Author: sssmahh303

Mary Ann

When my Sirius XM subscription was going from $5.00 to nearly $30.00 a month, I had to decide was worth it.  I basically listened to news and Christmas music.   Could I use the $360 annual fee in better ways?  Yes, I could.  It was time for a change.  

I then started to peruse the airways searching for a new home for my ears while I was driving.  I re-discovered National Public Radio.  I had listened to it once upon a time and always enjoyed the interviews and programing.  I decided this would be a good place to listen to the news plus all their other programing.

NPR prides itself to present the news as just the facts so at the top and the bottom of the hour, you get a snapshot of what is happening in the world.  The programing will get more into opinions and more in-depth study of many topics.  I have found that generally they will have guests on with opposing views, so you get a well-rounded perspective on most topics.  They give excellent information on the arts with great book reviews that include interviews with the authors or a good discussion on sport teams.  It is never boring from my perspective.  It is always educational, and I have learned so much about the most obscure topics which brings me to the title of this blog – Quirky Stories.

I absolutely love the endless stories on the wildest subjects.  I have found that I will sit in the driveway and finish a story on the history of banjos.  Apparently, finishing stories in the driveway is very common among NPR listeners.  I keep saying I need to get a radio for the house so I can finish a story in the comfort of my home instead of freezing or roasting in the car. 

Some of the stories are often science centered.  Sometimes I come in the middle of a featured topic, and I might not catch the title so please forgive me. These are some recent programs that I found rather fascination which may give you some idea how my brain works.   Here are some of the stories.  What Dogs Bring to Your life – I think anyone of us who had or has a dog could be a guest contributor.  Some Insects use Wasps as Bodyguards – so when I am avoiding a wasp, it may just be protecting a fellow insect. Really?   I loved the session on sperm whales – when they communicate with each other, they use grammar that is like humans.  The whales are probably more correct since texting has ruined humans’ grammar and spelling 

Recently, I listened to a program on What Footballers eat for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  They had a session on a Ghost Story that was about the Golden Frogs of Costa Rica, and.  just his morning, I listened to a story about Buzz Aldrin using a ball point pen case to fix a circuit breaker on a space capsule– mission saved.  Remember these are not exact titles – it is just the flavor of a program.  Each time I drive somewhere, I truly look forward to learning something new about quirky subjects. 

You can often find topical NPR programs on your phone news.  It is in print.  Solo Agers was a recent and interesting article for our age group.  You can also go to the websites and listen to the programing there.    

If you are not an NPR aficionado, now is time to check it out.  I promise you will find some quirky stories.  It is good prep to be a future Jeopardy contestant.  You can join me with filling your mind full of rather useless information.  I cannot remember some important detail of my life, but I remember sperm whales are well-spoken.  If you become a listener, hopefully you will become a supporter.  NPR is free, but contributions keep it going.  Maybe that would be a good use of my $360 dollars? 

Mary Ann

When you suddenly can’t remember a name or recall a word that is on the tip of your tongue, you begin to panic that you are getting early onset Alzheimers.  At our age, it probably would not be early onset.  It is just old age. 

It is frightening to think that you might be losing your mental faculties.  It is hard enough to deal with the aches and pains of aging and then be fearful that you will fall for a scam giving all your money away or be in a permanent brain fog.  So, what can you do about it?  

The experts would tell you to learn new things, get enough sleep, eat well, exercise, have social connections, and challenge your brain in novel ways.  Even in old age, the brain can adapt, learn, and build new connections between nerve cells.  This is called neuroplasticity. 

People with mild cognitive impairment can do many things to improve their mental skills.  They can “exercise” their brains with activities that require thinking, remembering, focusing, learning, and problem solving.  The secret is to challenge yourself.  There are lots of computerized cognitive games that you can do on your computer, iPad, or phone.  You can learn a new language or a musical instrument. Take up any new artistic endeavor.  Write a journal and read everything.  Take classes.  I Zoom classes all the time – a previous blog detailed this. The activity should be novel, test you, and be enjoyable so you will continue with it. 

Crossword puzzles are always mentioned.  However, I cannot spell so that makes it doubly hard for me.  I can look at a word and know it is misspelled, but if I must generate the word, it will take me several tries if I ever get it.  I have taken to doing Word Searches or Find-A-Word puzzles which I find relaxing.  After years of teaching, I can read words upside down and backwards which is necessary to do the searches. This comes from looking at students’ papers from the other side of the desk.  That learned skill has finally come in handy.  Who knew?  

