June 2017 | Fifty Plus

Published by The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

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JUNE 2017 • FREE

A look back, and forward I don’t know what possessed me, but the ularly over political matters, seems unsetother day, as I was contemplating what to tlingly similar.

And what we’ve been seeing write about this month, I got on many college campuses of the idea of looking back to see what I wrote in my “From the late — namely a refusal to even Publisher” column exactly 10 permit minority opinions to be expressed, and a turn to violent years ago — in the June 2007 protest to prevent certain issue of our D.C. publication, speakers from appearing — inThe Beacon. dicates that our level of tolerI was struck by how timely that 10-year-old column seems ance for different points of view to be for us today. So I am rehas continued to decline over peating it below, with this bit of the past decade. introduction.

I invite readers to share their thoughts on the subject — with Two months before my June FROM THE respect. We will print a selec2007 column, I had done some- PUBLISHER tion of letters/emails in upcomthing rare for me at the time: By Stuart P. Rosenthal ing issues. namely, express an opinion on a hot political topic of the day: the war in Iraq.

Not surprisingly, we received a large num- Thoughts on tolerance (from June ber of letters from readers expressing their 2007) My April editorial on the war in Iraq conown thoughts. What did take me by surprise was how many of them were also filled with tinues to generate much reader (or former four-letter words, ad hominem attacks on me, reader) comment, as the letters we printed and rants against the Beacon itself — all due last month suggested.

Last month, I expressed surprise at the to my expressing a personal opinion that difstrident, even vicious, tone of many of them, fered from theirs.

I was quite shocked by the tone and con- and I have received a range of responses to tent of some of those letters, and wrote the that as well. Reactions range from sympathy over how it feels to be personally attacked, to column below in response.

I don’t think it takes a lot of imagination to “buck up, what did you expect?” to “you got see how the tenor of today’s debates, partic- what you deserved.”

All in all, these valuable experiences have led me to give a lot of thought to the following question: What does it mean, in this day and age, to be tolerant?

Our society has pretty strict rules today about what a good person may and may not believe (or at least, say in public) about another.

First, of course, it is not acceptable to devalue other people, or worse, to speak of or treat them differently, because of the color of their skin. It is clearly unacceptable today to be racially intolerant.

But what about differences in belief? Is it OK to be intolerant of someone whose religious beliefs differ from yours? What if you pray to Jesus and they pray to Allah? What if they pray to a stone idol? What if they don’t believe there’s a deity at all?

I think the vast majority of Americans today would look down on someone who judged another person ill on the basis of religious belief or non-belief.

What if people differ regarding how they believe our tax dollars should be spent? Can we be intolerant of people who want to see more tax dollars spent on social services?

What about people who want to see more government funds spent on preventing illegal immigration?

And should there be a difference in how we treat people who hold each of these opinions? Or isn’t it the very definition of the word “tolerance” that we treat all our fellow

countrymen with respect, regardless of the issues on which we disagree?

Now let’s turn to foreign policy. Is this an area where the rules about tolerance apply or not?

I had a conversation the other day (not an argument, just a conversation!) with someone whom I respect, and who I know to be a well-read, articulate, good-hearted person.

We disagreed completely and passionately on a foreign policy question (not Iraq, at least not this time around).

I think it took some self-control on both our parts, but we kept our cool, and parted smiling at each other and looking forward to our next occasion to talk.

I believe it’s the ability to form, hold and, yes, change our opinions — and to communicate with others about them — that truly makes us different from animals.

A person who cannot or will not treat other people with respect despite a difference of opinion has lost the ability to communicate with his fellow human beings, and therefore lost much of his humanity. I think that is tragic.

I also think it’s ironic: Two years ago, millions of Iraqis voted in their country’s first free election in 50 years, risking death threats from their fellow Iraqis to cast a vote for self-rule.

Their fragile democracy, however, is at risk due to the threatened and actual violence See FROM THE PUBLISHER, page 14

Letters to the editor a publication of

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Editorial Mission: Fifty Plus is dedicated to providing readers with accurate information, professional guidance, and useful resources. Our publication is intended to both reflect and enhance fifty-plus lifestyles, and to encourage reader dialogue and input.

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Publisher/Editor: ........................Stuart Rosenthal Vice President of Operations:........Gordon Hasenei Sales Director: ..................................Alan Spiegel Managing Editor: ..........................Barbara Ruben Assistant Editor: ..........................Rebekah Alcalde Art Director: ....................................Kyle Gregor y Operations Manager:............................Roger King Advertising Representative: ................Wendy Bond

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JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in Fifty Plus as well as on political and social issues of the day.

Mail your Letter to the Editor to Fifty Plus, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail to info@fiftyplusrichmond.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor: Richmond region seniors are very fortunate that Beacon Newspapers Publisher Stuart Rosenthal quickly continued forth the Fifty Plus newspaper upon the imminent death of the previous publisher.

I was pleased to discover that when reading the February and March 2017 issues during my long distance move from Northern Virginia to the Richmond, Va. region.

Excellent medical articles, computer class listings, and “Beacon Bits” event listings were very helpful when reading the Washington Beacon newspaper during the past 25 years in the national capital region. It’s good to see counterparts gradually enhance Richmond’s Fifty Plus newspaper.

Like the April 2017 headline proclaims, “Reaching new heights” indeed!

Donald E. White Ashland

Dear Editor: When I picked up a copy of your May edition of Fifty Plus, I fully understood the English expression of being “gob smacked.”

Fifty Plus’s coverage of the Chesterfield Shepherd’s Center 2017 Senior Idol event was absolutely wonderful. To be the feature story was great, but to be profiled on the cover page of May’s edition was the cherry on the top!!

Diane York’s article not only covered the process behind the event, but the mechanics of the Shepherd’s Center, its goals and achievements — a complete story of what we are all about.

To you all, our thanks are many for your wonderful support.

Sue Whiteman Publicity Chairman 2017 Senior Idol The Shepherd’s Center of Chesterfield www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Feature Story How we create and shape our life stories

A multifaceted life Despite the impressive resume, her accomplishments haven’t been in a straight-line, natural progression. She suffered what some people would see as setbacks along the way, but she used her life events to work through identity issues in what she saw as a spiritual longing. www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

“I’d been raised as a Protestant, but when I was a senior in high school, I converted to Roman Catholicism,” she said. “I was attracted to the ritual and symbolism of Catholicism, and so took it upon myself to become Catholic — much to my parents’ horror.”

She spent her freshman year at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, with the intent of becoming a nun. But that all changed when “I began to date a Notre Dame boy, whom I married when I dropped out of college in the middle of my junior year because I was bored with school.

“Too young, as it turned out,” she now says, referencing a familiar theme of the 1960s. She returned to college, with her husband’s support, when their younger son was six months old. She went on to get a Ph.D. in psychology with a minor in religious studies at Indiana University.

But the couple divorced after 11 years of marriage. “without any enmity and remaining on good terms,” she added.

While she was traveling around the world, giving papers in the area of behavioral medicine and psychoneuroimmunology, she credits her mentor and second husband of 35 years — psychology professor Leon Levy, 18 years her senior — with suggesting the ordained ministry to her.

She said she “responded to my deepest core values” by leaving academia and heading for seminary to become an Episcopal priest.

Ordained in 1996, she landed in Richmond as rector of St. Mark’s on the Boulevard the following year, where parishioners praised her transformative effect at a time when the congregation needed direction. Average Sunday attendance almost doubled during the eight years she served there.

One of the parishioners, Matt Gaffney, who served on the search committee that called her to the church, said, “We were impressed by her intellect, compassion and organizational abilities. She delivered.”

Her father died soon after 9/11. Shortly before that, the loss of her husband, Leon, to Alzheimer’s disease, and her mother’s death at about the same time (at age 101) led to a period of deep self-reflection and life-examination.

Turning inward During the summer of 2003, while on sabbatical in Cambridge, England, she starting work on what was to become Imagination and the Journey of Faith. To satisfy her growing desire to write, and wanting to be fair to St. Mark’s, she decided the following year that it was time to leave her full-time position.

Another very supportive partner and third husband — Paul “Bud” Achtemeier, Union

Theological Seminary professor emeritus and well-known biblical scholar — died in 2013. A nourishing caregiver, Levy recalls crushing medication capsules to mix into soft food during his hospice care at home.

“We knew his prostate cancer — which he fought for 16 years or so — had recurred when we married, but we hoped it could be controlled. Alas, that disease finally won, to my great sadness.”

Her book Flourishing Life was a further development of her thoughts on loss and grieving, as well as gratitude for “the community of support that has supplied a big picture for me, as a rock to stand on,” she said.

“The fact that I was walking into widowhood was another element that informed my writing, and obviously was of major importance in shaping my story as I am living my life.”

Levy-Achtemeier now considers herself a full-time writer, though she’s a priest associate at St. John’s on Church Hill.

The Rev. Laura Inscoe, former rector of St. John’s, said the church’s leaders “decided on the honorary term ‘theologian-in-residence’ — used by a few other churches across the country — to reflect Sandi’s scholarly and teaching roles.”

Levy-Achtemeier describes herself as an introvert — “like many if not most writers” — but one who has learned to “rise to the occasion of working a room and speaking in public to groups large and small.”

She heads to the mountains to break away and replenish her inner life. She recommends Susan Cain’s 2012 book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.

Her introvert personality makes her the good listener required for successful priesthood. Karla Hunt, a member of St. John’s, said she cherishes Levy-Achtemeier’s “friendship and wise counsel.”

Speaking to boomers Each of her books is a blending of her training in psychology, evolutionary neuroscience and theology — all very relevant to recent professional trends in treating the whole person.

“We make meaning,” Levy-Achtemeier said, “but life [inherently] has meaning, according to the world’s three great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Without God, people often embrace art, music, literature and theater for meaning.”

In her latest book, The Fiction of Our Lives, she offers her take on “what it means to be human — from our genes to the culture we shape, as it in turn shapes us.

“Your story is shaped by the songs of your

PHOTO BY DAN CURRIER

By Martha Steger When it came out last November, the new book’s title caught my eye: The Fiction of Our Lives: Creating Our Stories Over a Lifetime.

What about our lives is fictitious, I wondered?

But as I thumbed through the book — peppered with complex scientific and spiritual concepts made accessible, even entertaining — I noted the author was Richmond’s Dr. Sandra Levy-Achtemeier. I knew from past experience that she was far from a glib howto writer with yet another book on the need to “reinvent” ourselves.

In fact, she’s well known in medical, academic, government and religious fields. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, she taught medical psychology at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University medical schools.

In her first book, Behavior and Cancer, she examined a broad range of psychological and social factors that directly and indirectly affect cancer risk and treatment success.

At the National Cancer Institute at NIH, she served as chief of the Behavioral Medicine Branch. After that, she directed programs at the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, all the while publishing numerous articles in scientific journals and contributing to books.

But by the time I first heard her speak — after the publication of her book Flourishing Life — Levy-Achtemeier had re-written her own life story by becoming an Episcopal priest.

So I asked her: what exactly do you mean by the “fiction of our lives”?

What she was referring to is the way that our brains “fill in the gaps in our memory, in a sense fictionalizing our lives,” said Levy-Achtemeier, who doesn’t want to reveal her age, saying only that she’s in her late 60s and “middle ageless.”

“I’m not talking about the notion of ‘reinventing’ oneself, which suggests a change in who you were previously, so much as I’m talking about building further on your core values to create your life story.”

Paul Broughton, a parishioner at St. John’s on Church Hill, where Levy-Achtemeier serves as associate priest, said, “As a Ph.D. psychologist with a profound love of life and song, and as a beloved priest and spiritual counselor, Sandi is obviously perfectly prepared for scientific and humanist insight into our life stories.”

Sandra Levy-Achtemeier serves an associate priest at St. John’s Church and is also a prolific author. Her latest book,

The Fiction of Our Lives: Creating Our Stories Over a Lifetime, examines how our individual psychology, group culture and religious sensibility affects the way we think and how we tell our life stories.

youth, by the stories you read, by the selection of companions, symbols and narratives that your culture provides as a menu for you to choose from,” Levy-Achtemeier said.

