My Commonplace Book

Well, the blog post I found is really titled The Oldest Living Human on Facebook, but I can certainly relate!

Although I think the mean age of Facebook users is probably even lower than LJ's, I'm still more than twice as old as some of my friends here. And although I've run across other people near my age, I haven't seen anyone older than I am.

I went to the 50+ Expo today. That's a big event that they put on once a year, with lots of activities, booths, performances, workshops, a health fair, an alternative care section, and all sorts of stuff. In past years I've sometimes gotten a neck-and-shoulder massage and a foot reflexology treatment at the alternative care fair, but I didn't go upstairs at the right time because I wanted to try out a Segway. 

Those things are fun! This is actually the second time I've ridden on one. The first was at the local town election last April, when one of the candidates had one at the polling place. She was giving someone a ride after the election ended and I cheekily went over and said, "Can I try it?" They had several at the expo today, including one or two of the new ones where the upright part is basically a joystick, and you not only lean forward and back to go, stop and back up, you also steer by leaning to one side or the other. (The older ones have a ring around the handlebar on one side that you rotate to the left or right to tell it you want to turn). I didn't get to try the new one, but I was perfectly happy to twist my wrist to ride around the little 4-cone slalom course they set up ... and I only knocked over one cone, the first time through it!

I also picked up a ton of swag and gobs of candy from the exhibit booths. Most of the tables have bowls or baskets of candy to entice people over to their booth, as well as myriad small giveaways imprinted with the company's or organization's name. I tried not to take anything I couldn't use, but I still ended up with magnifiers, sewing kits (including a set of needles pre-threaded with about ten colors of thread ), pens, rubber jar openers, bottle and pull tab openers (which I've really been needing -- I have a lot of trouble opening pop-top cans, especially the ones with big sturdy tops like canned soup), lots of little post-it note pads, a few larger post-it note pads, an exceptionally nice insulated lunch carrier, magneted clips for holding things on refrigerators or other metal surfaces, potato-chip-bag clips, pens, little purses, a lanyard emery boards, pocket mirrors, tote bags, pens, even one of those velvet-type lint brushes, and I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten. Oh, and did I mention pens? Some of them are really nice, and most are big or soft or in some other way friendly to arthritic hands. The coolest pen I got was a PenAgain, a weird-looking but very comfortable ergonomic pen.

And of course I accumulated a huge pile of paper with information of all sorts, not to mention a big bagful of candy!

I brought my big wheeled tote bag today, and it was great! I put my purse, my water bottle, my rain jacket and umbrella in there, and there was plenty of room for all the other stuff. I made a couple of trips out to the car to drop stuff off so the bag wouldn't get overstuffed -- even with wheels, it's hard to pull when it gets too heavy -- but since I have a handicrap tag I was able to park right in front of the high school where the expo is held and didn't have to take the shuttle bus from the mall.

The highlight of the expo for many people is the Capitol Steps performance! It's a short one -- only one hour -- but it's free! Today's was really good! I haven't seen them in awhile, and almost all their numbers were new to me (I've seen Pack the Knife before, but they updated it just a bit and it's still funny). Of course I had to get their latest album, I'm So Indicted. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but it looks really good!

While I was writing this I got a phone call. A friend and I were supposed to go to a natural area tomorrow morning, but she screwed up her dates and double booked -- she promised to go to Patapsco Valley State Park with the hiking club at her college. The problem is she had offered to drive, and she just realized the conflict tonight. She obviously can't back out of it this late when there's no time to make other arrangements. So she asked if it would be okay for us to go to PVSP instead. I wouldn't be able to keep up with a bunch of young, healthy college kids, so we'll just go our own way and meet them again when it's time to go home.

Speaking of which, I'd better go pack things up for tomorrow!

One of the many things nobody ever tells you about middle age is that it's such a nice change from being young.
                      —Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958), American educational reformer, social activist, author

It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen.
                    —Brigitte Bardot (b. 1934), French actress and model

I went with my friend Sue to look at a continuing care retirement community, aka life care community, today. It was quite a haul up to Westminster, but it was a lovely drive through the countryside on a beautiful sunny day, so I didn't mind. I took a day off yesterday to just veg but I'm still tired from the fun but hectic weekend, so I was glad Sue agreed to drive.

The place we looked at was Carroll Lutheran Village. Although it was built by the Lutherans, it's completely nonsectarian, and the majority of residents are not Lutherans -- but most are Christian of one sort or another, and there is quite a Christian feel to the place, with crosses here and there, and a chapel with a stained glass window with a cross. They're not ostentatious, though, so it might not be too bad once one gets used to them.

CLV is the first life care community I've looked at. I was attracted to it by the gorgeous pastoral setting -- it's at the very top of a hill surrounded by farms, and the views are spectacular. Although development is creeping out from the small city of Westminster (pop. 17,000), it's buffered on that side by a golf course so I imagine it will be awhile before all the farmland around the town gets eaten up by subdivisions and shopping centers.

I started looking at CCRCs because E&RM, friends of mine in their mid-60s, moved to one nearby called Riderwood, and I was very impressed with it when I visited them. They were just raving about it -- especially the idea of being in an active adult community, yet with the security of knowing that they could live there for life, and no matter what happened they wouldn't have to worry about finding a place to go for care. E took me on a tour of the place and I really liked the concept. Now that I'm on my own, with no one to take care of me as I get older, I started to think that a CCRC might be a good place for me. Most of them have a minimum age of 60 or 62, and I've got a ways to go yet, but some of them have years-long waiting lists for the more popular homes or apartments, so it's not too early for me to start investigating.

The 33-year-old marketing consultant at CLV was very nice and tried to answer all our questions, but there was so much to go over that there were some things I never did find out. Sue's priorities turned out to be very different from mine, too, so it was difficult to address everything we both wanted to know. Even though she's several years younger than I am, she was very concerned with seeing the assisted living and nursing home areas, and asked more questions about them than she did about the independent living options! So that took up a lot of our time, but we did get to see a cottage and an apartment in the old section (there's a new section being built now).

There was one cottage I really, really liked, and I was practically ready to put my name on the list just from seeing the outside! It was right across the street from the dining room, yet had the most spectacular views of any home on the campus. Unfortunately, Beth told us that the person in it had just moved in, and she could live another 15 or 20 years, so I shouldn't count on being able to get that one.

But I have a lot of investigating to do before I actually choose a place. I know I want to see Charlestown (very similar to Riderwood but with much lower prices because it's in a lower-cost area outside Baltimore rather than the upscale Washington suburb where Riderwood is), and Greenspring (also similar to Riderwood but closer to Meredith). And of course I want to see what else is available in the Baltimore-Washington region and the northern half of Virginia. It will probably take a couple of years to decide, so even though I'm still middle-aged, it's not too late to get started.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
                    —Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American author, philosopher and naturalist

The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge  that you'll grow out of it.
                  —Doris Day, (b. 1924), American singer and actress

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
                —Samuel Ullman (1840-1924), German-born American businessman, poet, humanitarian