He seemed distraught that the football season was over with out a ring for his beloved Patriots but today was “Truck Day” (equipment truck leaving Fenway for Florida) and that soon he would be out on the water following his granddaughter in her Opti sail boat.

We chatted about his volunteerism with SRI, the monthly trips with soup for the fisherman on the wharfs of Galilee and taking supplies weekly to the North Kingstown food pantry.

He told me about his degree in Economics from Trinity College and his almost minor in Theology. He said he prays a lot for money. He seemed to have a slight limp as we ambled through snow covered streets. “An old football injury from freshman college football” he said, “but a successful knee replacement has me back playing tennis twice a week.”

As we parted, we both hoped that the ground hog was wrong and agreed that Al Gore is a myth. He left me with a recipe for a Harvey Wallbanger cake. “If I can make it, anyone can,” he opined, as he turned and walked out of sight, smacking his lips.

Harvey Wallbanger Cake:
1 pkg. orange cake mix
1 3-3/4 oz instant French Vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
½ c. orange juice
½ c Galliano
2 Tbsp. Vodka

Glaze:
1 c. confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. Galliano
1 tsp. Vodka
Stir together to smooth.

Combine cake ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Beat on low for l min., then on medium for 5 min. Pour into greased bundt or angel cake pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Cool for 10 min. Remove from pan and pour on glaze.

Ten years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss where they should have dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because the food there is very good and the wine selection is good also.

Ten years later at 60 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss where they should have dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because they can eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant is smoke free.

Ten years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss where they should have dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because the restaurant is wheel chair accessible and they even have an elevator.

Ten years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss where they should have dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because they have never been there before.

The well-known columnist David Brooks recently wrote a provocative op-ed piece in The New York Times, titled The Geezers’ Crusade.

Although the piece is more balanced than the title and quote below may give impression of, Brooks is obviously not afraid of stepping on anyone’s toes.

One of the keys to healthy aging is what George Vaillant of Harvard calls “generativity” — providing for future generations. Seniors who perform service for the young have more positive lives and better marriages than those who don’t.  (…) We are naturally inclined to serve those who come after and thrive when performing that role. The odd thing is that when you turn to political life, we are living in an age of reverse-generativity. Far from serving the young, the old are now taking from them.

Read the full article here.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, our South County House held a Pot Luck Supper and their Annual Meeting at 6:00 PM at the Beechwood Community Center off Beach Street in Wickford.
It was a blustery night and we were delighted to have over thirty attendees, including five invited guests from our Aquidneck Island House.

During cocktails we were entertained with music performed by classical guitarist, Tom Stracensky, a pupil of Joe Smith’s from Exeter. Tom is a very talented young man and his performance was both outstanding and most enjoyable.

At the pot luck dinner, the main dish casserole of chicken, mushrooms and wild rice (very tastey!) was provided by Victoria Remington of “Meals to come Home To.” Her motto –“I shop, I cook, You Enjoy” and we certainly did! (We have her contact information as well as contact information for Tom S.) Members highlighted the casserole with delicious vegetables, salads, breads and a wonderful assortment of desserts. It was excellent.

During dinner, a brief business meeting was held to elect officers for the coming year. A more detailed afternoon general business meeting will be scheduled in the spring. Minutes of the meeting will be provided shortly.

After coffee and dessert everyone was on their way by 8:30 PM.

Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, recently released a new and improved health search. By summarizing the search results, adding highly relevant content from partners and highlighting key information, Bing hopes to provide a better search for health-related topics than arch-rival Google does.

All you do, is enter your search term as you would in any search engine. Bing should then automatically figure out whether or not your query is health related.

Whether it works as well as advertised or not, is still open for discussion. If you try it, don’t hesitate to let the rest of us know. Click the Read more link below, and tell us about your experiences in the comment field, or send us an e-mail

For those of you concerned with brain health, here is another site to check out. Lumosity.com offers some free and paid resources for people who want to keep their brain in good shape. In either case, the first week of premium membership is free, and does not require any credit card information or the likes, so giving it a try is as risk free as signing up for a newsletter.