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Senior Lifestyles m a g a z i n e A Los Altos Town Crier Publication 2017 Share Your Stories Grandparents use folktales to forge family connections Also inside: • Foreign Affairs Rhymin’ Simon Senior Services

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Page 1: Senior Lifestyles - Los Altos Town Crier · rudimentary, but adequate to the task. “The whole point is to drive the story deep enough that it will come out,” Davis said of the

Senior Lifestylesm a g a z i n e

A Los Altos Town Crier Publication2017

Share Your StoriesGrandparents use folktalesto forge family connections

Also inside:• Foreign Affairs• Rhymin’ Simon• Senior Services

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Page 2 | Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017

Page 3: Senior Lifestyles - Los Altos Town Crier · rudimentary, but adequate to the task. “The whole point is to drive the story deep enough that it will come out,” Davis said of the

Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017 | Page 3

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senior lifestylesm a g a z i n em a g a z i n e

senior lifestylesStorytellingLocal grandparents study the art of family storytelling, from folk to fairy tales – minimizing memorization.

Page 5

Foreign AffairsSeniors draw on

adventurous lives spent abroad to discuss

foreign affairs and current events.

Page 12

Rhymin’ SimonAll aboard: Los Altos poet Bob Simon shares his prize-winning poem “My Princess of Caltrain.”

Page 19

Senior ServicesThe Senior Commission

offers suggestions for expanded programming

at Hillview and Grant Park community centers.

Page 20

Los Altos Town Crier138 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022

948-9000losaltosonline.com

Editor Bruce Barton

Magazine Editor Colleen Schick

Designer Mary Watanabe

Writers Eliza Ridgeway

Jane Ridgeway

Bob Simon

Gary Anderson

Copy Editors Mary Larsen

Colleen Schick

Photographer Megan V. Winslow

Sales Staff Janice Fabella

Kathy Lera

Dawn Pankonen

Ad Services Director Chris Redden

Production Staff Mary Watanabe

Elise Eisenman

Publisher Paul Nyberg

Associate Publisher Howard Bischoff

Human Resources Director Liz Nyberg

Receptionist Peggy Hennessee

Cover photo: Marcy Mager tells her granddaughter Ada stories about family pictures while playing at Los Altos’ Village Park. For pointers on how to build connection between generations by telling stories, see page 5.Photo by Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier

Magazine Staf f SSSS

Circulation: 16,500. Mailed directly to households in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and select areas of Mountain View. Hundreds of subscribers receive the Town Crier in neighboring communities as well as out of state. The Town Crier can be purchased at newsstands in Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Upcoming 2017 Magazines

Los Altos Arts & Wine MagazinePublishes July 5

Home & Garden MagazinePublishes Aug. 30

Living in Los Altos MagazinePublishes Sept. 27

˙© Los Altos Town Crier Company Inc., 2017.All Rights Reserved.

Family Spotlighta l o c a l f a m i l y g u i d e

Los Altos Town Crier Publication

2017

Buzz aboutbeekeepingLos Altos resident sets up

hives for local families

Also inside:• Creative crafting

• Cooking with kids

• Entertainment options

&&m a g a z i n e

m a g a z i n e

home gardenhome garden

Hillside havenLos Altos Hills home designed to maximize viewsGlass doorsSliding and folding glass doors invite the outdoors in

Also inside:Native gardens can boast an array of colorsA Los Altos Town Crier PublicationSpring/Summer 2017Home_Garden_042617.indd 1

4/13/17 9:49 AM

Have a story idea for one of our magazines?

Email Editor Bruce Barton at [email protected]

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Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017 | Page 5

By Eliza RidgewayStaff Writer/[email protected]

The elder storyteller has an image – village rememberer, family entertainer, perhaps even the picture book “quiet old lady, whispering, ‘Hush.’” The idea of storytelling is simple – sharing a narrative without the benefit of notes. But tale-tellers are often made, not born. When grand-children finally arrive on the scene, making good on the role requires, for many people, a little initial help. Los Altos resident Enid Davis worked in the world of children’s librarianship for more than 45 years before retiring, and she now leads storytelling workshops and events for everyone from young children to seniors. She has been offering a series of classes for seniors at Aveni-das on how to learn and perform stories. The Palo Alto-based nonprofit organization serves seniors throughout the region. At an event hosted there last year, attendees

focused on how to become a storyteller for one’s own grandchildren.

