Page 60 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2020

Weaving Beauty, Love, and Function...
Of course, there is much more in the weave. And, when the love is almost overwhelming and the beauty defies description, it is easy to forget the awesome complexities of function.
Sonoma County love can throw you off balance! Its variety and awesome scope -- just of its natural aspects – stops us in our tracks, no matter how long we have lived here, no matter how familiar. We stop our vehicle for well-known vistas, we walk trails we know by heart, we seize our civic duties with an unbridled passion that selfishly protects our treasure!
When you love a special piece of geography – even one that’s only now in memory – it can take and hold you prisoner with its powerful sense of place! Love of place is unique among our many loves, perhaps second only to our love of home. And, for some, they so eclipse as to be inseparable.
Love of place – like love in relationships, marriage, career, parenting and on, ad infinitum, is plain hard work. Whether cleaning our gorgeous coastal sites, or cleaning the neglected garage, or cleaning up a tenuous relationship – truth be told – I believe you have to work at love, in all its forms. (And, it’s nice work if you can get it!)
Whatever loves we embrace, we do so all year long – but, someone somewhere declared February for special attention to Love. In some ways, it’s a little silly, but, on the other hand, why not? (Is Love less important on the 14th than, for instance, Groundhog Day on the 2nd?) Yay! February!
Too often Love gets a bad rap! (We all know that list!) Love certainly is not for sissies... Oh, no. Not for the faint-of-heart or cowards! With Love, you have to throw your whole self in, as the rhyme goes, and shake it all about! That’s where function comes into the stitchery! That great love we have for the beauty of our fine, fine place needs functionalized caring – it’s not enough just to care! We have to work on its behalf or -- please don’t call it Love...
When love goes away or we have to leave it behind, something big changes. So many loves weave in and out of anyone’s life there’s almost no way to deny its power! People, places, pets or wildlife – the list is enormous... And any love you can name is unique. Oh, the categories may beg a claim
to sameness, but, for instance, if you have ever loved a dog and then another dog, you’d know what I mean! Right, Chi Chi? Duke? Deke? Sparky? Sindi? ZeeBee? Fritz? (If you live long enough, you can love a lot of dogs!)
That sense of place I mentioned can pull me back over the miles in a nanosecond, and there I am with the Maples in full color at the home where I grew up in New England. And there is loving power in evoking the sound of the surf and the smell of the ocean at Stinson Beach when my children were very young and we loved living there. Places can hold your heart hostage forever.
The choices for love are so many – begin with that most fundamental: love of self! Love for our personal gift of life! The dreams we can embrace, the excitement of appreciating the senses we have for appreciating all the rest! Isn’t that why we take care of ourselves?
We win some and lose some when we let love into our life. But don’t you agree that the alternative is bleak?
