Ever since we were kids in school, we have been reminded during the holiday season to be grateful for what we have. But as we get older I don’t believe a holiday is necessary because every day we experience why we are thankful. Every day we can appreciate living with a wonderful husband, because we see friends who are living alone. Or if we are living alone, we can be thankful we can drive because we know many who cannot. And if we no longer can drive, we can still be grateful for the LINK and friends who take us to the many places we need to go. Every day we see and live the ways we are blessed. And as long as I can wake up each morning – and my feet touch the floor, the hot water is running and I hear the sweet sounds of my wife asking “When are you going to take out the trash?”, I know I can be thankful for another beautiful day.
For those who have lost a loved one, the holidays can be a difficult time – bringing back special memories of special times. Next Tuesday at 11:00 on the 29th, Debby Livingston, chaplain for Heart of Hospice, will speak on the timely subject – “Grief during the Holidays”. Whether you find the holidays difficult or if you know someone who does, this presentation will be helpful.
If you missed the St. Mary’s Holiday Bazaar there is plenty more in the next several weeks including an Historic Christmas Open House from 12:00 – 4:00 PM at the Rorick House, 300 W 13th, on Saturday December 3rd; the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center’s Annual Holiday Open House from 9:00 – 5:00 with cookies and cider, Prime Rib Buffet, sale items, Christmas carols and more, and The Dalles Area Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, December 10, 2011. (If you would like to reserve a sales table, or can donate soup or pies for their soup & pie lunch, or baked goods for their ever popular baked goods table, please contact the Habitat office at 296-8817.) And don’t forget the Community Thanksgiving Dinner from 12:00 – 3:00 at St. Mary’s Academy. If you need a meal delivered, you can call 541-296-6417.
If tonight you aren’t getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner or on your way out of town to visit family, you can turkey trot your way down to the dance floor and enjoy the sounds of the Strawberry Mountain Band. And since this month there is an extra Tuesday, on the 29th you can enjoy “For the Good Times”. The music starts at 7:00, anyone (including turkeys) are welcome and donations are always appreciated.
The Center’s Nu-2-U Shop will finish off this month with a half price sale. That is half-off already ridiculously low prices. And because of the many generous donations, every month there is new stuff to browse through. So stop in and see what Martha, Betty and Anita have in store for you.
Many folks remembered Frick and Frack – the two Swiss comic ice skaters who joined the original Ice Follies in 1937. (And the winner of five quilt raffle tickets is the P51 gal – Anna Monkiewicz.) But this week’s “Remember When” question is a little more recent – only forty years ago! So for the Boomers out there “What was the name of the catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, which listed where you can purchase products such as clothing, books, tools, machines, seeds but also included ideas for the counterculture lifestyle?” Email your answer to the mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788 or drop your answer off with all the materials for a geodesic dome.
And as I promised here are the remaining answers to the Brain Rattler from two weeks ago.
13.) 8 = Sides on a Stop Sign; 14) 3 = Blind Mice (See How They Run); 15.) 4 = Quarts in a Gallon; and 16.) 24 = Hours in a Day, 17). 1 = Wheel on a Unicycle; 18). 5 = Digits in a Zip Code; 19) 57 = Heinz Varieties; 20.) 11 = Players on a Football Team; 21) 1000 = W that a P is W; 22) 29 = Days in February in a Leap Year; 23) 64 = Squares on a Checkerboard; 24) 99 = Bottles of Beer on the Wall.
Well, it’s been another week searching for the right answers to the wrong questions. Until we meet again, as you gather with family you may want to remember the advice of Miss Manners “If you can’t be kind, at least be vague.”