How to pick a story Berna Davis, one of the Avenidas participants, said she had always loved making up stories and telling them to her younger siblings. Erica Lann-Clark said that as a child, making up stories provided escape from a life that wasn’t always easy for her poor immigrant family. That pastime grew into work as an actor and writer of plays. She now has five grandchildren she wants to include in the play of storytelling. They and other participants sorted through a range of American and ancestral storytelling traditions that might provide inspiration for their stories. Davis, who honed her own skills on grandchildren, said picking fairy and folktales from a tradition with family resonance can bring special meaning, whether it’s remembering the Old Coun-

Grandparents find tools to build, deepen connection to kin

ELIZA RIDGEWAY/TOWN CRIER

Los Altos resident Enid Davis honed her storytelling skills as a children’s librarian and a grandmother. She teaches local seniors to confidently share beloved stories, with a minimum of memorization required.

How to tell your storySTORYTELLING

Continued on Page 6

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Browse folktale compila-tions to find a story relevant to your own culture or make a new story your own.

TOWN CRIER FILE PHOTOS

try or using indigenous American fables to celebrate a new family, with blended ances-try, founded on American soil. The stories all share common features, stretching back a thousand years or more with authorship lost to the anonymity of time. Such stories are “the gems of universal truths,” as Davis put it. As such, they offer a powerful place to start – res-onant human ideas, whittled down to the bare bones of fable. For adults interested in building their sto-rytelling confidence, Davis offered a few easy places to start. After picking a short folktale that resonates with your heritage or interests, learn to tell the story – not read it. A told story differs greatly from a text read aloud. Fables can be very short, making the learning process easier, but even in brevity their ideas are often sophisticated. Adding the spoken word to a family repertoire has special payoff. Telling a child a story just for them provides a singular kind of connection, but it also builds skills of the imagination and learning to see into other worlds, Davis noted.

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STORYTELLING

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ELIZA RIDGEWAY/TOWN CRIER

Storyteller Enid Davis advises learning a story’s core plot – the essential action you can repeat using your own words.

“You’re kind of acting – but there is no fourth wall,” she said. “The communication between you and the child never gets broken, and that’s very powerful.” Davis said local readers can find simple tales in the 398.3 section of Los Altos’ libraries, where the folktale books dwell. Authors Paul Galdone and James Marshall both wrote easy folktale books that are particularly good for young listeners. She said Joanna Cole’s “Best-Loved Folktales of the World” (Doubleday, 1983) should be in every grandmother’s house, and possibly Jane Yolen’s “Favorite Folktales from Around the World” (Pantheon, 1986) as well.

How to learn – not memorize – a story Read the story to yourself – including out loud – at least four times. If you get tired of it, find another story. Try telling it again, this time using your own words. Memorize only the signature rhymes or phrases, such as “Mirror mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” It’s hard to memorize, and only gets harder the older you get it – but that just makes Davis’ insistence on spon-taneity more helpful. A tale-teller drops the detail of a lit-erary story and focuses on plot and action – the essential elements that are most memorable. Drawing simple pictures can help you see the story in

Continued on Page 8

STORYTELLING

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your mind’s eye and learn the plot. Jotting down scenes helps you remember. Some people like to record the story and listen to it while driving, Davis said. Don’t concentrate only on the beginning – a strong ending is essential. “The audience needs a clear ending and then silence, so they can float comfortably back to the real world,” Da-vis said. You can consciously plan to vary your voice, emotion and speed, but other aspects have to come naturally. “You can’t plan gestures – it’s just your instinct,” Davis added. If you aren’t visual or feel uncomfortable drawing, you can write out the narrative – remember that you’re memo-rizing only the plot, not the precise words. You fill in the details with your own voice. Note the patterns in your nar-rative, which will help you steam ahead as well as plan for drama. For instance, fairy tales almost always repeat themselves three times. For those willing to scrawl a little but shy of their skills, a story web provides a visual compromise, using the hub and spokes of an idea map to show a story’s key elements – the three visits from a wicked witch, the three

Continued from Page 7

ELIZA RIDGEWAY/TOWN CRIER

The story web technique provides visual cues to help a storyteller learn a tale’s basic nuts and bolts.Continued on Page 10