The book’s chapters take up universal categories of existential concern — friendship, knowledge, religion, comfort, love, joy — with which all songs and stories worldwide are ultimately concerned. In each chapter, biographical sketches of people from Levy-Achtemeier’s life help anchor the cross-cultural concerns in reality and focus the chapter’s topic.

Speaking to her fellow early boomers, each chapter divides into a “back then” of boomers’ early years and a “now” of middle age.

The Woodstock generation will hear and see familiar protest milestones from Peter, Paul and Mary’s “If I Had a Hammer” and the slogan, “Make love, not war,” as well as Pete Seeger’s “Which Side Are You on, Boy?” about the development of a moral sense.

The final chapters of the book take George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as musical touchstones for dealing with loss in our lives through the comfort of the familiar and the many forms of love in which we have shared.

A spiritual turn But ultimately, it’s her strong belief in transcendence that’s critical to The Fiction of Our Lives: “Listening to God’s call, and engaging ourSee LIFE STORIES, page 7 FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

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Health Fitness &

SAFER PRODUCE Minimize pesticides in your fruits and veggies by cleaning and peeling them HEALING HEEL PAIN Minimally invasive ultrasound treatments can treat plantar fasciitis GOING FOR THE GOLD Nearly 1,000 athletes competed in the Virginia Senior Games last month SHADE YOURSELF Many drugs, from statins to blood pressure meds, make skin more likely to burn

Women face as many heart risks as men do

By Densie Webb, R.D. In the U.S., 1 in 4 women will die from heart disease — almost half a million deaths each year. Yet the perception that heart disease is primarily a man’s disease persists.

An American Heart Association survey found that fewer than half of American women are aware that heart disease is their leading killer.

The reality is quite different — coronary heart disease (CHD) is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in this country.

CHD occurs when plaque (made up primarily of fat, cholesterol and calcium) builds up on the inner walls of coronary arteries, preventing the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. This buildup of plaque is called atherosclerosis, and it can trigger a heart attack.

While this basic process of CHD is the same for men and women, the disease, its symptoms and its outcomes differ between the sexes in other ways.

Female facts Women with diabetes have twice the risk of CHD compared with men, and heart attacks among women with diabetes are more deadly.

Women tend to develop CHD about 10 years

later (after menopause) than men, perhaps contributing to the misbelief that women are less likely to develop the disease.

Even if a woman has no symptoms, she may still be at risk. About two-thirds of women who die suddenly of CHD have had no previous symptoms.

When women do have symptoms, they tend to differ from those of men. The Hollywood image of a man clutching his chest is less likely to happen to women. They are more likely to have pain in the neck, jaw, throat, abdomen or back than in the chest.

Women may also experience lightheadedness, an upset stomach, and sweating when having a heart attack. It’s important not to ignore these signs, as heart attacks are generally more severe in women than in men.

The American Heart Association has specific recommendations for the prevention of heart disease in women, including: • Stop smoking and avoid environmental tobacco smoke.

• Accumulate at least 150 min/week of moderate exercise, 75 min/week of vigorous exercise, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity.

• Consume omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the form of fish (at least twice a week) or in capsule form (e.g., EPA 1800 mg./day).

• Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables; choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods; limit intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, alcohol, sodium and sugar; and avoid trans fatty acids.

Heart attacks are generally more severe in women than in men.

A heart protective lifestyle A Harvard study, recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, looked at young and middle-aged women and followed them for 20 years until the oldest was 64 years of age. The researchers found that diet, exercise, healthy weight and moderate alcohol consumption

were about equally important for reducing risk for heart disease.

“Interestingly, moderate alcohol intake became more beneficial in older women, but the other factors continued to be equally important,” said Eric Rimm, Sc.D., professor of epidemiology and nutrition director, Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School, who was an author of the study.

On the other hand, excessive alcohol intake increases risk. But he added that, aside from not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight may be most important, since it requires that you eat a healthy diet and exercise.

Rimm said, “Keeping a healthy weight is important because it represents better adherence to many healthy lifestyle factors, and it is associated with other important metabolic parameters, such as lower blood sugar and lower blood pressure.”

Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC. 800-829-5384. www.EnvironmentalNutrition.com. © 2017 Belvoir Media Group. Distributed

by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Surprising ways to feel more energetic

By Hallie Levine Feeling sluggish? Don’t make a beeline for that latte just yet. When you’re running on empty, sugar and caffeine can leave you jittery and then exhausted, said Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., author of From Fatigued to Fantastic!

For calm energy that gives you mental clarity, you need to be smart about refueling.

Read on for some small actions that can help you feel more energetic.

“As soon as they step back and take a few deep breaths, their heart rate comes down, they detach from the moment, and clear their head, making themselves ready for their next shot,” said Jack Groppel, author of The Corporate Athlete.

The same tactic works on the job, he said.

Employees who break for a microburst of activity every hour — walking over to chat with a co-worker, or running out to grab lunch with a friend — have more energy, and return to work feeling refreshed.

Focus, then briefly relax Take a cue from athletes such as tennis players: They are super-focused when hitting the ball, but use their “between point” time as a quick mental and physical time-out.

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JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

“You get higher levels of energy-producing, mood-elevating neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin when you do moderate instead of intense exercise,” said Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.

In fact, a University of Georgia study found that people who exercised at a low to moderate intensity reported more energy than those who didn’t exercise.

Instead of going hard in every workout, sub in walks or a yoga class two to three times a week.

Find your sweat sweet spot A brisk walk or a bike ride is great for upping your oomph. A 10-mile run? Maybe not so much.

Wean from (some) caffeine You’ll get the biggest kick from caffeine if you use it sparingly. Aside from your morn-

ing cup of joe, save it for when you really can’t concentrate, or have to be alert to, say, drive for hours, suggested Laura M. Juliano, a professor of psychology at American University in Washington, D.C. “Caffeine is a drug, and you can build up a tolerance to it,” Juliano said. Your body learns to expect caffeine at certain times, so if you miss your usual dose, you start feeling tired.

To wean yourself, cut your intake by about 25 percent a week.

If you normally drink four cups of coffee a day, go down to three for a week, and then to two the following week. Don’t forget to count the caffeine from non-coffee sources such as See MORE ENGERY, page 6 www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Blood test for better lung cancer treatment

By Marilynn Marchione Researchers have taken an important step toward better lung cancer treatment by using blood tests to track genetic changes in tumors as they progress from their very earliest stages.

With experimental tests that detect bits of DNA that tumors shed into the blood, researchers were able to detect some recurrences of cancer up to a year before imaging scans could do so, giving patients a chance to try new therapy sooner.

It’s the latest development for tests called liquid biopsies, which analyze cancer using blood rather than tissue samples. Some doctors use these tests now to guide care for patients with advanced cancers, mostly in research settings.

The new work is the first time tests like this have been used to monitor the evolution of lung tumors at an early stage, when there’s a much better chance of cure.

Only about one-third of lung cancer cases in the United States are found at an early stage, and even fewer in other parts of the world. But more may be found in the future as a result of screening longtime smokers at high risk of the disease, something that started a few years ago in the U.S.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

More tailored treatment Early-stage cases are usually treated with surgery. Many patients get chemotherapy after that, but it helps relatively few of them.

“We have to treat 20 patients to cure one.

That’s a lot of side effects to cure one patient,” said Dr. Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick Institute in London.

The new studies he led suggest that liquid biopsies might help show who would, or would not, benefit from chemotherapy, and give an early warning if it’s not working so that something else can be tried.

Cancer Research UK, a charity based in England, paid for the work, and results were published online by Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine.

To be clear: This kind of care is not available yet — the tests used in these studies are experimental and were customized in a lab to analyze the genes in each patient’s cancer.

But the technology is advancing rapidly.

The company that generated the tests for the study in Nature — California-based Natera Inc. — plans to offer the tests for research by universities and drug companies later this year, and hopes to have a version for routine use in cancer care next year.

“This is coming, and it’s coming fast,” said Dr. David Gandara, a lung specialist at the

University of California, Davis, who had no role in the studies but consults for two companies developing liquid biopsies. A test that

could spare many people unnecessary treatSee BLOOD TEST, page 6

Blood test estimates lung cancer risk A company in Rockville, Md., recently developed a blood test to identify lung cancer risk.

Genesys BioLabs’ test examines a panel of six biomarkers in the blood that are associated with lung cancer. While the test doesn’t diagnose lung cancer, it identifies the risk level for having the disease. Users receive a score that ranges from low risk to high risk.

While CT scans can help identify those who may have lung cancer, the test is expensive and exposes patients to radiation.

If the patient first has the blood test and is found to have a low risk of lung cancer, a CT scan may not be necessary. Conversely, those with at high risk are then directed to have a CT scan.

The test is called PAULA’s test, which

stands for Protein Assay Using Lung cancer Analytes, and is named after the wife of a local physician who died of lung cancer at age 55 only a few months after diagnosis.

The test is designed for smokers or former smokers who have at least a 20-year history of smoking a pack or more a day.

Those who get the test should be age 50 or over, without lung cancer symptoms, and not currently receiving annual CT scans.

The test is not covered by insurance or Medicare and costs $149. The blood test is done in a patient’s doctor’s office and sent to Genesys’s Rockville lab for analysis.

For more information, see www.BloodTestForLungCancer.com or call (240) 4536342.

— Barbara Ruben

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

5

they found big variations in the number of gene flaws, and were able to trace how the tumors’ genes changed over time.

People with many gene or chromosome problems were four to five times more likely to have their cancer return, or to die from their disease, within roughly two years.

They also looked at 14 patients whose cancers recurred after surgery, and compared them to 10 others whose did not. Blood tests

after surgery accurately identified more than 90 percent of them that were destined to relapse, up to a year before imaging tests showed that had occurred.

The results suggest that using liquid biopsy tests to help select and adjust treatments is “now feasible,” at least from a scientific standpoint, the study authors wrote.

A big issue is cost, though. Liquid biopsies sold now in the U.S. cost nearly $6,000. Tests

that more narrowly track a patient’s particular tumor gene changes, like the one in these studies, may cost less. They may save money in the long run, by preventing futile treatment, but this has yet to be shown.

See a video about how a liquid biopsy works at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPKqtPcPvd4 More about lung cancer treatment can be found at www.cancer.org/cancer/non-smallcell-lung-cancer/treating/by-stage.html — AP

Lend a hand

M ARK YO UR CALEN DAR

the opposite can be true.

“Acts of kindness create a physiological effect that lowers stress and anxiety and, at the same time, produces endorphins that put you in a relaxed but very alert state,” said Dr. Mark Moyad, author of The Supplement Handbook.

June 24

Strike a pose

practice yoga report significantly more energy — as well as clear-mindedness, composure and confidence. One theory is that by decreasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol, yoga helps reduce fatigue and elevate mood.

From Fitness magazine, fuel for women who are serious about being healthy and staying strong. Online at www.fitnessmagazine.com. © 2017 Meredith Corporation. Distributed

by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Blood test From page 5 ment “would be huge,” he said.

Predicting relapse In the studies, researchers analyzed tumors from about 100 people with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease. Even in these early-stage cases,

More energy From page 4 soda, energy drinks, chocolate and over-thecounter pain relievers.

Squeezing a charitable gig — like walking dogs for an animal shelter — into your already-packed schedule seems as if it would only make you feel more crazed. However,

HONEY BEE FESTIVAL Rockland Park Backyard Beekeepers Association presents their 8th

M A R K YOU R C AL E NDAR

Annual Honey Bee Festival on Saturday, June 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring the grandkids and learn about bees, bee safety and how to protect the bee population in your daily life. There will also be children’s activities, an observation hive, drone petting, educational talks and honey for sale. The festival will take place at the nature center, located at 3401 Courthouse Rd. in North Chesterfield. For more information, visit www.RockwoodBeekeepers.com or call (804) 404-2339.

Studies have found that people who regularly

Ongoing

CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP

The Caregiver Connection, a program of the Chesterfield County Senior Advocate and Lucy Corr Village, helps address the needs of those who are caring for an adult with physical or cognitive deterioration, usually a parent or spouse. The support group meets the first Tuesday of every month from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in the Friendship Room at Lucy Corr Village Assisted Living, located at 6800 Lucy Corr Blvd. in Chesterfield. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call (804) 768-7878 or (804) 706-5657.

