

Huckleberry Festival 5K Walk & Run August 19-20

Under the Freeway Flea Market September 3-5

Fall for History October 7-9

Yuletide Lighting Festival

December 3-4 & 9-10

wallaceidahochamber.com

208.753.7151

Come to the Museum of Idaho (MOI) and experience the year 1776 when a group of American rebels joined ranks and declared our sovereignty.

Travel back in time to the foundation of the United States of America, when a group of men and women fought for the right to self-govern. Examine the letters they wrote and experience how their ideas came together to form the Declaration of Independence.

George Washington, Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock – you know the names from history books and classrooms. At the MOI you will see artifacts from our Founding Fathers, some of which have never been exhibited in public and may never be publicly displayed again.

This exhibition is the product of two years of scouring the nation for collectors willing to share their Revolutionary War treasures. Come look at these artifacts that personalize and humanize the men and women who fought the King – and Won! The MOI will be showcasing weapons that were the personal possessions of men such as John Stark who declared, “Live Free or Die!” and a decorative pair of Hessian dueling pistols that were taken after the battle of Trenton. Look at reproductions of the uniforms that the soldiers wore and imagine our forefathers fighting on east coast battlefields, sweltering in wool, and carrying flintlock muskets.

America’s Revolution: Rebels with a Cause will be at the Museum of Idaho June 3 thru November 26, 2016. Take a break from the politics that are a part of election season, and get in touch with the Patriotism that fueled the birth of our great nation.

For additional information call 208-522-1400 or visit museumofidaho.org. ISI

Close Isn’t Good Enough

By Patrick M. Kennedy If you are new to the game… or considering taking it up to fill that extra time on your hands… follow the bouncing ball. Golf is such an all-therage yet controversial pastime the best we can do here is summarize and categorize information, quote the experts, and allow the ball to drop where it may. Just remember, before you proceed into this world, standing on a golf course doesn’t make you a golfer any more than standing in a garage makes you a hot rod.

Also remember, it is a game for perfectionists.

You must get the ball into the hole, not once, but 18 times. Close isn’t good enough. Consequently, it becomes the source of aggravation and the dusty accumulation of bent drivers and putters.

There are so many off-the-wall rules, antidotes, quotes, personal tales, techniques, training hints, and philosophies, the only useful revelations may possibly come by stuffing them all into a ball washer and letting it spit them willy-nilly onto the green.

Some of the basic rules for domestic safety are: Never go golfing with your wife; never go

JUNE/JULY 2016

golfing with your husband; because here we see the nubbin of an endless debate. But one realistic rule followed by most experienced golfers is: Never go golfing with your goldfish unless you take your SCUBA gear or you train it to retrieve your balls from the #%$&*^ pond. This reveals a sparkle of sanity in an insane distraction. As one unknown duffer (hacker) said, “I’ve spent most of my life golfing... the rest I’ve just wasted.” This goes a long way in describing the commitment and madness of some to a hobby of following a small, white ball around the world … no matter where it lies.

Now let’s put golf in perspective and separate it from other activities.

One of the most elegant and successful pursuers of this insanity... until his precipitous fall from grace, Tiger Woods, has broken it down saying, “Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.” And the bowler Don Carter adds, “One of the advantages bowling has over golf is that you seldom lose a bowling ball.” He has a firm finger-hole grip on the game.

Honesty has a dubious existence in golf. We’ve all heard of, thought about, seen it, and maybe done it, kicked a ball from behind a tree or pile of cow dung to get an unimpeded shot at the flag. Arnold Palmer (of Arnie’s Army) one of the greatest hackers of all time exposed why he and others are so successful. He is a great teacher of the tricks of the trade, “I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone’s golf game: it’s called an eraser.” Many aficionados support this revelation that golf is a lot of walking, broken up by disappointment, and bad arithmetic … and maybe a good eraser or creative caddy helps. “Isn’t it fun to go out on the course and lie in the sun?” jibed golf nut Bob Hope.

The best advice before the first golf lesson: learn how to stand and to move like a pretzel. “Have you ever noticed what golf spells backwards?’ asks Al Boliska, but do you know it also stands for God’s Ol’ Lunatic Fun. “The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course,” observes Billy Graham.

Exercise, fun, socializing, and entertainment are the overriding goals of golf – with restrictions. “If you drink, don’t drive. Don’t even putt,” said the well-known expert, Dean Martin. “I play in the low 80s. If it’s any hotter than that, I won’t play,” admitted Joe E. Lewis. Then there’s the exercise.

“Golf is golf. You hit the ball, you go find it. Then you hit it again,” long time professional duffer, Lon Hinkle, simplifies the absurdity.

A golfer’s diet, besides eating crow and chewing on knuckles after a slice or hook, is living on greens as much as possible.

There you have it. There are so many expert quotes and dehumanizing rules and reasons NOT to take up the sport of golf, that you may be disheartened, but don’t be. There are also many more reasons to fulfill this dream, such as… ISI

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 25

PAGE 26 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

Dig Beneath the Surface for Treasures in Wallace

By Bernice Karnop When you zip through North Idaho on Interstate 90, it’s easy to swat away small towns like bothersome mosquitoes. When it comes to the silver mining town of Wallace, however, one needs to slow down and dig out the nuggets that will enrich your travels.

I-90 is the only interstate in the Panhandle, and

this section is only 74 miles long. The highway through Wallace was the last short stretch to be finished, challenging engineers to find space in the narrow valley. For years the Interstate stopped at the edge of Wallace, continued on old US 10 through town, and joined the Interstate at the opposite edge of town. Wallace bragged about having the only stop light between Seattle and Boston. When Interstate construction finished, it went over, rather than through, town.

The Silver Valley mining region, about four miles wide and 20 miles long, is the richest silver mining district in the world. Since 1884, a staggering 1.2 billion ounces of silver have been extracted from the region. A souvenir from Wallace is appropriately going to be made of silver. The Wallace Mining Museum contains mining equipment, photos and a model mine. Tickets may be purchased here for a tour of the Sierra Silver Mine where one can get a feel for the effort it takes to bring silver out into the sunshine.

All the late 19th century brick buildings in downtown Wallace and the many Victorian and Queen Anne style private homes make it an obvious choice for a National Historic District. In 1890, Wallace was the third largest town in Idaho, and Shoshone County had the highest population in the state. The downtown burned, but the merchants set up shop in tents and immediately rebuilt. The most notable building is the chateaustyle Northern Pacific Railroad Depot Museum.

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Built in 1891, it had to be moved to accommodate the highway, but thankfully it wasn’t torn down. The museum holds railroad history including a quilt with the black and red yin-yang symbol of the N.P. Another building on Main Street is the Oasis, the last of five brothels and one of the last legal bordellos in the U.S. outside Nevada. The final residents of the advertised rooms left quickly in January 1988. Today curious souls can tour the Oasis and learn the reason behind the ladies’ hasty departure and see the make-up, toiletries, and personal items they left behind.

Wallace’s uncommon number of high quality, early day photographs is the result of the presence of some uncommon photographers. Thomas Barnard and his predecessor Nellie Stockbridge recorded the everyday life of the town in its early days, and most incredibly, left more than 200,000 nitrocellulose and glass plate negatives, now preserved at the University of Idaho. The writers at the Wallace Press in the early days were uncommonly good, which rounds out the story of the town when it was new.

Today, outdoors folks are enticed to North Idaho for its opportunities for recreation. They come for the deep powder at ski areas like Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain. Silver Mountain, near Kellogg, claims the world’s longest single-stage gondola ride at 3.1 miles. Kellogg Peak, 6,300 feet in elevation, has five chair lifts.

Not that one has to wait for winter. The area boasts seven bike trails. The 72-mile Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes between Plummer and Mullan starts at the Old Mission State Park and is on the former Union Pacific railroad bed. It’s one of the longest paved paths of its kind in the U.S. The multi-use NorPac Trail runs between Mullan and Taft on the old Northern Pacific railroad bed.

The Route of the Hiawatha, built on top of the old Milwaukee Road bed, goes between Taft and Plummer. The Hiawatha route crosses some high trestles, with good guard rails, and passes through tunnels, including the 1.7 miles long Taft tunnel. It’s too dark to see anything so bikers are required to have headlamps on their helmets. It’s a popular ride for families since it’s all downhill on about a 2 percent grade, and there is a shuttle service to

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get you back to the top. Rental bikes, helmets, and lights are available at Lookout Ski area. The peaceful ride takes bikers through stunning mountain wilderness, where wildlife viewing abounds.

Of course, there are also trails for hiking and at least a dozen alpine lakes to visit.

Around the world, zip lines have become popular, and those who seek this kind of exhilaration need

go no farther than the Silver Streak Zipline Tours.

Start at their office in Wallace and drive up the mountain. Guides will help you zip through the trees from platform to platform, 2-300 feet above the ground. Guaranteed excitement includes going as fast as 60 miles an hour. Slower runs zip along at around 45 miles an hour.

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 27

The Panhandle of Idaho is full of beautiful mountains, lakes, and recreational opportunities.

Bring bikes, skis, or hiking boots and stay awhile.

Visit historic Wallace and venture out to nearby Mullan, Osburn, and Kellogg for a grand adventure, whatever the season. ISI

Wayne Bistodeau: A Man With Multiple Practical Personalities they’ve been doing this since 1938,” says Wayne.

Article & Photo By Cate Huisman However, Wayne’s system uses propane instead of diesel fuel. “Organic It’s hard to nail down Wayne Bistodeau.

I asked him, “Would you call yourself a welder? A metal fabricator? An farmers and municipalities can’t use diesel burners, because they can’t risk contaminating the water with diesel. Propane doesn’t have that problem.” inventor? An artist?”

