But don’t think I am just another old codger who needs his afternoon nap. Napping has taken on added significance in this fast pace world – a new way to increase employee productiveness where companies including Apple and Google are allowing employees to take naps. Research has shown a nap can boast the brain’s learning capacity, improve memory, increase creativity, and is more effective than caffeine. And even a short nap can have a marked effect on your health – and I need all the help I can get! 

The article “The Science of the Perfect Nap” that I discovered on the website Lifehacker, offers several suggestions on how to take the perfect nap. I’ll try to share it – before I fall asleep. 

1. Watch the time. Twenty–minute naps work well. 

2. Find a quiet and dark space. (Unfortunately, during my college days, the library was quiet and dark, and I often slept there more than I studied.) 

3. Lie down. It takes significantly more time to fall asleep while sitting. 

4. Get in your napping zone. Concentrate on your breathing, relax your muscles, and use visualization techniques. 

5. Plan naps into your day. Take a nap before you get to the dangerous point of drowsiness. 6. Set an alarm. You don’t want to sleep longer than you desire, and make sure your nap doesn’t extend past 3:00. 

Naps are natural and beneficial. And even the younger generations are now learning about the advantages of naps – reaping the benefits of improved productivity, energy, and mental capacity. So no longer think of napping as an essential guilty pleasure. Napping is a good thing – at any age! 

You should be receiving in the mail a postcard from the CAPECO Area Agency on Aging (AAA) asking you to complete a Community Survey for Older Adults. CAPECO AAA serves seven Oregon counties from Umatilla to Hood River providing referral services, caregiver supports, money management, meal site funding and more. 

I know you may be thinking “I don’t need another survey to complete!” but this one is important. The AAA is asking for your feedback so they can better assist older people to be independent, healthy and safe. I encourage you to complete the survey online at  www.capeco-works.org or you can call 541-705-5434. Your voice is important!  

Stephen Shwiff, the local AARP Tax Aide District Coordinator, is working to have the local plan to assist taxpayers approved. To learn more, email Stephen at gorgetaxaide@gmail.com. But if you have Internet and only a few documents, Stephen recommends you first go to the ‘IRS Free File’ Webpage. Each free tax program has different eligibility criteria. For example, if your income is less than $37,000 you can file using the popular tax program TurboTax for free.  

The title of the political fiction novel published in 1949 that popularized commonly used terms such as “Big Brother”, “doublethink”, “Thought Police” is George Orwell’s 1984. I received correct answers from Barbara Cadwell, Candy Armstrong, Linda Frizzell, Rhonda Spies, Tina Castanares, Valerie Bellus, Jess Birge, Dave Lutgens, Margo Dameier, Gene Uczen, and this week’s winner of a raffle ticket for the drawing of a beautiful Center quilt is Joanie Gilbert. And last week I missed Patty Burnet and Susan Ellis. 

Whenever I mention 1984 my wife starts singing “Freedom’s just another word for nothin‘ left to lose”. For this week’s “Remember When” question, who sang the song that included those lyrics written by Kris Kristofferson (who surprisingly was a Rhodes Scholar)? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788 or send it with the album Cheap Thrills performed by Big Brother and the Holding Company.   

Well, it has been another week, when I would rather be disappointed than surprised – or should that be the other way around? Until we meet again, don’t let all that’s wrong mask all that’s rights. 

“I’m not a genius. I’m just a tremendous bundle of experience.” R. Buckminster Fuller