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www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

How to minimize pesticides in your food You try to eat plenty of fresh produce, but worry about your risk of ingesting pesticides.

Most nonorganic crops — and even some organically grown crops — come in contact with pesticides, and may contain traces of pesticidal residue on the surface of, or even inside, the fruit or vegetable.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitors domestic and imported foods to ensure that pesticide residues are below certain levels. However, you can take extra steps to minimize pesticide exposure further by:

Life stories From page 3 selves with his impingement upon our lives.”

She wonders what happens when the culture no longer provides a full menu to draw from? It’s something she grapples with in her blog post, “Is Social Media Draining Our Brains?” on her website, www.sandralevy.net.

“What happens when we engage in worldmaking through interactive computer games such as MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) and cease to engage with the everyday reality of our shared communal world outside our door? What happens to our sense of self and our sense of a

Clean your produce Rinsing produce with running water for 15 to 30 seconds, while gently rotating the produce, removes most surface pesticide residue.

Scrubbing with a brush also may aid in the removal of pesticides and other substances.

Peel your produce It makes sense to peel an outer layer from foods such as lettuce or onions. For foods such as apples and potatoes, peeling removes pesticide residues, but also the nutrients in the peel.

If you’re going to peel something, rinse before coherent life story over time?”

Given that our genetic makeup is slow to evolve, we must rely, she said, on “our brains’ neural networks…as they’re continually being rewired over our individual lifetimes as a result of our daily experiences.”

She suggests the daily experiences of “joining a book club, reading an actual newspaper, talking to wise others — those who inspire us, listening to the great music of our heritage, and opening our minds in silence to that Transcendent Being within whose ultimate story we pass our days.”

No doubt we will be hearing more about this from the prolific, thoughtful Sandra LevyAchtemeier.

peeling, so your knife doesn’t transfer surface residue to the peeled produce.

Buy organically grown produce Not every piece of produce labeled organic is 100 percent pesticide-free, and not every-

thing that’s conventionally grown has pesticides. Still, for the most part, consuming organic produce significantly reduces your exposure to pesticide residues, compared to consuming conventionally farmed produce.

— Adapted from Mayo Clinic Health Letter

The ‘dirty dozen’ and the ‘clean 15’ According to the Environmental Working Group, which produces the Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce, there are 12 fruits and vegetables that tend to be prone to contamination due to the way they are grown. The group estimates that people can reduce their exposure to pesticides by 80 percent if they buy these items organically grown: Apples Bell Peppers Blueberries Celery Cucumbers Grapes Lettuce Nectarines Peaches Potatoes Spinach Strawberries

As noted above, you can also clean and then peel many of these to minimize pesticide residue.

The group’s “clean 15” list refers to fruits and vegetables whose thick skin or husk (often removed before eating) reduces exposure to pesticides used in growing them: Asparagus Avocados Cabbage Cantaloupe Cauliflower Eggplant Grapefruit Honeydew Kiwi Mangoes Onions Papayas Pineapple Sweet corn Sweet peas (frozen)

Personalized care to keep you safe and well at home • Age 55 and older • Live in the service area of a PACE organization • Eligible for nursing facility care in Virginia • Able to live safely in the community with the support of PACE services

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

7

Urinary tract infection risk rises with age Q: In the past year, I have had to go to How to prevent UTIs the doctor several times for urinary tract Unfortunately, UTIs are very common, esinfections. Is there anything I can do to pecially in women. Fifty percent of women prevent these infections? will develop a UTI at some point A: As we age, our bodies go during their lifetimes. through some important changes While there is no foolproof that put us at risk for certain types way to completely prevent of infections, including urinary UTIs, these lifestyle modificatract infections (UTIs). tions can help decrease your A UTI is an infection of any risk: part of the urinary system, • Practice proper bathing which includes the kidneys, and restroom hygiene. bladder and urethra. The kid• Drink plenty of water. neys are responsible for filtering • Wipe from front to back excess fluid and waste from the after using the bathroom.

DR. RX blood, and form urine, which is • Wear cotton underwear. stored in the bladder until it is By Alyssa Hager • Avoid caffeine and alcohol, released through the urethra. as these substances irritate the If bacteria find their way into the urethra and bladder. start to multiply, an infection can form and move • Eat a balanced diet and get plenty of exup the pathway to the bladder and kidneys. ercise.

One commonly purported method of preWhat are the causes? venting UTIs is drinking cranberry juice or Some risk factors for developing a UTI are: taking cranberry capsules. Cranberries are • Diabetes believed to help prevent UTIs by interfering • Being a woman with the way bacteria adhere to the lining of • Not being able to empty your bladder fully your urinary tract.

• Immobility However, the scientific evidence backing • Enlarged prostate in men this theory isn’t very strong. While consumThe most common symptoms of a UTI are ing cranberry products might possibly help a burning sensation during urination, the prevent UTIs in women who are at high urge to urinate frequently, and cloudy or foul- risk, this method might not work for everysmelling urine. body.

However, because of changes in the imCranberry supplements should never be mune system, some older adults may instead used to replace antibiotics if you are experihave atypical symptoms, such as confusion, encing UTI symptoms. If you are interested irritability, dizziness or falling. in taking cranberry supplements, talk to your If you experience any of these symptoms, primary care provider or pharmacist to see if you should make an appointment with your you are a good candidate. primary care provider to be tested for a uriAlyssa Hager is a rising fourth-year Pharm.D. nary tract infection. student at VCU School of Pharmacy. She studied Most UTIs are easily treated with an an- biochemistry at Virginia Tech. Her main intertibiotic. But if they are symptomatic and left est is in pediatrics, and she hopes to pursue a cauntreated, they have the potential to become reer working with pediatric patients in a clinical dangerous. setting.

M A R K YOU R C AL E NDAR

June 14

OPIOID EDUCATION PROGRAM REVIVE is a Virginia Opioid Overdose and Naloxone Education pro-

gram, helping participants learn how to recognize and respond to opioid overdose emergencies by administering naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The program will take place on Wednesday, June 14 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Meadowdale Library, located at 4301 Meadowdale Blvd. in North Chesterfield. For more information or to register, contact Debbie Severt at (804) 717-6839.

8

JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Minimally invasive treatment for foot pain Dear Mayo Clinic: Is it true that pain on the bottom of the foot (plantar fasciitis) can sometimes be treated with ultrasound? How does that work?

Answer: Yes. The treatment you are referring to is called percutaneous ultrasonic fasciotomy, which uses ultrasound technology to treat plantar fasciitis and other soft tissue problems. The treatment is showing promising results in patients who have not gotten relief from standard therapies for persistent plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis is a common foot problem that involves the thick band of tissue (plantar fascia) connecting the heel bone to the toes. The purpose of the plantar fascia is to support the arch of the foot and act as a shock absorber when you walk, run, jump or otherwise use your feet.

What causes it?

If the strain on the plantar fascia becomes too great, small tears can develop in the tissue. Those tears can lead to inflammation and pain. In some cases, these micro-tears fail to heal properly, leading to degenerative changes, scarring and abnormal blood vessel growth within the tissue.

Plantar fasciitis has many possible causes,

including certain types of exercise that put a lot of stress on the feet, such as jogging. Excess weight also can contribute to plantar fasciitis.

In addition, thin-soled or loose shoes, highheeled shoes, and shoes without enough arch support or flexible padding to absorb shock can lead to plantar fasciitis.

Age is also a factor. As you age, tendons and fascia lose some flexibility and are less able to absorb impact.

To treat plantar fasciitis effectively, the extra stress on the plantar fascia must be relieved so the tears can heal. For most people, these small tears can be treated successfully with physical therapy and special equipment that gives the foot extra support. A cortisone or other injection also may be considered.

But for some, this isn’t enough, and finding a solution to the chronic pain and loss of function due to plantar fasciitis can be frustrating.

Open surgery to remove the damaged tissue is an option, but recovery often is prolonged, and recurring pain is common.

How ultrasound works Fortunately, a minimally invasive treatment is available for patients with plantar fasciitis who otherwise have not found relief. Percutaneous ultrasonic fasciotomy uses the Tenex Health TX

tissue removal (debridement) system, which Mayo Clinic doctors helped develop.

The procedure, which can be done in a doctor’s office, can also be used on elbows, shoulders or other places where tendinopathy (irritation in the tendons) may develop.

Here’s how it works. Before the procedure, imaging tests — such as ultrasound or MRI — are done to determine the location and extent of the degenerated tissue.

Once the specially trained physician has a clear picture of what’s going on, he or she numbs the skin over the area and makes a small incision — just large enough to insert a needle-like probe.

The physician then inserts the probe into the opening, guided by ultrasound imaging.

The probe’s oscillating tip produces ultrasonic energy, which breaks down the damaged tissue directly ahead of it. At the same time, a built-in inflow-outflow fluid system simultaneously irrigates and sucks up the broken down, or emulsified, tissue.

Once all of the degenerated tissue is

cleared away, the probe is removed, and the incision is closed with adhesive skin tape and a pressure bandage. The whole procedure takes only a few minutes, and complications are few.

After the procedure, patients must rest the area for several days, and may need crutches or a walking boot to relieve pressure on the foot.

But they usually can get back to their regular routine within a week to 10 days.

It might take several months before returning to the activity that prompted the plantar fasciitis, however. Improvement continues as the tissue heals. Some people may benefit from additional physical therapy.

The procedure may not be appropriate for patients who have a complete tear in the fascia. But those with plantar fasciitis that hasn’t responded to initial treatment should talk to their doctor about all of their treatment options, including ultrasonic fasciotomy. © 2017 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

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Nearly 1,000 compete in Senior Games “We worked closely with VRPS and local community groups,” Kempf said. “We had a large team of staff from Henrico that took on lead roles in addition to their daily job duties.”

A move to Henrico County This year, 961 athletes from 19 states competed in 1,877 events. They were spread among 19 sports: archery, badminton, basketball, billiards, bowling, cycling, golf, horseshoes, miniature golf, pickleball, racquetball, road race, shuffleboard, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

Recreation departments from around the state typically host the games. This year Henrico County Recreation & Parks stepped up to the task. For a number of years, the games were held in Newport News.

“We have a working relationship with VRPS, and wanted to support the games and provide a positive experience in Henrico County for these athletes,” said Pam Kempf, marketing specialist for Henrico County Recreation & Parks. “The different sports were held at 14 different venues. The majority were in Henrico.”

The county’s planning process for this year’s games took about eight months. One of the challenges was finding appropriate venues for each different sport.

Pickleball gains popularity Roussos wasn’t the only member of his family to compete. This year, his sister and four brothers also participated.

One of the most intense (and popular) competitions is pickleball. “That’s extremely competitive,” he said. “Basketball is also very competitive.”

“Pickleball [a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong] is a growing sport across the country, particularly for senior adults, so it naturally draws a large audience,” Kempf said.

Other popular events at the games are track-and-field and swimming competitions.

“Swimming is low impact, and there are several pool events an athlete can compete in during the games. There were four participants who swam in every event. Track and field also has a variety of events, which is appealing to the athletes,” Kempf said.

Linda and David Scott, USA Pickleball Association ambassadors and co-presidents of the Pickleball Club of Chesterfield, helped

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spread the word about Virginia Senior Games’ pickleball competition.

“The Virginia Senior Games are so well organized. They really know how to put on tournaments,” Linda Scott said, noting that the games help bring together people with common interests. “It’s an outstanding way to get seniors together and meet new people.”

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“By doing it in age brackets, you are competing against different skill levels,” he said.

“Depending on the event, it can be very difficult competition, quite intense.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF HENRICO RECREATION & PARKS STAFF

By Joan Tupponce Joseph Roussos came home from the 2017 Virginia Senior Games as a triple winner. The Chesterfield County resident, age 62, competed in miniature golf, pickleball and team basketball, and medaled in all three events.

“I love sports, and this is a lot of fun,” Roussos said of the games, which were held this year from May 10 through 13. “When I was younger, I didn’t play organized sports. I wanted to, but I didn’t have the opportunity.

Now that I am an old man, I can!”

The Virginia Senior Games are presented annually by the Virginia Recreation and Park Society (VRPS). The games serve as a qualifying competition for the National Senior Games, which are held every other year. The 2017 national games are going on right now in Birmingham, Ala. The Virginia Senior Games are open to any athlete at any level. No minimum scores or times are required for entry.