He plans to expand this part of the business to create “field flamers” that “Yes,” he replied.

It’s a good answer from a guy whose shop in Ponderay is filled with farmers can use to kill the weeds between rows of crops. moose, bear, fish, and flowers crafted of metal. Where there’s a fanciful airplane made from an old Volkswagen body flying on a pole outside the front door, and the sign on the business features a fire-breathing ram as well as a warthog pushing a snowplow with its snout.

In an effort to explain his multiple practical personalities, Wayne goes back to his beginnings, “I’m a farrier – a blacksmith,” he says.

He grew up in southern Michigan where his family farmed with draft horses. “We didn’t have a tractor until I was 10 years old,” he says. “So you had to learn how to be a mechanic, and a mechanic on a horse is a farrier.” He left that profession decades ago after an interaction with a Clydesdale left him sore.

Looking for change, he and his wife Jennifer came through Sandpoint after a visit to her sister in British Columbia. They had the proverbial Long Bridge experience when they were actually on their way out of town.

“As we were driving across the Long Bridge, back then there wasn’t as much traffic, and we literally stopped in the middle of the bridge,” Wayne recalls,” [We] turned around, stayed for three days, went home, sold everything we had, and moved back out here the next year.”

When they first came to town, Wayne did stone masonry and general construction. He had done some metalwork as well, and during a downturn in the housing industry, he built a little trailer for himself. One thing led to another, and soon others were asking him to build trailers for their ATVs. Then a local Honda dealer brought in a snow blower he had purchased to mount on an ATV. “They couldn’t get it to work,” Wayne recalls.

“He brought it to me and he said, ‘Can you do anything with it?’ And I said, ‘No; it’s designed wrong.’”

Despite Wayne’s bluntness, the dealer came back and asked if he could design an ATV-mounted snow blower.

“I designed one for him, and the thing worked.”

Wayne called it the Snow Hogg, which accounts • Medicare/Medicaid for one of those pictures on the front of the shop. He • Certified Licensed Physical, built one the first year, five the next year, and now Occupational Speach Therapists he is selling them from Nome to Nova Scotia.

• Skilled Therapy Services “Marketing is just on the Internet and word of 7 Days-a-Week mouth,” says Wayne. “That’s all we do. They find us, we don’t find them.” The blowers have gotten • 24-Hour Licensed Nurses bigger and more powerful, too. Now the Snow Hogg • Cardiac Rehab/Wound Care II is joined by the Big Pigg, which fits on a pickup, • Certified Recreational Therapist and its more powerful commercial cousin, the Boss • Semi-private & Private Rooms Hogg.

• Assisted Living The porcine snow blowers enable Wayne to keep a shop staff working half the year. To fill in the • Independent Apartments other half, he recently bought a company to start a line of ditch burners, which are used to remove weeds from irrigation ditches.

“A lot of municipalities are looking at this because they can’t spray. But they’ve got to keep the weeds out; otherwise the water doesn’t flow.” The Ram Flame Ditch Burner, that’s the other picture, SILVER WOOD VILLAGE goes on the back of big flatbed truck and sets the To learn more about the services we provide in Silverton, weeds on fire, burning them from the top of the ditch call (208) 556-1147, visit us at www.good-sam.com or down to the water’s edge. A water truck follows the 4610467-0823 405 7th St., Silverton, Idaho ditch burner to make sure the fire stays in the ditch.

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PAGE 28 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

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But what about all those moose, bears, and fish? And that Volkswagen airplane on a pole? Is his artwork just a sideline?

“Well, yes and no,” says Wayne. “We did handrails and artistic stuff for years and years and years.

Some years we’d do 200 feet of handrail; some years we’d do over a mile.” He has created gates, arbors, and countless animals to go in gardens.

But snow blowers and ditch burners are better for keeping a shop staff employed.

Still, Wayne’s hand and opinion are evident in some well-known pieces of public art. In Sandpoint’s Farmin Park, a graceful band shell protects Saturday morning musicians as they serenade shoppers at the farmers’ market. An architect and an engineer designed the shell.

Then I got involved, and I said it wouldn’t work,” says Wayne, as might be expected. “They look at it as a finished product,” he says. “I look at it as a pile of steel. So we start bumping heads, and after a certain amount of give and take, a band shell takes form.” Wayne assembled the entire structure in his shop before dismantling it and reassembling it at Farmin Park.

Nearby, an arch of fish welcomes visitors to

Farmin’s Landing, Sandpoint’s creekside boardwalk. The arch also went through a give and take process between Wayne and the original artist.

The fish were cut from cast-off road signs; some read “BRIDGE” or “AIRPORT” or “SKI AREA,” and many just read, “STOP.” Some of them face forward, toward town, and others back toward the landing. Their failure to be uniformly oriented caused a minor flap in the community when the arch first went up, but Wayne takes no credit for that: “I built it, and it’s standing,” he points out, emphasizing the limitations of his role.

And that airplane? It was one of his first pieces of yard art, designed to go outside a hangar at Sandpoint’s airport.

“The hangar owner said, ‘Make me an airplane, the funkier the better.’ So I just grabbed a pile of trash to make an airplane,” notes Wayne. Years later, when the funky plane was destined to return to trash after the hangar was sold, Wayne rescued it and gave it a new home at his shop.

It’s an effective welcome for customers arriving to do business with a man with multiple practical personalities. ISI

Music Helps Overcome Grief Article By Jack McNeel Photo By Jackie McNeel Desire Aguirre has faced immeasurable grief twice in her life and gives much credit to music in helping deal with the grief. Today music is a major part of her life and has led her from despair to happiness and hope for a beautiful future.

Desire was raised in Capuchino, Calif. in the Silicon Valley, and moved to Olympia, Wash. at 23 when she got married.

She worked as a copier service tech for PitneyBowes. She and her husband built a dream house in the country and began raising a family – a son and daughter.

On the day after her daughter’s fifth birthday and a week before her son’s third birthday, her husband was killed in a car crash.

“It was horrible, and I didn’t understand the power of grief. I ended up having a nervous breakdown that almost devoured me,” she relates.

Desire decided to move

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to Sandpoint to be closer to her mother and stepfather and their support.

“It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made because I was letting go of the dream my husband and I had together. But it was the best decision. I love Idaho.”

Desire got her life together by volunteering in the kids’ classrooms and being a soccer mom. She enrolled at North Idaho College with her daughter, then of college age, and studied communication in order to be a positive parent and role model.

Desire graduated from Lewis Clark State College, but during her third year of study, tragedy struck again and her son Nick was killed in a car accident a day before his 18th birthday.

This time Desire better understood how to deal with the grief.

“I made a decision to reach out into other things to ‘trudge the path of grief’ is what I call it.”

She also had her daughter, “A blessing,” she says, and together they survived. Nick hadn’t been wearing a seat belt and had been drinking and Desire’s initial thought was to help other kids from making those same mistakes but realized she had to live with it.

“To honor him I made a commitment to do courageous things.”

It was about this time that music began playing a major role in her life and her recovery from grief.

“I inherited a mandolin and started playing it the summer after Nick died. It gave me a reason to live and the courage to return to school where I studied parental grief for my senior research project,” Desire explains.

She challenged herself to do things she likely would not have done otherwise. One of those was to meet Fiddlin’ Red who owns a music store in Sandpoint, and take mandolin lessons. This February it will be five years since starting lessons.

What she tells about music and the past five years is amazing.

“I had had this old banjo since I was 15 but never learned to play the darn thing,” Desire explains.

She took it to Red for repair and got it back the next week at a cost of $5. But Red admonished her to learn to play it. Red gave her free lessons so she was learning banjo in addition to mandolin.

“I was born to play the banjo,” she adds.

As time passed she learned to play the fiddle,

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IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 29

along with banjo and mandolin.

“Red kept telling me I was very talented and pretty soon would be good enough to play in the band. I thought he was joking but he was dead serious. He advised me to take guitar so I could play backup guitar.”

She did that and six months later performed for the first time. Desire had extreme stage fright and when she got in front of the mike, she didn’t remember anything.

Red was very compassionate and said I never had to do this again and then took me to dinner.”

But she didn’t give up and was soon playing with a band.

“Being on stage was exciting and exhilarating and the old-time music we were playing resonated to me. It’s easy.

It makes your feet stamp and I loved it.

At that time we also became a couple,” she adds with a smile.

Red’s music store frequently gets vintage instruments.

“I fall in love with them,” she says. One was a hammer dulcimer, which she now plays.

“It’s kind of similar to a piano but easier to move,” she explains, so it was used in the horse and buggy days. “It sounds like bells. You hit it with two sticks.

The latest instrument is a harp, a totally different beast that I’m learning to play.”

During a vacation to Mexico last year with five girlfriends, one of her companions let Desire borrow a ukulele, with which Desire fell in love. By the time she returned to Sandpoint, a Washburn ukulele was waiting for her.

“So now I play the ukulele,” she adds.

Although Desire isn’t good enough to perform on fiddle and mandolin, she does perform on backup guitar, banjo, and hammer dulcimer plus Bodhran (Irish drum), bones, and ukulele. In addition to those, she is learning the harp – all since she turned 51 in 2010.

“For me, music is healing. It gave me a reason to live and I started writing songs. Initially they were mostly about grief so they also gave me a voice. It helped express the pain and sorrow of losing a child. On many levels, music has provided not just a reason to live but to reach out to other bereaved parents. That’s the dark side. The bright side is that banjo music is such happy music. On the darkest day I can play the banjo and it makes me feel joyous.”

Some of this ability could be genetic coming from her great greatgrandparents who in the late 1800s had a traveling circus in which all 10 of the children performed.

