Programs - 2020
Strokes: Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments 2020-01-03 Click to open. Click to close.
Dr. Erik Larsen who presented this program is the Assistant Director of Emergency Management Services and of Emergency Preparedness at White Plains Hospital.
Common Types of Stokes
There are two major stroke types, ischemic stokes and hemorrhagic strokes. In hemorrhagic strokes, a weakened blood vessel (aneurism) ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. Often this kind of stroke causes an extremely intense headache. About 13% of strokes are hemorrhagic. The most common kind of stroke is the ischemic stroke, caused by a blood clot that partially or fully obstructs a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. About 87% of strokes are ischemic.
People may also experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or “mini-stoke” when the blood supply to a part of the brain is briefly obstructed but then clears. A TIA may last a few minutes or longer, but clears within 24 hours. However, a TIA should serve as a warning signal: about 15% of major strokes are preceded by TIAs.
When a person has a stroke, quick action is essential. Call 911!
Symptoms of a stoke
Sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the face or body
Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech
Sudden loss of coordination or loss of balance
Severe headache
Sudden trouble seeing, or having part of one’s field of vision become dark or fuzzy
FAST is a concise reminder of the symptoms:
Face - face drooping. Ask the person to smile.
Arm - arm weak. Ask the person to raise each arm.
Speech - slurred speech. Ask the person to repeat a sentence.
Time. Call 911 right away if any symptoms are present.
Risk Factors
We can change or control many risk factors: inactivity, obesity, poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption, high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension. The more physically active we are, and the more we pay attention to taking care of our health, the less likely a stroke will be.
Treatment
The sooner you get to the Emergency Room, the sooner the staff can begin treatment. Dr. Larsen talked about the strict protocols used at White Plains Hospital to identify the type of stroke and to begin appropriate treatment. Minutes count. Immediate treatment may minimize the long-term effects of a stroke.
If the stroke is caused by a blood clot, the hospital may use a clot-dissolving drug called IV Alteplase (tPA) administered through an IV, improving the blood flow as it dissolves the clot. To be eligible for this treatment a patient must be under care within 3 to 4.5 hours after symptoms start. There is also a mechanical option to remove a clot (called a clot buster). A catheter is threaded through an artery in the femoral artery and up to the blocked artery where the clot is grabbed or suctioned. This procedure must be done within four hours of the stroke.
Sometimes surgery is required to secure a blood vessel during a hemorrhagic stroke, but the surgery itself is often too risky.
Designation of Stroke Centers
There is a current initiative in NYS for all hospitals to have a stroke treatment designation by March 2021 so that patients can be taken to the hospital where they will receive the most appropriate treatment.
For more information go to The American Stroke Association website, https://www.stroke.org/
Common Types of Stokes
There are two major stroke types, ischemic stokes and hemorrhagic strokes. In hemorrhagic strokes, a weakened blood vessel (aneurism) ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. Often this kind of stroke causes an extremely intense headache. About 13% of strokes are hemorrhagic. The most common kind of stroke is the ischemic stroke, caused by a blood clot that partially or fully obstructs a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. About 87% of strokes are ischemic.
People may also experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or “mini-stoke” when the blood supply to a part of the brain is briefly obstructed but then clears. A TIA may last a few minutes or longer, but clears within 24 hours. However, a TIA should serve as a warning signal: about 15% of major strokes are preceded by TIAs.
When a person has a stroke, quick action is essential. Call 911!
Symptoms of a stoke
Sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the face or body
Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech
Sudden loss of coordination or loss of balance
Severe headache
Sudden trouble seeing, or having part of one’s field of vision become dark or fuzzy
FAST is a concise reminder of the symptoms:
Face - face drooping. Ask the person to smile.
Arm - arm weak. Ask the person to raise each arm.
Speech - slurred speech. Ask the person to repeat a sentence.
Time. Call 911 right away if any symptoms are present.
Risk Factors
We can change or control many risk factors: inactivity, obesity, poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption, high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension. The more physically active we are, and the more we pay attention to taking care of our health, the less likely a stroke will be.
Treatment
The sooner you get to the Emergency Room, the sooner the staff can begin treatment. Dr. Larsen talked about the strict protocols used at White Plains Hospital to identify the type of stroke and to begin appropriate treatment. Minutes count. Immediate treatment may minimize the long-term effects of a stroke.
If the stroke is caused by a blood clot, the hospital may use a clot-dissolving drug called IV Alteplase (tPA) administered through an IV, improving the blood flow as it dissolves the clot. To be eligible for this treatment a patient must be under care within 3 to 4.5 hours after symptoms start. There is also a mechanical option to remove a clot (called a clot buster). A catheter is threaded through an artery in the femoral artery and up to the blocked artery where the clot is grabbed or suctioned. This procedure must be done within four hours of the stroke.
Sometimes surgery is required to secure a blood vessel during a hemorrhagic stroke, but the surgery itself is often too risky.
Designation of Stroke Centers
There is a current initiative in NYS for all hospitals to have a stroke treatment designation by March 2021 so that patients can be taken to the hospital where they will receive the most appropriate treatment.
For more information go to The American Stroke Association website, https://www.stroke.org/
CAN Volunteering 2020-01-17 Click to open. Click to close.
Susan Travis gave a detailed review of the CAN volunteer program. She noted, “We are a volunteer organization. Our goal is to support our members in being active and independent so they may remain in the places of their choosing. We are interested in helping each other thrive as we age, to experience life fully, enjoy new opportunities, and continue to contribute to our community as we grow older. Members of CAN are a close community ready to help each other at any time.”
Susan pointed out that she felt a personal benefit of the group in that she is making new friends and feels safer knowing that we will help each other. Many people in CAN feel this way because we have volunteers who are willing to step in when a member is in need. She emphasized how important it is for all volunteers to read and act in accordance with the guidelines and the boundaries of responsibility described in the Volunteer Handbook. Here is that section of the Handbook:
What is Expected of All Volunteers: Boundaries of Responsibility
1. Confidentiality
A primary responsibility of each volunteer is to respect the privacy of each member. Confidentiality means not sharing the member’s personal information or personal story, including their name and other data. Confidentiality as defined above, does not apply to the information needed for CAN’s record of the volunteer experience. Enter the facts only: Name of member, task, date, and a simple check on a scale from Poor to Great.
2. Respect
Both the member and the volunteer must show a respect for boundaries. Upon arrival, the volunteer needs to clearly explain what help they are there to give. A volunteer cannot do anything that necessitates a professional: no skilled nursing, no therapy, no housecleaning.
All volunteers and members are expected to show respect and appreciation for our diverse backgrounds and cultures in our interrelating.
3. Safety
Volunteers cannot engage in any activity that might endanger either member or volunteer. Such activities include climbing ladders, carrying heavy items, lifting, etc.
4. Listening (Communication)
Listening is an invaluable skill, a gift. Listening comes from an open mind and a caring heart. To listen fully, with rapt attention, the volunteer must take him/herself out of the equation. Don’t be tempted to listen with half an ear while being distracted by trying to solve the problem, or come up with some wise advice. After fully listening ask, “Is this what you just said?”, or words to that effect. This simple question avoids assumption and miscommunication. Listening also involves the awareness of body language that shows you are paying attention.
5. Observational Skills
Note any dangerous conditions. Be aware if the environment contains any hazards, rugs to slip on, loose steps, broken sidewalk.
Non-Medical Volunteer Tasks
Listed below are the tasks our non-medical volunteers may be able to do for you:
Susan pointed out that she felt a personal benefit of the group in that she is making new friends and feels safer knowing that we will help each other. Many people in CAN feel this way because we have volunteers who are willing to step in when a member is in need. She emphasized how important it is for all volunteers to read and act in accordance with the guidelines and the boundaries of responsibility described in the Volunteer Handbook. Here is that section of the Handbook:
What is Expected of All Volunteers: Boundaries of Responsibility
1. Confidentiality
A primary responsibility of each volunteer is to respect the privacy of each member. Confidentiality means not sharing the member’s personal information or personal story, including their name and other data. Confidentiality as defined above, does not apply to the information needed for CAN’s record of the volunteer experience. Enter the facts only: Name of member, task, date, and a simple check on a scale from Poor to Great.
2. Respect
Both the member and the volunteer must show a respect for boundaries. Upon arrival, the volunteer needs to clearly explain what help they are there to give. A volunteer cannot do anything that necessitates a professional: no skilled nursing, no therapy, no housecleaning.
All volunteers and members are expected to show respect and appreciation for our diverse backgrounds and cultures in our interrelating.
3. Safety
Volunteers cannot engage in any activity that might endanger either member or volunteer. Such activities include climbing ladders, carrying heavy items, lifting, etc.
4. Listening (Communication)
Listening is an invaluable skill, a gift. Listening comes from an open mind and a caring heart. To listen fully, with rapt attention, the volunteer must take him/herself out of the equation. Don’t be tempted to listen with half an ear while being distracted by trying to solve the problem, or come up with some wise advice. After fully listening ask, “Is this what you just said?”, or words to that effect. This simple question avoids assumption and miscommunication. Listening also involves the awareness of body language that shows you are paying attention.
5. Observational Skills
Note any dangerous conditions. Be aware if the environment contains any hazards, rugs to slip on, loose steps, broken sidewalk.
Non-Medical Volunteer Tasks
Listed below are the tasks our non-medical volunteers may be able to do for you:
- Computer/technologies
- Dog walking
- Friendly Visit / Cuppa Tea
- Grocery Shopping
- Gardening/plant care/sitting
- Home organization
- Social phone call or phone “check-in”
- Minor Household Chores/repairs
Your Home Energy Options: Clearing the Confusion 2020-01-31 Click to open. Click to close.
At the beginning of the CAN meeting on Friday some members asked about a mailing they had received about their home energy supplier. The letter came from a company called CleanChoice Energy. Its heading – IMPORTANT NOTICE ACTION REQUESTED – made people wonder if they needed to act. But this is a come-on from a private company. YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESPOND! This letter has nothing to do with the energy choice changes that are coming for our communities.
The whole issue about home energy choices has been confusing for many. Here is the information you need to know:
Community Choice Aggregation - What are the real changes that are coming?
New York State municipalities can choose to aggregate individual households into an energy buying group in order to lower costs and to provide those households with 100% renewable electrical power. This change is called Community Choice Aggregation or CCA. The communities of South Nyack, Nyack, Upper Nyack, Orangetown and Clarkstown have all voted to become a unified large energy buying group through CCA. The official name of this community energy buying group is Rockland Community Power.
At the bottom of this section of these notes I am going give you a link to an information sheet about Community Choice Aggregation. Here are the first two paragraphs from that sheet:
1. What is Community Choice Aggregation (CCA)?
Community choice aggregation (CCA) programs empower municipalities to select 100% renewable electricity for their residents and small businesses, at a fixed and lower price. CCA programs enable participating communities to join together and purchase electricity supply in bulk. Aggregating consumers on a large scale helps create the buying power necessary to secure more favorable energy supply rates and designate renewable generation sources.
2. Why are New York cities, towns and villages forming Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs)?
CCA is a powerful means to: (1) Save money by providing a fixed, lower electricity rate for a specific period of time, (2) Expand the use of 100% clean electricity from within New York State, and (3) Increase consumer protection with a program which has no additional charges or fees. No contract, additional paperwork or exchange of information is required. The contract guaranteeing the fixed rate is held by the municipality, giving all consumers flexibility to participate or not.
If you are currently an Orange and Rockland customer, you will not need to take any action. You will automatically be moved to renewable energy, but you will also have the option to opt out.
The whole issue about home energy choices has been confusing for many. Here is the information you need to know:
Community Choice Aggregation - What are the real changes that are coming?
New York State municipalities can choose to aggregate individual households into an energy buying group in order to lower costs and to provide those households with 100% renewable electrical power. This change is called Community Choice Aggregation or CCA. The communities of South Nyack, Nyack, Upper Nyack, Orangetown and Clarkstown have all voted to become a unified large energy buying group through CCA. The official name of this community energy buying group is Rockland Community Power.