In fact, athletes from any state are welcome, and they can, like Roussos, compete in multiple sports. The oldest athlete this year, a 97-year-old woman from Church Road, Va., competed in four events.

All of the athletes at the games compete in their age and gender category. Roussos competed in the category for men age 60-to-64.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Beware of the sun if you take these drugs Did you know that your medication can Photosensitivity reactions are very individual. damage skin? Most of you don’t even think Some may be reversible in a few days, while others may cause permanent skin about that as a side effect. damage.

Photosensitivity is a fairly common skin reaction that is So, just because you do not sparked by taking medicines have a problem with medication now, doesn’t guarantee smooth that interact with ultraviolet sailing every time you take it.

(UV) radiation from the sun or There are hundreds of offenders, from tanning beds. and the list below does not mean It happened to me once, and luckily the red burning rash and you’ll have a reaction at all. It just tingling affected only my hands. means the possibility exists.

It took only two hours of sun exAntibiotics: Sulfamethoxaposure on a shady trail while DEAR zole, tetracycline, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, and the UTI drug hiking in California. Still, it ren- PHARMACIST nitrofurantoin. dered me out of writing com- By Suzy Cohen Psychoactive medications: mission for a few days.

The big problem is that photosensitivity re- Amitriptyline, imipramine, and other tri-cyclic actions are highly unpredictable. Nothing antidepressants. Also sertraline (Zoloft), venmay happen the first three times you go lafaxine (Effexor), mirtazapine (Remeron) swimming, but then the next time it’s dread- and alprazolam (Xanax). The blockbuster ful. The reaction can differ with each expo- Aripiprazole (Abilify) is another psyche med sure, and with the specific medication you that has been associated with skin eruptions take. Also, perfumes containing “6-methyl- and sensitivity.

Accutane and Retin A: These are used coumarin” or “musk ambrette” may cause skin allergies, so it’s not just drugs. to improve skin, so it’s ironic that it can proFor example, a classic reaction is a severe duce a photosensitivity reaction, but they’re sunburn, but also possible are brown splotches biggies.

Allergy meds and antihistamines: Cetin your skin, redness, pain and tenderness, an actual bumpy rash, hives or other inflammation. irizine, diphenhydramine, loratadine and

other blockbusters.

Blood pressure medications: Enalapril and amlodipine can sometimes cause “Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus” (SCLE), a painful skin eruption. Other offenders in this category include Vaseretic, Lotensin HCT, Dyazide and Hyzaar. Beta-blockers, diuretics and vasodilators also require extra sun caution.

Diabetic drugs: Glipizide, glyburide, tolbutamide, glimepiride and others. Metformin does not usually cause any problem.

Birth control pills or menopausal drugs: (Any of them. There are hundreds.)

Patches, pills, all of them can produce a ‘photo’ reaction.

Statin cholesterol drugs: All of them — atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin — have the ability.

Diuretics: Many of them are skin sensitizers, however the popular HCTZ (hydrochlorothiazide), can cause a dangerous SCLE reaction. Any drug containing HCTZ is a potential offender.

Anti-inflammator y (NSAID) drugs:

Ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen and celecoxib. These are all My list is not complete, so ask your pharmacist about your particular medications.

Please use natural sunscreens and sunblocks, and wear wide-brimmed hats as well as clothing that covers you up well. Aloe vera creams are soothing, as is the gel right from the plant.

If you experience a reaction, try putting lavender essential oil (20 drops) and peppermint oil (2 drops) in some cold water, then make a cold compress out of that. It will cool on contact. Compresses with comfrey root, baking soda water or lavender oil are the fastest way to take the sting out.

This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement.

Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.SuzyCohen.com.

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When you suspect friends of stealing Dear Solutions: have them. I feel that would actually be We offered our vacation home to some accusing them of stealing. friends last winter while we What is the best way to went on a trip. Now that we’re handle this? back, we can’t find a couple of — Cathy vintage pins with very unique Dear Cathy: political slogans on them that Aha! The case of the misswere part of a collection we ing pins. Or — wait — is it the keep. case of the lost friends? That’s It’s true that I haven’t looked what would probably be lost S at them for a while, but we hapnext, if you come across as acpened to take out the collection tually accusing them of taking to show to people recently, and the pins. those two special pins are gone. SOLUTIONS Search everywhere first.

They were kept in an open box By Helen Oxenberg, Since you hadn’t looked at the on a table. collection in a while, you may MSW, ACSW We searched all over and have misplaced them yourself. can’t find them. My husband says we Short of finding them, and short of just taking should ask our friends outright if they the loss, you could ask your friends to see if they

M ARK YO UR CALEN DAR

June 17

IS IT MEMORY LOSS OR ALZHEIMER’S?

The Alzheimer’s Association Greater Richmond chapter presents “Memory Loss, Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease: What’s the Difference and What Can I Do About It?” The free talk takes place on Saturday, June 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, located at 16 W. Leigh St. in Richmond. Advance registration is required. For more information or to register, call (804) 967-2580.

might have mistakenly mixed them in with some of their other things when they were packing.

That would give them a chance to discover that they “happened” to get them mixed in and, now that you mentioned it, they “happened” to find them.

But be careful: If you want those pins and those friends, don’t pin it on them.

Dear Solutions: My pet peeve is women who are so unrealistic as to say they saw their husband across a crowded room and just fell in love instantly. I simply don’t believe this happens.

What can one say or do to stay away from this nonsense without offending people?

— Sam Dear Sam: What to do? When you’re in a crowded room, make sure you don’t look across it.

And above all, if you do, don’t make eye contact with anyone.

What to say? “Oh, you’re so lucky. I hope it happens to me!”

But don’t worry, Sam, it won’t — as long D follow my advice above. as you Dear Solutions: I am married for the second time, but

we are now divorcing. When we got married, I received a beautiful piece of decorative sculpture from a relative from my first marriage, whom I stayed friends with.

I now say that belongs to me. But he says it should just be with ever ything else we’re dividing. We’re not using a lawyer for this, but don’t you think that should go to me since it’s a wedding present from my friend?

—The Bride Dear Bride: Since you are now divorcing, you are no longer “the bride,” and once you were married, that sculpture was no longer a wedding present to “you.” A wedding present is for the bride and the groom. And once the marriage takes place, presents belong to both of you, just like all the other presents and other possessions.

In a situation like this, possessions usually go to whoever is the better negotiator or who has the better lawyer. You could try to trade that object for something your husband really wants for himself.

I have no idea what a lawyer would say, so that’s as far as I can go. I wish each of you good luck. © Helen Oxenberg, 2017. Questions may be sent to helox72@comcast.net. For reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

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Money Law &

STUDENT DEBT STILL? You might be imperiling your retirement by co-signing college loans for adult children or grandchildren OLD CARS, NEW TECH Drivers can add safety technology, like a backup camera or forward collision warning system, to their older cars INVESTMENT TARGET Target-date retirement mutual funds are a popular tailored way to save, but because of diversification they aren’t top performers

Are you sabotaging your investments?

By Arielle O’Shea The stock market has raced to record highs this year, but your portfolio may not show it.

In some ways, that’s to be expected: A balanced portfolio won’t post the same returns as the Dow Jones industrial average or the Standard & Poor’s 500, nor should it. You would have to be 100 percent invested in stocks to mirror the market’s performance, and that kind of aggressive allocation may not be appropriate for your risk tolerance or time horizon.

But generally speaking, if the market is having a good year, your portfolio should be, too. If it’s not, you may want to point a finger toward yourself.

“The greatest risk is not the volatility of the market, but the volatility of your own behavior,” said Daniel Crosby, a behavioral finance expert and founder of the investment management firm Nocturne Capital.

Crosby said psychologists have identified behaviors that can hurt the way we invest.

Here are three that are most likely to drag down your returns, along with strategies to counteract them.

themselves up not just to more risk but also to increased transaction fees and tax consequences, both of which can drag down returns.

“One of the reasons investors trade more than they should is that they think they know more than they do,” said Terrance Odean, a professor of finance at the University of California, Berkeley, who researches investor behavior. “They think they have more ability than they have, they end up trading more than they should, and that hurts their returns.”

If you tend to keep an enthusiastic finger on the buy or sell button, stay away from individual stocks and their volatility, which can tempt you to make frequent trades. Instead, invest through index funds, which passively track a segment of the market.

These funds are low-cost and well-diversified, and they frequently edge out even professional investors, like those at the helm of actively managed mutual funds.

According to Morningstar’s most recent Active/Passive Barometer, which measures the performance of actively managed funds against their passive counterparts, the average dollar in passive funds typically outperforms the average dollar in actively managed funds.

1. Overconfidence The vast majority of long-term investors shouldn’t trade frequently. Those who do, open

2. Fear of loss “We hate loss more than twice as much as

we like comparably sized gains. Win $50 at a casino and it’s kind of ‘meh,’ but lose $50 out of your wallet and it ruins your night,” Crosby said.

Because of that, we may hold on to poor investments longer than we should to put off recognizing a loss, or flee to cash at any sign of a downturn.

When the market is trending down, it’s reasonable to expect your portfolio to do the same — and it’s wise to stick it out. On the other hand, it’s worth regularly evaluating and potentially letting go of market outliers that are suffering sustained losses or investments that no longer fit your long-term plan.

To temper a fear of loss, set a long-term strategy and then try dollar-cost averaging, which involves dribbling a set amount of money into your investments at regular intervals. If you contribute to a 401(k) or make scheduled transfers into an individual retirement account, you already do this.

Because with averaging you’re always investing the same dollar amount, you’re buying more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. The former can take some of the pain out of a falling market, since you’re getting what feels like a discount on subsequent purchases.

Investing according to a predetermined plan

like this also takes emotion out of the game. “If you’re excited, it’s a bad idea,” Crosby said.

“Good investing is painfully boring.”

3. Not reevaluating If you read only political websites that align with your views, or block Facebook friends with opposing politics, you already know what this means: It’s the tendency to discount information that discredits your established beliefs.

As investors, we do this in part because we put money — sometimes a lot of money — behind the decision we’ve made. We don’t want to hear it’s a bad one.

But that money will benefit from balanced research, both into future investments and the ones you already hold. When you rebalance your portfolio or re-evaluate your strategy, look at each investment as if you’re buying it for the first time, and dive into research from varied sources.

And if you can’t or don’t want to do that?

Then you can turn back to an index fund, work with a financial adviser, or hold your accounts at an automated financial adviser — often called a robo-adviser — which is an online service that manages investments for you.

— Nerdwallet, via AP

New, happier returns for online purchases

By Anne D’Innocenzio As online shopping surges, so do the returns — and the hassles for shoppers trying to get rid of items that aren’t right. A few startups dedicated to online returns, as well as changes at some big stores, may make it easier.

With the contest for shoppers’ loyalty intense, retailers need to keep them happy — and returns can be a key part of that. Online purchases get returned at about twice the rate of in-person selections, internet consultant Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali said. And fewer than half sell again for full price, according to www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

research company Gartner Inc. Some stores have long allowed people to return merchandise they bought online to a brickand-mortar store. Flash site Gilt Group lets shoppers take returns to Saks Off Fifth stores, since they have the same owner.

Some of the new options allow shoppers to drop their items off at dedicated mall kiosks, or even have things picked up at their doorstep.

“Retailers have to be competitive, whether it’s free shipping or free returns,” said Tobin Moore, CEO of Optoro, which helps retailers find the best re-sale price when a product is returned.

Here are some of the new ways returns are getting less painful: Bypassing the lines at stores: Target is redesigning its stores to have a separate entrance for shoppers in a hurry, which will take them straight into a service area where they can make returns — including for items bought online. The company plans to implement the redesign at about a third of its stores over the next three years.

Nordstrom has introduced a “Drop & Shop” service in Manhattan for online returns from its discount division Nordstrom Rack and its Hautelook flash sale site. The

company says it’s been encouraged by the shorter waits and positive feedback from shoppers. It’s testing the service elsewhere at its Rack stores and working toward expanding it this summer, spokeswoman Kendall Ault said.