“I have cousins that are musicians, actors, and dancers. Or maybe I always had the ability but never accessed it. I’m passionate about it now.”

The love between Desire and Red developed slowly.

“My experience was the men you love die and I was left to hold the pain,” she explains, “and I didn’t think I could ever do that again. He was very patient with that. Music pulled us through that as well. Another thing that brought us together is horses, which we both have and ride together in the summer.”

Desire works from home writing for the Internet. One position is news editor for Grief Parents, Coeur d’Alene Chapter. She designs and produces a newsletter that has been beneficial for her as well. She writes a column for the Sandpoint Seniors and supports their work at the Senior Center. She volunteers for the Festival at Sandpoint each year, helping with the green team recycling trash at the Festival.

Desire says she would gladly have traded lives so her son could have lived – but that obviously wasn’t an option.

“My life is good. My sister, brother, and parents all live nearby – plus I’m in a relationship with a great guy. I have more than I can say grace over!” ISI

Rich Del Carlo, The Bird Man Of Sandpoint Article & Photo By Cate Huisman “There’s a whole world out there that the vast majority of people don’t even know exists. In your own town, in your own neighborhood, there’s an upper level of events that are happening right above your head,” says Rich Del Carlo, Sandpoint arborist and birder extraordinaire.

Working in trees and observing birds, Rich knows this world well. He says, “For me, it’s a completely different level of experience with nature. I’ve come to learn that nature is not random.” There is a purpose and order to this avian world, and according to Rich, learning about the birds all around us adds an essential perspective to our understanding and appreciation of nature.

Rich grew up in northern California and started identifying neighborhood

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birds as a child. Although he worked as a biological aide at the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge for three years, it was not something he could turn into a career without a degree in wildlife biology.

Instead, he became an arborist. It gives him a chance to be outdoors and observe the world above him, but it is a mixed blessing when it comes to his interactions with birds. Sandpoint is full of birches, trees with tops that

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die and fall apart, and he is often called to remove dead branches.

“But osprey fly into those dead birch tops and grab branches that they take to their nests,” he says, and he feels conflicted when his work gets in their way. On the other hand, sometimes he can protect the birds in the birches. When he knows there’s a nuthatch, chickadee, or flicker nesting in the branches he’s asked to clear, “I will tell people what’s going on. Nearly everybody says let’s just wait, let’s just let those birds nest.” They can clear the branches later in the year.

Sandpoint is a great place to view a wide assortment of birds because of the variety of places for them to nest and feed. “We are in a somewhat unique area here because of the diversity of habitat, mountains, lake, farmland, urban forest, and marshes,” Rich says. He has been keeping track of birds in his own Sandpoint backyard for years. There, by sight or sound, he has identified 168 species. Some are regulars, and others have appeared once and never been seen again.

For north Idaho birdwatchers, the lake offers big opportunities. From Sandpoint’s City Beach, birders can see large populations of ducks and coots, and hundreds of common mergansers. This abundance of waterfowl also means there are large numbers of eagles that feed on the fowls. The lake attracts other birds of prey as well. The osprey that nest at Memorial Field often awe onlookers as they swoop down to harvest fish from the lake. The city’s osprey cam, friendsofmemorialfield.org/osprey-cam/, enables avian voyeurs to watch online as the fish are fed to the baby osprey in their nest far above the field.

Those with sharper awareness will notice a lot more going on over their heads. “Bird watching enhances your level of observation,” Rich says, and his own skills in this area are legendary. Knowing what birds live where and how they behave, he can identify a bird by its shadow, silhouette, movement, or how it sits in a tree. For others fumbling with bird books and binoculars, it’s an enviable ability.

Beyond identification, Rich is fascinated with the interactions among birds overhead. “Once you’re familiar with bird calls, you can recognize birds’ calls of alarm. If you look up, you might see a hawk charging another bird. I was downtown talking to a customer. I heard this robin making this racket and I looked up immediately. The person I was talking to didn’t ever hear, but right on this robin’s butt was a merlin chasing it down!” he exclaims.

Sandpoint has one or two nesting pairs of merlin. “They’re the most visible hawk in Sandpoint in summer,” Rich says. “They nest in the tops of really large evergreen trees. In the spring you can hear them starting to call as they establish their territory and nest.” They often appropriate old crow nests in big trees, and those who know what to look and listen for can see merlin chasing crows as well as hawks or eagles out of their territory.

The birds in Sandpoint vary seasonally, and Rich marvels at their migrations. “When you understand what it takes for a bird to fly thousands of miles

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IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 31

twice a year, it’s incredible. A bobolink, for example, flies from a field here in Bonner County all the way to the grasslands of Argentina. Within that route, there are so many barriers it’s just unbelievable,” he says.

Along with the natural risks of storms and predation, habitat destruction and other human impediments make these journeys increasingly risky. While the lake is more or less stable as a stopover or wintering place for waterfowl in the spring and fall, a changing shoreline and increasing development have led to a decrease in the numbers of loons that nest in Bonner and Boundary counties. Songbird numbers are declining as well.

Rich believes that the understanding and appreciation of nature that comes from watching birds will lead to desire and then action to conserve dwindling habitats. He encourages this familiarity by leading Sandpoint’s Christmas bird count, an Audubon Society tradition that has been going on for 115 years, and other bird walks in summer. The idea is to hear birds as well as to see them, “to get people to listen to the wonder of a summer morning when all the warblers and vireos are singing.”

If you want to join him to learn more about the marvelous world above our heads, contact rich@peregrinetree.com. ISI

Preparing For the Unexpected Article By Jack McNeel Photo By Jackie McNeel Judith Scarborough is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst at her job as Unit Coordinator for Medical Reserve Corps of North Idaho.

When an unexpected emergency or disaster strikes, people must already be trained to assist in ways to reduce the impacts. That’s Judith’s job.

She explains the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a local volunteer organization with individual groups located throughout the country. Both medical and non-medical staff perform a variety of tasks including registering people, tracking logistics and supplies for medical and emergency activities, and assisting health care professionals.

“It takes three or four non-medical people to support one medical person in the field,” she explains.

Judith has been working at Panhandle Health District since 2009. The H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009 was Judith’s first experience on the job and in the field. It became a public health emergency requiring additional help and the MRC Unit stepped in to fill the void. Pregnant women, babies, and schoolchildren were priorities and as emergency clinics opened for the public, Medical Reserve Corps volunteers staffed those facilities.

Judith was born in Rhode Island, the child of a Navy father. Her first thirteen years were spent in various places including three years in Germany.

When her dad retired, they moved to San Diego where she graduated from San Diego State with a degree in psychology.

With rapidly rising housing costs in San Diego, Judith headed north about 12 years ago and got a job with Panhandle Health District from which she transitioned to her present position in 2009.

“We’re blessed in northern Idaho that we don’t have tornadoes or hurricanes. But our things are mostly weather related such as flooding, ice storms, and wind storms like we had last winter.”

Some MRC volunteers helped with the shelter in Coeur d’Alene during the winter of 2015, a period when the Red Cross was already staffing seven shelters in Spokane and simply needed more help.

“They asked if we had some volunteers who were trained and could help and we did,” she said.

Judith explains that the training is what FEMA calls All Hazard Training.

“It’s basically the same kind of training you’re going to do no matter what the hazard. We have to open a shelter or a vaccination clinic. In big floods there is a danger of typhoid and many people aren’t up to date on their typhoid vaccinations.”

Other possible accidents that might require MRC volunteers could include a plane going down or a tour bus accident.

“It’s not where you go to get food and clothing but where the deceased are correctly identified with their family’s knowledge of tattoos, piercings, surgery scars, things like that. This center would need people who were trained. We have mental health and clerical workers on staff.”

One possible huge disaster is the Cascadia Subduction Zone megathrust.

“We’re very involved in that,” Judith says. “It’s one of those things where we don’t know when. You can look at it one way and say we are 243 years

Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management, the local Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, law enforcement, fire, EMS, hospitals, Red Cross, and our MRC. That’s the way it’s being done regionally. It is Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The National Guard and Armed Forces are also involved so it is a big deal.

Everybody will be practicing what they will be doing to make sure we’re prepared.”

Beyond such a major event, MRC does training and exercises for its volunteers. They attend fairs throughout the summer to promote preparedness and try to get people to think of assembling a 72-hour bag in case of an emergency requiring quick evacuation. An Emergency Preparedness Checklist containing many suggestions beyond the normal food and water concerns is also available.

Judith stays very busy with her job but also volunteers with her Episcopal Church, serving on a worship team and helping with hospitality. Walking her two dogs and hiking provides exercise after a day in the trenches. ISI

overdue. The other side of science says it doesn’t have to be a 9.0 earthquake – that history shows some of them are less strong.”

The area of concern with the Cascadia Subduction Zone runs from the islands off the coast of British Columbia southward to northern California.

The Juan de Fuca plate is being forced under the North American plate and is capable of creating a massive earthquake of 9.0 or even higher. Scientists have said this quake would destroy much of the area west of I-5 in Washington and Oregon.

“I read some projections that services farther inland will require three to six months to repair but along the coast it will be one to three years. Everything is going to break – water, power, roads, etc.

There will be massive fatalities.”

Many people from that area will have to leave and many will settle somewhere to the east, including Idaho. This is where organizations like the Medical Reserve Corps will be deeply involved.

To prepare for that possibility, there is going to be a Cascadia Rising exercise conducted June 7-10.

“We’re being asked to set up a medical need shelter. I expect people who will be evacuated from the coast, either on home health care or in a skilled nursing 2016 facility, will be coming here where they have no support. The Red Cross is not set up to take sick people or people with more active needs,” Judith explains.

