Living at Homewoods on the Willamette

  Folks keep living longer, and companies that cater to independent and assisted living seniors grow in kind. When we considered independent living in retirement after Harriet's heart attack, I was overwhelmed by how many facilities there were in the Portland area. We ended up touring 38 places (free lunch!) before making a choice. All of these places have a similar message in a style that ranges from enthusiastic to exaggeration to hype. At the Vineyard Place website you can read, " We are completely dedicated to making sure you or your loved one have fun, exciting days and nights full of life!" Your golden years await you! You find pop culture embracing the same rosy view, especially in music. Here's Kenny Rogers singing about how wonderful it is to grow old together: https://youtu.be/8LXKm1CJ998?si=dnhUBrTjYTw6jTCD But there are dissenters. Harvard math professor Tom Lehrer, whom I consider the best satirist since Jonathan Swift, brings his dark and politically inc...

 From The Colorado Quarterly, summrr, 1969 https://youtu.be/gJlu3wmgE_E?si=2-BAVtPtU8irV81J Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

 A variety of games are scheduled as I write (4/2024) and this can change. I'll keep the list updated. Need directions how to play? Rummikub https://youtu.be/P9lThha3BLY?si=CZM5NqNdaJKG1Ss2 Pinochle https://youtu.be/HSpIXNd5uec?si=w_EMk0D9W5xa8Tl Bunco https://youtu.be/XhQnraJx9v8?si=MrvqLS-HhmkW-Eea Bingo https://youtu.be/nGCEpUAnkSg?si=hNVUkXDxsJU_pFqL Bean bag baseball https://youtu.be/NL2iAfFgcNo?si=R8H5YS5D9qG1V3fI Mexican train dominoes https://youtu.be/jxeIR8HCSYI?si=zaya6xa4L7jlqf7y Various Memory games You can try and start a new game. Find an available day/time on the activity calendar, use the link below to send an email to the activities director, describing your game and time. She will make a flier and distribute it to residents. (I suggest you run the idea by her first.)  VDavidson@homewoods.org Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

 In the nine months we lived at Vineyard Place, part of the Holiday "independent living" corporate octopus, I formed a readers theater group that performed two projects. One was original and one was from a scrpt I had written for First Unitarian Church in Portland; and I also gave a literary reading. (I used to write and direct a couple "drama services" a year.) The literary reading was special in several ways. On the plus side, it was on my birthday and I wasn't selling any books. Literary readings usually happen at bookstores or universities and in the former venue, the whole point is to sell.  On the negative, a retirement community was far from the academic environment I had lived in for the past twenty years. I had noticed that the reading tastes here were focused on pop lit. I didn't see anyone carrying around Shakespeare or Moby Dick. I was a fish out of water. My motivation was different. I wanted to remind myself that I had a body of work I could be...

https://youtu.be/DT4trFmhfUo?si=hrv-woD9vHcr4vKR From the librarian: Book checkout is done by signing up in the notebook at the station under the clock. Return books to the bin next to that station and enter the date returned.  No due dates or time limits.  Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

  Using this blog depends on activating links.This is easy to do. (Don't know what a link is? It usually begins with http). On a phone or tablet, put your index finger on the link and hold it there. A menu will pop up. Touch Open. On a computer, right click the link. A menu will open. Select Go to or something similar. Hey, that's all there is to it! Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

  I've published two books of poetry and should have published only one. Here, I read from the first, IN MY OLD AGE, poem by poem: https://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/inmyoldage.htm Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

A very short version of the menu. For details, ask for a menu in the diningroom.  BREAKFAST BUFFET 9-10 a.m. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, fruit, toast, juice, coffee. LUNCH 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Soup: s oup of the day, yesterday's soup. Salad: house, chef, harvest, Oriental chicken, chicken Caesar. Sandwiches: turkey, roast beef or ham; club, BLT, tuna, French dip, classic Reuben, Philly cheese steak, egg salad, open faced tuna melt, chicken salad, fish, grilled cheese; grilled hot ham, turkey, chicken or steak. Burgers: hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, mushroom Swiss burger, veggie burger, patty melt. Wraps: steak, chicken. Sides: soup, potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, cottage cheese, fruit, chips.  Drinks: milk, coffee, hot tea, iced tea, lemonade,  juice, hot chocolate, water. DINNER 5 - 630  Soup of the day, salad bar, choice between two entrees, fresh rolls, dessert (ice cream, cookies, specials), coffee, drink. (See daily dinner po...

   Sit & Stretch, M-F at 10 and 11 in activity room.  Get Fit with Val-Jeanne, 930, Tu W F, east diningroom. Yoga, 10, M Th, east diningroom. Weekend Walkers provides more strenuous execise, every Saturday morning, meeting in lobby at 10. A different walk location each week. You have to sign up in the activity book to participate. Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

 10, east diningroom, Men's coffee hour Spoofing it in THE GOLDEN YEARS: https://youtu.be/BA7qta1g5BY?si=4UL3uZlFAj250q Full digital film: https://cdlivhw.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-golden-years.html

   https://youtu.be/DT4trFmhfUo?si=hrv-woD9vHcr4vKR From the librarian: Book checkout is done by signing up in the notebook at the station under the clock. Return books to the bin next to that station and enter the date returned.  No due dates or time limits.  Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

  130 in activity room. Philomena 91%/89% critics/audience Summary:  In 1952, Irish teenager Philomena (Judi Dench) became pregnant out of wedlock and was sent to a convent. When her baby, Anthony, was a toddler, the nuns took Philomena's child away from her and put him up for adoption in the United States. For the next 50 years, she searched tirelessly for her son. When former BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) learns of the story, he becomes her ally. They travel together to America to find Anthony and become unexpectedly close in the process. More at Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/philomena Trailer https://youtu.be/x6ToSr_LSKU?si=nxNezbIHTp0oATPM Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

 230, east diningroom Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

  Labels organize posts into categories. Using them is a powerful way to find what you want. First, open the menu (top left).  Activate the link at Label  definitions.  Find a label/category you want to explore. Let's say mus for music. On the menu, expand Labels by tapping the down pointer and then Show More. Tap the mus label. A new page lists all the posts that have a mus label. Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com

Reading my poetry (audio) https://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/inmyoldage.htm Essays and web pages original to the blog http://cdlivhw.blogspot.com/search/label/cdart Projects from Small Screen Video http://cdlivhw.blogspot.com/search/label/ssv A literary archive http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer 2017 reading to a retirement community https://youtu.be/ZBTn1ulBvTU?si=a-vROqQ7Wbj436yI Short Bio https://youtu.be/7IJxqbqcB8s?si=ZpC4_7N3tyBmtDpf Contact me at cdeemer@yahoo.com Share: https://cdlivhw.blogspot.com/2024/02/advertisements-for-myself.html Back to top cdlivhw.blogspot.com