At the bottom of this section of these notes I am going give you a link to an information sheet about Community Choice Aggregation. Here are the first two paragraphs from that sheet:
1. What is Community Choice Aggregation (CCA)?
Community choice aggregation (CCA) programs empower municipalities to select 100% renewable electricity for their residents and small businesses, at a fixed and lower price. CCA programs enable participating communities to join together and purchase electricity supply in bulk. Aggregating consumers on a large scale helps create the buying power necessary to secure more favorable energy supply rates and designate renewable generation sources.
2. Why are New York cities, towns and villages forming Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs)?
CCA is a powerful means to: (1) Save money by providing a fixed, lower electricity rate for a specific period of time, (2) Expand the use of 100% clean electricity from within New York State, and (3) Increase consumer protection with a program which has no additional charges or fees. No contract, additional paperwork or exchange of information is required. The contract guaranteeing the fixed rate is held by the municipality, giving all consumers flexibility to participate or not.
If you are currently an Orange and Rockland customer, you will not need to take any action. You will automatically be moved to renewable energy, but you will also have the option to opt out.
T'ai Chi Chih 2020-02-14 Click to open. Click to close.
Oreann Kempadoo, RN and accredited instructor, introduced us to T’ai Chi Chih. Oreann talked about this form of T'ai Chi as being a meditation in motion, and noted that this is definitely NOT a martial art. We engaged in a few of the 19 movements and were able to feel the peaceful but gentle energizing flow and grace of the practice. Oreann also conveyed her own personal experiences with the health benefits of T’ai Chi Chih which resonated with some of the members. It was a lovely afternoon. Oreann gives classes at the Clarkstown Community Learning Center, 9 Lake Road, Congers, NY 10920. You can contact her at 845-356-0274 or [email protected]
Changes at Montefiore Nyack Hospital 2020-02-28 Click to open. Click to close.
Kristin DeLorenzo, Director of Patient Experience, and Sandra Arevalo Valencia, Director of Community and Patient Education, led their team in a discussion of the changes occurring at Montefiore Nyack Hospital, and the programs now available at the hospital. It was a wide ranging and informative presentation demonstrating the importance of community involvement and feedback. Clearly the hospital is involved in an ongoing effort to improve the level of care for their patients. They emphasized that Montefiore Nyack was focusing more on its role as a “community hospital”, evidenced by various support groups, classes and resource information.
Changes to the Emergency Department
In addition, the hospital Emergency Department is undergoing a construction project which will double the size of the department to 26,000 square feet. There will be four ambulance bays featuring sound-attenuating materials as well as an angled design to direct emergency vehicle headlights away from residences. The current Emergency Department was designed to accommodate half the number of people who now need ER service. The new Emergency Department accommodations will be improved so that the current cubicles will be separate small rooms, each with a glass door. There will be a private room with bathroom for sexual assault victims, and a separate behavioral health unit designed for privacy and safety. With the increased size of the emergency department there will be ongoing assessment of staffing levels.
The Outpatient Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program - This is a new program designed to assist individuals recovering from a heart attack or from cardiac surgery that was performed at Montefiore Nyack Hospital or elsewhere. After a physician’s referral, each participant is evaluated and an optimal program is developed that might last up to 36 weeks. Some of the components of a program are exercise, nutrition awareness, stress reduction, and psycho-social support. For more information call (845) 348-7500 or go to https://www.montefiorenyack.org/outpatient-cardiopulmonary-rehabilitation
Colon Cancer Awareness and Prevention Event - Members of the community who are age 50 or older are invited to this panel discussion about how to recognize signs and symptoms, methods of diagnosis and treatment options of colorectal cancer. You will also learn methods of prevention. The event is being held on Friday, March 6, 2020, 10:00 - 12 noon, at the Haverstraw Community Center, 50 West Broad Street, Haverstraw, NY 10927.
A Matter of Balance Fall Prevention Program - A free eight-week prevention program to reduce fear of falling and encourage activity. For information call Jennifer M. Pastiglione, trauma program manager (845) 348-2043 or email [email protected].
Free Vascular Screenings – Adults age 60 or older, or adults age 50 or older with one or more risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoker), adults, age 40 or older with diabetes are eligible. This is a non-invasive ultrasound scan that can identify vascular disease. The results are sent to the patient and the patient’s primary care physician. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm; Thursdays 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Go to Montefiore Nyack Hospital Radiology Department on the first floor. For information, contact Patricia Pelaez at [email protected] or call (833) 324-3278. Also see https://www.montefiorenyack.org/vascular
Community Paramedicine Program
This program was developed to help ensure that patients who have been discharged from the hospital have the treatments and supports they need so they do not need to return to the hospital, and to reduce the number of recurring visits to the Emergency Room. The program was developed with coordination between Rockland Paramedic Services and Montefiore Nyack Hospital. After patients are discharged from Montefiore Nyack Hospital, they are contacted to evaluate whether or not they would benefit from enrollment in the Community Paramedicine Program. If they would benefit, trained paramedics will be able to visit you in your home and provide old fashioned “house calls.” The paramedics can provide physical exams and evaluate the home environment, as well as assess the need for help with transportation, medication and housekeeping. The paramedics can monitor, evaluate and treat you in your home and encourage support preventative care. There is no charge for this program currently funded through a grant.
Hip and Joint Replacement Program Recognition
The Hip and Joint Replacement Program received the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for the third time in a row. See https://www.montefiorenyack.org/press/montefiore-nyack-hospital-awarded-hip-and-knee-joint-replacement-certification-from-the-joint-commission
Corona Virus
The hospital is prepared to evaluate people for the virus, and are following all of the CDC guidelines. They feel that they are well prepared. Currently there are no cases of Corona virus in Rockland.
Problem Solving - The hospital is actively trying to address program areas. Complaints are reviewed and evaluated for the issues involved, which can be communication and/or process. Some areas currently being addressed are as follows:
Changes to the Emergency Department
In addition, the hospital Emergency Department is undergoing a construction project which will double the size of the department to 26,000 square feet. There will be four ambulance bays featuring sound-attenuating materials as well as an angled design to direct emergency vehicle headlights away from residences. The current Emergency Department was designed to accommodate half the number of people who now need ER service. The new Emergency Department accommodations will be improved so that the current cubicles will be separate small rooms, each with a glass door. There will be a private room with bathroom for sexual assault victims, and a separate behavioral health unit designed for privacy and safety. With the increased size of the emergency department there will be ongoing assessment of staffing levels.
The Outpatient Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program - This is a new program designed to assist individuals recovering from a heart attack or from cardiac surgery that was performed at Montefiore Nyack Hospital or elsewhere. After a physician’s referral, each participant is evaluated and an optimal program is developed that might last up to 36 weeks. Some of the components of a program are exercise, nutrition awareness, stress reduction, and psycho-social support. For more information call (845) 348-7500 or go to https://www.montefiorenyack.org/outpatient-cardiopulmonary-rehabilitation
Colon Cancer Awareness and Prevention Event - Members of the community who are age 50 or older are invited to this panel discussion about how to recognize signs and symptoms, methods of diagnosis and treatment options of colorectal cancer. You will also learn methods of prevention. The event is being held on Friday, March 6, 2020, 10:00 - 12 noon, at the Haverstraw Community Center, 50 West Broad Street, Haverstraw, NY 10927.
A Matter of Balance Fall Prevention Program - A free eight-week prevention program to reduce fear of falling and encourage activity. For information call Jennifer M. Pastiglione, trauma program manager (845) 348-2043 or email [email protected].
Free Vascular Screenings – Adults age 60 or older, or adults age 50 or older with one or more risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoker), adults, age 40 or older with diabetes are eligible. This is a non-invasive ultrasound scan that can identify vascular disease. The results are sent to the patient and the patient’s primary care physician. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm; Thursdays 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Go to Montefiore Nyack Hospital Radiology Department on the first floor. For information, contact Patricia Pelaez at [email protected] or call (833) 324-3278. Also see https://www.montefiorenyack.org/vascular
Community Paramedicine Program
This program was developed to help ensure that patients who have been discharged from the hospital have the treatments and supports they need so they do not need to return to the hospital, and to reduce the number of recurring visits to the Emergency Room. The program was developed with coordination between Rockland Paramedic Services and Montefiore Nyack Hospital. After patients are discharged from Montefiore Nyack Hospital, they are contacted to evaluate whether or not they would benefit from enrollment in the Community Paramedicine Program. If they would benefit, trained paramedics will be able to visit you in your home and provide old fashioned “house calls.” The paramedics can provide physical exams and evaluate the home environment, as well as assess the need for help with transportation, medication and housekeeping. The paramedics can monitor, evaluate and treat you in your home and encourage support preventative care. There is no charge for this program currently funded through a grant.
Hip and Joint Replacement Program Recognition
The Hip and Joint Replacement Program received the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for the third time in a row. See https://www.montefiorenyack.org/press/montefiore-nyack-hospital-awarded-hip-and-knee-joint-replacement-certification-from-the-joint-commission
Corona Virus
The hospital is prepared to evaluate people for the virus, and are following all of the CDC guidelines. They feel that they are well prepared. Currently there are no cases of Corona virus in Rockland.
Problem Solving - The hospital is actively trying to address program areas. Complaints are reviewed and evaluated for the issues involved, which can be communication and/or process. Some areas currently being addressed are as follows:
- Reducing the number of patient falls. Falls are the #1 source of injury in patients 60 and older.
- Reducing the occurrence of bedsores
- Timeline between emergency room assessment and treatment or admission
- Housekeeping issues, environmental services
- Monitoring the rates and cause of patient re-entry
- Improving communication between patients and staff
- Improving standards throughout the hospital
CAN during Covid-19 2020-03-09 - 2020-03-27 Click to open, Click to close.
From March 9, 2020 through March 24, 2020 the CAN Notes were filled with news about the coronavirus that was moving quickly into Rockland and surrounding counties. By March 11, the Advisory Team and the Program Team both agreed we would not meet at the library again until it was safe to do so. What follows is just a record of some of the steps we took to reassure our member and to provide them with information during a frightening and confusing time.
On March 11 we urged members to be in touch with each other by email or phone with their neighborhood emergency groups as a way of making sure everyone was all right and that they had people they could reach out to.
The following is exerpted from the March 13 notes:
Calming Information
There is so much information out there about this virus. Some of it is good info, some is erroneous, and much of it is repetitious. If you want to read even more about it, here is a link to some good, sensible, reality-based information to lower the fear level: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-ten-reasons-why-you-ought-not-to-panic-132941
Books and Suggestions
Please write to me if you have suggestions for calming, interesting books you recommend, or if you have other suggestions of thing people could do while they are at home. I will send out the information to CAN members. I have two books to recommend today that you could order from Barnes & Noble, Amazon:
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen
You will feel as though you are sitting with your wisest, best friend. Rachel Remen is such a deeply wise woman, yet so approachable.
The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski
The subtitle of this book is Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully. Don’t let that put you off!! This book is full of calming wisdom and insight that we can all use right now. Frank Ostaseski is the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and has great wisdom about end-of-life care. But the Five Invitations are applicable to how we engage with people and with life. It is a very positive book.
That is all for now, my friends. I know we are all thinking about each other. Don’t be shy about reaching out. Remember what Susan Travis taught us: ASK – Allow Someone’s Kindness.
On March 18 and March 24 the Notes contained suggestions for things to do to keep healthy and busy. We expanded these on the Covid-19 and Activities pages of the website. I also asked our counselors to send ideas for stress reduction, staying centered, connecting with others while at a distance, etc., and suggested that our members keep journals.
On March 27 the Notes focused on the advice given by Dr. Dave Price, a Pulmonologist at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Hospital about Covid-19, how it is spread, how to protect yourself, what to do if you get the virus.
On March 11 we urged members to be in touch with each other by email or phone with their neighborhood emergency groups as a way of making sure everyone was all right and that they had people they could reach out to.
The following is exerpted from the March 13 notes:
Calming Information
There is so much information out there about this virus. Some of it is good info, some is erroneous, and much of it is repetitious. If you want to read even more about it, here is a link to some good, sensible, reality-based information to lower the fear level: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-ten-reasons-why-you-ought-not-to-panic-132941
Books and Suggestions
Please write to me if you have suggestions for calming, interesting books you recommend, or if you have other suggestions of thing people could do while they are at home. I will send out the information to CAN members. I have two books to recommend today that you could order from Barnes & Noble, Amazon:
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen
You will feel as though you are sitting with your wisest, best friend. Rachel Remen is such a deeply wise woman, yet so approachable.