“It’s a joint effort. The www.kindredmountainvalley.com planning team involves

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Booster Shots Recommended

By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior, I just turned 65 and would like to find out what types of vaccinations are recommended for Medicare beneficiaries and how they are covered.

Health Conscious Dear Conscious, Most people think vaccinations are just for kids, but especially adults who tend to have weaker immune systems, need their shots too.

Here’s a rundown of what vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends for those 65+ and how they’re covered

by Medicare.

Flu (Influenza): While you probably already know that flu shots are recommended every fall, you may not know that those over 65 also have the option of getting a high-dose flu vaccine instead of a regular flu shot. The Fluzone High-Dose contains a higher dose of antigen and creates a stronger immune response for better protection. All annual flu shots are covered under Medicare Part B. Td/Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis): A one-time dose of the Tdap vaccine, which covers tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis or whooping cough, is recommended for all adults. If you’ve already had a Tdap shot, you should return to getting a tetanus-diphtheria booster shot every 10 years. All Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover these vaccinations.

Pneumococcal: This vaccine protects against pneumonia, which kills about 50,000 Americans each year. It’s now recommended that those 65+ get two separate vaccines, Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23, at different times. Medicare Part B covers both shots if they are taken at least 11 months apart.

Shingles (zoster): Caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash that affects more than 1 million Americans each year. All people over age 60 should get the Zostavax vaccine even if they’ve had shingles before. All Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover this one-time vaccination, but coverage amounts and reimbursement rules vary depending on where the shot is given. Check your plan.

Varicella (chickenpox): If you’ve never had chickenpox, the two-dose Varivax vaccine is recommended for adults and is covered by Medicare Part D plans.

Hepatitis A: This two-dose series of shots is recommended to adults that have chronic liver disease, a clotting-factor disorder, unprotected sex with male partners, illicit injectable drug use, close contact with a Hepatitis A-infected individual, or who travel to areas with a high incidence of Hepatitis A. These shots are covered by Medicare Part D drug plans.

Hepatitis B: This three-dose series is recommended for adults who are on dialysis, have renal

disease or liver disease, are sexually active with more than one partner, or have a sexually transmitted disease or HIV. These vaccinations are covered under Medicare Part B. Meningococcal: Adults over 56 who have had their spleen removed, have certain blood deficiencies, or plan to travel to parts of the world where Meningitis is common should receive the meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine. This is covered by Medicare Part D. To help you learn about the vaccines that are appropriate for you, take the CDC’s What Vaccines Do You Need? quiz at cdc.gov/nip/adultimmsched.

Also, talk to your doctor during your next visit about what vaccinations you should get.

If you can’t remember which vaccines you’ve already had, check with your past doctors to see if they have any records or contact your state’s health department. Some agencies have vaccination registries like vaccineinformation.org/ state-immunization-programs that may help you. If you can’t locate your records, your doctor can give you blood tests to see if you’re immune to certain vaccine-preventable diseases. Or they may just give you the shot. It’s safe to repeat vaccines, according to the CDC. Send your senior questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. ISI

U.S. Adults Get Failing Grade In Healthy Lifestyle Behavior

By David Stauth Only 2.7 percent of the U.S. adult population achieves all four of some basic behavioral characteristics that researchers say would constitute a “healthy lifestyle” and help protect against cardiovascular disease, a recent study concluded.

In this study, researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Mississippi examined how many adults succeed in four general barometers that could help define healthy behavior: a good diet, moderate exercise, a recommended body fat percentage, and being a non-smoker.

It’s the basic health advice that doctors give to

millions of patients all over the world.

Such characteristics are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease as well as many other health problems, such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

“The behavior standards we were measuring were pretty reasonable, not super high,” said Ellen Smit, senior author on the study and an associate professor in the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences. “We weren’t looking for marathon runners.”

From the perspective of public health, the findings of the research were not encouraging,

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Smit said. “This is pretty low, to have so few people maintaining what we would consider a healthy lifestyle,” she said. “This is sort of mind boggling.

There’s clearly a lot of room for improvement.”

Part of the value of this study is that the results are based on a large study group, 4,745 people from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It also included several measured behaviors, rather than just relying on self-reported information.

Measurements of activity were done with an accelerometer, a device people wore to determine their actual level of movement, with a goal of 150

JUNE/JULY 2016

minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a week.

Blood samples were done to verify a person was a non-smoker. Body fat was measured with sophisticated X-ray absorptiometry, not just a crude measurement based on weight and height. A healthy diet was defined in this study as being in about the top 40 percent of people who ate foods recommended by the USDA. The lifestyle characteristics were then compared to “biomarkers” of cardiovascular health.

Some are familiar, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels. Others are more sophisticated, such as C-reactive protein, fasting triglycerides, homocysteine, and other data that can provide evidence of cardiovascular risk.

Many people, of course, accomplished one or more of the four basic lifestyle goals, such as not smoking or being adequately active. The most striking finding was how few people accomplished all the goals.

“I would expect that the more healthy lifestyles

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 33

you have, the better your cardiovascular biomarkers will look,” Smit said.

Indeed, the researchers found that having three or four healthy lifestyles, compared to none, generally was associated with better cardiovascular risk biomarkers, such as lower serum cholesterol and homocysteine levels. Having at least one or two healthy lifestyle characteristics, compared to none, was also associated with better levels of some cardiovascular risk biomarkers.

Among the other findings of the research: • Although having more than one healthy lifestyle behavior is important, specific health characteristics may be most important for particular cardiovascular disease risk factors. For healthy levels of HDL and total cholesterol, the strongest correlation was with normal body fat percentage.

• A total of 71 percent of adults did not smoke, 38 percent ate a healthy diet, 10 percent had a normal body fat percentage, and 46 percent were sufficiently active.

• Only 2.7 percent of all adults had all four healthy lifestyle characteristics, while16 percent had three, 37 percent had two, 34 percent had one, and 11 percent had none.

• Women were more likely to not smoke and eat a healthy diet, but less likely to be sufficiently active.

• Mexican American adults were more likely to eat a healthy diet than non-Hispanic white or black adults.

• Adults 60 years and older had fewer healthy characteristics than adults ages 20-39, yet were more likely to not smoke and consume a healthy diet, and less likely to be sufficiently active.

More research is needed, experts say, to identify ways to increase the adoption of multiple healthy lifestyle characteristics among adults.

This study was published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings and was done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. ISI

“Love Gets Better With Age,” Say American Singles Over 70 In an eye-opening insight into the sexual behaviors of the elderly, a study of 2,667 Americans has revealed that seniors’ early bedtimes have nothing to do with more sleep. Sorry, seniors still have sex – and a lot of it!

The survey by dating service elitesingles. com found that 91% of over 70s believed sex to be important in a relationship, with 33% rating it as very important. In fact, 81% of over 70s said sex gets better with age! In addtion: • Over 70s are more okay with casual sex than singles aged 18-30 • Over 70s are less accepting of celibacy than singles aged 18-30 • And for the romantics: 97% of over 70s believe you can fall in love at any age Grandma, what a big sex drive you have!

A gender comparison revealed that older women are the slightly more fervent fornicators; 87% of women think the quality of sex improves with age and experience, compared with 77% of men.

No rest in their twilight years: over 70s want sex more than singles in their 20s.

In a finding that’s sure to surprise (and perhaps dismay), the study showed that seniors over 70 have a higher desire for sex than singles aged 1830. Indeed, celibacy was considered less acceptable for older singles than the younger ones; just 9% of seniors said they were ‘happy without sex in a relationship’, compared to 19% of the 18-30 year olds. The over 70s were also more accepting of casual sex; 75% said they don’t need to wait

for a solid relationship commitment before having sex, a sentiment which was shared with just 56% of younger singles.

Romance isn’t dead.

They may have been around the block, but that doesn’t mean seniors have lost their faith in love.

Even after break-up, separation, and divorce, 97% believe you can fall in love at any age. Sixty- two percent of seniors still believe in love at first sight, and superficial attraction remains important; the face, chest, and hair were voted the top 3 features in an older person.

(208) 882-6560 | Moscow Psychologist says, “There’s no age limit to eroticism.”

EliteSingles’ Psychologist Salama Marine M V F V E says, “People tend to feel uncomfortable with the All faiths or beliefs are welcome. idea of senior sexuality because it has nothing to do with reproduction; senior sex is purely about love and sexual fulfillment. But in a society often too associated with youth, we tend to forget that there is no age limit to desire and eroticism. We must recognize that today’s seniors have lived through High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is an extremely society’s sexual liberaccurate and very effective radiation treatment that alization and enjoy the uses a higher strength radioactive source to treat same sexual freedom cancer. It provides precise delivery of radiation to as the rest of us.” the tumor and spares healthy tissue from radiation.

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PAGE 34 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

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Myths and Truths about Eye Care from getting the proper treatment they need and in helping to keep their eyes healthy for years to come.”

Here are some myths, followed by their truths, regarding eye care: • You should always wear sunglasses outdoors. This is a popular myth. Most people are not aware of the fact that sunglasses can actually be damaging to the eye. It creates a situation where your eye is dilating unnaturally and becomes dependent upon sunglasses.

• Carrots will help your vision. This is actually true. The vitamin A and antioxidants in carrots do provide beneficial properties for the eyes.

• You must leave your eyeglasses on all the time. This is a myth. Most people are afraid to take their eyeglasses off, yet prolonged wearing of glasses can actually make your eyes worse.

Take your glasses off and go ahead and let your eyes relax.

• Fish oil is good for your eyes. This is a myth and more people are now beginning to learn that

the plant-based omega oils are much more beneficial than fish oils.

• Eye exercises won’t help your eyes. This is a myth. The reality is that there are exercises you can do help improve your sight.

