aging in place technology

                    (photo chatterbox.typepad.com) The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes. -Frank Lloyd Wright   I once wrote that inspiration is like rain, it falls on everyone; some shield themselves with an umbrella, failing to take heed; still others run in doors, avoidance all together—then there are those who walk freely amongst the pour, sensing every drop and giving reverence.  The word “inspiration” comes from the ancients who believed that a breath of divinity is received from the gods by some deserving soul. The key word here is, “deserving.” Diane and Jay Plesset are just such deserving

                      …To know one life has breathed easier because you have lived…This is to have succeeded. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Joe Loprinzi passed away yesterday at the age of 95. Ironically I posted the story Aging in Place at Loprinzi’s on that same day, not knowing his life was coming to an end. Joe was a pioneer in the fitness industry and like Jack LaLane; he knew the benefits of working out nearly 50 years before Richard Simmons ever poured himself into spandex.  Many boomer kids wanted to be like Charles Atlas who promised:  “I can make you a new

                                                   (photo allianceforwaterefficiency.org)    Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. -Mitchell Kapor Sitting at a red light the other day I glanced over to admire the reflection of my old rag top jeep in a coffee shop window (I love my jeep). Looking past the image my eyes re-focused on a common site (to the point of cliché) in most urban settings; at the coffee bar were two people perched on tall stools side-by-side, consuming not just coffee—but information. One was a 20-something woman with an ipod, peering intently at

         (photo therubicon.org)    “Remember we're all in this alone” -Lily Tomlin It was an early crisp morning on a high desert near the Central Oregon town of Sisters. The smell of juniper filled the air as soft sunlight danced on the lonely stretch of road laid out before me—this is my favorite time to run. Off in the distance the majestic snow-capped Three Sisters Mountains and Mount Bachelor were my only companions; and the bliss of chosen solitude came over me like a kundalini experience. Several decades before I

   The Grace of Great Things The greatest object in the universe, says a certain philosopher, is a good man struggling with adversity; yet there is a still greater, which is the good man that comes to relieve it.--Oliver Goldsmith Words of Wellness Joseph Sutton (1991) I just got back from the COBA Remodelers 2009 Ramp-a-thon in Bend Oregon. The event brought building professionals and other volunteers together for a day with the shared goal of building access ramps for Central Oregon citizens in need. Teams of volunteers headed up by experienced “Ramp-Captains” used