Todays Thought

People rarely win wars; governments rarely lose them. 

-Arundhati Roy, author (b. 24 Nov 1961)

The Surprising Genius of Sewing Machines

When Sir Walter Scott met Robert Burns

 The Meeting of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott at Sciennes Hill House

Back in the Day: When Sir Walter Scott met Robert Burns

A celebrated painting by Charles Martin Hardie of that famous encounter in Sciennes Hill House fancifully adds several other celebrated men to the scene – James Hutton, father of geology; Joseph Black, the chemist and physician who discovered carbon dioxide; Wealth of Nations author Adam Smith; playwright John “Douglas” Home and Professor Dugald Stewart, the philosopher who influenced the entire Scottish Enlightenment movement.

It is unlikely they were all in the room at the time Scott met Burns, but it could have happened. Oh to have been a fly on that wall…

Sailing to Byzantium

 Sailing to Byzantium

Sailing to Byzantium

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
– Those dying generations – at their song,
The salmon‐falls, the mackerel‐crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing‐masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

What’s normal for the body and brain as we age? An expert weighs in.

 What’s normal for the body and brain as we age? An expert weighs in.

• Older people often present with different symptoms than younger people when they become ill. For instance, a senior having a heart attack may be short of breath or confused, rather than complain of chest pain. Similarly, an older person with pneumonia may fall or have little appetite instead of having a fever and cough.
• Older people often react differently than younger people to medications. Because of changes in body composition and liver, kidney and gut function, older adults are more sensitive to medications and often need lower doses. This includes medications that someone may have taken for years. It also applies to alcohol.
• Older people have reduced energy reserves. With advancing age, hearts become less efficient, lungs transfer less oxygen to the blood, more protein is needed for muscle synthesis, and muscle mass and strength decrease. The result: Older people tend to have less energy than in the past, even as they need more energy to perform everyday tasks. Hunger and thirst decline. People’s senses of taste and smell diminish, lessening food’s appeal. Loss of appetite becomes more common, and seniors tend to feel full after eating less food. The risk of dehydration increases.
• Cognition slows. Older adults process information more slowly and work harder to learn new information. Multitasking becomes more difficult, and reaction times grow slower. Problems finding words, especially nouns, are typical. Cognitive changes related to medications and illness are more frequent. These changes are normal and do not signify the onset of dementia.
• The musculoskeletal system is less flexible. Spines shorten as the disks that separate the vertebrae become harder and more compressed; older adults typically lose 1 to 3 inches in height as this happens. Balance is compromised because of changes in the inner ear, the brain and the vestibular system (a complex system that regulates balance and a person’s sense of orientation in space). Muscles weaken in the legs, hips and buttocks, and range of motion in joints contracts. Tendons and ligaments aren’t as strong, and falls and fractures are more frequent as bones become more brittle.
• Eyesight and hearing change. Older people need much more light to read than younger people. It’s harder for them to see the outlines of objects or distinguish between similar colors as color and contrast perception diminishes. With changes to the cornea, lens and fluid within the eye, it takes longer to adjust to sunlight as well as darkness.
• Because of accumulated damage to hair cells in the inner ear, it’s harder to hear, especially at high frequencies. It’s also harder to understand speech that’s rapid and loaded with information or that occurs in noisy environments.
• Sleep becomes fragmented. It takes longer for older people to fall asleep, and they sleep more lightly, awakening more in the night.

This is by no means a complete list of the physiological changes that occur as we grow older. And it leaves out the many ways people can adapt to their new normal, something Leipzig spends a great deal of time discussing.

A partial list of Leipzig’s recommended adaptations, organized roughly by the topics above:

• Don’t ignore sudden changes in functioning; seek medical attention.
• At every doctor’s visit, ask why you’re taking medications, whether doses are appropriate and whether medications can be stopped.
• Be physically active.
• Make sure you eat enough protein. Drink liquids even when you aren’t thirsty.
• Cut down on multitasking and work at your own pace.
• Do balance and resistance exercises.
• Have your eyes checked every year.
• Get hearing aids if you’re straining to participate in conversations.
• Don’t exercise, drink alcohol or eat a heavy meal within two to three hours of bedtime.

“Never say never,” Leipzig said. “There is almost always something that can be done to improve your situation as you grow older, if you’re willing to do it.”

Todays Thought

Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do. 

-Voltaire, philosopher (21 Nov 1694-1778)

Omaha's rainbow house

Omaha's rainbow house

When he was looking for his next project, he asked his three daughters: 5-year-old Cecilia, 7-year-old Louise and 9-year-old Josephine. They suggested he go with a rainbow design.

“It brought me back to a conversation I had with (a property owner) on that block that used some derogatory words and that didn’t sit well,” he told USA TODAY Friday morning.