• Only older people need to go to the eye doctor. Many people believe this myth, and end up missing check-ups at a younger age. Being seen by the eye doctor for a check-up is something for all age groups and is the best way to detect problems early.

Sitting too close to the television can hurt your eyes. This is a myth, along with the idea that one is going to harm their eyes from playing video games.

While prolonged usage may make eyes feel more strained, it doesn’t do any actual damage to them.

“The more you know about these myths the more you can apply the truths to your life,” added Dr. Kondrot. “That is the best way to protect your eye health in the long run.”

For more information, visit www.healingtheeye. com. ISI

By Dr. Holly Carling The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that at least five million people in the US now have Alzheimer’s disease.

While there are many theories on what causes dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and we understand a few of the mechanisms, there is still much to learn. For instance, we understand that plaquing is caused by abnormal protein deposits that form plaques and tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s.

But what goes awry in protein metabolism in the first place? Could it be the garbage proteins we consume today? Or is it because our diets are so high in carbohydrates and low in protein that somehow the body is compensating? We simply don’t know yet.

We know that medications sometimes mimic dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association reports, “Medication induced dementia is the most common cause of misdiagnosed or ‘reversible’ dementia.” We had that problem with my motherin-law not long ago. Her dementia was so severe; she could no longer perform activities of daily living such as brushing her hair and bathing. After a couple of years in this state, she progressively went downhill. Finally, At Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest, she went home for the we are ranked in the Top 10% in the last time with hospice.

United States for our rehabilitative Told she only had a few services. And, we’ve earned The Joint more days to live, the Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval family decided to take her off all medications. An for our patient care. amazing thing happened!

The next morning, she As the only free-standing acute was lucid! Expecting that rehabilitation hospital serving central

to be the bright lift some people get before they die, the family appreciated the change but weren’t hopeful. But the next day, she was even more lucid.

In a matter of days, she was back into life again, laughing and interacting with family as if nothing had happened. She had a lot of strength building to do, but the change was amazing. She continued to do well long term. That isn’t always the case, and doesn’t mean you should take your loved one off meds, but a talk with the doctor may be warranted.

Another area of development for Alzheimer’s care can be seen in the field of acupuncture and holistic care. I had the opportunity to see some of this work firsthand at the Dementia Hospital and Parkinson’s Hospital in China. Two hospitals of over 400 beds were filled with patients being treated for dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. They received daily acupuncture, herbal and conventional remedies, and other alternative medicine techniques. The fascinating treatments included electro-acupuncture, a method by which needles are placed in the head and electrical wires are connected and powered. This is not a shock treatment. In fact, it is gentle and relaxing. This contrasts with the conventional scientific exploration of deep brain stimulation as an option for Parkinson’s. While deep brain stimulation involves surgical implantation of electrodes into the brain, electro-acupuncture does not.

I’ve done a lot of work with brain injuries and other brain challenges using acupuncture and nutritional therapy. There is much that can be done to support and improve brain function, and we are always learning more. Don’t give up hope.

Dr. Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist, and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. Dr. Carling offers natural health care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d’ Alene clinic.

Visit vitalhealthcda.com or call 208-765-1994 to learn more. ISI

There are around 14 million Americans who experience some form of visual impairment in their life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While many people experience eye conditions, roughly 80 percent can be addressed with refractive correction. When it comes to eye care, many people are unclear as to whether or not what they hear is a myth or the reality. The more one knows about the myths and truth about eye care, the better prepared they will be to care for their eyes.

“Some of the myths that people believe about eye care have been handed down for years,” explains Dr. Edward Kondrot, founder of the Healing The Eye & Wellness Center. He is also the president of the Arizona Homeopathic and Integrative Medical Association, and the clinic director of Integrative Medicine of the American Medical College of Homeopathy. “These myths can keep people

Acupuncture and Brain Health

and northern Idaho, we treat patients recovering from strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic injuries and more.

Learn more at RHN.earnesthealth.com

Are you Getting Enough Nutrition?

Do you compromise your diet to accommodate your budget? Don’t want to burden your kids for assistance? Does your doctor recommend dietary changes that you aren’t able to afford? The Hunger Coalition located in Blaine County is here to help. It starts with a phone call. Make an appointment with one of our staff members by calling 208-788-0121.

Food distributions are available three times a week in Bellevue and Ketchum so you can receive vital food assistance with greater ease and flexibility.

The Hunger Coalition is welcoming, with a non-judgmental atmosphere.

The Hunger Coalition is fortunate to partner with The Connection in Hailey, which has a shuttle available on Thursdays to assist with transportation to the food distribution outlet. Here you will find the aisles are loaded with dry/canned goods, bunches of fresh produce, dairy, meat, and frozen foods. Personal choice and a welcoming atmosphere are important elements of every food distribution. You will take home approximately one week’s worth of groceries with which to keep your family and yourself healthy and nourished. There is enough food for everyone. Visit thehungercoalition.org or call 208-788-0121 for more information. ISI

JUNE/JULY 2016

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 35

Reflections on a Lifetime of Mining and Hearing Comprehension

By John Amonson, Wallace A visit to your audiologist can help you assess your hearing acuity. What isn’t as clear, however, is how well you are served by the sounds you are able to perceive. Following is a discussion and anecdotes on observations I’ve made and the conclusions I’ve drawn from them.

I should also preface my remarks by stating that I am amazed at the things I’m still able to hear, especially after the damaging exposure I’ve subjected those ears to over the last half century.

I started mining in the middle 1960s to finance my way through college. It appeared to be a far wiser choice than taking out student loans. The rock drills in those days were unmuffled and cranked out 115 decibels. While ear protection was available, very few miners took advantage of that opportunity. Two or three hours a day running one of these in a narrow workplace was enough to leave your ears ringing for hours. In addition, there were other air powered pieces of equipment that were almost as loud, and it was typical to run one or more of those on a daily basis too.

However, even before I had the chance to learn to run that drill (known in the industry as a jackleg), my supervisor told me that a high percentage of workers, including young ones with minimal exposure to noise, had a lot of difficulty hearing normal conversation when there was air blowing. That included both the hissing sound from compressed air being used to cool confined areas as well as the fan-driven forced air ventilation system. I realized right away that I was one of those workers.

I should also add that I had no callous disregard for hearing protection. The choices available were less than ideal at the time so I opted out. This changed dramatically when the extruded foam earplugs became available. I could put those in at the beginning of my shift when my hands were clean, and not remove them until I cleaned up at blasting time. Even today, I still wear some type of hearing protection when I mow my lawn, run a

chainsaw, circular saw, or even ride an ATV. I recently came across a word that seems to fit that scenario, although it was used primarily for those of advanced age. It is presbycusis – hearing loss due to aging. In my case, it appears to be a lifelong affliction.

As the years unfolded, I got a great deal of satisfaction watching people and trying to ascertain what thought processes they were using to deal with their problems of daily existence. This became very useful as I watched my own mother age and deal with those ever-increasing senior moments. I also saw what choices people made due to routine forgetfulness compared to choices made due to an inability to process information.

That is was what brought me to analyzing hearing ability versus hearing comprehension.

A part of Mom’s hearing difficulty was excessive wax. I was the one holding the contoured stainless steel bowl under her ear as the doctor gave it the warm water flush. I saw how much wax came out. However, even after such a procedure, she was still saying “what” frequently.

It didn’t take me long to determine that “what” was not necessarily the result of not hearing the question, but her way of wanting the question repeated so she could try to figure out how to answer it.

Let me put this into perspective. I am color blind (actually color deficient) and Mom knew that when I participated in a local 5k run, there were times when I didn’t know what color it was. I could ask Mom in a very low voice to identify the color and she would hear the question just fine. In that case, she immediately would answer, “Purple.”

However, if I had walked by Mom’s house and seen that she had visitors with out-of-state plates and asked her the next day who those visitors were, she would say, “What?”

Mom couldn’t remember who they were or where they were from, but instead of saying, “I don’t remember,” she would say, “What?” as she

searched her memory banks for an answer.

An even better example was a conversation we were having one winter day in Mom’s kitchen.

She’d had a new steel roof put on over the asphalt shingle surface the summer before, and was not familiar with the sound of snow sliding off it. In the middle of our discussion, some snow slid off the farthest corner of the house from the kitchen, and it was not very loud. Mom clearly heard it and said, “What was that?” I was familiar with the sound and assured her it was only snow sliding off her roof.

Mom lived to be almost 93. She lived in her own house and kept up with the dusting and cleaning almost to the day she died. I’ve a brother and several cousins with relatively normal mental function, and some like their hearing aids and some are not happy with them.

As for me, after the thousands of hours of drilling, chainsaw operating, artillery going off at close range, and music cranked up to the limits of the amplifier, I am often the first one in a group to hear a police car siren, car door close, or rain on the roof if there is an absence of other noise.

On the other hand, I have always had trouble processing what I hear. Accents and other voice inflections are especially annoying. One classic example is an interview I saw many years ago with Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Both had British accents, and even though they had the same interviewer, microphone, and electronics, I could easily understand everything Mick Jagger said, but had to painfully struggle to make any sense at all of Keith Richards’ responses.

If I am in a turn lane with my blinker on waiting for the light to change, the blinking sound is so loud and annoying I usually turn it off until I’m ready to roll. Once the road noise enters the equation, if the signal hasn’t cancelled, I no longer hear it.

I guess it all means I have an advanced case of presbycusis. I’ve had it all these years, and I’ve learned to live with it. ISI

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Maintain Your Mouth, Strengthen Your Health

By Tait Trussell, Senior Wire The Oral Cancer Foundation estimates that someone in the United States dies every hour from oral cancer.

It is a fact that dental care can save your life.