STORYTELLING

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houses built by little pigs, and so on and so on. A final option involves a storyboard, the film strip or graphic novel panels that show a story rather than tell-ing it, using a smattering of words. A visitor to Davis’ class practiced sketching out the Norwegian tale of three unlikely assistants interviewed by an unwise shepherd, with one panel each for bear (gruff!), wolf (snarl!) and fox (gently singing – how beguiling). By the time a pen-ultimate panel showed a denuded herd and suspiciously satisfied fox, the story seemed simple and the drawings rudimentary, but adequate to the task. “The whole point is to drive the story deep enough that it will come out,” Davis said of the storyboarding process. Nailing fundamental emotions of a tale – snarls, be-guilement and betrayal – provides the rubric around which you improvise. “You won’t say your story the same way, no matter how many times you tell it,” Davis explained, and that’s what makes it great. Avenidas continues to host classes with Davis, in-cluding oral memoir composition and creative writing. For more information on upcoming storytelling events and classes, visit storyfriends.org. ❀

Continued from Page 8

How to tell a story • Introduce yourself, state the name of the story and explain where you found it.

• Relax. Pause. Take a deep breath.

• Make eye contact with the entire audience – don’t stare over their heads.

• Speak more slowly than usual, and speak up.

• Vary your pitch, speed of voice and volume – monotones get boring.

• Use your hands to help the audience visualize aspects of the story, such as the size of an object.

• Slow down at the end. Let the story’s ending sweep over the audience.

• Smile – the audience will love you by now.

– Enid Davis

STORYTELLING

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By Jane RidgewayStaff Writer/[email protected]

The morning after the United States launched a missile strike on a Syrian airbase, only hours after Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court, nearly 30 Los Altos seniors packed a classroom at Hillview Community Center. The Foreign Affairs class had not yet begun, but the room was alive with chatter: Did you hear about the terror attack in Sweden? What will the filibuster-killing “nucle-ar option” mean for the future of Senate collegiality? Transliterated Russian sprawled across the chalkboard, outlining the hacking efforts of the Russian security forc-es. Handouts depicted the striking range of North Korean intercontinental missiles. Attendees sipped coffee from the Senior Program lounge. One member wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a screenprint of a grandchild’s face. Instructor Jack Raymond brought the room to order with the bang of a makeshift gavel: an oversized wooden spoon. It was time to begin. Meeting weekly for the past 20 years, the Foreign Af-fairs class offered through the Los Altos Senior Program

is the site of informed, highly opinionated discussions of critical global issues. Students range widely in age: Veteran attendees have been members since the program’s incep-tion, while a member in his 80s would be considered quite the rookie. “The students are a totally amazing group,” Raymond said. Members hail from the United Kingdom, Germany, India, the Czech Republic and beyond. In the room at any given time, one might expect retired teachers, bankers, businesspersons, nuclear engineers, military officers and experts on everything from world religions to pollution. The group has included a NASA metallurgist, a friend

Globetrotting seniors bring expertise to the classroom

MEGAN V. WINSLOW/TOWN CRIER

Local seniors with a wealth of experience and years lived abroad gather weekly to discuss foreign affairs and current events.

At home in the world

Continued on Page 14

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017 | Page 13

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of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and an engineer who worked on the design of the power plant fueling America’s first nuclear sub-marine, under then-Naval Lt. Jimmy Carter. A discussion of modern Predator drones included a student whose first job was field-testing muni-tions for the earliest drones at Aerojet. Rick Coccaro, a Foreign Affairs student for the past few years, said class members are well educated, liberal – and all the better for its at-tendees’ diverse life experiences. “It’s not a bunch of young kids who don’t know anything about the world,” Coccaro said. “Most everyone has traveled a lot. And it shows.” Foreign Affairs’ sister class, Current Events, meets regularly at the Grant Park Community Center to discuss domestic is-sues. Yet, as several Foreign Affairs students admitted, those lines can become rather blurry in this cordial but outspoken crowd, who see U.S. politics and global affairs as interconnected. Raymond, who introduced himself with the words, “I can talk to you in three or four languages, but probably you’d prefer English,” offers the perspective of a long ca-

reer in military intelligence and the accompanying world travel. In one breath, he may describe the view from 30,000 feet above Hiroshima years after World War II, and in the next slyly decline to disclose classified details from his intelligence years.