Extended deadlines: Plenty of stores are lengthening the timeframe for returns. Target extended the deadline for a full refund to one year on items from its more than 30 exclusive brands. The previous limit was 90 days. Online shoe retailer Zappos has long ofSee HAPPIER RETURNS, page 14 FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

13

Happier returns From page 13 fered a 365-day return policy, but as part of its loyalty program, it now has no time limit for top-tier customers.

Label-less returns: Companies are getting more accommodating to shoppers who don’t have printers at home and find it harder to produce return labels. UPS, which has more than 100,000 U.S. drop-off locations, said it tested a program last year that allowed people to present a barcode on their phones at UPS. It’s now expanding that feature.

“We want to make it simple. We want to make it more convenient,” said Jim Brill, a UPS marketing manager.

Return it at the mall: Logistics company Happy Returns is building a network of return

bars at malls in a partnership with several online-only retailers. Shoppers can make returns in person and get a full refund right there.

“Our research shows that people don’t want to pay for the cost” of the postage, said David Sobie, CEO of Happy Returns.

The company is working with mall operators Macerich, Westfield and Simon at seven malls in five cities. Those include Tysons Corner Center in Arlington, Va., and the Westfield Center Mall in San Francisco. The retailers include custom shoe company Shoes of Prey, fashion brands Eloquii and Everlane, and marketplace seller Tradesy.

Have items picked up: High-level members of the Zappos loyalty program can get free UPS pickups for their returns.

The startup Deliv offers same-day delivery and returns for retailers such as Macy’s, Pot-

tery Barn and Williams Sonoma and operates in about 18 geographic markets. Retailers set the return fees. Macy’s and its upscale sister Bloomingdale’s, for example, charge $6.95 for returns.

Deliv will collect an item from someone’s home and bring it either to UPS or the re-

tailer where it was bought, whichever is most efficient.

“Where is shopping going?” said CEO Daphne Carmeli. “We believe that fundamentally the epicenter of shopping is moving toward the home.”

— AP

M A R K YOU R C AL E NDAR

June 27

INVESTMENT CLUB An Investment Club meets on Tuesday, June 27 from 2 to 3 p.m., led

by Ann Manolo in Fellowship Hall at Battery Park Christian Church,

located at 4201 Brook Rd. in Richmond. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/InvestmentClubRichmond.

June 15

SMALL BUSINESS LEGAL TALK Chesterfield Library presents “Small Business Legal Issues” on Thursday, June 15 from 7 to 8 p.m. Learn how to organize your busi-

From the publisher From page 2 perpetrated daily by factions on both sides of their political and religious divide.

If we have learned anything from this war, it should be that what’s good and noble about mankind and about democracy can be wrecked by a relative few who so believe they are the keepers of The Truth that they demonize their fellow countrymen.

Yes, our American freedom is premised on

freedom of thought and expression. But for all to be able to exercise that freedom, expression needs to be civil.

There’s a reason “being civil” and “civilized” means to treat other people with respect. That’s an essential component of civil discourse and, at some level, of our civil freedoms.

ness, what entity to choose, how to file government paperwork, and how to avoid risk and limit your personal liability. Registration is required and begins June 1. The library is located at 11800 Centre St. in Chesterfield. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/ChesterfieldSmallBusiness or call (804) 751-2275.

Ongoing

FOSTER FAMILIES NEEDED HopeTree Family Services is in need of families to open their home to children in foster care. For more information, call (804) 201-9006

or email ShannonU@HopeTreeFS.org.

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JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

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For many of us, nothing is more relaxing than a long, luxurious bath. Unfortunately, because of safety concerns, many people, particularly older people, have to forego this simple pleasure. Sure, you can spend big bucks to remodel your bathroom to provide a bathtub you can use, but who wants to do that? Now there’s a better way, and it lets you use the bath that’s in your home today.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Student loan debt hobbling more older adults

By Anya Kamenetz Older Americans are shouldering far more of the nation’s debt than in years past.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released numbers recently showing that the share of all household debt held by people aged 60 and older has almost doubled: from 12.6 percent in 2003, to 22.5 percent in 2016.

That’s nearly $3 trillion!

Mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and even student loan balances have all grown significantly for older Americans — and only older Americans. Borrowers under 60 reduced their mortgages and credit card balances relative to the peak during the 2008 financial crisis.

It’s one thing to run up a big student loan balance when you are in your 20s going through graduate school and anticipating big salary increases. Or even in your 30s and 40s, putting a down payment on a house, with room to grow and time to pay it off as it appreciates.

For people facing retirement, however, this growing debt is a far more serious proposition.

lem. But seniors are holding $67 billion in student loans, and the number of seniors holding such loans has quadrupled since 2005.

That makes older folks the fastest-growing segment of the student loan borrower population, according to a January report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Some of these loans are decades old.

These include loans older people took out for their own education and did not pay off. But the majority are loans taken out or cosigned for children and grandchildren, both federal PLUS loans and private student loans.

The bad news is that, as people get older, their student loans are more likely to go into default, triggering ballooning penalties and fees. The CFPB found that default rates among borrowers 65 and older were almost 40 percent — more than twice the rate of younger borrowers.

A defaulted student loan can ruin your credit, meaning larger interest rates on other resources, like credit cards. And worst of all, if you have a federal student loan in default, the government can seize part of your Social Security and disability payments to pay it.

Loans taken for children Take student loans as an example. We usually think of these as a young person’s prob-

What can be done?

OIL LANDSCAPES EXHIBIT

Ongoing

SUMMER READING CLUB

ment is set below the level that would cover interest. But honestly, for people later in life this is less of a concern than losing access to Social Security benefits.

These plans include pay-as-you-earn, incomecontingent repayment, and income-based repayment, and you might even pursue public service loan forgiveness. There are several different plans, and the options can be confusing.

Check https://studentaid. ed.gov for more information.

If you are in default on student loans, there is a process called rehabilitation to get out of default. Again, contact Federal Student Aid, an office of the Education Department, at the web address above.

Anya Kamenetz welcomes your questions at diyubook@gmail.com. © 2017 Anya Kamenetz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Share your opinion.

Send a letter to the editor.

See page 2.

If you are over 60 and don’t have any stu-

M ARK YO UR CALEN DAR

Ongoing

dent loans, the obvious answer is don’t take them out. Especially not for someone else — not if you can’t afford to pay them back right away. And if you could, why would you be borrowing? They are a massive liability.

Certainly, it can be difficult to tell a child or grandchild that you can’t afford to help them achieve their educational goals and dreams. But honestly, it would be better to help them along with cash, if you have some to spare, than to enter into an obligation for a decade or more. The tax-free gift limit in 2017 1s $14,000.

If you are over 60 and have student loans, get into an affordable payment plan to lower your monthly obligations. Under these plans, the monthly payment is based on your income — which works in your favor if you are retired and living on a limited or fixed income.

One caveat: Affordable payment plans can

balloon the balance when the monthly pay-

Chasen Galleries in Richmond presents “Town & Country,” an exhibit by artist Jim Rodgers, featuring over 40 oil paintings of Richmond, the Shenandoah, Europe and more. The free show is now on view through Friday, June 30. The gallery is located at 3554 W Cary St. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/ChasenLandscapesExhibit or call (804) 204-1048.

Henrico County Public Library is inviting cardholders to join the annual summer reading club. Library users may sign up online, with the assistance of a librarian if needed, to log the reading they complete now through Thursday, Aug. 31. There will be prize drawings all summer, with a grand prize drawing of a $500 gift card to Great Wolf Lodge, drawn on Sept.1. For more information, visit your local library or henricolibrary.org/src. All finishers will receive a waterresistant drawstring backpack and a free book.

June 23+

NEW GALLERY SHOWS

Artspace presents five new gallery shows, featuring paintings by Gerry Lynch and Pat Scull, a re-contextualized photographic collaboration by Kristine Thompson and Johanna Warwick, collaborative paintings by Dana and Donna Frostick, printmaking by Brian Kreydatus, and works in various media by local artists. A free opening reception for the artists and the public will take place on Friday, June 23 from 7 to 10 p.m. There will also be a free closing artist talk on Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m. Artspace is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., and is located at Zero East 4th St. in Richmond. For more information, email artspaceorg@gmail.com, call (804) 232-6464 or visit www.artspacegallery.org.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

15

Add latest safety technology to your car

By Dee-Ann Durbin Old cars can learn new tricks.

For a few hundred dollars, drivers can add new safety technology — like forward collision warning systems or backup cameras — to older cars.

Cars are lasting longer than ever, thanks to improving quality. The average U.S. vehicle is now 11.6 years old, according to the consulting firm IHS Markit. But that means millions of car owners are missing out on technology that could potentially save their lives.

Forward collision warning systems, for example, can reduce the risk of a crash by 27 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Is it worth the money?

Consumers have to do the math to decide whether it’s better to add aftermarket systems to an older car or save up for a new one.

Balance the cost of new safety — which can be hefty — with the increased maintenance older cars usually need.

If you don’t want an extra camera cluttering up your dashboard, you may want to save up for a new car with built-in systems.

To get blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning and lane departure warning on a new, 2017 Altima SL, you have to spend $28,570 for the car and add $3,000 in options.

For a fraction of that amount — $500 — you could add an aftermarket forward collision system, backup camera and blind spot

M ARK YO UR CALEN DAR

June 29

TECH Q&A Hull Street Branch Library presents two technology Q&A’s on

Thursday, June 29. The first will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, and the second will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Bring in your laptop, Kindle, Nook, iPad, or cell phone and get help from staff during a 30-minute session. The library is located at 1400 Hull St. in Richmond. For more information or to register, call (804) 646-8699.

detection monitors to an older car.

Or you could consider a late-model used car. A 2015 Nissan Altima SL with blind spot monitoring, a rearview camera and lane departure warning can be found for less than $20,000, for example.

Buyers may want to wait on a new car because the cost of safety tech is coming down.

Toyota is now offering a $300 package on some vehicles that includes forward collision warning and lane departure warning.

Starting with the 2018 model year, all vehicles sold in the U.S. will be required to have backup cameras. And most new cars will have standard automatic emergency braking by 2022.

Safety features to consider Shawn Sinclair, an automotive engineer with Consumer Reports magazine, says forward collision warning is the most important feature to consider if you’re thinking about adding tech to your car. Even though it won’t stop the car from hitting an obstacle — automatic braking isn’t available as an aftermarket option — it will warn drivers so they can slow down or maneuver away.

Blind spot detection and rear cameras are two others she considers critical. “But at the same time, you have to say, ‘Hey, I have this 10-year-old car. Maybe it’s time to turn it in,’” she said.

The quality of aftermarket systems varies considerably. Read reviews or ask a trusted mechanic for recommendations. Here are some: Forward collision warning/lane departure warning: Sinclair suggests a system from Mobileye, a tech company that also supplies most major automakers. Mobileye’s cameras and software can recognize other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and even speed limit signs.

The system alerts drivers when they leave a lane and when a collision is up to 2.7 seconds

away. Sinclair says it costs around $1,000 to buy the system and have it installed by a Mobileye technician.

There are many less expensive and easy-toinstall dashboard cameras that double as collision warning systems. Garmin’s Dash Cam 35 monitors up to 130 feet in front of the vehicle; if the driver is going 30 mph or faster, it will issue audio and visual alerts of impending collisions. The Dash Cam 35 costs $130 on Amazon.com.

Blind spot detection: Blind spot systems use sensors to monitor the sides of the vehicle, and flash an icon to the driver if something is in the way. Sinclair recommends Goshers Blind Spot Detection System, which costs $239. It monitors within 10 feet of the vehicle. Sinclair recommends having a professional install the system; it took her mechanic four hours to do it.

Backup camera: According to government statistics, roughly 250 people are killed each year in backover accidents, many of them children.

China’s Yada brand makes a weather-proof camera with night vision that attaches to the rear of the car. When the car is in reverse, it sends images wirelessly to a 4.3-inch monitor.

Pep Boys sells the system for $129. If you don’t want a monitor in your car, Auto Vox has one that displays the image in your rear-view mirror. It’s $139 on Amazon.com.

Emergency assistance: Hum, developed

by Verizon, works like General Motors’ OnStar system. It will automatically call emergency services if the car has been in an accident. It sends alerts to drivers’ phones if there’s a mechanical problem and lets drivers press a button if they need roadside assistance.