The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski
The subtitle of this book is Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully. Don’t let that put you off!! This book is full of calming wisdom and insight that we can all use right now. Frank Ostaseski is the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and has great wisdom about end-of-life care. But the Five Invitations are applicable to how we engage with people and with life. It is a very positive book.
That is all for now, my friends. I know we are all thinking about each other. Don’t be shy about reaching out. Remember what Susan Travis taught us: ASK – Allow Someone’s Kindness.
On March 18 and March 24 the Notes contained suggestions for things to do to keep healthy and busy. We expanded these on the Covid-19 and Activities pages of the website. I also asked our counselors to send ideas for stress reduction, staying centered, connecting with others while at a distance, etc., and suggested that our members keep journals.
On March 27 the Notes focused on the advice given by Dr. Dave Price, a Pulmonologist at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Hospital about Covid-19, how it is spread, how to protect yourself, what to do if you get the virus.
Looking for Sunshine 2020-03-27 Click to open. Click to close.
Looking for Sunshine While Keeping Your Distance by Judy Ryan
In the new and frightening Covid-19 world we’re inhabiting, I wake up some mornings feeling as if Eeyore is my only companion. I remember him from when my mother read Winnie-the-Pooh to me. Eeyore, although endearing in his own way, had an outlook on the world characterized as glum. Some days glumness overtakes me too, I don’t feel like doing anything that I can do from home, or any walks I want to take. I can’t concentrate on a book. The house is dirty, but the last thing I want to do is get out the vacuum, much less a mop and scrub brush for the bathroom.
What has surprised me is that most days I don’t feel like Eeyore. I’ve found a rhythm that works more days than not. And if I do feel glum, I’ve learned some ways to help myself out of that feeling. I’ve had some affinity with Eeyore most of my life. I was often lonely as a child, and as an adult I’ve been stalked by depression, always in times of loss.
This is a time of loss. For most of us it’s not a time of tragic loss. But we’re experiencing loss of freedom to go where we like, loss of activities with others that sustain us, loss of physical contact except with the people or animals who share our home. Loss of income for many, even for some of us old enough to be members of CAN. Loss of the confidence we have most of the time that our family will be okay. Some of our loved ones are medical professionals, or work in essential services that keep them in daily contact with the public. Some have medical conditions that make them more vulnerable.
Lori Gottlieb has written a beautiful essay about the range of our losses during the time of coronavirus. You will find the link at the end of this article. She reminds us that “there is no hierarchy of grief,” that comparing one level of grief to another is not respectful of all human experience.
I have strategies for my own emotional health, which I shared with my clients in my career as a clinical social worker. They’re not magic, and they don’t work for everyone, certainly not every day. Glumness can take over, and getting out of pajamas can seem too hard.
Getting through Those Glum Moments
Here are some strategies, none of them original. The first one might be most important, as one hallmark of depression is self-criticism.
1. Try not to be hard on yourself. Respect the fact that what we’re going through is hard. We’re living in a world unlike any other we’ve known. And yes, you might be luckier than some, but respect your own discouragement, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger. Don’t define them as self-pity. We’re human beings. Our feelings exist for a reason.
2. Don’t decide this is the time to do all the jobs you’ve put off for years. Not unless they’re things you might enjoy, or at least get into and feel satisfied by. A time of loss and uncertainty is NOT a good time to do things you’ve always hated to do.
3. Some structure in your day usually helps. Some folks do well with a daily routine, some with variety in their days. But try having a plan, which you can figure out each morning if you like. If you don’t follow it, but your day evolves otherwise, that’s fine. For me having the plan makes me feel more in control, and the day less daunting; a task or activity in the morning, and one in the afternoon may be enough.
4. Find some kind of exercise. If you like to walk, or think you might, that’s perfect. Taking a brisk walk releases endorphins, which will help lift your mood. Since it’s spring, each day brings more blooms, more birdsong, and milder weather (slowly but surely). A walk along the Hook river path offers the changing moods and colors of the Hudson. Just be careful to keep a social distance. If a brisk walk is difficult for you, it’s okay to amble. Maybe you’ll work up to something more; maybe you won’t. It’s okay. Whatever you do is okay.
Birchwood Yoga offers YouTube videos of yoga routines at all levels, including chair yoga. I tried Betsy’s chair yoga and found it excellent for easy stretching, light strength training and a meditative calm. If your exercise is simple, that’s fine. You can find tai chi classes online, and exercise videos. Some of this information can be found on the CAN website on the COVID-19 page. The link is at the end of this article.
Spend time in the garden, if you have one, doing whatever your body still allows you to do. Research suggests that contact with soil can trigger the release of serotonin, an important chemical for boosting our immune system and lifting our mood. At the end of this article you will find a link about why gardening can lift your mood. (https://permaculture.com.au/why-gardening-makes-you-happy-and-cures-depression/)
5. Be social in the ways that you can. Try each day to connect with someone. On walks you’re likely to see people you know. Stop to chat, keeping your safe distance. Call someone. Try Face Time or Skype, even if you haven’t done that before. Seeing your friends and loved ones feels good. Talk to a neighbor, yard to yard. When it’s warm enough, take your own chair to a friend’s and sit outside in a wide circle. Bring your own tea or wine.
6. Give to yourself. Our generation wasn’t raised to think that way, but the self-care folks have something to teach us. Many online courses are free, and museums and music halls are offering online slide shows, operas, classical concerts, and more with no charge. Art nourishes us. If your budget doesn’t usually include books, maybe you’re spending less on other things, and could order a book every week or two. Think of what soothes you — a warm bath, a cup of tea, a mindless TV show or video. No need to go highbrow, unless you crave it. Find something funny to watch or listen to. Don’t forget radio and podcasts. The NPR app offers all its shows.
7. Limit the news you watch or listen to each day. Most of us want to stay informed, but checking the latest news multiple times a day is a likely source of more stress. Try the newspaper in the morning - but not ALL morning - and a TV broadcast at night. Maybe that’s not enough for you, but don’t respond to every ping or ding from news sources on your devices.
How to Find Help and Support
If your coping strategies don’t seem to be working, and you worry that Eeyore has come to stay, please seek professional help. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. So many of us have consulted psychiatrists, spent time in psychotherapy, taken medication. These are tools of mental health, which is as important to maintain as physical health.
Most mental health practitioners are consulting online, through phone calls or video sessions. The Psychology Today website has profiles of practitioners in or near our zip code. Many accept Medicare, and that information will be available on their profile. You can also call the New York State COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline at 1-844-863-9314 from 8am-10pm, 7 days a week, or call the Rockland County Department of Mental Health at 845-364-2955, M-F 9am-3pm.
Please feel free to call me if you are having trouble finding the help you need. I’m no longer in practice, but I’ll speak to you in confidence, and try to steer you to someone I know and trust. My number is 917-710-7129, and my email address is [email protected].
Eeyore’s Advice
Even Eeyore said, “It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” This is a time to live one day at a time, looking for a little sunshine just for today.
In the new and frightening Covid-19 world we’re inhabiting, I wake up some mornings feeling as if Eeyore is my only companion. I remember him from when my mother read Winnie-the-Pooh to me. Eeyore, although endearing in his own way, had an outlook on the world characterized as glum. Some days glumness overtakes me too, I don’t feel like doing anything that I can do from home, or any walks I want to take. I can’t concentrate on a book. The house is dirty, but the last thing I want to do is get out the vacuum, much less a mop and scrub brush for the bathroom.
What has surprised me is that most days I don’t feel like Eeyore. I’ve found a rhythm that works more days than not. And if I do feel glum, I’ve learned some ways to help myself out of that feeling. I’ve had some affinity with Eeyore most of my life. I was often lonely as a child, and as an adult I’ve been stalked by depression, always in times of loss.
This is a time of loss. For most of us it’s not a time of tragic loss. But we’re experiencing loss of freedom to go where we like, loss of activities with others that sustain us, loss of physical contact except with the people or animals who share our home. Loss of income for many, even for some of us old enough to be members of CAN. Loss of the confidence we have most of the time that our family will be okay. Some of our loved ones are medical professionals, or work in essential services that keep them in daily contact with the public. Some have medical conditions that make them more vulnerable.
Lori Gottlieb has written a beautiful essay about the range of our losses during the time of coronavirus. You will find the link at the end of this article. She reminds us that “there is no hierarchy of grief,” that comparing one level of grief to another is not respectful of all human experience.
I have strategies for my own emotional health, which I shared with my clients in my career as a clinical social worker. They’re not magic, and they don’t work for everyone, certainly not every day. Glumness can take over, and getting out of pajamas can seem too hard.
Getting through Those Glum Moments
Here are some strategies, none of them original. The first one might be most important, as one hallmark of depression is self-criticism.
1. Try not to be hard on yourself. Respect the fact that what we’re going through is hard. We’re living in a world unlike any other we’ve known. And yes, you might be luckier than some, but respect your own discouragement, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger. Don’t define them as self-pity. We’re human beings. Our feelings exist for a reason.
2. Don’t decide this is the time to do all the jobs you’ve put off for years. Not unless they’re things you might enjoy, or at least get into and feel satisfied by. A time of loss and uncertainty is NOT a good time to do things you’ve always hated to do.
3. Some structure in your day usually helps. Some folks do well with a daily routine, some with variety in their days. But try having a plan, which you can figure out each morning if you like. If you don’t follow it, but your day evolves otherwise, that’s fine. For me having the plan makes me feel more in control, and the day less daunting; a task or activity in the morning, and one in the afternoon may be enough.
4. Find some kind of exercise. If you like to walk, or think you might, that’s perfect. Taking a brisk walk releases endorphins, which will help lift your mood. Since it’s spring, each day brings more blooms, more birdsong, and milder weather (slowly but surely). A walk along the Hook river path offers the changing moods and colors of the Hudson. Just be careful to keep a social distance. If a brisk walk is difficult for you, it’s okay to amble. Maybe you’ll work up to something more; maybe you won’t. It’s okay. Whatever you do is okay.
Birchwood Yoga offers YouTube videos of yoga routines at all levels, including chair yoga. I tried Betsy’s chair yoga and found it excellent for easy stretching, light strength training and a meditative calm. If your exercise is simple, that’s fine. You can find tai chi classes online, and exercise videos. Some of this information can be found on the CAN website on the COVID-19 page. The link is at the end of this article.
Spend time in the garden, if you have one, doing whatever your body still allows you to do. Research suggests that contact with soil can trigger the release of serotonin, an important chemical for boosting our immune system and lifting our mood. At the end of this article you will find a link about why gardening can lift your mood. (https://permaculture.com.au/why-gardening-makes-you-happy-and-cures-depression/)
5. Be social in the ways that you can. Try each day to connect with someone. On walks you’re likely to see people you know. Stop to chat, keeping your safe distance. Call someone. Try Face Time or Skype, even if you haven’t done that before. Seeing your friends and loved ones feels good. Talk to a neighbor, yard to yard. When it’s warm enough, take your own chair to a friend’s and sit outside in a wide circle. Bring your own tea or wine.
6. Give to yourself. Our generation wasn’t raised to think that way, but the self-care folks have something to teach us. Many online courses are free, and museums and music halls are offering online slide shows, operas, classical concerts, and more with no charge. Art nourishes us. If your budget doesn’t usually include books, maybe you’re spending less on other things, and could order a book every week or two. Think of what soothes you — a warm bath, a cup of tea, a mindless TV show or video. No need to go highbrow, unless you crave it. Find something funny to watch or listen to. Don’t forget radio and podcasts. The NPR app offers all its shows.
7. Limit the news you watch or listen to each day. Most of us want to stay informed, but checking the latest news multiple times a day is a likely source of more stress. Try the newspaper in the morning - but not ALL morning - and a TV broadcast at night. Maybe that’s not enough for you, but don’t respond to every ping or ding from news sources on your devices.
How to Find Help and Support
If your coping strategies don’t seem to be working, and you worry that Eeyore has come to stay, please seek professional help. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. So many of us have consulted psychiatrists, spent time in psychotherapy, taken medication. These are tools of mental health, which is as important to maintain as physical health.