Continued from Page 12

ABOVE PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. NAVY; INSET FROM SAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM ARCHIVES

Local seniors worked on fueling the USS Nautilus, entering New York Harbor in 1958, above, and arming early Ryan drones, inset.

Continued on Page 18

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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Page 18 | Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017

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“I’ve been in and out of this racket since 1948,” Ray-mond said regarding the media image of intelligence agencies. “It’s not James Bond. Most of it’s pretty dull. It’s not pretty girls. It’s not wrestling sharks. You’re watching for patterns. Eventually you see an anomaly, and that’s a red flag.”

Camaraderie In a class whose most senior members were born prior to the Great Depression, one might reasonably expect a low-tech approach. Yet here in the heart of Silicon Val-ley, this would be a severe underestimation of the Foreign Affairs crowd, who run a thriving email discussion list between classes and whose discussions have encompassed emerging machine-learning technology and the dark web. The draw of the class goes beyond the intellectual, ac-cording to Coccaro. Many members have become close friends, warding off the potential isolation of retirement. Moreover, he said, the diversity of viewpoints explored in Foreign Affairs keeps students’ opinions from growing rigid. A former clinical psychologist, Coccaro recalled at-tending a racial healing session at a mosque in Florida years ago, and how struck he had been by the experience of hearing the imam’s perspective.

“It was a good point of view to see what their problems were,” he said. “As I tell people, everyone is implicitly bi-ased. It’s part of our culture. It’s important to be aware of it and not be ashamed of it, not try to cover it up. Not let it hurt anyone else.” Raymond, who was a member of the class before inher-iting his role from longtime instructor Chatham Forbes, who passed away last year, added that because many stu-dents are widows or widowers, “there’s a lot of camarade-rie” arising from their common bond. For more information on the Los Altos Senior Program, visit losaltosca.gov/recreation/page/senior-program. ❀

Continued from Page 14

MEGAN V. WINSLOW/TOWN CRIER

Instructor Jack Raymond offers perspective from a long career in military intelligence, and accompanying world travel, to the Foreign Affairs class he leads.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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RHYMIN’ SIMON

Hop aboard the love trainBy Bob Simon

I think you and I have discussed poetry contests before. As you’ll recall, the really good stuff (ahem!) never wins – the judges are always young English professors who think blank verse or haiku is au courant. And there I stand, wistfully clutching my verses that rhyme and have meter. Such was the case when, some years ago, Caltrain sponsored a poetry contest linked to Valentine’s Day. The rules: 100 words, love, trains. I could do that, and I did. The first- and second-prize winners were in blank verse, and third place went to some-thing in haiku. But then the clouds parted and my poem was selected by Caltrain to be put on its very own poster as one of a set of 10 posters at the stations in San Jose and San Francisco. There is a God. And now, you get to read what thousands of commuters were ex-posed to for several weeks. I know you’ll survive. They did. ❀

Simon

‘My Princess of Caltrain’

I’ve searched from diesel to caboose,And still I search in vain.

I know that she must be on board,My Princess of Caltrain.

I hear her voice at every stop.Or am I just dozing?

I dream her words are meant for me:“The doors are now closing.”

I trust her metaphor for life,Her words of love and care.

She’s telling me to stay on track,That there’s no time to spare.

I listen with both ear and heart,To what she’s disclosing:

She thinks I can, she thinks I can –“The doors are now closing.”

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Page 20 | Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017

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SENIOR SERVICES

By Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson is a former member of the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills Senior Commission. Following is his update on local senior services and plans for expanded programming.

When the new Senior Commission was seated in July 2016, with two members named by the Los Altos Hills City Council and five members named by the Los Altos City Council, we were reminded by the chairs of the two previous Senior Commissions of the three key foundations for living a long and satisfying life: Maintain an active social life, exercise appropriately and on a regular basis and exercise the mind as much as the body. These three principles were incorporated from the outset in the commission’s work program for 2016-2017, with its primary focus on the programs and facilities for seniors at the Hillview and Grant Park community cen-ters. In the early months of 2017, we updated the two city councils on our work, based on our involvement in activi-ties at the two centers and results of nearly 300 responses to a survey of seniors that we conducted on Open City Hall with the assistance of Los Altos city staff. We reported with satisfaction that the program at

Socializing, exercising mind & body top goals

Senior team targets keys for a satisfying life

GARY ANDERSON/SPECIAL TO THE TOWN CRIER

Seniors sing carols at the Grant Park holiday party. The Senior Commission aims to expand such programming.

