Spectacles

When I was young my mother informed me that when you reach a certain age, your eyesight will start to go.  I was convinced this happens to other people, definitely not to me.

As I approached the birthday she assured me my eyesight would begin to fail, I felt a sweet victory that my eyes were still functioning and glasses were not needed. The following birthday brought an even sweeter victory, I was still glasses free! 

By the next birthday, I recognized that an interesting phenomenon had occurred. Somehow in the previous 365 days, my arms had shrunk.  I realized this while trying to read.  My arms no longer could hold the book at the distance necessary to see the words on the page. How could this be? 

A visit to my eye doctor quickly cleared up any confusion. My arms had not shrunk. Instead, my eyesight was failing me. Reading glasses were a must. I selected the prettiest pair of spectacles and accepted by fate.  I get the growing older part of life, but why is it that my mom is ALWAYS right?

September is Healthy Aging Month and one way to age in a healthy manner is to take care of your eyesight.  The National Eye Institute has a number of excellent resources regarding keeping your eyes healthy as you age and tips for seeing well for a lifetime. 

Part of my wardrobe of spectacles.

Fishing for a Good Meal?

What’s low in fat, high in protein, vitamins, and nutrients AND can lower your blood pressure and help reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke? FISH! The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least two times per week as part of a healthy diet. Fish is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids. These essential nutrients keep our heart and brain healthy.

Recently, our Healthy Cuisine Cooking Class series featured an entire menu of healthy seafood dishes. Among the many we tried was a recipe for coconut shrimp.  This was a hit!  Hope you enjoy!

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It Takes a Village

We all know the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child." I was reminded of this recently as one of my youth programs, The Meadowlake Kids Club, capped off a week of activities by visiting the Albuquerque Zoo.

Some ready to board the train.

A trip to the zoo may not seem like it would be that much of an event to schedule and plan.  Due to geographic, economic, and logistic challenges,
it took a village.

The children, ranging in age from 4 - 15, earned
money to attend the trip by participating in a county road side clean up. After this, the "village" took over.

Our group enjoying lunch.

Extension offices in two counties loaned us
large passenger vans to help in transporting our
youth. A co-worker generously gave up time to
drive a combined total of over 400 miles to assist
as a driver/chaperone. An agency loaned us a gated parking lot to house one of our vans overnight. Community members volunteered to drive their personal vehicles to help deliver our group to the train station so our youth could experience their very first train ride.

It didn't stop there.

Waiting for the seals to be fed.

A train employee gave us a deep discount on our train passes when she learned of our adventure. The Belen Methodist Church donated drinks, two of our Extension Association of New Mexico members, Carolyn and Dee, donated oranges, chips and cookies, and Tom, a volunteer, donated water. A kind zoo employee, Antoinette, gave us a great deal on our last minute group passes.

There were a lot of smiles!

Most generous of all might have been the early morning commuters on the train who were so patient with our very loud, very excited and very large group.  One commuter stopped me as I was walking up and down the aisle passing out snacks and said, "What a neat experience you're providing for those kids."

I smiled and said thank you. But in my head I thought, what a neat experience for which I get to be a part. And in my heart I felt overwhelming gratitude for volunteers, co-workers,
parents and even strangers who make up the village that
raise our children.