If it’s fall, it’s time to get serious
As a child growing up in the Midwest, the smell of burning leaves told me that summer was officially over and it was time to be “serious.”
We don’t burn leaves anymore, but we can tell from the invitations and political mailings that life is getting serious again. These events are worth noting:
“United Nations Day Dinner, Oct. 24 at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, $25. Call Jane Bowen at (509) 534-5253 for reservations and information.
“Eleanor Roosevelt’s birthday is Oct. 11. I don’t know of any planned event but I wanted to wish her happy birthday.
“Spokane Branch NAACP Annual Freedom Fund Banquet “The Power of Diversity through Education and Environment” is Nov. 3 at Northern Quest Casino. For reservations call (509) 467-9793.
“Election Day is Nov. 7. Now is the time to learn how the candidates feel about the issues important to you. I asked Nick Beamer, Director of Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, to highlight some senior political concerns. You might want to ask the candidates:
What will you propose doing about rising pharmaceutical costs?
What is your philosophy about caring for individuals at home rather than in a facility, also known as “aging in place”?
Would you support funding respite care, which provides a backup caregiver for a short period of time?
Watch The Spokesman-Review for times and dates of candidates’ forums.
The numbers game
While I have accepted the fact that I am probably not going to be on the cutting edge of most issues, I am not ready to give up the game entirely. So I’m curious when a new craze like Suduko appears. Many of you may already carry a puzzle and a pencil in your pocket at all times, but for the rest of us, let me explain that Suduko is a widely popular logic-based placement puzzle. The goal is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9-by-9 grid. The name is the Japanese abbreviation of a longer phrase that means “the digits must remain single.”
Before you say that you are no good at math, you need to know that this is a game of logic, not mathematical skills.
So called number puzzles first appeared in newspapers in the 19th century.
They were based on Latin puzzles; the modern Suduko, designed in 1979, was introduced in London where it was a national phenomenon by 2005. Today its popularity is worldwide.
While researching this topic, I learned I had an expert in my own family – my nephew, Steve Aten, in Carson City, Nev., was rhapsodic while explaining the delights of the puzzle. He pointed out that the puzzle is based on deduction and requires the player to focus on the problem, which has only one solution. Steve urged me to start with the easy puzzles usually found in newspapers and magazines and then move on to more difficult ones.
In an effort to encourage me, he said that my great-nieces, Camryn and Callen (second and sixth grade) work the puzzles easily. (Actually I found that rather depressing.) But I shall persevere, and if you have experiences to add, please e-mail me.
Spokane Autumn
My talented friend, Gwen Hill, shared a recent poem of hers with me. Here is part of it:
Our earth is turning;
we will not think of cold to come
but savor the glory
of the slow arrival of our
shimmering season.