2023 social events, meetings, clubs, and eating out

 The health research shows that older adults need socialization. That's the main reason the Covid lockdown was so hard on us.  The non-Covid deaths were higher than needed to be. Research like this showing the need for socialization was put on the shelf. Social isolation, loneliness in older people pose health risks | National Institute on Aging (nih.gov)   Collecting My Thoughts: Music is good for you, especially in your later years  

Our church, UALC, did not have an active older adult ministry for two years, unless a group met on ZOOM, and reopened in March 2022. Collecting My Thoughts: Older adult ministry at UALC   Collecting My Thoughts: A statement from Pastor Steve Turnbull, UALC, Columbus, Ohio    So when I record my social activities for 2023, I don't list Sunday School (most Sundays), or Women of the Word (fall, winter, spring small study groups using videos and workbooks), or Thursday morning Bible Study (taught by a pastor, often combined with Lenten or Advent services and lunch). Those pre-2020 church programs are in place now and not recorded here.  

I'm also not listing my trips to Lifetime Fitness about 4 times a week.  I do occasionally meet and talk to people there.  Like yesterday.  I met Karen, a very active athletic baby boomers who is recovering from a broken foot playing pickle ball. And you'll be happy I'm not recording grocery store visits to Aldi's and Marc's, or doctors' visits--but those add up and are "outings." These figures are estimates, although most I have recorded in my journal.

Dinners with friends and family at our home: 9

Dinners at friends' homes: 12 

Dinner or lunch with friends at restaurants (most often Rusty Bucket): 15

Dinner with Phoebe and Mark at restaurants (most often Rusty Bucket): 13

Party or Picnic: 9 

Art gathering: 13

OSU Librarians retirees' lunch: 3

Lenten/Advent worship/lunch at UALC: 6

Concerts: 9 (including a Jazz concert on Dec. 31, 2023)

Travel (Arizona, Indianapolis, Lakeside, D.C., Oberlin: 8

Funerals or visitations: 7

Coffee dates with friends: 11

Book Club: 6

House guests: 1 week

Congregational meeting: 2

Condo meeting: 2

Book Club December 2023

Condo Christmas Party, Wine Bistro, Lane Ave. 

Tulamo Visit, October 2023

July 4 party with neighbors

Visit with Bob's sister, Indianapolis, July

Sitting down too long can hurt you

I came across an article on sedentary behavior in the LA Times, Opinion: Sitting down all day is killing us. The cure is surprisingly simple — and difficult (msn.com) and looked at the original article published in May 2023. Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Crossover Trial - PubMed (nih.gov) My first reaction (and last) was YIKES. Sedentary means time in your car, sitting in meetings at work or organizations, church attendance, computer browsing, checking e-mail and FB, TV watching, sitting with someone you're taking care of or visiting, going out for dinner and then to your friend's for dessert and conversation (which we did last night and I figure counting travel it was 4 hours of sitting), reading a good book, discussing it at book club, attending your grandchild's athletic, musical or drama event, taking classes at university or by Zoom (I'm doing A Christmas Carol class via internet), preparing Christmas cards, drawing or painting from concept to final product, sewing, knitting, crocheting or crafting just about anything, and that's just in the life of an old lady. If you have a desk job with an hour commute and are 40, goodness my dear, you are in trouble! This article recommends five minutes of being up and walking about after you've been sitting for 30 minutes!!!! It looks to me that the only time I wasn't sedentary in my adult life was when I was a fulltime home maker with children running around. An older article I read said exercise (like working out at the gym or walking with friends) doesn't compensate for long hours of sitting. It's 7:40 a.m. and I've already had 2 hours of sedentary behavior! So I'm going to walk around a bit.

Update: This morning in church (traditional service, Lutheran) I thought how healthy--up and down, up and down. We're there a little over an hour but no chance to be sedentary.

Physiology of sedentary behavior - PubMed (nih.gov)

Sedentary Behavior and Incident Dementia Among Older Adults | Dementia and Cognitive Impairment | JAMA | JAMA Network

Important exercises for older adults

While any movement is always better than none, there are certain foundational exercises that need to be performed on more than designated workout days, says Ann Phelps, D.P.T., a physical therapist at Athletico Physical Therapy in Chicago.

Why? Because that’s how you’ll get the results you want, from improving strength and mobility to building better balance to staying independent longer.

Below, Phelps shares the four most important exercises to add to your daily routine.