Hum works in cars built in 1996 or later. It costs $10 per month; a two-year subscription is required. There are also one-time set-up and activation fees totaling $50.

— AP

M A R K YOU R C AL E NDAR

Ongoing

ONLINE LIBRARY ACCESS Access the Richmond Public Library online with a library card. Read about America’s News and about local news on Find it Virginia, take

online quizzes on LearningExpress Library 3.0, access the Legal Forms Library and more. For more information, visit http://rvalibrary.org/online-library.

Ongoing

PHOTOS NEEDED The Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia (CHSV) is asking that community members look through their old family albums for early

photographs of the 1917 Courthouse and “The Hotel” that once stood on the Courthouse Green. Chesterfield County will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Historic 1917 Courthouse in October. For more information, contact Megan Kitchen at (804) 796-7156 or visit www.chesterfieldhistory.com.

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JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Why target-date funds are so popular rectly in another type of hands-off investment, like an index fund or ETF? A: The distinguishing feature of targetdate funds is the glide path, which reflects how they shift different asset classes over time. And that’s based upon the age of the investor. While [all target-date funds] share that common thread of having a glide path and becoming more conservatively positioned, shifting from stocks to bonds over time, the manner in which they do it varies significantly.

On the equity side, there’s U.S. versus international stocks, or large-cap versus small-cap stocks. Even on the bond side, [differences include] the use of high-yield bonds or Treasury inflation-protected securities. All of these are active decisions that a target-date (fund) provider is making in delivering a strategy for investors.

Q: How have target-date funds performed, on average?

A: Benchmarking is complicated with target-date funds because everyone has a different asset mix.

They don’t guarantee that an investor will have enough savings at retirement. What they’re designed to do is provide diversification across U.S. stocks, international stocks and bonds, and to do so in a thoughtful manner.

Because of the diversification, target-date

funds will never be the top performer. They should also not be the poorest performer.

More or less they should give a balanced mix in terms of performance.

Q: You say it’s too soon to determine if target-date funds will prove effective over the long haul. What’s the concern here?

A: Target-date funds are meant to be a multi-decade investment. They’ve been around since the early 90s, but it was the Pension Protection Act of 2006 that really boosted interest in target-date funds.

So a lot of these strategies don’t have a long track record. It’s still not proven for certain that these strategies will deliver the returns that investors expect.

We’ve seen some promising signs.

More often than not, investors tend to follow performance. They’re buying high and selling low.

Just the construct of having a target-date fund — and just continuing to contribute to a fund that will change over time — has helped investors.

— AP

M A R K YOU R CAL E NDAR

June 23

LOCAL TED TALK

A TEDxRVA program with the theme “Change” will take place on Friday, June 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Dominion Arts Center in Richmond. Speakers include a former aide to President Barack Obama, a virtual reality artist, a hand transplant pioneer, a former marketing manager at Cadillac, a surgeon practicing in fetal medicine, and more. Tickets are $50. There will also be a selection of breakfast, lunch and snack items provided by local businesses. The Dominion Arts Center is located at 600 East Grace St. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/TedTalkRichmond.

June 8+

CHAIR & FLOOR EXERCISE

SwimRVA offers chair and floor exercise classes on Thursdays at 11 a.m. on June 8, 15 and 22. The swim center is located at 5050 Ridgedale Pkwy. in Richmond. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/SwimRVAChairandFloor.

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81059

By Alex Veiga When it comes to building their retirement nest egg, investors are increasingly betting on the set-it-and-forget-it approach of targetdate funds.

Such funds, which are designed to minimize risk over time by gradually shifting from stocks to bonds as an investor’s retirement date nears, hit a record $880 billion in assets last year, according to Morningstar Research Services.

Target-date funds are the default option for many employee retirement plans, which has helped drive their growth.

The plans appeal to people who want to avoid the worry or responsibility of a hands-on approach to investing, another growing trend.

Roughly two of every three dollars that went into target-date plans last year went to those that focused on investing in index funds, which cost less because there’s no portfolio manager picking the investments.

We asked Jeff Holt, associate director at Morningstar Research Services, to weigh in on how target-date funds are faring, and what investors should consider when weighing whether to put money into these types of funds.

Q: What sets these funds apart from one another, or from simply investing di-

17

Travel Leisure &

La Casa Rosada, or “pink house” is Argentina’s presidential mansion.

See story on the country’s capital city, Buenos Aires, on page 21.

50th Smithsonian Folklife Festival in D.C. Together, “Circus Arts” and “On the Move” expand on the work that the Festival has done for the past 50 years: Exploring timeless questions of identity, representation and community engagement, with a focus on the rich stories and continuing traditions that make America the diverse landscape it is today.

Art, music, stories and more Just as the circus brought glimpses of a wider world to many 19th and early-20th century Americans, the Folklife Festival since its inception in 1967 has brought more than 2,300 musicians, artists, performers, craftspeople, workers, cooks, storytellers and others — from all 50 states and 100 countries — to the National Mall for 10 days each year.

“Visitors to this year’s festival will encounter both story and spectacle,” said festival director Sabrina Lynn Motley. “For a half-century, we have had the good fortune to work with individuals and communities to share their knowledge and skills with people from all walks of life.”

Richmonders like Jackie Coleman, who has collected circus memorabilia dating back to a 1987 Circus College’s 20th anniversary poster, might want to get autographs of per-

PHOTO BY JESSICA HENTOFF

By Martha Steger Richmond-area circus fans, take heart: Though the 146-year-old Ringling Brothers’ Barnum & Bailey Circus closed last month, the circus is coming to the nation’s capital at the end of June.

Native Virginian Preston Scott — curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage — promises visitors to this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., that 80 to 90 percent of what they’ll experience in the “Circus Arts” program will be things they’d never see when purchasing a circus ticket. They include behind-the-scenes interactions with costume-makers, riggers, flying trapeze artists, cooks and clowns.

“Circus Arts” is one of two major themes of this year’s 50th annual Folklife Festival, being held on the National Mall from June 29 through July 9.

The other theme, “On the Move,” involves wide-ranging presentations — many involving public participation — on the basic questions of what it means to be an American, why people move, how our families’ migration experiences have shaped our identities, what constitutes “home,” and the relevance and power of cultural tradition and heritage in our lives today.

Members of Circus Harmony will perform and offer backstage interaction with trapeze artists, clowns and more during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in late June and early July.

PHOTO BY FRANCISCO GUERRA

Visitors enjoy listening to live music and picnicking on the National Mall during the 2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This year, the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary.

18

JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

formers on their programs.

As one who has been to previous Folklife Festivals on the Mall, I can testify to the generosity of volunteers and the dynamic quality pervading the Mall — even without aerialists defying gravity on trapezes strung among the elm trees for this year’s “Circus Arts” performances.

In 2008, for example, “Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon” was the largest and most comprehensive presentation of Bhutanese life and culture ever hosted outside the remote Himalayan kingdom.

Circus arts have evolved over time to reflect changing social tastes and values, technological innovations, and performance styles. Consider Canada’s innovative Cirque du Soleil, for example.

On the Mall, check out the interactive circus school, which benefits from both longtime and emerging circus schools across the U.S. These providing new opportunities for learning from generations of American circus families and visionaries who are keeping the circus arts alive and engaging.

Meet artists and coaches, costume design-

ers, makeup artists, musicians, lighting and sound technicians, prop and tent designers, riggers, poster artists, wagon builders, cooks and others whose collective creative work brings the circus to life.

Along with new students and celebrated masters, you can experience many dimensions of circus arts through intimate workshops, demonstrations, and full-scale performances under a big-top tent and other colorful venues.

Multi-cultural performances In “On the Move,” festival presenters will invite visitors every day at 11 a.m. to get moving through games, sports and exercises of different traditions.

Don’t know what capoeira is? Try a warmup exercise for this Brazilian martial art, which encompasses music, dance and acrobatics. Or participate in soccer drills with the Fugees Family, Inc., an academy that began as a soccer team made of up refugee youth.

Check out the schedule for music, dance See FESTIVAL, page 20 www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Sublime wine, scenery in central Virginia sip chardonnay at a winery one minute, and sniff “fragrant” cowpiles warming in the sun the next.

“Nelson County is becoming the ‘Napa Valley of the East,’” says Connie Brennan, a Board of Supervisors’ member.

Apples, fresh and fermented Nelson County’s Fruit Loop Trail (www.blueridgefruitloop.net) is a series of farms and orchards selling pre-picked and pick-your-own apples and other fruit.

The county has long been an apple-growing region, said John Bruguiere with Dickie Brothers Orchard. “The higher elevations above 900 feet provide a good altitude. The higher the elevation, the cooler the night temperatures during the growing season, which helps develop [apples’] red color,” he explained.

Apple trees do well on slopes where water drains away. “Since there was little else to do with hilly land, apples are a good fit,” he added. And, he jokes, “Most of our cows have two legs shorter than the others from walking on hillsides.”

The Brew Ridge Trail (www.brewridgetrail.com) showcases the craft beers, ales and lagers of five breweries. The county has three distilleries, like Silverback which of-

PHOTO COURTESY OF VERITAS VINEYARD & WINERY

By Glenda C. Booth The masseuse’s golf balls gently rolling across my back in the dimly-lit spa put me into a Zen-like trance.

So did the thick clumps of interrupted ferns carpeting the forest floor as I hiked, while the haunting, flute-like call of the wood thrush wafted through the trees.

And a little while later, in a cider taproom, the sparkling hard cider gave me a slight buzz.

This is Nelson County, Va., population 15,000 — a place for reverie, revelry and recreation. With mountains on the west and the James River on the south, it’s a small-town, bucolic county in the Blue Ridge foothills, about 100 miles west of Richmond.

Wintergreen Resort, an all-season playground, offers spa services, golf, tennis, dining, nature walks, performing arts, winter skiing and more.

Down below, in Rockfish Valley, wineries, cideries, breweries and distilleries have sprung up like spring wildflowers in recent years. They dot the rural landscape between the county’s seven orchards and fields of contented black Angus cows. Sunsets paint the mountains a bluish-purple every evening.

A one-stoplight county, Nelson is a mix of hip yuppie and down home country. You can

The view from the Veritas Vineyard and Winery looks beyond the vineyard to the misty Blue Ridge Mountains that form the backdrop to central Virginia’s rural Nelson County. Wine, beer, spirits and apple cider are widely crafted in the county.

fers enticing spirits like Strange Monkey gin.

Ten wineries host tours and tasting rooms for trying wines like chardonnay, merlot, pinot gris and more. Veritas Vineyards and Winery, which boasts a wine portfolio reflecting 15 years of hard work, features tours of the crush pad, wine cellar and barrel room, and talks on winemaking basics.

Cideries are increasingly popular. Nelson

has two: Bold Rock and Blue Toad. Bold Rock, next to the South Fork of the Rockfish River, bottles five days a week and presses 80,000 pounds of apples weekly. On cidery tours Tuesday to Saturday, visitors can learn the fine details of making hard cider.

Here, the citrusy Indian Pressed Apple is a See VIRGINIA, page 20

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Virginia From page 19 favorite. Former U.S. President and Virginia ciderist Thomas Jefferson hailed the beverage as “nearer to silky Champagne than any other.” Cidermakers like Charlotte Shelton of Albemarle Ciderworks promote their product’s drinkability and low alcohol content (five to seven percent).

Hurricanes and history Hurricane Camille devastated Nelson County in 1969 when this Category 5 monster of a storm unexpectedly hurtled through the county’s heart, dumped over 27 inches of rain in five hours, and left a trail of devastation and death behind.

The whole story — tragedies and heroics — is relayed in detail at Oakland, the Nelson County Museum of History, such as painful recountings of youngsters snagged in trees as family members are washed away.

The museum is in a red brick, Greek Revival house built in the early 1800s. By 1838, it became an “ordinary” — a combination inn and tavern on the Stage Road, now route 29, where the Washington City to Lynchburg stage coach ran past three times a week.

Visitors today see the tavern room with exposed beams and a “cage bar” replica — a tavern-keepers’ container for locking up the spirits overnight. Other exhibits explore the county’s public school history, and electricity’s arrival in the 1930s. Oral histories describe life in the country without electricity. Learn more at www.historicnelson.org.