Most mental health practitioners are consulting online, through phone calls or video sessions. The Psychology Today website has profiles of practitioners in or near our zip code. Many accept Medicare, and that information will be available on their profile. You can also call the New York State COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline at 1-844-863-9314 from 8am-10pm, 7 days a week, or call the Rockland County Department of Mental Health at 845-364-2955, M-F 9am-3pm.
Please feel free to call me if you are having trouble finding the help you need. I’m no longer in practice, but I’ll speak to you in confidence, and try to steer you to someone I know and trust. My number is 917-710-7129, and my email address is [email protected].
Eeyore’s Advice
Even Eeyore said, “It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” This is a time to live one day at a time, looking for a little sunshine just for today.
The Joys of Walking 2020-04-03 Click to open. Click to close.
The Joys of Walking – or Simply Sitting in the Sunshine and Fresh Air
by Debbie Bell
During these never-before-imagined long days, we are bombarded with messages, “Stay Home.” Avoiding situations that could endanger others or us are critical to seeing our way through to a better day. But “Stay Home” does not mean staying inside all day. Spending some time outside each day, sometimes alone, sometimes with Donna or another friend, keep my spirits up and, I like to think, strengthen my immune system. Here are some of my favorite local areas:
Local Nyack streets
The flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and robins are singing. There’s always something interesting to see, as well as others walking – at a social distance – who will offer a friendly hello. Memorial Park is open, with benches to sit and admire the new bridge. The bike/pedestrian path on the bridge is nearing completion in South Nyack. Until then, you can see the improvements that have been made on the “rail trail” which begins in South Nyack. The work on the section between Clinton Avenue and the South Nyack Village Hall is outstanding.
River Hook
Upper Nyack recently purchased a 12-acre property (formerly the “sheep farm”) which goes from North Broadway to Midland. There is nothing there yet except a large manor in terrible condition, and several other properties. The village has not yet decided what to do with the parcel, but you are welcome to walk through it; there is a road that wends its way from Midland to North Broadway. There’s no parking on North Broadway, but you can park on Midland or the nearby streets to the west.
Nyack Beach State Park
Always a favorite, but because of the walls that collapsed at the bottom of the entrance road, the park will probably be closed to cars through late summer. We hope that the state will rebuild the wall by then. You can, however, walk, if you comfortable with some heart-healthy climbs coming back from the river. The upper level parking lot is now open. You may walk from there back to the entrance and then down the closed entry road). Or, for the more adventuresome, there’s a trail going from the upper level to the shore path just north of the bathhouse.
Haverstraw Beach State Park
This is not well-known to locals, but one of Donna and my favorite walks. The 5-mile river trail that starts at Nyack Beach ends in south Haverstraw at a parking area on Riverside Avenue. To get there from the Haverstraw end of the trail, drive north on 9W, past the light where 304 comes in, and past the next light with Short Clove Road on your left. Drive a short distance to the next road on your right, turn right. This is Short Clove Road. At the bottom of the hill, turn left onto Riverside Avenue. Drive through the Tilcon plant, and past some charming small homes on Riverside Avenue.
Stay on Riverside Avenue to the end where you will find a small parking lot for the trail with about eight spaces. You can also park alongside the road. The trail has some gentle ups and downs, but it’s paved or hard-packed. You can go as far south as you wish and then retrace your steps. Shortly after starting your walk, you’ll see a historical marker at Treason Rock, the area where the American general Benedict Arnold gave the plans for West Point to John Andre, a British spy. Andre was captured and hung; Arnold escaped to England.
Rockland Lake State Park
Everyone knows this. It’s three miles around the lake. Most walkers park at the “fishing station” on the western shore between the north and south entrances, but there is also plenty of parking at both the northern and southern ends.
Congers Lake
This is newer and slightly shorter (2.5 miles). Access is described as “for Clarkstown residents only” to keep out large groups. I have never seen individuals stopped or questioned. Access is from Rte. 303.
Piermont Pier
Unfortunately it's “closed until further notice.”
Tallman State Park
I haven’t been there in recent weeks, but I assume it’s open. The main parking lot is on Rockland Road. East from 9W at the large Tallman Park sign and then the first right into the park. The large lot is on your right. There’s a small lot on 9W near the old gas station that is now a restaurant, but it’s often filled. There are a variety of paths and hard-packed roads in the park. You can also park at the “Sawmill Picnic Area,” a large expanse on the top of a hill with great views of Nyack and the river, and plenty of places to stroll and sit.
by Debbie Bell
During these never-before-imagined long days, we are bombarded with messages, “Stay Home.” Avoiding situations that could endanger others or us are critical to seeing our way through to a better day. But “Stay Home” does not mean staying inside all day. Spending some time outside each day, sometimes alone, sometimes with Donna or another friend, keep my spirits up and, I like to think, strengthen my immune system. Here are some of my favorite local areas:
Local Nyack streets
The flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and robins are singing. There’s always something interesting to see, as well as others walking – at a social distance – who will offer a friendly hello. Memorial Park is open, with benches to sit and admire the new bridge. The bike/pedestrian path on the bridge is nearing completion in South Nyack. Until then, you can see the improvements that have been made on the “rail trail” which begins in South Nyack. The work on the section between Clinton Avenue and the South Nyack Village Hall is outstanding.
River Hook
Upper Nyack recently purchased a 12-acre property (formerly the “sheep farm”) which goes from North Broadway to Midland. There is nothing there yet except a large manor in terrible condition, and several other properties. The village has not yet decided what to do with the parcel, but you are welcome to walk through it; there is a road that wends its way from Midland to North Broadway. There’s no parking on North Broadway, but you can park on Midland or the nearby streets to the west.
Nyack Beach State Park
Always a favorite, but because of the walls that collapsed at the bottom of the entrance road, the park will probably be closed to cars through late summer. We hope that the state will rebuild the wall by then. You can, however, walk, if you comfortable with some heart-healthy climbs coming back from the river. The upper level parking lot is now open. You may walk from there back to the entrance and then down the closed entry road). Or, for the more adventuresome, there’s a trail going from the upper level to the shore path just north of the bathhouse.
Haverstraw Beach State Park
This is not well-known to locals, but one of Donna and my favorite walks. The 5-mile river trail that starts at Nyack Beach ends in south Haverstraw at a parking area on Riverside Avenue. To get there from the Haverstraw end of the trail, drive north on 9W, past the light where 304 comes in, and past the next light with Short Clove Road on your left. Drive a short distance to the next road on your right, turn right. This is Short Clove Road. At the bottom of the hill, turn left onto Riverside Avenue. Drive through the Tilcon plant, and past some charming small homes on Riverside Avenue.
Stay on Riverside Avenue to the end where you will find a small parking lot for the trail with about eight spaces. You can also park alongside the road. The trail has some gentle ups and downs, but it’s paved or hard-packed. You can go as far south as you wish and then retrace your steps. Shortly after starting your walk, you’ll see a historical marker at Treason Rock, the area where the American general Benedict Arnold gave the plans for West Point to John Andre, a British spy. Andre was captured and hung; Arnold escaped to England.
Rockland Lake State Park
Everyone knows this. It’s three miles around the lake. Most walkers park at the “fishing station” on the western shore between the north and south entrances, but there is also plenty of parking at both the northern and southern ends.
Congers Lake
This is newer and slightly shorter (2.5 miles). Access is described as “for Clarkstown residents only” to keep out large groups. I have never seen individuals stopped or questioned. Access is from Rte. 303.
Piermont Pier
Unfortunately it's “closed until further notice.”
Tallman State Park
I haven’t been there in recent weeks, but I assume it’s open. The main parking lot is on Rockland Road. East from 9W at the large Tallman Park sign and then the first right into the park. The large lot is on your right. There’s a small lot on 9W near the old gas station that is now a restaurant, but it’s often filled. There are a variety of paths and hard-packed roads in the park. You can also park at the “Sawmill Picnic Area,” a large expanse on the top of a hill with great views of Nyack and the river, and plenty of places to stroll and sit.
Four Element Stress Reduction 2020-04-10 Click to open. Click to close.
Susanna Willingham is a talented artist who spent her career as a psychotherapist. After earning her master's degree in Art Therapy, she studied and graduated in psychoanalysis, becoming certified, and then went on to study Cognitive Therapy. In her postgraduate studies, among other things, Susanna studied Positive Psychology, Hypnosis and became certified in EMDR. EMDR is a trauma treatment. The 4 Element De-stress technique is based in core hypnosis and EMDR stress management techniques. I think you will find that the following piece from her will be very helpful to you in helping you find a place of calm.
Four Element Stress Reduction (Earth, Water, Air, Fire)
Adapted from Elan Shapiro, Israeli trauma therapist
by Susanna Willingham
Adapted from Elan Shapiro, Israeli trauma therapist
by Susanna Willingham
When your body is stressed, it goes into the fight-or-flight response. The following exercises will help you turn your nervous system away from that feeling of stress and anxiety toward a calmer, more relaxed response. We can strive to have control over this!
Earth: Place both feet securely on the floor. If you are sitting, feel the chair supporting you. Feel grounded. Notice your connection to the ground you are on, the place you are in. If lying down, notice your body’s connection to the surface you are lying on. Notice how you are held up and supported by the earth.
Water: Sip some water, or suck a lozenge or sweet. You will find you can't be so stressed when your mouth and throat are moist. Surprising but true. Notice that we offer a glass of water to someone who is stressed. That’s because when you are stressed, anxious, or afraid, your mouth usually feels dry. Again: sip some water or suck a lozenge or a sweet.
Air: Breathe with a deep, slow breath, then, even more slowly, release it. Repeat, letting yourself relax more with each breathe. There are many variations – here is one: After breathing deeply in, try pausing and holding your breath briefly before slowing releasing it. Try 4:4:16 breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 16 or whatever you can do. Your breath can expand with practice!) Another is 4 square breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4)
Fire: This practice engages the power of thoughts and visualization. Think of a place that is happy and peaceful for you. Notice what you see, the colors, notice the smell in the air or the earth, notice the sound in this place. Invent aspects of it if you cannot bring an image up. You may try the image of healing light pouring down on you. What is the color of that light? Whatever your peaceful place is see if you would like to make it even safer. Add protective people, favorite animals. Even wished-for ones work. Give it a title. This is your "safe place."
You may use these elements together or separately. Oftentimes it works to start with breathing. Try practicing a breathing pattern of your choice for 5 minutes a day. You can add in “groundedness” and “water” through the day. When you can achieve a relaxed state add imagination. Feel free to write to me with questions. My email is [email protected]. I have included a link to the article from Elan Shapiro: http://www.easacommunity.org/files/Four%20Elements%20Exercise.pdf
Chutes and Ladders 2020-04-17 Click to open. Click to close.
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Chutes and Ladders
by Ann Morgan Do you remember playing “Chutes and Ladders” when you were a kid? It had nothing to do with skill. It was all determined by a roll of the dice whether you were up the ladder or down the chute. |
As we face this time of physical distance and anxiety about the virus, days can feel again as though we have been tossed into a game of chutes and ladders.
In our society there is a lot of cultural emphasis on being able to fix problems, to pull yourself up, to stay positive. But we can’t fix this time of coronavirus. Yes, we try to keep our distance from other people. We are hugely grateful to have masks to wear when we need to go to the grocery store or pharmacy. We will have an ever-changing new normal until there is a vaccine.
In my experience during the past couple of weeks I notice that my own moods have been up and down. I just want you to know that you are not alone in feeling stressed. Everyone in the world is going through this time.
Friends, we did not get to be the age we are without learning how to deal with challenges. It is true that some people are having to face incredibly difficult problems – job loss, grieving for someone they love. But for most of us the challenges, while new and troublesome, are not insurmountable.
So how do we deal with this time of uncertainty, of unpredictable ups and downs? When you find that your day has more downs than ups, see if you can make both the downward slides and the upward climbs a little less steep.
When you meet a problem, ask yourself, “Is this a disaster or is this a little setback?” Most of our challenges are setbacks. This week when I drove to the grocery store, I was almost there when I realized I had not brought my cloth bags, so I turned around and drove home to get them. Was this an annoyance? Yes. Was it a disaster? No! I went down a short chute, and was able to climb back up. When I got back to the grocery store, many, many shelves were empty. Very surprising. Was it a disaster? No. In the end I was able to substitute something for nearly everything we needed the most. And that felt like a win, a creative win.