Seniors should be particularly aware of dental dangers because older people are often most susceptible.

A research study by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) found that diseased gums released much higher levels of bacterial proinflammatory components into the bloodstream of patients with severe periodontal disease compared to healthy patients.

Early detection of oral cancer is possible with something called VELscope. It uses light to detect oral cancers - flourescent light that supposedly hones in on tissues that glow when abnormal cells appear.

Because the condition of your mouth mirrors the condition of your body as a whole, your dentist may be the first healthcare provider to spot signs of a health problem.

The lips, tongue, gums, salivary glands, and oral tissue all can warn of general health troubles.

“Studies have shown that people with severe periodontal disease, an inflammation of the gums that affects an estimated 200 million Americans, are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those without gum infection,” says the Michigan Dental Association.

Dry mouth is a problem common among seniors. Dry mouth (xerostomia) can cause extensive dental problems. It is the reduced flow of saliva.

You need enough saliva in your mouth to wash away food particles and reduce plaque by neutralizing the acids that plaque produces.

Gingivitis, gum disease, and tooth decay often occur if dry mouth is not treated. Problems linked to dry mouth include hoarseness, sore throat, swallowing problems, and dry nasal passages.

If you suffer from dry mouth, talk to your dentist about it. One simple saliva substitute is sugar-free candy.

Tooth erosion is a problem for older citizens.

It is the wearing away of tooth enamel by acids.

Speaking of acids, soft drinks can cause extensive damage to your teeth. Root beer is the safest soft drink. And you may be pleased to know that red wine is good for your teeth. Researchers from Quebec City Laval University found in a study that a component in red wine should help to pre-

vent and reduce periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease that results in bone loss.

If you wear dentures, as some older people do, About.com, advises brushing your dentures with a soft-bristled brush daily. The same goes for your gums and tongue. To avoid breakage when handling your dentures, hold them over a soft towel or a sink of water.

Dentures can become warped if they dry out or are put in hot water. When you are not wearing them, dentures should always be kept in water or a solution recommended by your dentist. Keep your dentures out of reach of children and especially dogs. You know how dogs will chew on anything.

Tooth sensitivity is a common problem for millions of people, dentists say. Tooth sensitivity means suffering pain or discomfort from cold air or cold drinks. Sensitive teeth can be treated, however.

Dental problems never seem to fall into the “fun” category. But they can be prevented easily by regular brushing, flossing, eating, and drinking properly. Slack off the soft drinks, and have regular checkups from your dentist.

Periodontal diseases are serious bacterial infections that destroy the attachment fibers and the supporting bone that holds your teeth in your mouth. When this happens, gums separate from the teeth, forming pockets that fill with plaque and even more infection, the AAP explains.

If you inflict bad breath on others, you are not alone. Bad breath (halitosis) is also embarrassing.

About 85% of people with bad breath have a dental condition. Gum disease, cavities, dry mouth, and bacteria on the tongue are some of the problems that can cause bad breath - along with garlic.

Using a mouthwash or chewing gum to cover bad breath only masks the problem, when a dental problem is likely the source of bad breath. Smoking is another source of offensive breath.

If you are interested in dentals implants, small titanium posts are surgically placed into the bone to secure a foundation for artificial teeth. Implants usually take two surgical procedures within a few months’ time. But some dentists now are able to do implants in a one-hour office visit. ISI

Liver Recovery Difficult Even With Improved Diet – But Faster If Sugar Intake Is Low

The government awarded DAVITA TWIN FALLS DIALYSIS CENTER top marks in its Five-Star Quality Rating System for providing quality dialysis care to patients.* DAVITA TWIN FALLS DIALYSIS CENTER 582 POLE LINE ROAD • TWIN FALLS Call 208-733-2006 to schedule a tour and see why our DaVita Center exceeds quality standards. Learn more at DaVita.com/Five Star. © 2014 DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. *According to 2014 data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System.

By David Stauth Liver damage caused by the typical Western diet – one high in fat, sugar, and cholesterol that’s common in the United States – may be difficult to reverse even if diet is generally improved, a new study shows.

The research, published by scientists from Oregon State University, found that a diet with reduced fat and cholesterol helped, but did not fully resolve liver damage that had already been done – damage that can lead to more serious health problems, such as cirrhosis or even cancer.

This study with laboratory animals showed that diets low in fat and cholesterol could in fact aid with weight loss, improved metabolism, and health.

But even then, if the diet was still high in sugar there was much less liver recovery the scientists concluded.

The findings are significant, scientists say, because liver problems such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are surging in the U.S., affecting 10-35

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percent of adults and an increasing number of children. The incidence of this problem can reach more than 60 percent in obese and type-2 diabetic populations.

“Many people eating a common American diet are developing extensive hepatic fibrosis, or scarring of their liver, which can reduce its capacity to function, and sometimes lead to cancer,” said Donald Jump, a professor in the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences, principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute, and corresponding author on this research.

“There’s a lot of interest in finding ways to help the liver recover from this damage, but this research suggests that diets lower in fat and cholesterol, even if they help lose weight, are not enough,” Jump said. “For more significant liver recovery, the intake of sugar has to come down, probably along with other improvements in diet and exercise.”

The issues are both serious and complex, the researchers said.

“Everyone recognizes this is a serious problem,” said Kelli Lytle, an OSU doctoral candidate and lead author on this study. “We’re trying to find out if some of the types of dietary manipulation that people use, such as weight loss based on a low fat diet, will help address it. However, a common concern is that many ‘low-fat’ food products have higher levels of sugar to help make them taste better.”

Weight loss does appear to address some of the problems associated

with the Western diet, the research shows. But according to this study, a diet with continued high levels of sugar will significantly slow recovery of liver damage that has already been done.

Complications related to liver inflammation, scarring and damage are projected to be the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020, the researchers noted in their study. Such scarring was once thought to be irreversible, but more recent research has shown it can be at least partially reversed with optimal diet and when the stimulus for liver injury is removed.

In this report, scientists studied two groups of laboratory mice that had been fed a Western diet and then switched to different, healthier diets, low in fat and cholesterol. Both of the improved diets caused health improvements and weight loss.

But one group that was fed a diet still high in sugar – an amount of sugar comparable to the Western diet - had significantly higher levels of inflammation, oxidative stress, and liver fibrosis.

More research is still needed to determine whether a comprehensive program of diet, weight maintenance, exercise, and targeted drug therapies can fully resolve liver fibrosis, the study concluded.

The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture supported this research. ISI

How to Split Pills Safely

By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior, Is pill splitting safe? I have several friends who cut their pills in half in order to save money, but I have some concerns. What can you tell me?

Cautious Kim Dear Kim, Pill splitting – literally cutting them in half – has become a popular way to save on pharmaceutical costs but you need to talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, because not all pills can be split.

Pill splitting is a money saver because of a quirk in the way drugs are manufactured and priced. A pill that is twice as strong as another may not be twice the price. In fact, it is usually about the same price. So, buying a double-strength dose and cutting it in half may allow you to get two months worth of medicine for the price of one. But is it safe? As long as your doctor agrees that splitting your pills is okay for you, you learn how to do it properly, and you split only pills that can be split, there is really no danger.

Ask Your Doctor If you are interested in splitting your pills, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to find out if any of your medications can be safely split. It is also important to find out whether splitting them will save you enough money.

The pills that are easiest to split are those with a score down the middle. However, not every pill that’s scored is meant to be split. Pills that are most commonly split include: • Cholesterol drugs, like Crestor, Lipitor, Mevacor, Pravachol, and Zocor • Antidepressants, like Lexapro, Celexa, Serzone, Paxil, and Zoloft.

• High blood pressure medicines such as, Accupril, Zestril, Diovan, Avapro, Norvasc, Tenormin, Toprol, and Cardura.

• Erectile dysfunction pills, like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra.

Use a Splitter Having the right equipment is very important too. Don’t use a knife or scissors to cut your pills in half. It can cause you to split them unevenly resulting in two pieces with different dosages, which can be dangerous. Purchase a proper pill cutter that has a cover and a V-shaped pill grip that holds the pill securely in place. You can find them at most pharmacies for $3 to $10.

For convenience, you might be tempted to split the whole bottle of pills at once. But it’s best to do the splitting on the day you take the first half, and then take the other half on the second day or whenever you are scheduled to. That will help keep the drugs from deteriorating due to exposure to heat, moisture, or air. It will also help ensure that any deviation in the size of one dose is compensated in the next. It’s also important to know that pills are only safely split in half.

Don’t Split These Drugs that are time-released or long lasting and tablets that contain a combination of drugs probably shouldn’t be split because it’s difficult to ensure a proper amount of active ingredient. Pills with a coating to protect your stomach and pills that crumble easily or irritate your mouth shouldn’t be split either, along with chemotherapy drugs, antiseizure medicines, birth control pills, and capsules containing powders or gels.

Again, your doctor or pharmacist will know

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes...

1. While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, “The tooth fairy will never believe this!”

2. While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his five-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister’s son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said, “Glory be unto the Faaaather. and unto the Sonnn… and into the hole he gooooes.”

3. A little girl had just finished her first week of school. “I’m just wasting my time,” she said to her mother. “I can’t read, I can’t write, and they won’t let me talk!” ISI

which drugs can and cannot be split. If you’re taking a medicine that can be split, you’ll need to get a prescription from your doctor for twice the dosage you need.

Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org.

Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior book. ISI

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What Is Freedom?

By Neil Wyrick What is freedom? It is a community working in unison.

Otherwise, it is anarchy. It is an abomination when it is selfish and self-centered. It can destroy a home when misused and leave only the shaky remains of a house.