I also like to do Hidden Picture Puzzles.  I guess I always loved the Highlight magazine’s Hidden Pictures that we found in the dentist office. The company Brain Games has a wonderful selection of all kinds of brain games.  The Scavenger Hunt books from them are challenging but lots of fun.  The Find the Cat books are hard.  Kitties are tricky.  

If you like numbers, there is sudoku.  I have a variation of the puzzle that is a wooden board with colored balls.  It looks easy, but it is very thought-provoking.  There is a game for every interest and attention span.  You just need to find something of interest to you.  You can sign up for expensive online courses or go to Dollar Trees and stock up on Word Searches. And of course, Amazon has endless brain games.

I start everyday with prayers, meditations, readings, and brain games.  I am hoping that it is all helping my brain.  At least, I am trying, and it is all enjoyable.  It is nice to kill two birds with one stone – exercising the brain and having fun doing it!  Join me in making a difference in your brain and in your life.   

Mary Ann

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman!  I am sure that you may have played Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman as a child or that your children or grandchildren did.  I used to pin on a towel on my son’s shoulders every day for about a year as he faced the world and defended our home. He was only four, but he was sure he had superpowers.  I am lucky he didn’t try to fly by jumping off the roof.  

We live in a world of Marvel or DC characters in movies, TV shows, and books, and do not forget fantasy worlds where witches and elves have magical powers – superpowers!  We love them all.  Then there is the Harry Potter universe.  I am sure you have gotten lost in those worlds over the years.  Let’s explore this a bit more.

A Superpower means that you have extraordinary or paranormal abilities. I found websites that list 100 or more superpowers. There is telekinesis where you can move objects with your mind.  There is invisibility where you are cannot been seen with the naked eye – remember Harry Potters’ invisibility cloak?  You can have super strength, or you can   manipulate time that includes time travel.  You can be a shapeshifter changing from one shape to another – a person to an animal. You have the power to fly, or you can teleport traveling from one place to another.  You can have healing superpowers that can regenerate body parts and fight an infection.  Power negation sounds pretty good because you cancel all other powers.  Check out Pinterest with its extensive display of Superpowers!

Have you ever wished that you had a Superpower?   I sure do.  It would be nice to disappear at awkward moments or move my groceries from the car to the kitchen or better yet put them away. However, what I really want to do is animal communication where I would understand and communicate with animals.  Move over, Dr. Doolittle!  I have always been an animal lover.  You must know that from my blogs.  I would have loved to know what my dogs and cats were thinking.  Today, I would love to talk to the catbird who has taken over the patio garden.  He (I am assuming he) brings food to its mate and soon to his hatchlings.  He flits around the garden with his tail bobbing up and down exposing his little red patch on his tush.  He checks me out to the point that he looks in my windows.  I think he would like to talk too asking me what I am doing in my nest!  

Then I would love to hear what the butterflies and hummingbirds have to say.  Maybe thank you for the plants that I have planted for them to have a tasty snack.  I am sure the bunnies and the foxes have some tales – no pun intended – to tell.  Now, we just look at each other, and I imagine what a conversation might be.  

if you could have a superpower, how would you use it?  Let us think about it as we visualize some possibilities. I do believe that those of us in the winter of our lives, maybe the fall for some, could use a few anti-aging superpowers.  How about a superpower for better vision or hearing?  How about a supercharged healing power where we could rid ourselves of pain or fix a bad hip joint.  We could use an anti-fall power – on the way down, we would right ourselves immediately.  How about anti-wrinkle or anti-gray hair powers?  We could use superpowers for sleeping better or talking to our grandchildren by just thinking about them. How about superpowers to do all our cooking or laundry and give you back lost skills like skipping or hopping. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to recall that word on the tip of your tongue or remember where you put your glasses. We need some superpowers for that.

 I am sure this list could go on and on.  We have not been blessed with any real superpowers, yet we have some power at our fingertips.  We can be a great friend.  We can be kind and helpful. We can always have a smile for someone.  We can deeply love our family.  We can give to charities and help hungry people. We can appreciate the small treasures in our world.  So, you see you really do have power to be super to others!