Here are some suggestions for those days at the bottom of the chute:
1. There is a limited amount you are going to be able to face when you are having a “chute” day. Keep your expectations of yourself low. I ironed two face masks back into shape. Score! We are making progress on the jig saw puzzle – five more pieces go into place! And before I know it, I am feeling better. I have climbed halfway up the ladder in this game of life.
2. If you have a few daily routines, that will help. Some people have a routine for getting up and having breakfast. Some people have a little exercise routine they do at the same time every day. You do not want to schedule your whole day, but a few regular things you do can anchor you, especially at the time of day that is the hardest for you. Is the middle of the afternoon tough? Plan to have a tea and chocolate break, or an exercise moment, or a phone chat with a friend every day at that time. It gives you something to look forward to. It takes you a few steps up that ladder and away from the bottom of the chute.
3. Don’t feel you are obligated to be super-productive. Vin and I cleaned out the dust from the back of our closet today. That counts as enough productivity for one day for me. Tomorrow I will sort junk mail. Or not. Vin is feeling ambitious today, so he is going to go dig up some dandelions in our yard, maybe.
4. Limit how much news you take in – and what its source is. Try to choose balanced reports.
5. What brings you some comfort or relaxes you? How about a hot, relaxing bath, even in the middle of the day? Or call someone just to see how they are doing. Or listen to some music. Or watch something distracting on YouTube. I feel better already!
None of us will be cheery all the time, but none of us will be down all the time either. Brighter days are going to come. But for now, know that ups and downs are normal for us all.
In our society there is a lot of cultural emphasis on being able to fix problems, to pull yourself up, to stay positive. But we can’t fix this time of coronavirus. Yes, we try to keep our distance from other people. We are hugely grateful to have masks to wear when we need to go to the grocery store or pharmacy. We will have an ever-changing new normal until there is a vaccine.
In my experience during the past couple of weeks I notice that my own moods have been up and down. I just want you to know that you are not alone in feeling stressed. Everyone in the world is going through this time.
Friends, we did not get to be the age we are without learning how to deal with challenges. It is true that some people are having to face incredibly difficult problems – job loss, grieving for someone they love. But for most of us the challenges, while new and troublesome, are not insurmountable.
So how do we deal with this time of uncertainty, of unpredictable ups and downs? When you find that your day has more downs than ups, see if you can make both the downward slides and the upward climbs a little less steep.
When you meet a problem, ask yourself, “Is this a disaster or is this a little setback?” Most of our challenges are setbacks. This week when I drove to the grocery store, I was almost there when I realized I had not brought my cloth bags, so I turned around and drove home to get them. Was this an annoyance? Yes. Was it a disaster? No! I went down a short chute, and was able to climb back up. When I got back to the grocery store, many, many shelves were empty. Very surprising. Was it a disaster? No. In the end I was able to substitute something for nearly everything we needed the most. And that felt like a win, a creative win.
Here are some suggestions for those days at the bottom of the chute:
1. There is a limited amount you are going to be able to face when you are having a “chute” day. Keep your expectations of yourself low. I ironed two face masks back into shape. Score! We are making progress on the jig saw puzzle – five more pieces go into place! And before I know it, I am feeling better. I have climbed halfway up the ladder in this game of life.
2. If you have a few daily routines, that will help. Some people have a routine for getting up and having breakfast. Some people have a little exercise routine they do at the same time every day. You do not want to schedule your whole day, but a few regular things you do can anchor you, especially at the time of day that is the hardest for you. Is the middle of the afternoon tough? Plan to have a tea and chocolate break, or an exercise moment, or a phone chat with a friend every day at that time. It gives you something to look forward to. It takes you a few steps up that ladder and away from the bottom of the chute.
3. Don’t feel you are obligated to be super-productive. Vin and I cleaned out the dust from the back of our closet today. That counts as enough productivity for one day for me. Tomorrow I will sort junk mail. Or not. Vin is feeling ambitious today, so he is going to go dig up some dandelions in our yard, maybe.
4. Limit how much news you take in – and what its source is. Try to choose balanced reports.
5. What brings you some comfort or relaxes you? How about a hot, relaxing bath, even in the middle of the day? Or call someone just to see how they are doing. Or listen to some music. Or watch something distracting on YouTube. I feel better already!
None of us will be cheery all the time, but none of us will be down all the time either. Brighter days are going to come. But for now, know that ups and downs are normal for us all.
Poetry for and from CAN 2020-04-24 Click to open. Click to close.
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Some Favorite Poems for April
Since April is Poetry month, we thought it might be nice to ask our members if they wished to send us poems that we could share. Some of the poems are relevant to the present moment, others might make us smile. Poets can somehow express thoughts and feelings which touch us deeply. Several of you have sent in poems which are your own creation. – Leontine Temsky |
For each poem below, you will see the name of the person(s) who recommended the poem, and then the title and author.
Diana Kriz recommended:
A Blessing for Staying Inside by Joyce Bartlett
May you find happiness in the small spaces.
Joy in the staying put.
No highways. No office buildings. No crowded subways
May you find peace in your own kitchen.
May your four walls feel like a sanctuary.
A haven from a noisy world.
May you take pleasure in a bad pun, a bowl of popcorn.
Laughing with the people closest to you.
Patting the grateful dog. The clever cat.
May you discover the delight of writing letters
on paper. in baking cookies.
In the birds visiting your early spring garden.
May you find yourself fully in the present moment.
Where all of life is happening right now.
And worries about the future don't exist.
May you invent ways to help people who need you.
Because times like this were made to remind us
that we are all the same.
Even as you wrap yourself in a blanket of solitude,
may you discover the secrets of the universe
from your spot on the couch.
And... may you be so well loved that others
will rejoice when you are finally able to run into
their arms again.
March 22,2020 https://nyti.ms/3bnBORk#permid=106041617.
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Judy Ryan recommended:
Forgetfulness by Billy Collins
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue
or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue
or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
* * *
Nancy Wenner recommended:
Mary Oliver Watering the Stones
Every summer I gather a few stones from
the beach and keep them in a glass bowl.
Now and again I cover them with water,
and they drink. There’s no question about
this; I put tinfoil over the bowl, tightly,
yet the water disappears. This doesn’t
mean we ever have a conversation, or that
they have the kind of feelings we do, yet
it might mean something. Whatever the
stones are, they don’t lie in the water
and do nothing.
Some of my friends refuse to believe it
happens, even though they’ve seen it. But
a few others—I’ve seen them walking down
the beach holding a few stones, and they
look at them rather more closely now.
Once in a while, I swear, I’ve even heard
one or two of them saying “Hello.”
Which, I think, does no harm to anyone or
anything, does it?
* * *
Mary Mathews and Anya Taylor recommended:
Spring and Fall: to a Young Child by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
* * *
Jane Berkowitz and Gabri’El Stollman recommended:
And people stayed home by Kitty O’Meara
And people stayed home.
And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and
played, and learned new ways of being, and were still.
And they listened more deeply
Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.
Some met their shadows. And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless
and heartless ways, the earth also began to heal.
And when the danger passed and the people joined together again,
they grieved their losses and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new
ways to live and heal the earth fully,
as they had been healed.
March 2020
* * *
Leontine Temsky:
Monet Refuses the Operation by Lisel Mueller
Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don’t see,
to learn that the line I called the horizon
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see
Rouen cathedral is built
of parallel shafts of sun,
and now you want to restore
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,
wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolve
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe
of objects that don’t know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,
above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight
so quickly to one another
that it would take long, streaming hair
inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals,
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands
to claim this world, blue vapor without end.
Diana Kriz recommended:
A Blessing for Staying Inside by Joyce Bartlett
May you find happiness in the small spaces.
Joy in the staying put.
No highways. No office buildings. No crowded subways
May you find peace in your own kitchen.
May your four walls feel like a sanctuary.
A haven from a noisy world.
May you take pleasure in a bad pun, a bowl of popcorn.
Laughing with the people closest to you.
Patting the grateful dog. The clever cat.
May you discover the delight of writing letters
on paper. in baking cookies.
In the birds visiting your early spring garden.
May you find yourself fully in the present moment.
Where all of life is happening right now.
And worries about the future don't exist.
May you invent ways to help people who need you.
Because times like this were made to remind us
that we are all the same.
Even as you wrap yourself in a blanket of solitude,
may you discover the secrets of the universe
from your spot on the couch.
And... may you be so well loved that others
will rejoice when you are finally able to run into
their arms again.
March 22,2020 https://nyti.ms/3bnBORk#permid=106041617.
* * *
Judy Ryan recommended:
Forgetfulness by Billy Collins
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue
or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue
or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
* * *
Nancy Wenner recommended:
Mary Oliver Watering the Stones
Every summer I gather a few stones from
the beach and keep them in a glass bowl.
Now and again I cover them with water,
and they drink. There’s no question about
this; I put tinfoil over the bowl, tightly,
yet the water disappears. This doesn’t
mean we ever have a conversation, or that
they have the kind of feelings we do, yet
it might mean something. Whatever the
stones are, they don’t lie in the water
and do nothing.
Some of my friends refuse to believe it
happens, even though they’ve seen it. But
a few others—I’ve seen them walking down
the beach holding a few stones, and they
look at them rather more closely now.
Once in a while, I swear, I’ve even heard
one or two of them saying “Hello.”
Which, I think, does no harm to anyone or
anything, does it?
* * *
Mary Mathews and Anya Taylor recommended:
Spring and Fall: to a Young Child by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
* * *
Jane Berkowitz and Gabri’El Stollman recommended:
And people stayed home by Kitty O’Meara
And people stayed home.
And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and
played, and learned new ways of being, and were still.
And they listened more deeply
Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.
Some met their shadows. And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless
and heartless ways, the earth also began to heal.
And when the danger passed and the people joined together again,
they grieved their losses and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new
ways to live and heal the earth fully,
as they had been healed.
March 2020
* * *
Leontine Temsky:
Monet Refuses the Operation by Lisel Mueller
Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don’t see,
to learn that the line I called the horizon
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see
Rouen cathedral is built
of parallel shafts of sun,
and now you want to restore
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,
wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolve
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe
of objects that don’t know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,
above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight
so quickly to one another
that it would take long, streaming hair
inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals,
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands
to claim this world, blue vapor without end.
Poems by CAN Members
We had a nice response from our members who submitted original poems. – Leontine Temsky
Judy Ryan Ode to the First Snowdrop
Not far
from broken
mirrors of ice
lingering
in shadow
a slim green
stalk
tunneling
upward
through cold
black earth
splits open
slick leaves
of mulch
upends
needles
of evergreen,
pokes through
a crusty
gray coverlet
of snow.
As I shiver
at the window,
you offer me
a white bloom
pure as the sound
of a silver bell.
* * *
Lois Carey The Violet's Song
The dainty violet is like a song
Piping its wee small voice to the sun.
Tender blossoms leap through the grass
Four-leaf clovers threaten its space.
Undaunted, it pushes up
Now here, now there
Like the riffs of a staccato melody
Strummed on a sturdy viola
Or plucked delicately on a violin
Aroma so faint the human nose
Fails to discern the fleeting scent.
Bees crowd round with fluttering wings
As they find and sip the wondrous nectar.
The song it sings is intricately formed
In indigo skies. Shadings so subtle
The overtones of color almost miss the eye
Look gently on this fragile bloom
Here, but briefly, like a haunting song.
* * *
Bebb Stone Poem for Earth Day
Why would we not contemplate Earth's anger?
Earth's love?
At her heart, fire
Around her body, ice
We live between her passions
We are of her, star-stuff as she is; God-created stuff,
but with freedom, language, choice.
And with us, within her, are the ridiculously dear: baby sloths;
the hauntingly majestic and conversational: blue whales
the achingly tender and civic-minded: mother elephants;
The gut-splittingly funny: arctic penguins, all dressed up with no floe to go.
Why wouldn't Earth disgorge our arrogance?
"Sit down and listen." she howls in the language of flood, wind and fire,
furiously
"I'll give you one more chance,
a few more years" she says, "to use your power,
power our Creator freely gave you to be just and to love.
Soothe my fury, heal my love: learn the meaning of Enough.
Be content with Enough.
