Year of the Tiger

February 1, 2022

I hope your 2022 is going well so far. But, just in case it isn’t, there is another new year to jump start from the beginning. The Year of the Tiger. What does that mean?

  1. The year 2022 in the Gregorian calendar is designated the Year of the Tiger.
  2. The Luna Year is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, Lunar New Year is also celebrated in Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, Tibet, Vietnam and in Asian communities worldwide. Read more on c/net
  3. It might work out better as a Tiger can symbolize strength and being brave.
  4. Although, if you have made it thus far since February 2021, you have probably been fairly brave.

This post is also a reminder that it’s never to old to learn new stuff. Lately, I’ve learned several things that made my brain hurt at first, but is now really cool.

1.The hubby and I received Echo Dots and smart blubs. LOVE IT! It helps me sleep by playing lovely classical music at a mere request. Dot–our nickname for her, reads the hubby’s audible books. The bulbs have a safety feature so you can ask to turn on a light when entering a room. For older folks who have had a tendency to fall lately, this is a good thing.

2. When you learn something new you are exercising your brain, which can help improve cognitive functions such as concentration, attention to detail, memory recall and problem solving, and also reduce the chance of developing dementia. I hope I can remember that! Check out more.

2. Somehow, I allowed my self to become the treasurer of the Board of Friends of Spare Parts. An art, education, environmental nonprofit I have volunteered for at least 10 years. It is challenging to say the least. But, an article from CNN Health and other articles say: “As we age, we are better able to anticipate problems and reason things out than when we were young. Small’s research shows that our complex reasoning skills continue to improve as we get older.”

I’m going to leave on this musical note:

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Posted by Laura Carter

Waiting with Strangers

July 23, 2019

The older you get the more time you spend in doctors’ offices. Plus, because I volunteer for an organization that facilitates rides to medical appointments for seniors who cannot drive, I am sometimes left sitting in doctors’ offices for long periods of time.

Most waiting rooms are solemn places with ailing strangers crowded together at a sort of sad party that no one wanted to get invited to, but here we are.

There used to be loud television news or game shows to keep everyone occupied or annoyed. In the past several years, I noticed there were more of the ‘made for the doctor office’ healthy living themed programs. Still…

Today I took a client to a busy orthopedic physician’s office. No TV at all—yay! The room seemed the very ideal of diversity with patients, and those accompanying them, spanning a variety of ages and ethnicities. I wasn’t checking genders.

Instead of the usual stoic silence of strangers, everyone in the office was engaging with their neighbors. “What surgery did you have and how did it go?” “I like your fancy walker.” “Where did you get your hair done?” “What are you reading, is that an e-book?” I swear I’ve never heard such friendly conversations before in a waiting room.  And, the whole room turned over at least once while I was waiting, but the conversation mode stayed lit.

I found this delightful in lieu of all the divisive and unfriendly banter in the news and on social media. No one was telling anyone to go back to from whence they came, arguing politics or evangelizing—my own personal pet peeve.

While I was waiting for the client to finish her appointment, I had a good conversation with a gentleman, with painful knees, talking about the new opioid rules and regs that have put some folks at a disadvantage.  I shared with him the phone number of a nonprofit that could maybe hook him up with a ride instead of the usual city van service that took so long to pick him up when he is ready to go home.

It was all reaffirming somehow—that humans can really still be nice to each other. It gave me hope.

I still hate waiting though, nothing can cure that.

In San Antonio, you can volunteer with Northeast Senior Assistance (NESA) 

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Posted by Laura Carter

British Invasion Redux

September 23, 2014

Last night I went to a great music concert/fundraiser in Austin courtesy of my sister-in-law who works for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians or HAAM.

The British Invasion of the 60’s was revisited by an eclectic procession of Austin/Texas/British musicians. It was a very entertaining musical history lesson and a whole bunch of fun!

allatx playbill

Click for full list of performers

The Zombies (in the flesh!) sang this old Kinks tune. It really it made an impression on me, so I decided to share.

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Posted by Laura Carter