I have to say it, what a day . . . what a day!  I rode my usual route on the bike path.  The air was crisp . . . temperature  in the upper 40’s . . . it felt so good on my bare legs, arms and face.  I wasn’t cold, I was alive . . . on a sunny afternoon in December in Eugene, Oregon, my adopted home.  I know the pavement by heart, the bumps, the inclines where I have to pump a little harder, the walkers in their warm coats and hats . . . “On your left!” . . . the kaleidoscopic light effect of sunlight flashing on and off through the many tree trunks on the north bank . . . the river rapids by the bridges and by Skinner’s log cabin.  I am so lucky to be riding a bike at the age when I have now outlived my Father who so generously started me out on life but had a hard time enjoying his own.  Thanks Dad, I wish you could see me now.  I am rich in friends because I learned how to be one.

“Well it’s alright even when push comes to shove . . . Well it’s alright if you got someone to love” – Roy Orbison

The Traveling Wilburys – George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy orbison, and Tom Petty.  [Click on Full Screen icon in the lower right corner to best appreciate the video]

UPDATE

I pitched the idea of a play centered on life at YaPoAh at the monthly Residents Association Meeting, December 8.  The idea was well received by residents in attendance.  Next step, probably in January, will be to pull together a circle of residents in one room to tell their stories and have them lead us, naturally. to the stories/themes that have the most resonance.  Two residents, plus myself, are now the core group working on the idea..

ORIGINAL JOURNAL ENTRY

It’s early days, but I floated the idea for a play to be written, directed, acted, and staged in-house  about life at YaPoAh Terrace.  A play to feature residents’ personal stories, with humor and heart,  like “What brought me to YaPoAh” and “What have I experienced here,” recounted on stage by resident actors.  My vision is to have this foster a greater sense of community within a building with 220 apartments for low income seniors.  An extension of my idea, brought to the fore by fellow resident Savanah Forster, is to eventually have something that could be shared with the larger Eugene-Springfield community to show what seniors can do.  I posted a First Call in the December newsletter, News With A View, for people who are interested in the project to  contact me.  I’m interviewing the first person to step forward tomorrow, a woman who is a singer-songwriter and pianist.  It won’t stop there.  Stay tuned.