Be content with Enough for All.
and All means All,
including baby sloths."
For Earth Day 2014
* * *
Laura Shapiro Kindergarten Joy
5 years old Joshua
Asks, rhetorically,
"Know what I can do?"
Then hops on his right foot
10 times.
"And do you know what else?"
He hops on his left foot
12 times!
AND then
15 times
right
left
right
left
I join in for the last 3 turns.
"You are alternating feet!"
I insert.
What's "alternating"
"When you go first on one foot and then on the other
back and forth"
Joshua looks down, brain circuits whirling
"We alternate in our class
first is English then in Spanish"
then hops on both feet all the way down the hall.
* * *
Gail Monaco Where have All the Rituals Gone
Where oh where have all the rituals gone:
Wining and dining and hugging old friends
Meeting and greeting on Main now and then
Shopping for clothes in stores as I please
Going to market to just shoot the breeze'
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
Sweating with pals doing sit-ups I hate
Having friends visit, gabbing till late
Making big meals for all to share
Going to the salon to cut this damn hair.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
Smiling at strangers without using a mask
Going glove free while doing a task
Washing my hands minus the alcohol burn
Giving a kiss without fear of a germ.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
When life returns to normal
Resembling something close to sane
My promise, I swear
is to never complain.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
And should I hear myself utter
"This or that is a bore"
I shall raise my own foot
And kick my a_s out the door!
* * *
Jim Ramsey The Climb
Think Fuji, Denali, Kilimanjaro – like climbing a mountain –
gradual at first, then ever steeper. Toward the top there are no trees,
only snow and rocks, and a wind that blows from the end of the world.
I watched my mother those last 20 years, eighty to ninety-nine.
I used to say she was declining, but now I know it’s not a
slow slide down. It’s a long, hard climb up.
Watch a child get up from the floor. She’s down, then she’s up. Badda boom.
Badda bing. When I try to rise from the floor, it takes a plan, and I grunt
as I man-up, heaving a heavy harpoon at the great white whale of my aging.
You climb higher, get weaker. Knees give out, and hips, backs, hearts.
Your eyes and ears fail to report danger. As your air thins, you think
you’ll see farther, but the world removes itself, grows distant, dim, confused.
Almost to the summit, it’s
like Norgay and Hillary on Everest:
Very slow, short steps.
Bend into the hill.
Catch your breath.
Another step.
Can’t catch
your breath.
Try to
get warm.
Rest.
By the time my mother summited, she was talking with her parents
half-a-century dead. Then she was there – at the edge of that
huge, round, mysterious opening to the world’s heat and light.
She teetered,
closed her eyes,
and let go.
* * *
Thomas Willingham Here and Now
What the ________!
What are you doing here invader virus?
I did not invite you in...
I do not welcome you here!
And yet your pervasive presence is everywhere
reminding me of my insignificance
and helplessness.
But look!
Behold the daffodils
resolute against the elements,
having no regard for you!
They give me hope.
* * *
Sally Minniefield Small Words
small words, brief words, full of vowels, full of meaning
“and so” ( so what )
“ahhh so” ( it IS )
“Oh No” ( Oh my!)
“Aho” ( so be it )
small words, brief words, full of response
I am afraid: and so?
I am suffering: Oh no!
I am human: Ahh so....
I accept: AHO
I am angry: and so?
I seek revenge: Oh no!
I challenge injustice: Ahh so
I speak up: AHO
I feel alone: Oh no!
I feel abandoned: and so?
I seek others: Ahhh so
In service and love: AHO
I see no Spirit: oh no!
I need Spirit: and so
I find Spirit within and in others: ahh so
We are ONE: AHO
small words reflect my movement, in and out
May I see: and so
Feel: oh no
Breathe: ahh so
Love: AHO
* * *
Anthony Fasano Need to Say I Love You
The greatest of these is love How much longer can I say I love
To love pure and chaste from afar How much longer can I say
To my mother Mae, my father Michael How much longer
To my brother Maurice, my sister Mildred How much longer can I say
To my sister Doris, my brother-in law Frank How much longer can I say I love
To my cousin “Honey” Fran, my model Leo How much longer can I say
To my Brother Tom, my Brother Eugene How much longer
To my daughters grand,
Kelsey and Jeannine How longer can I say
Here with you, my love, not far away How longer can I say to you
I love
I don’t know, the answer is in the wind
So while I breathe, while I have a now,
I need to say, I love you, I love you, I love you.
We had a nice response from our members who submitted original poems. – Leontine Temsky
Judy Ryan Ode to the First Snowdrop
Not far
from broken
mirrors of ice
lingering
in shadow
a slim green
stalk
tunneling
upward
through cold
black earth
splits open
slick leaves
of mulch
upends
needles
of evergreen,
pokes through
a crusty
gray coverlet
of snow.
As I shiver
at the window,
you offer me
a white bloom
pure as the sound
of a silver bell.
* * *
Lois Carey The Violet's Song
The dainty violet is like a song
Piping its wee small voice to the sun.
Tender blossoms leap through the grass
Four-leaf clovers threaten its space.
Undaunted, it pushes up
Now here, now there
Like the riffs of a staccato melody
Strummed on a sturdy viola
Or plucked delicately on a violin
Aroma so faint the human nose
Fails to discern the fleeting scent.
Bees crowd round with fluttering wings
As they find and sip the wondrous nectar.
The song it sings is intricately formed
In indigo skies. Shadings so subtle
The overtones of color almost miss the eye
Look gently on this fragile bloom
Here, but briefly, like a haunting song.
* * *
Bebb Stone Poem for Earth Day
Why would we not contemplate Earth's anger?
Earth's love?
At her heart, fire
Around her body, ice
We live between her passions
We are of her, star-stuff as she is; God-created stuff,
but with freedom, language, choice.
And with us, within her, are the ridiculously dear: baby sloths;
the hauntingly majestic and conversational: blue whales
the achingly tender and civic-minded: mother elephants;
The gut-splittingly funny: arctic penguins, all dressed up with no floe to go.
Why wouldn't Earth disgorge our arrogance?
"Sit down and listen." she howls in the language of flood, wind and fire,
furiously
"I'll give you one more chance,
a few more years" she says, "to use your power,
power our Creator freely gave you to be just and to love.
Soothe my fury, heal my love: learn the meaning of Enough.
Be content with Enough.
Be content with Enough for All.
and All means All,
including baby sloths."
For Earth Day 2014
* * *
Laura Shapiro Kindergarten Joy
5 years old Joshua
Asks, rhetorically,
"Know what I can do?"
Then hops on his right foot
10 times.
"And do you know what else?"
He hops on his left foot
12 times!
AND then
15 times
right
left
right
left
I join in for the last 3 turns.
"You are alternating feet!"
I insert.
What's "alternating"
"When you go first on one foot and then on the other
back and forth"
Joshua looks down, brain circuits whirling
"We alternate in our class
first is English then in Spanish"
then hops on both feet all the way down the hall.
* * *
Gail Monaco Where have All the Rituals Gone
Where oh where have all the rituals gone:
Wining and dining and hugging old friends
Meeting and greeting on Main now and then
Shopping for clothes in stores as I please
Going to market to just shoot the breeze'
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
Sweating with pals doing sit-ups I hate
Having friends visit, gabbing till late
Making big meals for all to share
Going to the salon to cut this damn hair.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
Smiling at strangers without using a mask
Going glove free while doing a task
Washing my hands minus the alcohol burn
Giving a kiss without fear of a germ.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
When life returns to normal
Resembling something close to sane
My promise, I swear
is to never complain.
Where Oh where have all the rituals gone:
And should I hear myself utter
"This or that is a bore"
I shall raise my own foot
And kick my a_s out the door!
* * *
Jim Ramsey The Climb
Think Fuji, Denali, Kilimanjaro – like climbing a mountain –
gradual at first, then ever steeper. Toward the top there are no trees,
only snow and rocks, and a wind that blows from the end of the world.
I watched my mother those last 20 years, eighty to ninety-nine.
I used to say she was declining, but now I know it’s not a
slow slide down. It’s a long, hard climb up.
Watch a child get up from the floor. She’s down, then she’s up. Badda boom.
Badda bing. When I try to rise from the floor, it takes a plan, and I grunt
as I man-up, heaving a heavy harpoon at the great white whale of my aging.
You climb higher, get weaker. Knees give out, and hips, backs, hearts.
Your eyes and ears fail to report danger. As your air thins, you think
you’ll see farther, but the world removes itself, grows distant, dim, confused.
Almost to the summit, it’s
like Norgay and Hillary on Everest:
Very slow, short steps.
Bend into the hill.
Catch your breath.
Another step.
Can’t catch
your breath.
Try to
get warm.
Rest.
By the time my mother summited, she was talking with her parents
half-a-century dead. Then she was there – at the edge of that
huge, round, mysterious opening to the world’s heat and light.
She teetered,
closed her eyes,
and let go.
* * *
Thomas Willingham Here and Now
What the ________!
What are you doing here invader virus?
I did not invite you in...
I do not welcome you here!
And yet your pervasive presence is everywhere
reminding me of my insignificance
and helplessness.
But look!
Behold the daffodils
resolute against the elements,
having no regard for you!
They give me hope.
* * *
Sally Minniefield Small Words
small words, brief words, full of vowels, full of meaning
“and so” ( so what )
“ahhh so” ( it IS )
“Oh No” ( Oh my!)
“Aho” ( so be it )
small words, brief words, full of response
I am afraid: and so?
I am suffering: Oh no!
I am human: Ahh so....
I accept: AHO
I am angry: and so?
I seek revenge: Oh no!
I challenge injustice: Ahh so
I speak up: AHO
I feel alone: Oh no!
I feel abandoned: and so?
I seek others: Ahhh so
In service and love: AHO
I see no Spirit: oh no!
I need Spirit: and so
I find Spirit within and in others: ahh so
We are ONE: AHO
small words reflect my movement, in and out
May I see: and so
Feel: oh no
Breathe: ahh so
Love: AHO
* * *
Anthony Fasano Need to Say I Love You
The greatest of these is love How much longer can I say I love
To love pure and chaste from afar How much longer can I say
To my mother Mae, my father Michael How much longer
To my brother Maurice, my sister Mildred How much longer can I say
To my sister Doris, my brother-in law Frank How much longer can I say I love
To my cousin “Honey” Fran, my model Leo How much longer can I say
To my Brother Tom, my Brother Eugene How much longer
To my daughters grand,
Kelsey and Jeannine How longer can I say
Here with you, my love, not far away How longer can I say to you
I love
I don’t know, the answer is in the wind
So while I breathe, while I have a now,
I need to say, I love you, I love you, I love you.
In Praise of Green 2020-05-01 Click to open. Click to close.
In Praise of Green
by Judy Ryan
by Judy Ryan
|
I write in praise of green - and of yellow, pink, white, purple, magenta, red - of all the glorious colors of spring unfolding in this strange April of 2020. We in the northern hemisphere have the great good luck of sheltering in place just as spring bathes us in color, sound, and fragrance.
Our yards and neighborhoods soothe us, invite us to exercise, call children to play. People of all ages are tiring of electronic screens. Children are playing on swing sets, throwing balls, racing to capture the flag. Parents are urging children to go outside, find something to do, play with their brothers and sisters as children did before play dates and structured athletics filled their days. I like to think that imaginations are flourishing in new ways. |
Time slows as it stretches out before us. Senses are sharpened. I see things I haven’t before. Sitting in a lawn chair, I gaze into our massive black cherry tree - can it be 100 years old? - its blossoms blazing against the blue sky. I watch its shadows, its soft movement of branches in a light wind, the brilliance of its white flowers. It feeds my hunger for something that isn’t virtual, something alive, moving within my reach. Each day I walk our garden, noticing another 1/4 inch of a green shoot, finally a bloom - first snowdrops, then crocuses, daffodils, now tulips. Peony shrubs are growing larger, hostas are emerging, the leaves of Japanese maples add russet red to the spring palate. The scent of our viburnum sweetens the air.