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Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017 | Page 21

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Hillview, which this year celebrates 40 years of op-eration, and the new program started at Grant Park two years ago now reach 400 regular members and a similar number who participate on a drop-in basis. Programs at both centers, under the direction of Cheri Anderson, who joined city staff last summer, include activities support-ing all three foundations for longevity. The Hillview se-nior lounge is open five days a week and Grant Park on Mondays and Wednesdays – for casual conversation, use of resources and organized activities.

Mental and physical activities Based on results of our surveys, seniors come to the centers to participate in both mental and physical activi-ties on an approximately equal basis. Accomplished and novice players can find bridge games at both centers every day they are open, with mah-jong available several days a week. At least three differ-ent discussion groups with knowledgeable leaders gather to learn and exchange opinions on current events. Cer-tified volunteer instructors teach classes in Spanish for non-native speakers and English as a second language. And a wide variety of classes on topics such as disaster preparedness, health and nutrition, investment manage-ment and photography are held on a regular basis. For seniors who find it more convenient to visit the Los Altos Hills facilities, nearly all of these topics are available under the direction of Sarah Robustelli, Los Al-tos Hills community services supervisor. For exercise, regular classes are held every week by certified instructors to help seniors stay physically active. Stretching, balance and dance-based classes can be found nearly every day at the centers, but seniors also enjoy competing in bocce ball and pickleball, perhaps the fast-est growing recreation activity for seniors as well as other age groups. The Los Altos Hills Community Services staff recently added a regular walking program to take advantage of the variety of trails available in the hills. Weekly luncheons served by community volunteers are a key part of the social activities at each center, with approximately 60 seniors gathering for lunch at Grant Park on Wednesdays and a similar-sized group enjoying lunch together at Hillview on Fridays.

Expanded programming All of the activities specifically organized for seniors or open to all age groups are listed in the quarterly Los Altos and Los Altos Hills Recreation Department cata-logs, announced in the bimonthly Spotlight bulletin mailed to Senior Program members and available online. In response to commission recommendations, informa-tion on the schedules is now updated weekly on the Next-door online neighborhood information network. The Senior Commission recently offered formal recommendations to the Los Altos City Council for

Continued on Page 22

SENIOR SERVICES

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improvements that will support contin-ued expansion of the Grant Park activi-ties and provided input to city staff as part of the feasibility study for new fa-cilities at Hillview Community Center. Based on these recommendations, city staff will be creating a perma-nent senior lounge at Grant Park later this year, similar to the lounge facili-ties at Hillview. The city council also has agreed to consider the possibility of added commercial kitchen facili-ties as part of renovation of the Grant Park Multipurpose Room. The Senior Commission believes that a full kitchen could be a popular resource for fami-lies and neighborhood groups in the surrounding south Los Altos neighbor-hoods as well as facilitating the senior lunches at Grant Park. The commission also looks for-ward to taking an active role in planning for improve-ments in facilities at Hillview. There’s no question that programs for seniors in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills are keeping us physically and

mentally active and socially engaged, and will continue to do so for many years to come.

For more information on senior programming, visit losaltosca.gov/recreation/page/senior-program. ❀

enise elsh, SRES

Broker AssociatePresident, Silicon Valley Association of Realtors650.209.1566 | [email protected]

www.Denise-Welsh.comCalBRE #00939903

elsh,W eniseD

“Call Me for a Change of Place”

“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old. You grow old when you stop laughing.” -G.B. Shaw

Continued from Page 21

GARY ANDERSON/SPECIAL TO THE TOWN CRIER

The senior lounge at Hillview Community Center draws a crowd. TheSenior Commission has proposed a similar lounge for Grant Park.

SENIOR SERVICES

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Senior Lifestyles | May 24, 2017 | Page 23

Page 24: Senior Lifestyles - Los Altos Town Crier · rudimentary, but adequate to the task. “The whole point is to drive the story deep enough that it will come out,” Davis said of the