4 Exercises Older Adults Should Do Every Day (silversneakers.com)

Older adult ministry at UALC

 On December 29, 2021, I wrote a letter to a "ministry" (don't know who read it since there was no personal name) which was no longer on the schedule when our church reopened after the Covid lockdown. For over two decades there had been a Thursday morning Bible study mostly attended by retirees, although there were a few younger adults who attended. There were also attendees from the retirement communities near by, and by members of other churches. I attended only occasionally until the last few years. I could see that it met a lot of needs, especially social and mental stimulation.  There was a once a month luncheon after the study with interesting programs, sometimes about social services offered in the community, or volunteer opportunities, or featuring an interesting member of the congregation or artists in conjunction with the visual arts ministry. Here's the letter--there's no "dear pastor" since I didn't have a name:

"I read through the [winter] offerings and am wondering why the Thursday morning study has not been reinstated. Your ears must be burning for all the times members of that group discuss it during Sunday coffee time. It’s one of the longest running ministries that I’m aware of in the church. I retired in 2000, have participated at different times, but it was going strong when I was still employed. I know of no group that was more affected by the church lockdown/closure than this age group. It provided intellectual stimulation, a service opportunity for some, fellowship, occasionally lunch, and friendships. Not everyone in the group is an elder, and some are not members of UALC, so it also does outreach. Many do not use social media (which UALC provides) so it’s a chance to connect—as essential as the smart phones are for the teens. Loss of the Sunday church bulletin has also affected this group more—its reinstatement would mean more than card stock handouts suggesting volunteer opportunities or special needs.

If this older adult group is to be eliminated, perhaps you could announce it."

I'm happy to report that the group met today at 10:30 a.m., about 2 years to the day that the church closed in 2020. I didn't count, but there was a very large group--I'm guessing maybe 50. The study was led by our senior pastor, Steve Turnbull speaking on "Jesus is Lord," and there was good group participation. We also sang two familiar hymns (singing is good for the health) and had prayer.   It was followed at noon by the mid-week Lenten service in the sanctuary which included communion and a nice lunch (soup, salad, hot drinks, corn bread, and ice cream with a cookie).  The three groups didn't necessarily overlap with some who came to the church service weren't at the Bible study, and some at the Bible study didn't stay for church or lunch. There were already many isolated, lonely people in this group, particularly widows and widowers, who looked forward to this program, and the lockdown hurt them with loss of church services and volunteering. Not all could use Zoom for Sunday school. Everything we know about the health and welfare of elders was out the window during the lockdown. Some I know began attending other churches which reopened much sooner.  So losing their Thursday group after the reopening with no explanation was painful. I pray we can keep it going and I'm appreciative that someone managed to work through the problems of reinstatement. Thank you pastors Steve and Joe.

Old Age

Bad posture exercises need a wall

Aging causes poor posture--at least that's my excuse. I have to really think to sit or walk with good posture. When I look at Silver Sneakers' instructions to correct this, they always suggest doing something with a wall. I have doors, windows, rooms with chair rails, wide openings, banisters, furniture either floating or against the wall and maybe 50 paintings, but no wall space for doing chin tucks, corridor stretches, hands against the wall, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJspJaFL_l8   This is not Silver Sneakers, but the moves aren't difficult and some are sitting or standing (without the help of a wall).

Calorie restriction in older people for health benefits

Phil's "new" car, a 1968 Chevy

 I was born with a heart problem--an extra electrical circuit that acted up more and more as I got older.  No one knew about it because unless you're having tachycardia or arrhythmia (which I had often) while you're at the hospital or clinic for something else, no one finds it. And if you've lived with it all your life, you just think light-headedness is normal. It was diagnosed in 1996, I took medication for awhile, then had an ablation in 2002, but the right medications weren't determined until 2 years ago, and I've had zero problems since.

 

So I'm here at 76 because of the miracle of modern medicine--pharmaceutical research and surgical skill. But probably the only thing I can do personally to slow down the actual aging of my heart is caloric restriction. The first animal studies were done on this before I was born.  It is not the same as lowering my body weight. Reducing body size through exercise doesn't have the same effect. Hate that. I just had a bacon and cheese sandwich for breakfast and probably blew my entire calorie quota for the day. My husband has been on a mission team in Haiti for a week, and one night I had a glass of red wine and a dish of chocolate ice cream for supper.

 

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140401/ncomms4557/full/ncomms4557.html

 

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21841020

 

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20703061

 

Okinawa study on 100 year old subjects

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22281163

 

 late life restriction

 

The CALERIE project

http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/302/4/E441.long

 

Spending patterns of older Americans

 

 

  By 2050, when our children are 80+ there will twice as many seniors as today. So the purpose of this study (BLS) is to figure out how do people over 65 spend money (we’re consumer units). If businesses and investor are going to plan, they need to know where the opportunities are.