Why is animal life more compelling? A squirrel sits on a boulder munching contentedly on something he’s dug up from the earth. Suddenly he scampers up an oak tree, another squirrel in hot pursuit. A game? There’s plenty of food to go around. A blue jay and a robin battle for territory or a turn in the birdbath. I listen to birdsong, wishing my friend from Audubon were with me, to identify calls. Occasionally a turkey or two make an appearance. Coffee in hand, I stand at the window and watch for a long time, noticing birds in the trailing vinca, a fern unfurling, new red growth on the andromeda. A friend said to me once, at a period of deep grief in her life, “I have a visceral need for something alive.”
We’re grieving now – for lost loved ones, for new grandchildren we can’t hug or touch, for lost jobs, for life as we know it. For freedom to come and go, to travel from home, to walk or run in parks we love, to rip off our masks and gloves, to throw our arms around friends and family. Enough of Zoom, Skype, face time, virtual concerts and streaming films.
People who haven’t walked and hiked with enthusiasm are discovering their importance. Sadly, their urgency to be outdoors has outdistanced their caution and consideration for others, so parks have closed. It’s probable, though, that more people than ever are feeling the loss of woodland trails, of walks by a river or lake, of wide fields where children can run. We’re staying home, driving less, enjoying the quiet as gas blowers are silenced. We know that people are suffering from layoffs, landscapers are hurting, the price for giving up business as usual is too high. But maybe – just maybe – the benefits of cleaner air, the reassurance of spring returning, our hunger for life unfolding, our need for the earth – are becoming essential to more of us. I’m reminded of a poem by Wendell Berry. I’ll end my reflections with his words. I hope you’ll listen to them too, read by the poet.
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
To hear Wendell Berry read his poem, clink on this link:
https://audioboom.com/posts/3556168-the-peace-of-wild-things-read-by-wen...
Judy Ryan is the Chair of The Green Committee, an advisory and advocacy group made up of Upper Nyack residents working toward the environmental health and resiliency of our village in the face of climate change. Originally Judy wrote this piece for the April 2020 Green Committee newsletter.
Why is animal life more compelling? A squirrel sits on a boulder munching contentedly on something he’s dug up from the earth. Suddenly he scampers up an oak tree, another squirrel in hot pursuit. A game? There’s plenty of food to go around. A blue jay and a robin battle for territory or a turn in the birdbath. I listen to birdsong, wishing my friend from Audubon were with me, to identify calls. Occasionally a turkey or two make an appearance. Coffee in hand, I stand at the window and watch for a long time, noticing birds in the trailing vinca, a fern unfurling, new red growth on the andromeda. A friend said to me once, at a period of deep grief in her life, “I have a visceral need for something alive.”
We’re grieving now – for lost loved ones, for new grandchildren we can’t hug or touch, for lost jobs, for life as we know it. For freedom to come and go, to travel from home, to walk or run in parks we love, to rip off our masks and gloves, to throw our arms around friends and family. Enough of Zoom, Skype, face time, virtual concerts and streaming films.
People who haven’t walked and hiked with enthusiasm are discovering their importance. Sadly, their urgency to be outdoors has outdistanced their caution and consideration for others, so parks have closed. It’s probable, though, that more people than ever are feeling the loss of woodland trails, of walks by a river or lake, of wide fields where children can run. We’re staying home, driving less, enjoying the quiet as gas blowers are silenced. We know that people are suffering from layoffs, landscapers are hurting, the price for giving up business as usual is too high. But maybe – just maybe – the benefits of cleaner air, the reassurance of spring returning, our hunger for life unfolding, our need for the earth – are becoming essential to more of us. I’m reminded of a poem by Wendell Berry. I’ll end my reflections with his words. I hope you’ll listen to them too, read by the poet.
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
To hear Wendell Berry read his poem, clink on this link:
https://audioboom.com/posts/3556168-the-peace-of-wild-things-read-by-wen...
Judy Ryan is the Chair of The Green Committee, an advisory and advocacy group made up of Upper Nyack residents working toward the environmental health and resiliency of our village in the face of climate change. Originally Judy wrote this piece for the April 2020 Green Committee newsletter.
Practicing Gratitude 2020-05-08 Click to open. Click to close.
Practicing Gratitude by Diana Kriz
For over a month now, at the suggestion of a dear friend, I have been keeping a nightly gratitude journal. It took me a while to get into it. But now I am finding it not only helpful but essential.
Practicing gratitude in the midst of a global health crisis is not easy. How do we stay positive amid so much suffering and uncertainty? Every week seems to bring new reasons why we need to be vigilant about social distancing. We are continually admonished to remain patient with efforts to find a vaccine or even effective treatment. It’s understandable that we may find ourselves becoming irritable about the impotence of policymakers and continuing restrictions on activities. Being alone can accentuate feelings of loneliness and vulnerability. We long for a return to “normal” times, even as we acknowledge the world will likely look very different when we finally are able to move beyond this trauma.
What is the point of acknowledging gratitude?
Numerous academic studies have shown that gratitude is strongly correlated with happiness. Research has shown that those who practice gratitude tend to have a stronger immune system and bounce back more quickly during difficult times. Gratitude builds resilience.
Adopting an attitude of gratitude doesn’t mean that we pretend that everything in our lives is great. It does, however, encourage optimism and fosters an awareness and an appreciation of the blessings we do have – large and small.
The science that explains the benefits of practicing gratitude is complex. It turns out that the practice of gratitude inhibits fear. Living in a state of stress and fear activates the production of steroid hormones – adrenaline and cortisol. Studies have shown that focusing on gratitude helps to increase the blood flow to the hypothalamus and inhibits cortisol production. And minimizing cortisol production helps to combat anxiety and depression.
Actively practicing gratitude has been linked to better sleep and greater kindness toward others.
Gratitude is a quality that can be cultivated. It takes time and attention. But if you are grateful, you are not fearful.
The benefits may seem elusive at first. But stay with it. Commit to making it a habit. Try it for 21 days. After a while, you will find yourself pleasantly surprised to find more and more things to be grateful for each day.
Set aside a little time each day for reflection. You may want to experiment with the time of day that works best for you. I find it helpful to take a little time at the end of the day before going to bed. I write three or four or more things in a little book. You may find it easier to start by working with someone – a gratitude buddy. Some recommend saying out loud what you’re grateful for to enhance the experience.
If you are feeling at a loss on how to begin, here are a few questions to help you get started:
What made me smile today?
What simple pleasures did I enjoy today?
What skills did I use today?
What act of kindness did I witness today?
What thing of beauty did I notice today?
What did I create today?
There may be some days you simply don’t feel in the mood. That’s okay. There’s no need to force it. Just bring whatever presence you can to your practice. Even if you start by saying “I’m finding it really hard to find something to be grateful for today.” The most important thing is to be present, to be open, and to be receptive.
Pause and savor each blessing you acknowledge. Taking 15 to 30 seconds to feel the goodness is said to create new neuro pathways; it benefits the body’s parasympathetic system in ways that help to lower inflammation and improve the immune system. Gratitude creates positive feedback loops: The more you practice, the more you default to a positive rather than negative outlook, and stress becomes a little easier to manage.
Acknowledging the present goodness in life helps us connect to something larger than ourselves. And gratitude opens the heart to grace.
For over a month now, at the suggestion of a dear friend, I have been keeping a nightly gratitude journal. It took me a while to get into it. But now I am finding it not only helpful but essential.
Practicing gratitude in the midst of a global health crisis is not easy. How do we stay positive amid so much suffering and uncertainty? Every week seems to bring new reasons why we need to be vigilant about social distancing. We are continually admonished to remain patient with efforts to find a vaccine or even effective treatment. It’s understandable that we may find ourselves becoming irritable about the impotence of policymakers and continuing restrictions on activities. Being alone can accentuate feelings of loneliness and vulnerability. We long for a return to “normal” times, even as we acknowledge the world will likely look very different when we finally are able to move beyond this trauma.
What is the point of acknowledging gratitude?
Numerous academic studies have shown that gratitude is strongly correlated with happiness. Research has shown that those who practice gratitude tend to have a stronger immune system and bounce back more quickly during difficult times. Gratitude builds resilience.
Adopting an attitude of gratitude doesn’t mean that we pretend that everything in our lives is great. It does, however, encourage optimism and fosters an awareness and an appreciation of the blessings we do have – large and small.
The science that explains the benefits of practicing gratitude is complex. It turns out that the practice of gratitude inhibits fear. Living in a state of stress and fear activates the production of steroid hormones – adrenaline and cortisol. Studies have shown that focusing on gratitude helps to increase the blood flow to the hypothalamus and inhibits cortisol production. And minimizing cortisol production helps to combat anxiety and depression.
Actively practicing gratitude has been linked to better sleep and greater kindness toward others.
Gratitude is a quality that can be cultivated. It takes time and attention. But if you are grateful, you are not fearful.
The benefits may seem elusive at first. But stay with it. Commit to making it a habit. Try it for 21 days. After a while, you will find yourself pleasantly surprised to find more and more things to be grateful for each day.
Set aside a little time each day for reflection. You may want to experiment with the time of day that works best for you. I find it helpful to take a little time at the end of the day before going to bed. I write three or four or more things in a little book. You may find it easier to start by working with someone – a gratitude buddy. Some recommend saying out loud what you’re grateful for to enhance the experience.
If you are feeling at a loss on how to begin, here are a few questions to help you get started:
What made me smile today?
What simple pleasures did I enjoy today?
What skills did I use today?
What act of kindness did I witness today?
What thing of beauty did I notice today?
What did I create today?
There may be some days you simply don’t feel in the mood. That’s okay. There’s no need to force it. Just bring whatever presence you can to your practice. Even if you start by saying “I’m finding it really hard to find something to be grateful for today.” The most important thing is to be present, to be open, and to be receptive.
Pause and savor each blessing you acknowledge. Taking 15 to 30 seconds to feel the goodness is said to create new neuro pathways; it benefits the body’s parasympathetic system in ways that help to lower inflammation and improve the immune system. Gratitude creates positive feedback loops: The more you practice, the more you default to a positive rather than negative outlook, and stress becomes a little easier to manage.
Acknowledging the present goodness in life helps us connect to something larger than ourselves. And gratitude opens the heart to grace.
Results of the May Member Survey 2020-05-22 Click to open. Click to close.
Our deepest thanks to the 88 people who responded to the May Survey. Your responses are helping us think about how our members want to engage with Creative Aging in Nyack through this time of physical separation. What follows is a brief summary of the survey results. You will find a link to the full narrative of the results at the end of this summary:
Most of our members (57) want to receive these Notes every other week. We now have a better sense of how each member prefers to be contacted (phone, text, email, a combination, or none), so that contact information will now be added to the Membership Directory.
Zoom
Most of our members (69) do use Zoom, though they feel that it works better for small groups than for large groups. Most members would be willing to try Zoom if CAN were to hold some small meetings that way.
Facebook
Even though most of our members (57) have active Facebook accounts, many noted that they look but do not post. Even those who have Facebook accounts wrote about reasons why they don’t trust it, don’t feel it is secure, don’t like Mark Zuckerberg, hate the ads, find it invasive, find it creepy. Some have a love/hate relationship with it. Only 5 people had really positive things so say about it. As a result, the Board of Trustees decided that we will not set up a Facebook group.
Program Themes for The Notes
Many people want to find ways to get to know each other better, to see personal stories from members, including family histories of resilience, recipes, photos, activities, interests, and reflections on how we are coping at this time.
You appreciate articles on how to stay healthy mentally and physically, staying grounded and focused. Several people want news of Nyack, and so I now am posting links to Nyack News and Views and to the Nyack-Piermont Patch at the bottom of the Notes.
Several of you asked for suggestions of websites, entertainment, books, movies, podcasts, or articles, as well as for classes that we can do from home. You can now find many of these on the Activities page of our website (under the Resources tab).
People asked about safe shopping, ordering groceries, ordering prepared food, supporting local businesses, etc. during this time.
Some people commented on how much they enjoyed the poetry program in the Notes a few weeks ago, and would like to see more poetry, art, music and stories from members, either their own creations, or their favorites.
CAN During the Time of Covid-19
We recognize that it will be a long time before we can again meet together in the Community Room at the library. While several people expressed gratitude for the Emergency Groups, another very helpful idea was to develop small groups, each with a shared interest – groups for sharing recipes, discussing particular books, discussing films, etc. These groups could communicate by email, by Zoom, or perhaps in a different way at a distance. Other people would like to find ways to make the neighborhood groups more functional than they currently are.
