Oliver Sacks Died Today

Dr. Oliver Sacks died today at age 82.

I've told you before that I've had little crushes on several men and Dave's OK with it.  Like many others, I have admired Oliver Sacks for decades.  What do we have in common?

Every act of perception, is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination . - Oliver Sacks

He is a world famous neurologist and writer. - the premier authority on how our brains work.  He's an atheist, gay Jew.  And, as of today, he's dead.

In examining disease, we gain wisdom about anatomy and physiology and biology.  In examining the person with disease, we gain wisdom about life.  -  Oliver Sack

I am none of those things - but over the years I have tried to read almost everything he's written.  He let me know how complex my mind, encased in this brain of mine, really is.  He let me know we all have brain issues.  (He had his own serious brain abnormality in that he could not recognize faces.)

He reminded me how important music is in all of our lives and how it affects our emotions.

Music, uniquely among the arts, is both completely abstract and profoundly emotional.  It has no power to represent anything particular or external, but it has a unique power to express inner states of feelings.  Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.  - Oliver Sacks Tales of Music and the Brain

His books were exciting and, surprisingly, easy to read.  When he wrote about patients he wrote about the whole person and that person's family, friends and surroundings.

Last February he told us he was terminally ill.  He went into great detail about his illness and how he felt about dying.

I cannot pretend I am without fear.  But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude.  I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written.  I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. 

Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.  - Oliver Sacks

Goodybye Dr. Sacks.  It has been a true privilege to share this planet with you.

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Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bath Water

Yesterday on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show a divergent panel discussed Planned Parenthood and the battle in Congress that may bring down the House -again.

Surprisingly, the discussion yesterday was reasonably calm and reasonable points were made on both sides of the issue.

As you know, I don't discuss abortion but I am a huge fan of family planning and healthy moms and babies.  I'm not a fan of neglect and abuse of babies, children or any other human beings.

Most of the work done by Planned Parenthood does not involve the issues in the news today.  Most of what they do is to diagnose and treat young adults, female and male, who can't afford to go anywhere else.  Most of their work in limiting the babies born here in the United States is to help women not become pregnant when they don't want to be pregnant.  

I'm all for that.


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There's No Place Like Home

Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte
Springs.  We walk around this lake
often. 

Dave and I like to travel but we always like coming home as well.  We love where we live.  Do you love where you live?

The Economist Intelligence Unit just published its list of the world's most livable cities - based on five areas:

Stability - We have this.  Altamonte Springs, Florida was settled around 1892 and our condo community, Oak Harbour, has been here since the 1970s.  We've had no uprisings that I know of.

# 1 Most livable city for second year
in a row,  Melbourne, Australia.

Infrastructure - Altamonte is a small town 15 minutes from the center of Orlando so we have all the amenities.  Lots of traffic but - most of the time - it flows.  

Education - Our public schools are excellent.

Health Care - Florida Hospital, North is 5 minutes from our door.

Environment - We live in the middle of a Live Oak forest.  We breathe clean (but hot) air.

So is my city in the top ten?  No, and neither is any other city in the United States.  We didn't make the cut.  The only city on this continent that did is Toronto at # 4.

Least livable, Damascus, Syria

The # 1 most livable city is Melbourne, Australia, followed by Vienna, Austria.  (By the way, Dave and I will be in Vienna in a few weeks so we'll check it out for ourselves.)

The least livable cities are all in the middle east.  Terrorism and other violence causes all the factors above to decline.  So, despite living in Loserville, I'm grateful to be safe, sound and comfortable in my city.

The city that rated last on the list is Damascus, Syria.


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I Love Hospice

Hospice care is a philosophy of caring which values the dignity and worth of each person...Although hospices care is for people nearing death, hospices cherish and emphasize life by helping patients live each precious day to the fullest.   - Hospice Education Institute

A week ago Sunday, in Forum, we listened to Ken Bradley, the Winter Park Florida Hospital Administrator, talk about health care for us oldies.  It's changing - for the better.

As we left I saw a poster in the hall with the banner "Hospice - It's not for just the last week of life."

Paul and Cess

After that Dave drove me directly to the airport where I hopped on a plane and went  to my younger brother's home in Indianapolis.  The day before he had started hospice care.  No more surgeries or rehab or diets.  He was in a hospital bed in his own living room.  Friends and neighbors were in and out.  He was eating whatever he wanted.  He's still having some issues - but basically pain free and happy most of the time.

That night he had a steak and baked potato from his favorite  restaurant.

My husband, Ken, was on hospice for a little more than a week.  I wish it had happened  sooner.  Most folks don't opt for it soon enough but the big reason for that is medical professionals wanting to try one more thing..........It's their jobs to keep us alive.

But - please - let's face it.  We're all gonna die.

Thank goodness we're getting a better grip on what we want our "declining years" to look like and we are beginning to get the information we need to make our own decisions

One of my favorite people, Jimmy Carter, with brain cancer at age 90, has opted to fight to the end.  That's his decision and I respect it.

The point is - we should all have the options laid out before us a little sooner than we do.  And when my quality of life is fast ebbing, I will opt for hospice.