It is seldom truly appreciated until it is lost, this ability to speak one’s mind and not pay the price of imprisonment.

We cannot thank our forefathers enough for this majestic gift.

A familiar quotation says, “The temptation is to enjoy the fruits of citizenship without tending the tree of liberty.”

Each Fourth of July, I repeat these words to remind myself of all those who have sacrificed to allow this beloved country to celebrate over 200 birthdays.

I can imagine that the hand of John Adams might have shook as he placed his signature at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence. His words certainly express the fervor of this action. He stated, “Whether we live or die, sink or swim, succeed or fail, I stand behind this Declaration of Independence. And if God wills it, I am ready to die in order that this country might experience freedom.”

Many of the signers faced just that. Through broken bodies, bankruptcy, and even death, their dream remained very much alive. The bright and shining statements of the special men of the revolution stay with us.

“Patriotism is not a short and frenzied burst of emotion but the long and steady dedication of a lifetime,” Thomas

Jefferson observed.

The shining challenge that freedom brings with it is the responsibility to make that dedication and tend the roots of our democracy. In this, we each have a role to play. We as denizens of these United States must do our part to ensure that liberty is for everyone in spite of our differences. We must guard against the demagoguery that attempts to conceal bigotry and discrimination under the veil of patriotism. We must make our voices heard at the ballot box, and elect officials who serve “We, the people” rather than the one percent. We must demand that our government reflect our shared values of community, acceptance, stewardship, and social responsibility.

After visiting America in 1831, French writer Alexis de Tocqueville said, “I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution and it was not there. [ ] America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

So then, fellow citizen of this great land, give future generations the opportunity to revel in the same. Work to build our communities around these shared ideals and stand up to protect our forefathers’ legacy. ISI

PAGE 40 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

JUNE/JULY 2016

A Lust Named Wanda

By Cappy Hall Rearick When did it start? I’ve racked my addled brain for the answer but for the life of me, I can’t come up with a definite time when Wanda Lust became my new best friend. I only know that it was a long time ago and that we have remained in step all the while.

A few months ago, I was enjoying an infrequent day of relaxation. I actually allowed myself to gaze above my keyboard and out through my office window. I heaved a contented sigh. A turbo sigh. The laundry was done and the clothes were folded and put away, the groceries were bought; a tuna casserole was baking in the oven that Babe would complain about because he’s not into casseroles although he’d probably eat enough of it to feed a small country. Best of all, I had jump-started my deadline.

That’s when Wanda shoved her pushy self into my day.

“Are you meadow gazing, girlfriend? Seriously? Come with me.” Her seductive voice cut a path straight to my brain. “We have hills to climb, roads to cross, and beaucoup fun stuff to do.”

Having little desire to move from my comfort zone or the chair molded to my derrière, I poo-pooed the idea of going with her. Had I not done it all already? Did I not deserve a day of rest? I told her to take a hike – alone.

Wanda Lust is a relentless temptress. She was in no mood for me to enjoy the rewards of my past treks. She forced me to find photos online

(in color) of a beautiful house not far away from my own. She grabbed my reading glasses and made me put them on.

“Look at that, girlfriend. Doesn’t it make your heart flutter?”

Holy Dream House!

Seeing things in real time is so not the norm these days so I was not surprised when I fell in love with that Internet photo. Wanda’s lusty moveable parts and her relentless attempts to pull me away from my keyboard worked overtime on my psyche. She convinced me that we owed it to ourselves to see the other house, not just the photo.

It was Wanda Lust, not me, that placed a call to our real estate friend, Bill. It was Wanda who supplied him with a pathetic excuse for our wanting to see a house that might very well turn out to be the last we would ever live in. While Bill made the viewing appointment, I stared at the online color photos of that particular house and my imagination took off on a mind’s eye trip.

I pictured myself in a rocking chair while seated on the wraparound porch sipping whatever concoction Babe chose to serve for our five o’clock social hour.

I saw myself waking up each morning to the hum of an overhead fan turning slowly enough to make me snuggle under light covers and yawn with contentment.

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I imagined serving meals I had prepared in the large kitchen, the exotic dishes I created to the constant amazement of my always-hungry husband. Smiling at the thought, I think I even heard him say Yum! Holy House Hunt!

The three of us, Real Estate Bill, Wanda Lust, and I, walked into a foyer that immediately wrapped itself around my heart and soul. I knew without even seeing the rest of the house that Babe would fall in love just as quickly. It was the home we both had dreamed about for over 20

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT PAGE 41

years. The large kitchen, the bedroom big enough to house a king-size bed, a real stone fireplace, and a yard with enough trees to make us feel we would be living smack in the middle of a forest.

Babe and I are no longer young; we are freakin’ old. We have no business buying more real estate at our age. We already have one too many homes. But what choice did we have after stepping into a space that felt as though we had returned to the womb?

We made an offer and they countered. We

countered back. They said, “You just bought yourself a house.”

Holy Moving Van! That was ten months ago. It has been 307 days since we unloaded 20 years of collected stuff into our new home. Since then, I haven’t heard a peep out of Wanda. Maybe I have seen the last of her.

In true Elvis phraseology, Wanda Lust has now left the premises. ISI

More Home Buyers Are Taking Advantage Of Today’s Low Rates (StatePoint) If you’re in the market to buy a home, whether downsizing or a vacation home in the mountains or a warm climate, today’s historically low average mortgage rates are something to celebrate. Mortgage rates play a significant role in how much home you can afford – and when rates are low, a home that was once unaffordable may now be within reach.

Mortgage rates change frequently, and over the last 45 years they have ranged from a high of 18.63 percent in 1981, to a low of 3.31 percent in 2012. Experts say today’s figures are not anything to take for granted.

“While it’s not likely that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will return to its all-time record low, today’s average rates are still very low compared to almost any year since 1971 – all to a buyer’s advantage,” says Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac. At an average of 3.58 percent as of April 2016, today’s rates are “not to be missed for those ready to make the major investment of a home purchase,” says Becketti. “Small changes in mortgage rates can have a significant impact

on monthly payments.”

For example, a $200,000 loan financed at 8.86 percent in the 1970s translated to an approximate monthly payment of $1,589. In the 2000s, the average rate of 6.29 percent meant an approximate payment of $1,237. Today, that same monthly payment would only be $908. Experts say for this reason, now is a great time to buy.

Beyond mortgage rates, there are other important aspects to understand before buying a home, such as getting a firm handle on your finances, knowing your credit score, and understanding your down payment options. For more information and tools on buying a home and homeownership, visit myhome.freddiemac.com.

To make your dream of homeownership a reality, consider getting serious about your search.

Locking in a great fixed mortgage rate can save you money for years to 208-879-4663 or 208-833-7326 come. ISI

1305 E Hwy 93 S • Challis • adreamawayrealty.com Lisa Benson Owner/Broker

You Can Sell Your House With These Brownies

Love country living, in the 3 bed, 2 bath home on 3.19 acres. Only $171,500

You have worked hard to get your house in shape to sell it – including taking care of the blemishes, the yard, and perhaps staging the furniture and fixtures. Now its time to show your home. One very successful tool is the aroma of a freshly baked dessert like the brownies below. Enjoy them anytime, but make use of their olfactory power to assist in your all-important open house.

4 bed, 2 bath home is a great way to escape life in the city.

On almost 2 acres with a 60x40 shop & 3 outbuildings with metal roofs includes RV shed with electricity. Only $175,000 Mini ranch on 3.1 acres has a 3 bed, 2 bath manufactured home sitting on complete basement with nice 3 car garage with insulated office. Very nice pasture with water rights.

Only $178,000

By Gail Jokerst – gailjokerst.com I once overheard a woman say she thought everyone ought to make brownies from scratch instead of from a mix. She had just baked her first Let me Help you find some peace in our little corner of the world!! batch of brownies relying on a recipe and happily reported the superiority of the one-saucepan method. I was surprised, but not because I was unaware that homemade brownies were one of the easiest and tastiest treats on the planet to prepare. It just seemed amazing to me that it had taken another baby boomer so long to make this discovery.

A brownie maven since childhood, I have long known the pleasures of melting chocolate and butter together to create this perennial favorite. Before that, though, I was on intimate terms with brownies from a box. I often made them with my mom, who let me stir the batter and afterwards lick the bowl clean. I also made them with my best friend, Patricia Boyajian, who shared my passion for all things chocolate.

For the most part, we were obedient kids willing to follow parental rules. But I recall one time when our zeal for brownies prompted us to forsake comElectrical or plumbing, large or small projects – Our knowledgeable staff is mon sense and disregard an edict of the Boyajian here to help. Did you know we have in-house bath and lighting specialists? household: “Never light the gas oven by yourself.”

Knowing how much her daughter loved putterVisit our lighting showroom where you’ll find large selections of lighting ing in the kitchen, Mrs. B. had wisely issued this fixtures and ceiling fans. And if Sprinkler system installation is your next big mandate. On this particular day in our fourth-grade lives, however, the lure of fudgy brownies overruled project, we’ll give you all the help and advice you need all along the way. caution. Despite our home-alone status, we grabbed Grover – synonym for Customer Service Excellence. a packaged mix off the pantry shelf and began cracking eggs and measuring oil. When the timer rang, we slid the pan from the oven, poured two glasses of milk, and indulged until we could eat no more. After cleaning up, we stashed the forbidden www.groverelectric.com leftovers in the garbage can outside feeling both NAMPA: 824 Caldwell Blvd (208) 466-7807 Mon–Fri 8:00 to 7:00 Proudly serving the Magic and BOISE: 5730 W Franklin Rd (208) 342-6576 Sat 8:00 to 5:30 confident and content.

