Our brains do a good job of blocking memories of unpleasant past experiences – improving our mental health and sense of well being. (I recall many more cheerful memories of Christmas pasts, vacations traveled and childhood friends than the painful memories of strikeouts at bat and girlfriends lost.) And this is all good. But it can be detrimental if we forget to live in the “now” because we yearn for something that never existed. Do we really want to go back to “the good ole days” of the rotary dial phone, the smell of home permanents, and the taste of Tang? There certainly has been change – and not all of it positive, but we shouldn’t idolize the past. The humorist Art Buchward offered good advice when he said “… everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don’t think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you’re hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.”
If this Friday night you are driving downtown and suddenly feel you are in a time warp with classic autos surrounding you, you may have entered the world of the “Neon Cruise” starting a weekend of fun and entertainment. Friday night at 7:30 you can wear your poodle skirt to the Sock Hop at the Civic Hop featuring Johnny Limbo and the Lug Nuts. And other weekend highlights include the car show from 9 – 4 at Sorosis Park on Saturday and the Dufur Threshing Bee on Sunday from 9 – 3 at Dufur Park.
AARP is honoring all retired educators by making a special offer to members of the National Retired Teachers Association, and members of the Oregon Educators Association. This month any member of these organizations who comes to the AARP Driver Safety Class – at the Center from 9:00 – 1:00 on August 15 and 16 – will get a free class just by presenting the coupon they received in the mail. (There will also be a limited number of coupons available to members who do not have one.) You can sign up for this class by calling the Center at (541) 296-4788.
Summer is a time to visit friends and family – and Willa and Ken Varner’s daughter and son-in-law, Willa and George Tannabe, are visiting from Hawaii this week. And while they are here they are giving a fascinating talk and slide presentation on Buddhism and the temples of Hawaii. It will be held on Thursday August 11th at Mill Creek Point (on 10th street across from St. Mary’s Catholic Church) at 3:00pm in the West Dining Room.
Congratulations to all who deciphered last week’s music announcement (every letter in the paragraph was in reverse order). But that reminded me of my grade school days: creating codes so my secret messages could not be read by the enemy – particularly girls. So test your brain and see if you can break the code and read the following music announcement. (Not every word will be in code so you can still get the jest of the message.) Tonight at the Center, Martin and Friends xjmm cf ippqjoh boe ipmmfsjoh; boe qjdljoh boe hsjoojohbu tubsujoh bu 7:00 QN And next Tuesday on the 16th Truman uif dsppojoh uspvcbepvs xjmm cf tfswjoh b ojhiu pg txffu ebodjoh nvtjd. Everybody is welcome and as always donations are appreciated.
Quite a few folks knew the answer to last week’s “Remember When” question: Brylcreem the “little dab’ll do ya” men’s hair product. (And the winner was one of the Brylcreem Boys of WWII – Alex Currie.) This week’s question is about a women’s hair product. Until the late 1940’s the only way to get a permanent wave was to visit the beauty parlor – costing $15. But a do-it-yourself kit was developed and sold for only $2. And to prove there wasn’t a difference between the two, an advertising campaign involving twins was created asking the question “Which twin has the __________? What was the name of this innovative women’s hair product? E-mail your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788 or bring your answer to the Center written on the back of a box of spin curlers.
Well it has been another week – appreciating the past, worrying about the future and enjoying the present. Until we meet again, keep on trucking – we all are capable of doing more than we think.
“The past is a good place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Author Unknown
