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Can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted here.

What have I been doing? Meetings on all sorts of topics [art, politics, health, sailing,] exercising, socializing and getting lots of vitamin D from external sources : - ). It's really hard to stay still at a computer when the sun is out and your dog is asking not-so-politely to take a long walk ! And - it is still February and winter!!!!

But now I am meetinged-out for a while - at least til late next week...

Part of this is due to it being an election year and I have gotten active in my local political organizations...
And now off for the afternoon doggy stroll.

And a happy leap year to all. It's one of those years where it's really good to have that extra day., leap year

An Alarming Trend

A tripling of strokes in middle aged women!

And why is this happening?

From the research by Dr. Amytis Towfighi, a neurology specialist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles:

Nearly 2 percent of women ages 35 to 54 reported suffering a stroke in the most recent federal health survey, from 1999 to 2004. Only about half a percent did in the previous survey, from 1988 to 1994.....Belly fat stood out, Towfighi said. The portion of women with abdominal obesity rose from 47 percent in the earlier survey to 59 percent in the recent one. The change in men was smaller, and previous studies have shown that "abdominal obesity is a stronger risk factor for women than men," she said.

Fuller article here

I know I sound like a broken record on weight issues - but your weight is critical to good health and being overweight is bad for most everything...

I''m thinking about doing a series of videos on optimizing health - taking supplements [food based; not synthetic], managing your weight [not dieting], eating well and exercising. I'll post them here as they happen.. If you have a topic you'd like to see - post a comment and let me know what...and I'll do my best to accommodate requests.

A sun break !

After a fairly wet and/or chillingly damp stretch of time - we had a sun break today.

Mt. Hood was so visibly clear that I was tempted to hop in my kayak and go take some photos but my better sense prevailed.

To take photos while on the river I have to stop paddling - and it was very windy... the current was pretty strong too which meant that I would be drifting rapidly backwards while trying to get a good shot...

And so that shot I have wanted will still have to wait.....I like to think that as we age we get smarter about taking chances. I still ski but that's not all that dangerous as I was always a controlled skier. - and I drive...but like not kayaking on a cold windy day I have also curtailed my jay walking as I am not so sure I can outrun those drivers anymore.

Here's hoping the weather where you are gets good soon too! It's been a bad winter for lots of people. But whatever you do when it gets nicer out - do it sensibly : - )

Women and their art/life journeys

This was written by a member of my art group: ORA - after she took a look around the museum and saw what we had hung - and without us there to impede the vision.

None of us in this group is really young in age - but we are all young at heart.
Age is no barrier to our, or anyone's, constantly pushing ourselves in our lives!

So - continue to Grow Older Better!

After everyone left our set up at the Oregon Jewish Museum I took one last look around. This is what I saw:

Diane Fredgant's brilliance on silk: creation, the red sea, blessings, journeys, explosions of color!

Sharon Segal's suitcase series that create memories of travels we've had and travels we've only dreamed of.

Laura Joy Fendel takes us to Miriam's well; a three dimensional fabric piece that makes you want to drink the rich deep blue waters of healing,

Robin Esterkin's portraits of women and men that recall another century.

Sara Harwin's geometric newest ultrasuede interpretations of hebrew words and their deeper meanings.

Esther Liberman's meticulous beadwork (a journey in the making, no doubt): a memorial candle for Miriam,
and jewelry exquisite beyond words!

Leslie Elder's luscious water colors depicting a family's journey to Ein Gedi, the dance of Miriam, and more.

Rosana Berdichevsky's collages that blend words and images and color that bring you comfort- that bring you home.

Sabina Wohlfeiler has taken us to her childhood as a displaced person in Germany to her arrival in the US, and now to her artistic visions as a contemporary painter.

Lynn Dorman has created a delightful photographic album of her Exodus from the east coast to the promised land of Portland.

....and I'm feeling pretty good about the glass seder plate I created to honor the memory of six women who survived the Holocaust and became role models for me.

Yes, there is even more than I have described here.....!

If you're still reading this, please join us for our opening. Most of us will be there to welcome you.
Robin, Rosana, and Julie....we wish you all speedy healing.

Eddy Shuldman