The county seat, Lovingston, founded in 1808, is an historic district. The star “attraction,” if you’re not in legal trouble, is the historic courthouse which opened in 1810, a stuccoed brick building in the English townhall style.

The little town of Schuyler gets its fame as the hometown of Earl Hamner, the creator of “The Waltons” — a 1970s television series about a family living in the rural Blue Ridge mountains during the Depression.

The Walton Museum is a replica of the studio set of the Waltons’ television home, in-

Festival From page 18 and theater programs, and see how they translate and remix the culture and experiences that shape their identities and inspire their creativity.

Special evening events feature some of the nation’s most honored folk and traditional artists. Among the music and dance traditions to be represented are Filipino, Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Trinidad), Irish, Tex-Mex, Cajun, African diaspora, and South Asian.

Visual artists, poets and writers will share their creations and invite public participation

20

JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

cluding John-Boy’s bedroom, the living room and the kitchen. Ike’s General Store set is a souvenir shop for Walton memorabilia. In March, most of the surviving actors who played the characters on the show came to the museum for a reunion, attended by hundreds of fans.

The great outdoors If sipping cider or Chablis in the sunshine isn’t quite enough nature, there’s plenty more. Twenty-five miles of the Appalachian Trail slice through the county.

The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail follows the banks of the Piney and Tye Rivers, along a former short-line, timber-hauling railway. Also along the Blue Ridge Parkway is Crabtree Falls, one of the highest, verticaldrop cascading waterfalls east of the Mississippi River with five major cascades that plummet 1,200 feet. One overlook is near the upper parking lot. The adventurous can hike the 2½-mile Crabtree Falls Trail to four other overlooks.

Naked Mountain harbors some rare plants, like shooting stars, on globally-rare landscapes known as barrens and woodlands.

Crawford Knob is home to a rare type of swamp, called a mountain-piedmont basic seepage swamp, where orchids, lilies, ferns, grasses and sedges thrive.

The Quarry Gardens in Schuyler have various native plant communities around a former soapstone quarry. Visitor center exhibits explain local ecosystems and the soapstone industry.

Lavish Wintergreen “Sumptuous luxury” is how Wintergreen’s publicists describe the four-season, 11,000acre resort, most of which sits atop Wintergreen Mountain.

The spa promises to “restore balance to your body, soul and spirit.” Choices include aromatherapy massage, Blue Ridge Swedish massage, mountain stone massage, Blue Ridge mud wrap, lavender body glow, de-stress eye treatment and a gentleman’s facial.

The resort also has golf clinics, meditative yoga, swimming, archery, miniature golf, via an “Open Air Studio.” Northern Virginia artist Mas Paz, for example, interweaves the multicultural and multigenerational theme of migration with American pop culture by exploring his American upbringing, Colombian heritage, and involvement in the D.C. street/graffiti art scene.

A collective from Virginia will demonstrate the Central American Holy Week festival tradition of creating analfombra de aserrin — a carpet made from dyed sawdust, seeds and other plant material.

See the festival website at www.festival.si.edu for more details about these and other activities at the event.

children’ activities and winter tubing and skiing, thanks to “automated snowmaking.”

Accommodations include individual rooms, studios, homes, and condominiums with up to nine-bedrooms. The Mountain Inn has lodgetype rooms. Four restaurants offer “Southerninspired cuisine,” Mediterranean dishes, burgers, pub fare and gourmet pizzas.

Sumptuous and upscale are certainly respectable choices at Wintergreen, but visitors on top of a mountain surrounded by 9,000 protected acres and many trails might want to also get outdoors.

Outdoor trekkers might see flying squirrels, wood rats, bears, coyotes, bobcats, deer, turkeys and many birds. The Trillium House, headquarters of the Foundation, offers hikes, lectures and other nature-oriented programs.

Wandering, wining, dining and picking locally-grown, golden delicious apples can yield some golden delicious days in Virginia’s Nelson County.

If you go Getting there: Nelson County is a threehour drive from Washington, D.C., taking I-66 west and then Rt. 29 south. The closest Amtrak station and airport are in Charlottesville.

The Nelson County Visitor Center has lists of transportation services, like limos, to Nelson, some of which offer one-day wine and brewery tours.

Information on Lovingston is available at

www.virginia.org/cities/Lovingston.

Lodging: Wintergreen’s wide array of options is available in a range of prices. Basic hotels rooms range from $134 to $244 a night, while condos start at $149 for a one-bedroom to $439 for a five-bedroom. See www.wintergreenresort.com or call (434) 325-2200.

Besides Wintergreen, there is one motel in Nelson County, the Village Inn in Lovingston, http://villageinnlovingston. webs.com, (434) 263-5068. The Nelson County tourism site has a list of B&Bs, cabins and campsites. See www.nelsoncounty-va.gov/depar tments /tourism or call (434) 263-7015.

Dining: Besides Wintergreen and brewery/winery fare, Basic Necessities is a cozy French café in Nellysford serving fresh breads, imported cheeses and dishes using produce from local farms. After co-owner Kay Pfaltz spent 10 years in Paris, settled in Nellysford and could not find suitable bread, wine and cheese, she started the restaurant.

See http://basicnecessities.us or call (434) 361-1766.

There are many events in the region throughout the year, and frequent live music at breweries and cideries. Check http:// www.nelsoncounty-va.gov/events/category/ events-calendar/. Examples: summer, strawberry picking, the James River Batteaux (June 17-24), Lockn’ Music Festival (Aug. 2427); fall, apple picking, apple-butter making, The Festy Experience (October 5-8).

Tips for festival goers The Smithsonian Folklife Festival will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 12th Streets, from Thursday, June 29, through Sunday, July 9 (except for Wednesday, July 5, when clean-up from the Mall’s Independence Day celebrations and fireworks will take place).

Admission is free. Daytime festival hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with evening performances beginning at 7 p.m.

With D.C.’s high summer temperatures and humidity, it could be hard to focus on heat-defying feats and demonstrations for too long. Ducking into air-conditioned museums along the Mall (entrance to all Smithsonian museums is free) provides not only relief but also enlightenment.

While it may be difficult to get same-day tickets to the new African-American History & Culture Museum, there should be no wait to get into the Air & Space Museum, American History Museum, American Indian Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and the Natural History Museum. Learn more about these museums at www.si.edu.

Parking near or on the National Mall is

extremely limited, so taking public transportation is strongly advised. The Smithsonian station (on the Orange/Silver/Blue lines) is the closest Metro station to the Festival site.

Also on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines are stations for L’Enfant Plaza and Federal Triangle. Those, and the National Archives station (Green/Yellow lines), are all within a half-mile of the Mall. For assistance planning the best Metro routes, especially considering the repairs that are being made to the whole Metro system, visitors can check online at www.goDCgo.com.

Driving north on I-95, consider parking in a location such as Pentagon City mall.

From the Pentagon City Metro Station, take the Yellow Line train in the Mount Vernon Square direction. From there, it’s two stops to L’Enfant Plaza, which is just a few blocks from the National Mall.

Get more Information on visiting the Folklife Festival, including accessibility info, at www.festival.si.edu/visit. For general Smithsonian visitor information, call (202) 6331000.

— Martha Steger

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Buenos Aires: Perons, the pope and tango

Peron pilgrimage No trip to Buenos Aires would be complete without a swing past the blushing balconies of La Casa Rosada, or Pink House, where Eva (nicknamed Evita) Peron and her president husband Juan once addressed adoring crowds in the 1940s and ‘50s.

The building faces Plaza de Mayo, the heart of the city, that provides a good jumping off point for exploring the downtown. An organization of mothers of the 30,000 Argentines who disappeared during the dictatorship in the 1970s and ‘80s still gathers there, as they have every Thursday afternoon for decades.

Continuing the requisite Evita pilgrimage, head up the hill to the posh Recoleta neighborhood and its namesake cemetery, where the city’s elite have been laid to rest for generations.

The necropolis resembles a city in miniature more than a burial ground, with intricate gothic temples to the dead lined up like roughhouses along a network of stone-paved alleys. Evita’s black granite gravesite is rather dull by comparison, and generally crowded, but parts of the cemetery offer plenty of opportunities for reflective solitude.

Afterward, stroll around the surrounding area, where the wealthy built palatial homes as they fled a yellow fever epidemic in the low-lying San Telmo neighborhood near the Plata River.

The Pope Francis story has become big business in his native city. A number of tours have popped up to show off the sites he used to frequent when he was known as Jorge

PHOTO BY SAN HOYANO

By Albert Stumm During Buenos Aires’ heyday, fabulous wealth flowed into the city from Argentina’s agricultural heartland, turning the country into one of the world’s richest by the early 20th century. The evidence of that era is still apparent in the grand architectural showpieces scattered around this sprawling city of 3 million.

But since the late 1940s, Argentina has experienced dictatorship, military rule, corruption, and a succession of crippling economic crises. Artless graffiti scars nearly every building, and much of the transit system, though efficient, hasn’t been updated since the 1960s.

Still, it remains a marvelous destination.

Meet a few Portenos, as city residents are called, and take advantage of the legendary nightlife and restaurant scene, and you’ll get a buzz from the culture that invented the tango.

La Casa Rosada is home to the balcony where Evita Peron once greeted citizens, and became the iconic setting for the signature song, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” from the musical Evita.

Mario Bergoglio. Stops include where he grew up in Flores, his former schools, and the Metropolitan Cathedral where he presided.

It wasn’t long ago that the dining scene mostly consisted of steak, empanadas, Italian, See BUENOS AIRES, page 22

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Tips for tangoing Find a way to experience one of Argentina’s signature attractions: the tango. You’re bound to stumble across dancers performing for tips on the streets, and there are numerous tango shows catering to tourists, including in Cafe Tortoni downtown and El Viejo Almacen in San Telmo.

But it’s best to hit up a milonga, which is essentially a tango gathering. Usually lessons are offered before a milonga begins. I found one in Villa Crespo at a down-market sports club called Villa Malcolm. A two-hour group lesson in the pink and blue room cost only 60 pesos on a Monday night (about U.S. $4).

The vast transit system can be baffling, but rides cost only 7.5 pesos (U.S. 50 cents), and its six lines mostly lead downtown. It’s convenient for sightseeing but less so for hopping between the outer neighborhoods.

Taxis fill the gap, and are incredibly cheap

by U.S. standards, but traffic can be stressful.

Buses, called colectivos, are 6.5 pesos (about U.S. 40 cents) and a particularly good option if you’re trying to get somewhere along one of the wide avenues that have dedicated bus lanes.

While it’s summer in North America, Buenos Aries is now transitioning to winter.

But its winter is much warmer than Washington’s, with average highs in the 50s and 60s and lows no colder than 45 degrees.

Aeromexico offers the least expensive flight to Buenos Aires from Richmond, at $1,575 round trip in mid-July.

— AP

WRITERS GROUP MEETING

Senior Writers is holding a meeting on Monday, June 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The writers group shares their lifetime of stories through poetry, journals and short stories at LaPrade Library, located at 9000 Hull Street Rd. in Richmond. For more information, call John Smith at (804) 615-0812 or email sirjohn1947@yahoo.com.

June 30

CIVIL WAR HIKING TOUR

Learn about Civil War History on “Hiking Through History,” a historic tour of R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks on Friday, June 30 from 10 a.m. to noon. Take a relaxing walk down to Ashton Creek Marsh, and view some of the remaining fortifications constructed in 1864. The park is located at 201 Enon Church Rd. in Chester. The cost is $8 per person in advance. For more information, call (804) 751-4946. To register, call (804) 748-1623 and request course #32181.

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and more steak. But a flurry of restaurant openings has transformed the city into a worldly food destination.

The craft beer craze arrived along with a burger invasion a few years back, but chefs have begun to draw on other cultures to spice up the mix.

The Korean-Argentinian restaurant Kyopo in Flores serves a sweet and spicy kimchi burger as well as savory rice bowls. In Villa Crespo, I Latina serves a seafood-focused tasting menu of Colombian fare in a renovated townhouse.

San Telmo, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, today is an artsy enclave known for a Sunday afternoon market at Plaza Dorrego, with hundreds of stalls selling antiques, leather goods, vintage gear and handmade accessories.