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This Could Be Me

Larry Thompson

Larry Thompson was in the news this past week.  The 65 year old hospice patient was arrested for failing to pay court costs after a 2010 arrest for driving without a license.  Mr. Thompson said he thought he'd paid his debt to society after spending 5 months in  jail back then.

The upshot of all this was that the jail would not accept him because he is too sick for them to care for - so the last I heard he was being shuffled back and froth.

In the articles Mr. Thompson explained that he's on a very limited income and he will lose his housing and be on the street if he tries to pay the fine.

Some people think that Mr. Thompson has made some very bad choices in his life.  I'm sure they're right but the reason they're trying to throw him in jail is because he's poor.  

Question:  What do all of the inmates in Orlando's 33rd Street jail have in common?  

Answer:  They're all poor!

Lots of folks, when they're working with the poor, feel pity.  What I think, when I'm handing some old lady a cup of soup at Daily Bread  is - This could have been me.   Since I had no safety net most of my life,  if I had made two or three bad decisions  at a given time - it could have been me.

Of course, at this point, I'm not so vulnerable.  There are a world of people in my life who would bond me out if I needed it.

But I have a friend who was just beaten on the street - because that's where he lives.  I have a daughter who is compromised.  I have a brother who is gravely ill.

There but for the grace of God.....


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Cuban Invasion

Frogs on the Porch Light

We've had a serious problem this past week so I posted it on Facebook and asked for suggestions.

I heard from several folks at church this morning and then a few on Facebook this afternoon.  So I think we're good.

A while back Dave saw a giant frog on our little porch light.  He flung it into the yard.  The next day there were three big frogs on the porch light - and there they stayed.  Quite disturbing.  What were the implications?  What should we do?  Woe is us.

My friends Julia and Penny, both native Floridans and both nature girls, told me we had ourselves some Cuban Tree Frogs.  And that they are prolific invaders from Cuba whose underlying motive is to wipe out indigenous Florida frogs.

Another wise native Floridan, Meme, had two words only...."Not good."

Diane, also smart  ( she' a CPA and likes dogs) said to put pepper on the porch light.

Cuban Tree Frog

So, this afternoon I got out my yard stick and began sticking the frogs.  Actually, just prodding.  It took forever.  They did not want to go.  Then I sprayed the light with WD 40 and threw on some pepper.

So, we'll see tomorrow if I succeeded.

Finally, my most serious concern was theological.  A frog invasion can have grave implications.  So I was relieved when one of my favorite wise theologians  (and, by the way, my former boss,) Dr. Ed Dinkins,  responded to my Facebook question "What does this mean," by answering:

It means you have frogs.


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Death Rituals

I like rituals.  It's not the ritual itself that helps me...but the reminder of what it symbolizes.

A long time ago my church started a communion service at 7:00 AM on Wednesday mornings.  After a couple of years or so it was discontinued.  Why?  Probably because not many folk showed up.

But I did.  I was going through a difficult time and that ritual helped me remember why I was choosing to do it.

Rituals bring communities together.  Thy help us remember that we're all in the same boat.  After my husband, Ken, died I walked "The Mourners Path."  I met weekly with other mourners.  We were led in specific rituals involving telling our stories to each other.  It's not about ignoring pain but facing it head on, in community.

My neighbor's husband just died.  She's been going to prayers every morning and "Sitting Shivah" in the evenings.  This involves the ritual of covering mirrors, walking low and opening her home to her rabbi and cantor and others who mourn with her.

Years ago I wrote about the Ritual of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  It dates back many centuries and takes many hours to complete.  I don't understand much of the symbolism but I know it's about spiritual enlightenment.

And I know that sharing rituals in community with others gives me spiritual enlightenment and comfort on this journey that - for every single one of us - ends in death.

Then what?


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Cross Creek

Majorie Kinnan Rawlings, the woman who wrote (and lived) "Cross Creek," is an icon and rock star among authors in Florida.  She wrote the book in the 1930s after she left her cushy life with her husband up north and came to Central Florida to find herself, fight the elements, and write the great American novel.

She did all three.  And found a new husband.

It's hard to imagine how she hacked through the jungle that was the Florida of her time and made it livable.  But you don't have to imagine it because Cross Creek is still pretty much like she left it only now it's called Majorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park.

In our class at Rollins we discussed Marjorie.  Two of her books were made into movies that were set - and made - in Florida.

The Academy Award winning "The Yearling" was filmed in 1946 and stared Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman.  It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning book, published in 1939.  I'm sorry to say I've neither read the book nor seen the movie.

I read "Cross Creek" a few years ago.  I was amazed.  Marjorie was quite a woman!  She was strong, bull headed and drank too much but old southern recipes are interspersed throughout the book as well.  Last week Dave and I, while sitting on our nice comfy couch with the A/C going full blast, enjoyed the film staring Mary Steenburgen.  I highly recommend it.  It seemed very real and true to the book.  Of course, it should feel real because it was filmed at Cross Creek.

As soon as the weather cools,  Dave and I are making a day trip Majorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park to check out her cracker-style home at Cross Creek.

Maybe then I'll be motivated to read "The Yearling."


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