Are You on Facebook?

How many times have you been asked that question? As I look at my Facebook postings, it does seem that most are younger than I am. But, I know that a lot of my contemporaries are indeed "on Facebook." Last year I met a lovely young woman at a party and found out that she worked for Facebook. As we talked, I told her that I was on Facebook and was having fun exploring all that it had to offer. She responded warmly to that information and told me that she was so pleased because they loved to hear about people in my demographic using Facebook. Needless to say, I immediately developed 5 new wrinkles, my eyesight got more blurry, my back developed a crick, and I swear I "heard" some brain cells swoon and sign off. But, she was right. Come on, "my demographic." Get with it and join Facebook. You are missing a lot = a lot of opportunities to connect with friends from your childhood, to be in touch with friends from other cities where you've lived, to hear from dear friends of your children, and to "talk" with colleagues from work, with friends in town and with friends across the country. You can share pictures and news and joys and sorrows and games. Right now I'm in a couple of Scrabble games and brain games and less brainy games with friends far and near. I love seeing pictures of special events in friends' lives, of trips made close by or around the world, of families and new babies, and of celebrations that almost make you feel as if you had been there. How spectacular! I wouldn't miss this wonderful opportunity. I love Facebook!

All of Those Amazing Race Types of Programs

Another race moves from place to place; another competition is staged between couples; and, another show comes on about the survival of the fittest, cleverest, smartest, strongest, "biggest loser," etc. There seems to be an endless "treasure trove" of this type of program that feeds on the viewing public's desire to see who can win in any sort of competition. Heck, I might not watch this kind, but I watch "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" to see if I can answer the questions or solve the word puzzles. I guess we can all race or lose weight or try to play the various games or conquer the obstacles before us from the comfort of our couch. How nice! Isn't it good, though, that there are choices among a myriad of channels as to whether or not we'll compete or as Julia Roberts's character says in "Pretty Woman" - "Let's watch old movies all night... we'll just veg out in front of the TV."

Vaccines For Yucky Ailments

"A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and "recognize" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters." Thus saith Wikipedia. Today Butch and I got a DPT shot as a preventative measure for the current whooping cough outbreak that has reared its ugly head in California and elsewhere. Since the advice coming out via the news media is that children and seniors be vaccinated, we decided to protect ourselves and make sure that we won't get something that we could pass on to family and friends.

It's Hot!!!

We have had this glorious summer filled with delightful days of moderate temperatures and sometimes chilly evenings and early mornings. Then, this last week, life changed. Summer is upon us with a vengeance. Thankfully, the humidity is low and thus far the brush fires are not too bad. Of course, any fire is bad, but they're being contained relatively well. But, in the whole scheme of things, we're fortunate to live where we do with the vast myriad of options we have to stay cool and to have a great time with family & friends. Swimming pool, here I come!

July 4th in Claremont

Claremont has a big celebration on July 4th and it is a fun event that is not to be missed. Well, maybe it's "missible" when it's hotter than heck, but not when it's around 80 degrees on a delightful sunny day with lots of shade in and around Memorial Park. Maria, Eric, Zac, Claire, & Luke participated in the parade with the Early Childhood Center and Butch marched with "The Irregulars." This group only plays together once each year at the Parade on a "show up, we'll give you music, find a spot to march in, and off we'll go." There was even a violinist marching and playing this time. Great! They range in age from 12 - 71, and they actually sound pretty impressive! The groups participating range from local residents and groups being honored for all that they give to our community to sports groups to retirement communities to politicians to the School Board on the back of a school-owned truck driven by the Superintendent to churches to the colleges to other assorted performing groups and to a large group of young Chinese students currently visiting here. The theme was "Star Spangled Claremont," and they carried American flags and Chinese flags and alternatively waved them. There is always humor along the way, and I got a big laugh from the group of people from Mt. San Antonio Gardens who were pushing walkers and doing routines as they walked. Many churches walked together in a group in support of marriage equality - the UCC, the UMC, the Presbyterians, and the Temple. It was a super day with something for everyone at the booths: nonprofit groups sharing their information, food booths, games for kids that included a climbing wall, and the proverbial dunk tank sponsored by Rotary. Various local city officials and active citizens in the community and the schools take their turns on the "wet" seat. We are all fortunate to live in such a dynamic, caring, darn good community. I'm so glad it's our "home."

The First Day in the Pool

Today the water in the pool was finally warm enough for everyone to swim. Before now, only the very hearty had dared to enter and then not for very long. Luke absolutely loves the water, Zac always has, and Claire is very careful about what and how much she attempts. Once she's secure, she goes at it full tilt. The water felt good and I'm looking forward to many more lazy summer days with family swims.

"By the Beautiful Sea" with Village Dance Arts Multi-Talented Dancers and Performers

On Saturday the 19th Maria, Sara, Zac, Claire, and I attended the end of the year show presented by the Village Dance Arts students. Claire had her first taste of ballet this spring in one of their classes, and we all wanted to see the show. It was delightful! The Haugh Performing Arts Center at Citrus College is an ideal setting for a show because everyone can see. This is wonderful for all of the young people in the audience and short "older" people like Grandma RoRo. The dancers were obviously enjoying performing and the audience was most receptive. We saw such a wide variety of types of dance - ballet, tap, jazz, Taiko drumming and tap, and other special treats such as a Barbershop Quartet and a steel drum. Charlotte Van Ryswyk sat with us and shared her knowledge of the dances since Claire was a longtime student there AND she was helping out with the show. We got to see her as an onlooker at one of the cafe tables in the scenes in the last part of the show. We in Claremont are so fortunate to have such a gifted and dedicated group of people involved in both the Village Dance Arts and the Inland Pacific Ballet and for our children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to learn from talented and caring artists.