Aging Well in the Gorge September 5th 2018

I keep telling myself there is a reason I keep mixing up my days and weeks. Right now, I’m writing this column a week ahead of the day its delivered to your mailbox. And the column will be discussing events occurring during that following week. I have to think two weeks ahead and for a guy who usually plans from day to day, that’s not easy. My fear is one day during my annual Medicare Wellness check, I’m going to pause too long when asked what day it is and be whisked away to take some cognitive assessment for you know what! – and fail!!

But you might be in the same boat. (Of course, if you’re retired who cares what day it is. Every day is the weekend!). One of the keys to keeping all your oars in the water is challenging yourself mentally every day – which doesn’t mean taking your high school algebra class again.

For your enjoyment and maybe a little mental frustration, here is a brain teaser whose aim is to stimulate the connections or associations between words stored in the temporal lobes of your brain. The temporal lobes are one of the four main lobes or regions of the cerebral cortex and play an important role in organizing sensory input, auditory perception, language and speech production, as well as memory association and formation. (Don’t you feel smarter already!)

Words that are often heard together (such as salt and pepper) or words that share some meaning (such as nurse and doctor) are connected or associated in the brain. Once you hear one, the other is often activated.

In this brain teaser, you will see pairs of words, and your goal is to find a third word that is connected or associated with both words. For example, the first pair is PIANO and LOCK. The answer is KEY. The word KEY is connected with both the word piano and the word lock: there are KEYS on a piano and you use a KEY to lock doors.

Ready to stimulate connections in your temporal lobes? Enjoy! (Solutions are below.)

1. LOCK — PIANO; 2. SHIP — CARD; 3. TREE — CAR; 4. SCHOOL — EYE; 5. PILLOW — COURT; 6. RIVER — MONEY; 7. BED — PAPER; 8. ARMY — WATER; 9. TENNIS — NOISE; 10. EGYPTIAN — MOTHER; 11. SMOKER — PLUMBER

If you want to stimulate your mind by enjoying more brain teasers; or by watching videos about the brain and brain health, join us for the Brain Fitness Club returning on Monday, September 17^th starting at 1:00.

And right before at noon, “Lunch with TED” meets where we eat lunch while watching and discussing several of the latest TED Talks. TED Talks are short talks (18 minutes or less) on various topics from science to business to global issues produced by TED - a nonprofit devoted to “spreading ideas worth sharing”. Everyone is invited to either one or both classes.

The arranger and conductor for many of Frank Sinatra’s hits; and who made a comeback in the 80’s arranging three albums for Linda Ronstadt is Nelson Riddle. But since I am writing this early before I leave for my trip back east to visit my brother, I will mention everyone who responded next week.)

This epic adventure comedy movie was based on the classic novel by Jules Verne and won five Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1956. For this week’s “Remember When” question, in this movie that takes place in 1872, the Englishman Phileas Fogg bets that he can circle the globe in how many days? Email your answer to www.mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788 or send it with a DVD of the 2004 digitally restored version of the original movie.

Well it’s been another week trying to remember from one room to room. Until we meet again, it’s about that time to start changing from shorts to sweaters.  

“I never really look for anything. What God throws my way comes. I wake up in the morning and whichever way God turns my feet, I go.” Pearl Bailey