Zoë Tummillo is a Business & Marketing Consultant/Trainer/Commercial Writer, dba COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS, in private practice since 1974. In addition to Commercial work, she writesSenior Momentum: A Series of Situations; “Pieces of My Path. essay memoirs of growing up first-generation Italian American; andSenior Momentum: Front And Center!. Email Zoë at writingservice@earthlink.net
Feb 6 - May 14 ~ Aging Gayfully! ~ LGBT elders connect & share aging experiences. Free, $3 Non-Members, 11-1p, Finley Center, 2060 West College Ave, Santa Rosa
Feb 8 ~ Cloverdale Multipurpose Senior Center Everyone Wins Wine Draw ~ Every ticket will be given two bottles of wine. $30 per ticket, 311 Main St, Cloverdale, 707-894-4826
Feb 11 ~ Senior Saunters ~ Explore plant, animal life & swap stories. Free, Parking $7, 10a-11:30a, Sonoma Valley Regional Park, 13630 Hwy 12, Glen Ellen, 707-565-7888, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov, irma.cuevas@sonoma-county.org
Feb 19 - Mar 11 ~ Petaluma Bingocize Falls Prevention Series ~ Prevent falls! Age 60+, improve balance, strength. Free, 11a-12p, Kellgren Senior Apartments, 951 Petaluma Blvd So., Petaluma, 707-565-7321, sonomacounty.ca.gov, Bingocize@schsd.org
Feb 19- 21 ~ Discuss improving County transportation ~ Adults 60+ and people with disabilities discuss how to improve County transportation. Free, 2/19 ~ 2:30-4:30p, 211 Novak Dr, Petaluma. 2/21 ~ 10a-noon, 246 First St. East, Sonoma. 707-565-5903, socoaaa.org, aaa@schsd.org
Feb 26 ~ Winging It Wednesdays ~ Enjoy leisurely bird walks for all levels of experience. Free/Parking $7, 8:30-10:30a, Tolay Lake Regional Park, 5869 Cannon Lane, Petaluma, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
Free Rides for Seniors ~ by WCCS. Pick up RR Senior Center, RR Health Center & Monte Rio & Forestville. Call 707-823-1640 x140
Rides to Medical and Social Services Appointments ~ 311 North Main Street, Cloverdale, 707-894-4826 Elizabeth, cloverdaleseniorcenter.com
Russian River Senior Resource Center 15010 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville, 707-823-1640, westcountyservices.org
Thru - Feb 25 ~ Mindful Balance Class ~ Gentle yoga class geared toward older adults. $5-10, 11:30a-12:30p
Sebastopol Area Senior Center 167 N. High St.Sebastopol, 707-829-2440, sebastopolseniorcenter.org
Feb 6 ~ TED Talks: My Descent into the Neo Nazi Movement & How I Got Out ~
From naive teenager to white supremacist. Free, $5 non-members, 2-3:30p
Feb 13 - Mar 26 ~ Drop-In Visual Art Classes ~ Expand your skills in visual arts. Members: $5, Non-members: $8, 3:15-4:30p
Feb 13 - May 28 ~ Heart Connection Group ~ Free for members, $5 for non-members, 1:30-3p Feb 14 - Jun 12 ~ Declutter Support Group ~ Lighten your load. Members: $10, Non-
Feb 21 - Jun 19 ~ Speaking of Death ~ Share in matters of life & death. Members: Free, Non-Member: $5. 2:30-4p
Feb 8 - Jun 27 ~ Gentle Yoga ~ Build hip & shoulder flexibility to prevent injury. Members: $10, Non-members: $15. 9:30-10:45a
Feb 10 - Mar 23 ~ Mind-Body Skills Group ~ 8-week self-care & stress management workshop. Members: $48; Non-Members, $60, 2:30-4:30p,
Feb 20 ~ Understanding Your Medicare ~ How informed are you about the details of your healthcare benefits? Free/Non-Members $5, Reg Req’d, 1-2:30p
Feb 22 ~ LGBTQI + Friends Mardi Gras Dance Party! ~ Let’s party like we are in New Orleans! Advance Tickets: $12/$15 @ door, 6:30-10p
Feb 28 ~ The Art of Downsizing ~ Find out about the tax advantages. Members: Free/ Non-Members $5, 2:30-4p
SHARE Sonoma County Home Sharing Program to provide affordable housing and help seniors “age in place”. 2nd and 4th Mondays, 10 a to 4 p. Call 707-766-8800 to schedule your appointment to meet and discuss home sharing options.
members: $12. 10:45a-12p
Senior Social Clubs at four convenient sites, 707-525-0143 Santa Rosa ~ M, W, & F, 9:30a-2p at 2150 Giffen, Santa Rosa
Sonoma ~ Tu, Th, 9:30a-2 at Vintage House, 264 First St. E., Sonoma
Healdsburg ~ M, Tu, 9:30a-2p at St. Paul’s Church, 209 Matheson St., Healdsburg Sebastopol ~ W, F, 9:30-2p at Sebastopol Senior Center, 167 No. High St, Sebastopol
60 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/20