 

The first thing you notice is how income, which peaks in the 50s, drops in the 70s (retirement pensions, savings, investments—which is why we need to elect capitalists). I think the food category is high, but that’s because it probably includes eating out—and we sort of tuck that into entertainment (we don't do much for entertainment). Everyone eats out much more than they need to—food is pretty reasonable, but if you’re paying someone to prepare and serve it, not so much. In 2013, Americans spent 5.6 percent of their disposable personal incomes on food at home and 4.3 percent on food away from home. 

  

I was surprised that housing costs (as percent of income) were as high as the study shows.

Contributions got lumped into “other” so that’s a pretty sloppy category. I know there are all sorts of categories we could reduce, but really don’t have the will. Clothing costs are down for older Americans.  I just love shopping for clothes at resale stores and getting brand name jeans for $1.00. I didn’t discover them til after I retired. For nice stuff, I just let my daughter do that for Christmas and birthdays. But that trend isn't good for some malls and retail stores with such a shift in demographics.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-5/spending-patterns-of-older-americans.htm

Get the shingles vaccine!

Are you an older adult (over 50)? For your own sake, get the shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine--even if your insurance doesn't cover it! A friend of ours is suffering so, and it is needless. Shingles is like sleeping on a bed of poison ivy times 100. You won't die, but you may wish to!

Older Americans Fuel Entrepreneurial Boom, Says New Study

According to the nonprofit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, individuals between the ages of 54 and 64 represented 22.9% of the entrepreneurs who launched businesses in 2010 – up from 14.5% in 1996. Since 2007, the foundation says, this age group has created new businesses at a higher rate than any other.

Baby Boomers Fuel Entrepreneurial Boom, Says New Study From the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation - Encore - SmartMoney

Priorities for swine flu vaccine

Usually the elderly are told to get flu vaccines. Maybe we're at no risk for this one--after all, older people die in great numbers in any year from the flu and no one except the family gets too concerned, certainly not the media. However, the Obama health care plan promoted for older Americans pretty much writes them off as not worth anything. At least as recently as 2003 JAMA reported that vaccinating those over 65 was a high priority because it was so successful in reducing morbidity and mortality. Oh well, those were the Bush years and values were different. People mattered. (In 2009, CDC published additional estimates of flu-related deaths comparing different methods, including the methods used in the 2003 JAMA study. The seasons studied included the 1993-94 through the 2002-03 flu seasons. Results from this study showed that during this time period, 36,171 flu-related deaths occurred per year, on average. CDC

"A CDC vaccine advisory panel on Wednesday recommended that first shots should go to pregnant women, household contacts of infants younger than 6 months, health care workers, young people ages 6 months to 24 years and non-elderly adults at high risk for the flu."

Dress code violations

There’s been a lot on the news lately about public schools instituting a dress code--mostly to get the guys out of those saggy, huge, underwear exposing jeans and the girls to tuck it in a bit. I’ve been “on vacation” for four weeks and I’ve seen every violation from skimpy to slovenly to salacious--but mostly on people my age or older! When I was a child, “slovenly” was an older adult with only one working strap on the bib overalls and tobacco juice dribbling down the chin, or a blue haired woman wearing a food stained, feed-sack apron with a run in her stockings. Today, that is practically formal wear for the over-60 crowd at leisure.

Honey, it’s OK to cover up your sagging saddle bags, lumpy knees and purple spider veins--truly it is, please! The wrinkled look was in style a few years ago, but that was for 100% linen. In polyester cotton with a touch of lycra, it’s just messy. Ladies and Gentlemen! Where is the pride, dignity and good taste you had in the 1950s, 1960s, and even the 1990s? The other day at a public event on the lakefront I saw a woman who must have been a stunning prom queen in 1949--very long legs and a lovely figure with beautiful white hair. But in short shorts? Oh my. She wasn’t wearing glasses, but I was. Those kinds of dimples are for old Shirley Temple movies.

This was OK for the 1950s
“Hang on droopy” as we sing at football games in Columbus. As the waist expands, and you purchase capris or shorts to accommodate, there’s nothing to fill out the back of the pants. I’m walking behind you or sitting in the aisle seat at the auditorium. It’s not pretty.

The younger people, however, are cleaning up their acts. I’ve seen some gorgeous 30-something moms pushing baby strollers, wearing cute circle skirts and full coverage darling t-shirts and sparkling sandals. They look fabulous. Then comes granny--often 10 years younger than me. She looks like flattened fauna, as we used to say in the vet library. I’ve even seen some mini-skirts on the 20-somethings that look great--but that’s the last cut off for looking good in that 1960s fashion retread. The younger women are heading for the dock in beach cover-ups; Oh! that their grandmothers were doing the same.

Ben Stein laments the demise of the neck-tie in the business world, but he apparently hasn’t taken a look at vacation wear.