The rest of the week, sidewalk cafes fan out from the plaza during the day. And late at night, a bohemian crowd mingles with tourists. (Some bars don’t even open until midnight!) One called Doppelganger serves more than 100 cocktails at its dimly lit mahogany bar.

Besides late nights, Buenos Aires is also known for its beef. Don Julio and La Cabrera in the Palermo neighborhood represent fine options at the top end of the steak-joint spectrum, particularly if you pair the meal with a bold Malbec wine.

In the riverside Puerto Madera area, La Cabana sources its beef from its own ranch, and offers views of the spire that angles up from a pedestrian bridge by architect Santi-

June 19

Captioned Telephone

22

From page 21

ago Calatrava, who designed the Oculus transportation hub at One World Trade in New York.

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Style Arts &

Growing heirloom plants, like this bleeding heart, is becoming more popular. See story on page 24.

Styles from fashion icon Saint Laurent Sophisticated paper dolls

PHOTO: PIERRE BOULAT

Saint Laurent’s style started in his early teens, when he would create fashions and hold fashion shows using paper dolls. “He would send invitations to his mother and sisters,” Shifman said, noting that the paper dolls are in the collection, being shown for the first time in the United States.

Later, his groundbreaking designs of the 1960s liberated modern women from the constraints of strict gender codes by creating clothing such as the safari jacket, the pantsuit and the tuxedo — styles borrowed from the male wardrobe.

Women were no longer bound to traditional haute couture. They were free to choose their own style. “Saint Laurent, like Coco Chanel, brought women into the 20th century,” Shifman said. “He was very forward thinking. Some would even say radical.”

The exhibition also highlights collection boards of sketches and color swatches, as well as forms used as first drafts of couture garments that document the various stages of his designs — from concept to final garment.

Saint Laurent’s eveningwear collection is featured in the last of the exhibit’s six galleries. “In terms of color, there is everything from black silk to blue-green chiffon. In cut and tailoring, they are extraordinary,” Shifman said. “Everyone that comes through the exhibit will have their own favorite.”

“Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of

PHOTO BY GUY MARINEAU

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRE GUIRKINGER

By Joan Tupponce who would become his lifelong business and From iconic color block dresses that look personal partner. like abstract Mondrian paintings on the runThe VMFA’s exhibit features 100-plus examway, to menswear fashples of haute couture ion that blurred and ready-to-wear gargender lines, fashion ments, some of which designer Yves Saint have never been Laurent was known for shown publicly before. pushing the boundThe exhibit, which aries of women’s fashshows Saint Laurent’s ion and revolutionizing working process, also the fashion industry. includes costume jewMany of his cuttingelry and other accesedge designs are cursories, as well as rently on display at the photographs, drawVirginia Museum of ings, films and videos Fine Arts (VMFA) in fr om the Foundathe traveling exhibition’s archives. tion “Yves Saint Lau“It’s pretty extraorrent: The Perfection of dinary to have this Style.” much archival material This dress, an homage to artist Piet VMFA is the only Mondrian, is from Yves Saint Laurent’s and documentation,” East Coast venue for winter 1965 collection. It is one of Shifman said. “It’s a the exhibition, which more than 100 designer fashions on very deep and rich exwas organized by the display at the Virginia Museum of Fine hibition that allows you Seattle Art Museum in Arts. to really discover this partnership with the brilliant artist.”

Paris-based Fondation Pierre Bergé — Yves Saint Laurent.

“This is an opportunity that won’t come around again,” said Barry Shifman, VMFA’s organizing curator of the show. Shifman is also the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Decorative Arts. “I see this exhibition as art as fashion and fashion as art. As an artist, Yves Saint Laurent was forward thinking. He was a master.”

The exhibit will be on display through Aug. 27.

This 1988 evening ensemble is a tribute to Georges Braque’s Cubist paintings.

Style” continues at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, through Aug. 27. Tickets are $22 for adults, $18 for those 65 and over, and $10 for college students and children 7 through 17. Tickets are free for VMFA members and children 6 and younger.

Visitors can reserve tickets online at http://bit.ly/vmfaYves or call (804) 340-1405.

M A R K YOU R CAL E NDAR

June 20+

SUMMER PAINTING CLASSES Crossroads Art Center is offering summer painting classes with teacher Curney Nuffer on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, from June

20 through Aug. 1. There will be no classes the week of July 4. Beginner, intermedi-

Dior protégé Born in 1936 in Algeria, Yves Saint Laurent worked in the studio of Christian Dior.

At the age of 21, after Dior’s death in 1957, Saint Laurent was named artistic director of the House of Dior. His first collection in that role, “Trapeze,” launched his career.

Saint Laurent opened his own couture house four years later with Pierre Bergé,

ate and advanced levels are welcome, and classes are primarily focused on oil painting. The cost for six classes is $180. Refunds are not available after classes begin.

Crossroads is located at 2016 Staples Mill Rd. in Richmond. For more information, contact Susan Dull at (804) 914-9791 or susandull@verizon.net, or Curney Nuffer at (804) 356-0911. To register, send a check and a note with your name and the Designer Yves Saint Laurent prepares his first collection in 1961.

choice of class day and time to Susan Dull at 304 Saint Davids Ln., Richmond, Va.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — JUNE 2017

23

Heirloom plants: what’s old is new again roses, the forerunners of modern hybrid tea roses, are valued for their fragrance, long life, resistance to disease and pests, and tolerance of soil types and temperature extremes.

In addition, heirloom seeds are less expensive to purchase, and saving seeds to use for the next harvest is free.

PHOTO BY LEILA MARTIN

By Leila Martin If you’re 50-plus, you probably have fond memories of plants in your parents’, grandmother’s or neighbor’s garden. For me, they’re of bleeding hearts — I recall seeing the delicate dangling hearts in the palm of “Aunt” Mary, my next-door neighbor.

What you may not know is that growing heirloom plants is part of a current gardening trend.

Technically, an heirloom is a plant that is open pollinated by insects, hummingbirds or the wind, or is self-pollinated, thereby producing identical (or very similar) plants.

Heirlooms are usually defined as plants that are at least 50 years old, and that were developed before the era of commercial hybridization. Heirloom seeds are often passed down through the generations, having been hand-selected for a special trait.

In addition to sentimentality, heirloom plants (aka heirloom varieties or heritage plants) offer other benefits as well. Heirloom vegetables often have unique tastes, smells or textures. Another advantage of heirloom vegetables for the home gardener is that the veggies usually don’t ripen all at the same time.

Typically, heirloom plants are larger and more fragrant. For example, old garden

Heirloom vs. hybrid Heirloom seed is distinct from hybrid seed. Hybrid seed (labelled F1 or F1 hybrid) has been cross-pollinated by two distinctly different parents.

Breeders produce hybrids to develop plants with specific desirable characteristics.

In large-scale vegetable production, farmers typically prefer hybrid plants. Their fruits ripen all at the same time, and they are bred to be easy to transport to market.

On the other hand, there are disadvantages of hybrid seed: the loss of genetic diversity and the loss of some positive characteristics.

For example, to breed a tomato that can travel across country from Florida without bruising (i.e., one with a thick skin) might destroy its flavor. Another example is the rose that has been bred to be affordable, sturdy and longlasting; however, it may have lost the characteristic rose scent.

Bleeding Heart

A taste of the past Typically, heirloom seeds and vegetable plants found in a garden center are labeled as such.

Once you plant heirlooms, you can continue to enjoy the blast from the past by saving your own heirloom seeds. (Seeds from hybrid plants are often sterile or do not reproduce true to the parent plant.)

Beans, lettuce, peas and tomatoes are self-pollinating; therefore, their seeds can be saved more reliably from year to year. Well-known veggie throwbacks include Kentucky Wonder pole bean, Scarlet Nantes carrot, Black Beauty eggplant, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, California Wonder pepper, and Brandywine and Roma tomatoes.

To save heirloom seeds, allow the fruits to ripen fully before picking them. Typically, healthy plants produce healthier seeds. Harvest your seeds, and then finish drying them indoors.

Place thoroughly dry seed and a silica gel packet in a tightly closed glass jar and keep the jar in a cool, dry location. Most vegetable seeds remain viable for three to five years when stored properly. Storing the jars in the refrigerator further increases seed life expectancy.

To test for germination in the spring, sprout some sample seeds between moist paper towels. If the germination rate is low, See HEIRLOOM PLNATS, page 25

PHOTO BY LEILA MARTIN

Foxglove

24

JUNE 2017 — FIFTYPLUS

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Heirloom plants From page 24 either discard the seeds or plant extra to yield the desired number of plants.

The nation’s nostalgia garden In Washington, D.C., heirloom flowers surround the National Museum of American History, Behring Center. Part of the Smithsonian Gardens, the Smithsonian Heirloom Garden

highlights annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees that have been passed down from generation to generation. The retro plants chosen for this garden have been cultivated in American gardens since before 1950.

Some of the Gardens’ old-school summerblooming flowers include butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) from 1690; delphinium (Delphinium x belladonna Cliveden Beauty) from 1931; foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) from before 1600; Eastern purple coneflower (Echi-

nacea purpurea) from 1699, rose campion (Lychnis coronaria), a plant grown by Thomas Jefferson in 1767; Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) from 1629; and the small tree or shrub, rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus).

The gardens also include my own sentimental favorite: bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis). Bleeding heart, a Chinese native,

has been grown in Asian gardens for centuries. The plants with the heart-shaped flowers were available in America by the late 1800s. Bleeding heart has remained a shade favorite ever since, as well as one I associate with my childhood and Aunt Mary.

Copyright 2017, Lela Martin. Martin is a Master Gardener with the Chesterfield County office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

PHOTO BY LEILA MARTIN

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

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ANSWERS TO JUMBLE Jumbles: VOCAL LEAVE SCHOOL JOSTLE Answer: What the reckless driver gave the barber -A CLOSE SHAVE Delphinium

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Crossword Puzzle Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus Mighty Pens 1

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By Stephen Sherr

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Scrabble answers on p. 25.

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Across 1. ___ breaker (candy) 4. Boat-moving boat 7. Go Fish goal 12. Its academy is in CO 14. Be wide open 15. State where you can go from Boise to Menan 16. Pepper grinder 17. CEO, CFO, or CIO 18. Clingy wrap 19. With “The”, the start of a quote about the value of testimony 22. Health club costs 23. Birdbrains 24. Subj. of 1st part of 1st Amendment 26. Very small dog 28. Very small amount of money 29. Nelson Mandela’s party 32. Greek counterpart to Roman Cupid 34. Enemy 36. One with fewer electoral votes 38. Part 2 of quote, some label as a Chinese proverb 42. Winner of five 2017 Grammy awards 43. Organization for aviation regulation 44. Makes a misteak 45. Ump’s shout (with 51 Across) 46. Milk maker 49. Economist’s calc.

51. See 45 Across 52. Green military hat 54. Hockey score 56. Conclusion of quote 62. The business end of a pencil 63. Start of -dox or -dise 64. Chills and fever 65. Figure perched on one shoulder 66. Nation which borders both the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea 67. “Buy the rumor; ___ the news” 68. Unkempt 69. Psychic’s power 70. One of 435 in Congress

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Down 1. Enter the pool 2. Largest continent 3. Introverted party guest 4. Prepare for takeoff 5. Put the bottom on the top 6. Insurance spokes-lizards 7. Home of the Montana Grizzlies 8. ___ apple 9. Chief ingredient in poi 10. Burn at the surface 11. Fine-tune 13. Try to get away from zombies 14. Dismounts 20. Enter an alarm’s wake-up time 21. Words the bride and groom say 24. Resolve a loan 25. Wear away slowly 27. “___ can’t handle the truth!”

29. One with detailed maps to the stars 30. Collared jacket 31. Toothpaste originally called “Fluoristan” in 1954 33. French for “salt” (reverse of French for “the”) 35. Santa’s assistant 37. ___ of these days...

39. Not long ago 40. Document the price of merchandise 41. Word forming game 47. Assn.

48. Tearjerker 50. Teller of The Tell-Tale Heart 52. Steak-house leftovers 53. Russian rulers 55. Med. chart notations meaning “against medical advice” 56. Unwanted e-mail 57. Answering machine sound 58. Fixes a sporting event 59. Venus fly ___ 60. ___ of thumb 61. Website with slogan “We know just the place”

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