Some people are interested in more community involvement. Everyone is interested in finding more ways to engage with each other, learning from and with each other.
Some people asked for more information and discussion about aging in place and “organizing whatever it takes to realize that reality, because if we’re lucky that’s what we’ll need to face.”
End Note
Even though we cannot all gather together, know that this is your geographic community and your peer community. We are home. You all continue to be so great at being wise and to staying safe. We are a community of elders living in a wonderful place. As one of our members wrote in the Survey, “We are not all in the same boat but we are in the same storm . . . We all deal differently.” For us that “storm” is the coronavirus as well as our awareness of needing to take care of ourselves as we age. By going through all this together, we are stronger and more resilient.
Most of our members (57) want to receive these Notes every other week. We now have a better sense of how each member prefers to be contacted (phone, text, email, a combination, or none), so that contact information will now be added to the Membership Directory.
Zoom
Most of our members (69) do use Zoom, though they feel that it works better for small groups than for large groups. Most members would be willing to try Zoom if CAN were to hold some small meetings that way.
Even though most of our members (57) have active Facebook accounts, many noted that they look but do not post. Even those who have Facebook accounts wrote about reasons why they don’t trust it, don’t feel it is secure, don’t like Mark Zuckerberg, hate the ads, find it invasive, find it creepy. Some have a love/hate relationship with it. Only 5 people had really positive things so say about it. As a result, the Board of Trustees decided that we will not set up a Facebook group.
Program Themes for The Notes
Many people want to find ways to get to know each other better, to see personal stories from members, including family histories of resilience, recipes, photos, activities, interests, and reflections on how we are coping at this time.
You appreciate articles on how to stay healthy mentally and physically, staying grounded and focused. Several people want news of Nyack, and so I now am posting links to Nyack News and Views and to the Nyack-Piermont Patch at the bottom of the Notes.
Several of you asked for suggestions of websites, entertainment, books, movies, podcasts, or articles, as well as for classes that we can do from home. You can now find many of these on the Activities page of our website (under the Resources tab).
People asked about safe shopping, ordering groceries, ordering prepared food, supporting local businesses, etc. during this time.
Some people commented on how much they enjoyed the poetry program in the Notes a few weeks ago, and would like to see more poetry, art, music and stories from members, either their own creations, or their favorites.
CAN During the Time of Covid-19
We recognize that it will be a long time before we can again meet together in the Community Room at the library. While several people expressed gratitude for the Emergency Groups, another very helpful idea was to develop small groups, each with a shared interest – groups for sharing recipes, discussing particular books, discussing films, etc. These groups could communicate by email, by Zoom, or perhaps in a different way at a distance. Other people would like to find ways to make the neighborhood groups more functional than they currently are.
Some people are interested in more community involvement. Everyone is interested in finding more ways to engage with each other, learning from and with each other.
Some people asked for more information and discussion about aging in place and “organizing whatever it takes to realize that reality, because if we’re lucky that’s what we’ll need to face.”
End Note
Even though we cannot all gather together, know that this is your geographic community and your peer community. We are home. You all continue to be so great at being wise and to staying safe. We are a community of elders living in a wonderful place. As one of our members wrote in the Survey, “We are not all in the same boat but we are in the same storm . . . We all deal differently.” For us that “storm” is the coronavirus as well as our awareness of needing to take care of ourselves as we age. By going through all this together, we are stronger and more resilient.
Nutrition Tips 2020-06-05 and 2020-07-03 Click to open. Click to close.
Marcia Rappaport, MS, RD, CDN, MBA has many years' experience as a registered, licensed dietitian. She holds a master’s degree in nutrition education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Marcia has expertise in weight loss and maintenance, and provides clients with the tools they need to accomplish optimal health through nutrition education, creative fitness and emotional balance.
Marcia currently provides virtual nutrition and lifestyle counseling and support in your home. She is an in-network provider for various insurance companies and Medicare. You can reach her at 845-304-8411 or at [email protected].
What’s Healthy Eating:
There’s no better time than the present to evaluate your lifestyle, especially your eating and exercise patterns. We all want to decrease our risk for chronic diseases as well as protect ourselves from this pandemic or the next one. So how can you eat to reduce risk and improve your health over time? We hear a lot about what not to eat, but many people ask, so what can I eat?
My answer: Eating a variety of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, fish and poultry would be good, everyday foods.
Nutrition Tip #1: Vegetables
Vegetables
Let’s start with vegetables, which are full of nutrients including potassium, fiber, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A, E and C as well as antioxidants (protecting us against cancer and inflammation). A diet rich in vegetables can help to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar, which can help keep your appetite in check.
Recommendations
Aim for at least 3 servings a day. If you are eating vegetables only some days, aim for 1 every day. If you are eating one a day, aim for 2 a day and so forth.
What is a serving size: A serving is 1 cup greens or ½ cup other chopped vegetables, raw or cooked (do not include white potatoes or French fries).
Nutrition Tip #2
Fruit
Fruits are packed with nutrients – high in fiber, potassium, Vitamin C, folate and phytonutrients (antioxidants and anti-inflammatories). Eat the skin of edible fruit and get twice the fiber and its benefits.
Fresh fruit are low in calories and high in water content (which helps to keep you hydrated). Most fresh and frozen fruit has just 50-100 calories per 1 piece or 1 cup. Dried fruit is more caloric; ¼ cup of raisins, cranberries, prunes, etc. have 100 – 120 calories. Eating whole fruit keeps you full longer with its fiber intact vs. pureeing fruit in smoothies or drinking the fruit’s juice.
Fruit is versatile with so many ways to enjoy them. Fruit is an easily transportable snack (peach, pear, apple, clementine); add berries to your yogurt, hot or cold cereal; add sliced apples, mandarin sections, grapes, pineapple chunks to your green salads. Have you tried sliced apples or bananas with a smear of peanut, sunflower or soy nut butter?
Recommendations:
Aim for at least 2 servings of fruit a day. If you are eating fruit only some days, aim for 1 fruit daily. If you are eating 1 fruit, aim for 2.
What is a serving size: Fresh or frozen (unsweetened) is preferred but canned in its own juice is OK too. Occasionally, pureed (i.e. applesauce) and ¼ cup dried fruit is OK.
Cleaning fruits and vegetables: To eat fresh fruits and vegetables safely, wash them. Here are some tips from the FDA: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/7-tips-cleaning-fruits-vegetables
Marcia currently provides virtual nutrition and lifestyle counseling and support in your home. She is an in-network provider for various insurance companies and Medicare. You can reach her at 845-304-8411 or at [email protected].
What’s Healthy Eating:
There’s no better time than the present to evaluate your lifestyle, especially your eating and exercise patterns. We all want to decrease our risk for chronic diseases as well as protect ourselves from this pandemic or the next one. So how can you eat to reduce risk and improve your health over time? We hear a lot about what not to eat, but many people ask, so what can I eat?
My answer: Eating a variety of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, fish and poultry would be good, everyday foods.
Nutrition Tip #1: Vegetables
Vegetables
Let’s start with vegetables, which are full of nutrients including potassium, fiber, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A, E and C as well as antioxidants (protecting us against cancer and inflammation). A diet rich in vegetables can help to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar, which can help keep your appetite in check.
Recommendations
Aim for at least 3 servings a day. If you are eating vegetables only some days, aim for 1 every day. If you are eating one a day, aim for 2 a day and so forth.
What is a serving size: A serving is 1 cup greens or ½ cup other chopped vegetables, raw or cooked (do not include white potatoes or French fries).
Nutrition Tip #2
Fruit
Fruits are packed with nutrients – high in fiber, potassium, Vitamin C, folate and phytonutrients (antioxidants and anti-inflammatories). Eat the skin of edible fruit and get twice the fiber and its benefits.
Fresh fruit are low in calories and high in water content (which helps to keep you hydrated). Most fresh and frozen fruit has just 50-100 calories per 1 piece or 1 cup. Dried fruit is more caloric; ¼ cup of raisins, cranberries, prunes, etc. have 100 – 120 calories. Eating whole fruit keeps you full longer with its fiber intact vs. pureeing fruit in smoothies or drinking the fruit’s juice.
Fruit is versatile with so many ways to enjoy them. Fruit is an easily transportable snack (peach, pear, apple, clementine); add berries to your yogurt, hot or cold cereal; add sliced apples, mandarin sections, grapes, pineapple chunks to your green salads. Have you tried sliced apples or bananas with a smear of peanut, sunflower or soy nut butter?
Recommendations:
Aim for at least 2 servings of fruit a day. If you are eating fruit only some days, aim for 1 fruit daily. If you are eating 1 fruit, aim for 2.
What is a serving size: Fresh or frozen (unsweetened) is preferred but canned in its own juice is OK too. Occasionally, pureed (i.e. applesauce) and ¼ cup dried fruit is OK.
Cleaning fruits and vegetables: To eat fresh fruits and vegetables safely, wash them. Here are some tips from the FDA: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/7-tips-cleaning-fruits-vegetables
Learning about Racism 2020-06-23 Click to open. Click to close.
Thirty-two of us met on Zoom on June 23. This was our second meeting to learn together about racism. Because I was hosting and facilitating the meeting, I was not able to take very many notes, but I did try to capture some of resources that people presented. I have now put those on the Learning about Racism page of our website.
We had an excellent and wide-ranging discussion. While several people talked about having moved to Nyack partly because they were seeking an integrated community, we began to realize that many of us know little of Nyack’s racial history. As a member of the Nyack Historical Society Leontine told us about urban renewal in Nyack in the 1960’s that some called “urban removal” because of the black-owned businesses and homes that were taken down for renovations around Main Street. We have much to learn! We were also pleased to learn that the Nyack School District is taking proactive steps to ensure greater equity in the schools. We are interested in knowing more.
We were also interested in Bill Batson’s recent Black Sketch Log: Black Lives Matter Culture depicting artwork of protest on Nyack Streets.
Moving Forward
We had some discussion of how we might move forward. Some people are interested in forming small groups, while others would like to continue in a large group that might break into Zoom rooms. If you are interested in leading a small group or in hosting a large group Zoom meeting, or if you have additional resources you would like me to post, please send me an email at [email protected] and I will pass the information on to our members.
White Fragility Discussion
For those of you who are interested, I would like to gather a group to discuss Robin DiAngelo’s book, White Fragility, because I personally need to be very aware of my own blindspots and why they exist so that I do not fall back into a lack of awareness about and sensitivity to racism including my own.
Please let me know soon if you want to participate. I will host these discussions on Zoom at a time that works for the group. Three people have already said they want to join me. I purchased the e-book through Apple for my iPad. You can get the e-book for Kindle, or you can order the actual book from your favorite bookseller. It had been out of stock because so many want to read it, but I believe it is available now.
– Ann
We had an excellent and wide-ranging discussion. While several people talked about having moved to Nyack partly because they were seeking an integrated community, we began to realize that many of us know little of Nyack’s racial history. As a member of the Nyack Historical Society Leontine told us about urban renewal in Nyack in the 1960’s that some called “urban removal” because of the black-owned businesses and homes that were taken down for renovations around Main Street. We have much to learn! We were also pleased to learn that the Nyack School District is taking proactive steps to ensure greater equity in the schools. We are interested in knowing more.
We were also interested in Bill Batson’s recent Black Sketch Log: Black Lives Matter Culture depicting artwork of protest on Nyack Streets.
Moving Forward
We had some discussion of how we might move forward. Some people are interested in forming small groups, while others would like to continue in a large group that might break into Zoom rooms. If you are interested in leading a small group or in hosting a large group Zoom meeting, or if you have additional resources you would like me to post, please send me an email at [email protected] and I will pass the information on to our members.
White Fragility Discussion
For those of you who are interested, I would like to gather a group to discuss Robin DiAngelo’s book, White Fragility, because I personally need to be very aware of my own blindspots and why they exist so that I do not fall back into a lack of awareness about and sensitivity to racism including my own.
Please let me know soon if you want to participate. I will host these discussions on Zoom at a time that works for the group. Three people have already said they want to join me. I purchased the e-book through Apple for my iPad. You can get the e-book for Kindle, or you can order the actual book from your favorite bookseller. It had been out of stock because so many want to read it, but I believe it is available now.
– Ann