Page 56 - Sonoma County Gazette Sept 2017

Chicken Licken is Crazed and Running...
...she thinks the sky is falling! Is the sky falling? Once again, Perception fights with Reality, and, for some, is reality. There’s a lot of smoke and it’s getting harder and harder to see where the flames are and what they really mean. It’s difficult to not speculate. The analogy springs to mind, as panicked people run for their lives from deadly vehicles piloted by demented fanatics: Chicken Licken running like the wind, herding her chicks to safety.
I almost made it out of the picture with one of my securities safely in
mind – the one about leaving my children a beloved country at reasonably low risk of chaotic upheaval. Well I didn’t make it out of the picture... I’m still here. Instead, I’ve gotten to stay and see the White House in need of fumigation, Neanderthals waving Nazi banners and swastikas, and widespread creative insults in free-fall. Backward revisionists would torque our history and its mementos into a tie-dye re-design that is so garishly beyond blatant disrespect that (printable) words defy me.
It takes a very special form of twisted mentality to disrespect every soul who lays their life on the line on battlefields from Gettysburg to the Battle
of the Bulge, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan... and, at home, in your own neighborhood. How badly do I really want to go to that Fair or a concert at the Shell in Boston Gardens, or that Farmers’ Market I like, or a crowded movie theatre, or the local parade? There are many newly sophisticated risks that used to be simply the great stuff we enjoyed at our leisure!
Those old adversaries, “reasonable security vs paranoia,” have expanded their risk lists to virtual absurdity! Well, I’ll be damned before I will give up the very things that are so much a part of our USA.I just do them now with the added caveat that there is higher risk involved: I could buy my latte and a spun sugar cotton candy, and a minute later become human confetti. Not funny; but apparently not out of the question.
Every Tuesday ~ Cafe West at Forestville United Methodist Church - 12-1p. Congregate meals, $4 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call for menu. 6550 Covey Road and Hwy 116, Forestville, 707-869-0618, forestvilleumc. org/
Every Tuesday~ Senior Walks - Russian River Senior Resource Center, 1p. Meet at the Senior Center. Rain cancels. 16010 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville, 707-869-0618, westcountyservices.org, vicki.halstead@westcountyservices.org
Every Thursday ~ Exercise with Valarie Russian River Senior Resource Center, 11:30-12:30p. Exercise helps people with high blood pressure, balance problems, or difficulty walking. 16010 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville, 707-869-0618, westcountyservices.org
Every Thursday ~ Strengthening Spirit Deepening Wisdom - Reflective look at life with Paul, Cloverdale Senior Community Center, 311 N Main St, Cloverdale, 707-894-4826, cloverdaleseniorcenter.com
on low, moderate-income, 50 and older. Rohnert Park Senior Center, 6800 Hunter Drive, RP, 707-585-6788
Sep 7 ~ Single Seniors Social at Aqus Café, Thirsty Thursdays - 5-7p Fun activities and events, mix & mingle. 189 H. St, Petaluma, 707-778-6060, aqus.com/ event/thirsty-thursdays-single-senior- social/all/, info@aquscafe.com
Sep 11 ~ Restorative Yoga - Cloverdale Senior Center - Calm the mind and body and be fully present. 311 North Main Street, Cloverdale, 707-894-4826, cloverdaleseniorcenter.com
Sep 15, 22 & 29 ~ Senior Produce Market - Local produce sold at discounted rate. 8-12p, Cloverdale Senior Community Center, 311 North Main Street, Cloverdale, 707-894-4826, cloverdaleseniorcenter.com/
Our amazing publisher, Vesta, themed this month’s Gazette: “Learning Through Experience...” And are we ever. I have yet to speak with even one person, concerning the national crisis at hand, who did not mention in some way that we are learning hard lessons daily (by default). Safety is redefining itself. Old paradigms are reconfiguring and scrambling to catch their balance in a game with swiftly changing rules.
Every Friday ~ Senior Ballroom Dancing
10-11:30p, half-hour consultations available with elder law attorney. Free, make appointment, Parents Place of Sonoma County, 1360 N. Dutton Avenue Suite C, SR, 707-303-1530, jfcs.org
I fold FDR’s wisdom into my coping: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (It helps when I put on my favorite sun hat and head for the Farmers’ Market...)
at the Finley Community Center - $8 admission, 1-4p, 2060 West College Ave, SR, 707-543-3737, Heresbillie@aol.com
Sep 21 & 28 ~ Active Aging Series -
Sep 7 ~ Legal Aid for Seniors - Preregistration required, 707-545-8608. Free, 12:30-1:30p, Bennett Valley Senior Center, 704 Bennett Valley Rd, SR, srcity. org/559/Active-Adults
Lectures provide info on how to remain healthy and active to get the most out of senior years. 1:30-3p, Vintage House Sonoma, 264 First St E, Sonoma, 707-996- 0311, vintagehouse.org
Zoë Tummillo is a Business & Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Commercial Writer, dba COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS and Writing Service, in private practice. SENIOR MOMENTUM: A Series of Situations!© Zoë Tummillo
To contact her: email: writingservice@earthlink.net.
Sep 20 ~ Legal Consultations for Seniors
Terrorism at the hands of strangers, often, mere boys and girls (or maybe the neighbor down the street), has literally tied itself to our psyche like tin cans to
a puppy’s tail. I believe there’s sick amusement in part of this phenomenon that is devoted to cultivating fear like a field of ripe corn where one can duck into the rows – now you see me, now you don’t.
I’ve listened (with mounting anger) to an ugly and queer variety of rationalizations and excuses. In my opinion, it’s nothing less than pure and simple incitement to riot with intellectual cattle prods, not-so-cleverly disguised as syrupy love for truth, pseudo-patriotism and camaraderie with a piece of shameful heritage. Inciting a citizenship to riot, and doing it because they can, needs all of us fighting to turn the tide.
I am hoping against hope there is no after life where I’d have to face my ancestors! They sacrificed everything for what traitors want on the auction block, sold to the highest bidder! What could I possibly do or say to Clorinda, Natale, Nicola and Angela Maria that would make right what we have allowed to develop?
Every Friday ~ AARP Tax-Aide Clinic -
Sep 21 - Nov 2 ~ Matter of Balance - 8-week class emphasizes strategies to reduce fear of falling, increase activity. Free, first-come, first-served. 2:15-3p, Sebastopol Regional Library, 7140 Bodega Ave, 707-823-7691, sonomacounty.libcal. com/event/3439316
9-12p. Program of the AARP Foundation operates twelve sites, Cloverdale to Petaluma, Sebastopol to Sonoma. Focus
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