What is your idea of adventure? Climbing Mt. Hood, scuba diving in the Caribbean or sailing around the world. Or if you your interests are more toward the arts maybe visiting the Louvre in Paris, acting in a movie with Meryl Streep or having lunch with JK Rowling. But as they say nowadays, “Let’s get real”. For me at least, unless some mysterious great uncle I never heard of leaves me a nice inheritance, I can dream, but it ain’t gonna happen. But fortunately, you don’t need to travel halfway around the world to find adventure. It may be as close as buying a piano that your kids don’t think you have room for. It may be falling in love again when you thought you never could. It may be leaving the house when you don’t feel there is any reason. Or it can be as simple as wearing those madras shorts to the Senior Center one more time. There is adventure all around us that is just waiting to be discovered.

At the Senior Center there are many opportunities to discover new adventures. There is Strong Women, Seniorcise, Yoga, Tap and Clogging, Quilters, and our card games including Pinochle, Bridge and Cribbage. You can attend the new programs we started last year: Monday Night Will Bowling, the Computer Lab and Help Sessions, and The Next Chapter Lecture Series. And in our efforts to provide even more territory to explore we will be adding several new classes this fall including Card Making, Drawing with Pen and Ink, Tai Chi, and Games on the Wii. For more information or to sign up, call the Senior Center at 296-4788.

This is short notice, but there is an informational meeting many of you may want to attend. State Medicare experts will be in The Dalles at the Senior Center, this Thursday, August 21st from 2:00 – 4:00 to offer a free two hour class about Medicare. The class is offered by the State Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program (SHIBA) and will cover such topics as: how to get Medicare, different types of Medicare insurance, including the prescription drug coverage: and volunteering with SHIBA. As the Medicare folks explain it, “Most people think Medicare is something that just shows up in the mail when they turn 65, but Medicare coverage actually requires folks to make some good personal choices. To make those choices successfully, it helps to understand what the medical acronyms, plans and deadlines really mean. And if you have questions about your current coverage, this class is for you. Medicare counselors will be on hand to answer all your questions and address any complaints you may have.” To register call the Area Agency on Aging at 541-298-4101 or if you are a procrastinator just show up on Thursday. Remember, you aren’t really old until your children are on Medicare.

Another opportunity starting on Tuesday August 26th is “Living Well with Chronic Conditions” a six-week workshop for people living with chronic conditions and those who care for them. It provides tools for living a healthy life with chronic health conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, asthma and heart disease. Through weekly sessions, the workshop provides support for continuing normal daily activities and dealing with the emotions that chronic conditions may bring about. Topics that will be covered include: managing symptoms, medication how-to, working with your healthcare team, setting weekly goals, effective problem solving, better communication, how to relax, handling difficult emotions, tips for eating well, safe easy exercise. The class will be from 2:00 – 4:30 on Tuesdays August 26th to September 30th at the Senior Center 1112 W 9th Street. For more information call Allyson Smith at the Wasco Sherman Health Department at 506-2600. They need ten people for this workshop so it is important you pre-register. You can sign up there or at the Senior Center. This workshop is made possible by the efforts of the Area Agency on Aging, Wasco Sherman County Health Department, Wasco County Extension and Julie Reynolds.

You may have noticed a new Senior Center sign at the corner of 10^th and Cherry Heights thanks to Chris Zukin, John Lehman and the fine crew at Meadow Outdoor Advertising. After discussions with Chris and John about how the center could maximize the potential of that busy corner, Chris offered to build a structure that would raise the previous sign and allow space for banners below it. The banners will promote the idea that although we are a senior center, we are also a “fun” center, a “learning” center and an “exercise” center: a place that is “more than you think”. Thanks to their efforts, more folks will know about the programs and activities offered at the Senior Center.

Remember the days when you either grew your own vegetables and fruits in your own yard or bought them from your neighbor’s fruit stand. You can return to those days by visiting The Dalles Farmer’s Market where you can buy fresh vegetables and fruit from a variety of local vendors. It is open every Wednesday from 8:00 to 1:00 until mid-October and is located on the lawn of The Dalles Chamber of Commerce at 404 W 2nd Street. If you have any questions can contact Barbara Pashek at 298-1973 or bpashek@hotmail.com.

This coming Tuesday the 26^th at the Senior Center’s Tuesday Night Music and Dance you will have the chance to get your monthly dose of “The Jazz Generations” playing the Big Band sounds. There have been nice crowds, but Hank wants to see more people up and dancing. So bring a friend and get the place hopping and bopping. And performing tonight are the crowd favorites, “Harold and Friends” playing country and western. Everybody is welcome! Admission is free but donations gladly accepted.

That is it for another week. Until we meet again, here is a quote from Eubie Blake, pianist and pioneer of the boogie-woogie, at the age of 100, “Those docs, they always ask you how you live so long. I tell ‘em, ‘If I’d know I was gonna live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.’”