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PAGE 42 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

gician could bake brownies and keep it a secret when allowed a mere hour for all signs of the deed to disappear. And that’s how much time remained between when our brownies finished baking and Mrs. B’s Toyota rolled into the driveway.

No sooner had she walked in the door than she sniffed the air uttering five words I have never forgotten, “Patricia, have you been baking?” It never dawned on us that the aroma of chocolate wafting through the house and the evidence of a still-warm oven would clearly indicate how we had spent our afternoon.

In a flash, Mrs. B. raced to the backyard where the trashcan stood holding the convicting evidence. We watched, stunned, as she rifled her way to the bottom and triumphantly unearthed the empty box plus the remnants of our snack. I did not linger to hear the verdict pronounced on my cohort but knew the punishment would be nothing I would care to experience.

“See you tomorrow,” I yelled as my Keds pro-

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pelled me home faster than you can say Betty Crocker. I still feel twinges of remorse when recalling this incident and my brownie salesmanship skills, which helped get my friend in trouble.

Before long, I parted ways with packaged mixes and mastered a basic brownie recipe. During the decades that followed, I experimented with numerous variations in pursuit of the ultimate brownie. Eventually, I amassed an impressive collection including delectable Heath Bar brownies and almond scented cream cheese brownies.

Since I now live 11 miles from the closest supermarket, I always keep certain necessities on hand – flour, sugar, eggs, butter, chocolate, walnuts, and vanilla. With those staples, I can whip up a pan of chocolate heaven on a moment’s notice.

To gussy up the plain version of this old friend, I toss some Andes Mints on the crackly surface while the brownies cool. Then I spread the melted candy puddles into a fragrant green-tinged glaze.

While I may not reach for a boxed brownie mix anymore, I can still appreciate the important role this convenience food played in my life. It introduced me at a tender age to the joys of baking and the promise of so many tantalizing things to come.

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES Makes 12 The following recipe comes from the author’s cookbook, The Hungry Bear Kitchen: Recipes & Writings. With its subtle almond flavor and swirls of cream cheese batter, this moist brownie is perfect for those who like to mix and match their chocolate rather than go for it straight. It is a variation on a time tested recipe that originally appeared on the box of Baker’s German Chocolate.

4 ounces chocolate chips 5 tablespoons butter, softened (divided 3 tbsp. + 2 tbsp.)

4 ounces cream cheese

1 scant cup sugar (divided into approximately ¼ c. + ¾ c.)

3 eggs (divided 1 + 2) 1- ½ teaspoons vanilla (divided into ½ tsp. + 1 tsp.) ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon almond extract ½ cup walnuts, chopped (optional) Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons of butter over very low heat. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Set aside to cool. With a food processor or mixer, blend cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of butter. Gradually add ¼ cup sugar and mix until smooth. Blend in 1 egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of flour then set aside.

Finish chocolate batter by beating together 2 eggs with ¾ cup sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the cooled chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, almond extract, baking powder, salt, ½ cup flour, and nuts (if using them). Spread 3/4’s of the chocolate batter in a greased 9 X 9 inch pan. Over this, spread the cheese batter. Dollop remaining chocolate batter on top, leaving white spaces when possible.

Marbleize the batter vertically by running a knife continuously without lifting it from top to bottom and moving from left to right of pan. Then marbleize the batter horizontally using the same method. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350. A tester should come out dry and the top should be golden where you see the cheese batter. ISI

Antique Clocks – Instant Heirlooms And How To Know They Are Authentic

By Lynne Wells Walding Heirs, but no heirlooms?

Not to worry! Consider the antique clock! No heirloom is better loved for its ambiance than a ticking, bonging clock. It almost seems alive.

Well, face it – it almost is alive! The best part is you can buy an antique today – and by next year, it will seem to have been around forever. It will be a family heirloom.

Example: countless people have brought clocks into my shop, which they were positive were very old. How did they know? Well, it belonged to

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Grandpa (or Uncle Ed), and he was 95 when he died. So it must be old, right?

Realistically speaking, Grandpa has been gone for how long? Ten years? He could have bought it new, the day before he died. Making it ten years and one day old! However, if Grandpa had the foresight to buy a clock that was 70 or 80 years old – voila! – instant heirloom.

How do you know you are buying an authentic antique, and not a piece of junk? Here are some simple rules: • Buy from someone you trust. (Never buy an

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antique clock from someone selling from the trunk of his car!)

• Don’t buy a clock that’s not working. If the seller tells you that it works, but he doesn’t have a key to wind it – beware! If he can’t wind it, how does he know it works? Master keys to wind all clocks are cheap. Individual keys even cheaper. (Whatever you end up buying, be sure you’re given a snugfitting key to wind it.)

“It’s over wound, and needs to be released by a clocksmith.” Not! No such thing! If a clock is wound, and will not run, there is a problem somewhere.

Maybe minor, but it’s definitely not “over wound.”

After it’s running, wait a few minutes. It could be broken and still tick for a while. While you’re waiting, ask plenty of questions. If the seller resents your questions, run – don’t walk – to the nearest exit.

If the “tick-tock” is uneven, tilt the clock until you get an even beat. This problem is easily adjusted.

• With your index finger in the middle of the minute hand, slowly run it around the dial until the hour hand has covered a 12- hour period. Don’t go fast, and never turn the minute hand from the very end. Some are fragile, and will break if you run into a jam. (That’s what we are checking for!) Never go counterclockwise.

• If it’s a chiming clock, stop at each quarter hour for it to go through its paces. With strikers, slow down on the hour and the half hour for it to perform.

Barring a few exceptions, you can differentiate between strikers and chimers by the number of winding holes. Two for striking and three for chiming.

• If the minute hand “jams” during this test, there’s a good chance that

expensive repairs are in order. Proceed with caution!

• Don’t be discouraged by a dull thud where there should be a melodious bong. Usually, this can be easily fixed by adjusting the strike hammer.

• Old papers attached to the clock increase its value. But, you can’t tell the exact age by the date on them. They show the date of copyright, not manufacture. Remember that old repair dates, penciled or etched inside, may not be authentic. They could be the recent, imaginative artwork of a seller attempting to make the clock appear older.

I favor American antiques, because the last American Seth Thomas, Sessions, Waterbury, Ansonia, etc., were manufactured in the 1930s. European clocks are harder to estimate, as to manufacture date. And, the Japanese – well, they made some good-looking replicas of old American schoolhouse clocks. If you see the words “trademark,” or arrows around the winding holes, it’s a pretty fair bet that you are looking at a Japanese replica. Attractive in its own right – but definitely not American.

Ask about a guarantee. Better yet, ask about an overhaul! A clock that has been properly overhauled, and maintained, will probably outlast you.

Conversely, a guarantee (without an overhaul) means the seller is gambling that the clock will outlast the warranty.

However, you don’t have to hold out for an overhauled clock. Few people go to that expense on a clock they are selling. If it works, and you like it – buy it!

Repairs can be expensive, but, with the help of a little well-placed clock oil, you might be able to coax it along until it’s your kids’ problem! ISI

Jokes From On High Submitted by John Early, NY City A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly, “I know what the Bible means!”

His father smiled and replied, “What do you mean, you ‘know’ what the Bible means?”

The son replied, “I do know!”

“Okay,” said his father. “What does the Bible mean?”

“That’s easy, Daddy,” the young boy replied excitedly, “It stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.”

There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country.

“Is there anything breakable in here?” asked the postal clerk.

“Only the Ten Commandments,” answered the lady.

Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord.” And there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning.”

A minister parked his car in a No Parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read, “I have circled the block 10 times. If I don’t park here, I’ll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.”

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with a note reading, “I’ve circled this block for 10 years. If I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.”

There is a story of a pastor who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we have enough money to pay for our new gym and fellowship hall building program. The bad news is that it’s still out there in your pockets.”

While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage.

The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign reading, “Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in the exhaust.” ISI

Row by Row 2016 – Visit Eight Quilt Stores and Win! The Row by Row Experience™ began in 2011 with 20 quilt shops across New York State. In the past five years, the event has grown to include quilt shops in Canada and 34 US states with over 2,500 shops participating in 2015. With such enthusiasm from quilters across the 50 states and Canada too, 2016 will be the best year ever!

Here’s how it works: Although the quilt shops are organized by area, quilters have no borders! Travel, shop, collect patterns and add rows to your quilt from anywhere! It’s like a shop hop, but it’s not: no fees, no cards to stamp, and all summer to play!

Simply visit in person any of the participating

quilting shops and receive a free pattern for a row in a quilt. Combine your rows in any way to create a unique quilt that represents the fun you had traveling throughout the summer. Travel with friends, discover new quilt shops, and have fun collecting rows! Once you’ve stitched your masterpiece, enter to win prizes! You can collect rows from participating shops from June 21 to September 6, and submit quilts until October 31 for prizes.

Prizes and collectibles! Create a quilt using at least eight different 2016 rows from eight different 2016 participating RxR shops and be the first to bring it into a participating shop to win a stack of 25 fat quarters (6-1/4 yards of fabric!). Use that shop’s row in your quilt and win a bonus prize!

Exclusive Fabric Plates™ by Zebra Pat-

terns will be available in many Row by Row quilt shops. Each one is unique! Collect a bunch to create fun projects, sewing studio wall art, or even a fun backing for your quilt.

Be watching for pins, t-shirts, caps and even more Row by Row licensed items featuring the Row by Row Home Sweet Home logo.

Each area has its own Facebook page. Like the page from the areas you visit to see pictures of the rows, shop displays, winning quilts, and fabric plate projects.

Visit rowbyrowexperience.com to find quilt shops in your area or on your travel itinerary and find out where to start collecting your free patterns! ISI

Support These Participating Shops!

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