Senior Lifestyles

Left Photo courtesy of Carol Oldenburg; right Photo by Mary Larsen/Town Crier
Villa Siena resident Elmere Oldenburg, at left during her school days at the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, reflects on life during an April visit to the senior residence, right.

Longtime Mountain View resident Elmere Oldenburg now makes her home at Villa Siena Senior Living Community, sponsored by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Born Elmere Ehrett in New Orleans in 1923, she grew up amid the festive atmosphere of Mardi Gras and carnival balls. Finishing high school at 15, she continued her studies at the Ursuline Academy, where she graduated from college.

People have various mind-sets about growing older. Some want to avoid thinking about aging for as long as possible, while others see it as a negative passage that must be endured. To set an ideal mid-life into motion, you need a positive outlook.

A study of 660 adults ages 50 and older from an Ohio community, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, revealed that people with positive attitudes about aging live more than seven years longer than those with negative attitudes.

Kabir Bakie/Wikimedia Creative Commons

It was probably my idea. The birdhouse kit, I mean. We lived some distance from our two young grandsons, and no doubt I was looking for a project that would make our short visit more memorable. A new birdhouse, perhaps? To be perched on a low branch where it would be visible from the kitchen table long after we had returned home? Just the ticket.

For the Birds. Really!

Two grandsons and a birdhouse

Getting older and becoming seniors (whatever that means) results in an increase in some activities while there is a decrease in other activities. The following is dedicated to an activity that is on the increase: travel.

Travel is an activity that seniors are increasingly participating in. Given the expanding amount of discretionary time available, travel has become the No. 1 activity for seniors.

LA Senior Program offers variety of events

The Los Altos Senior Center at Grant Park has scheduled the following events.

• 12:30-2 p.m. today: CPR/AED/choking class. Representatives from the Santa Clara County Fire Department will instruct on compression-only CPR, how to use an automated external defibrillator and how to help a choking adult or child. The class is informational only, not for certification purposes. Space is limited; call 947-2797 to check on availability.

Courtesy of Enid Davis
The Wise Owl Players includes, front row, from left: Jane Stefani, Enid Davis and Sandra O’Neal. Back: Bob Johnson, Graceann Johnson, Katherine Chappelear, Ellin Klor, Michelle Diederich and Mary-Jo Lomax. Not pictured: Linda White.

Spending their Monday afternoons practicing alternate personas, participants in Los Altos resident Enid Davis’ Having Fun with Monologues class hone their acting skills in advance of auditions for the Wise Owl Players’ next performance.

The Wise Owl Players, sponsored by the Palo Alto-based nonprofit Avenidas, offers drama classes for adults ages 50 and up. The troupe previously produced “Animal Farm,” George Orwell’s novel adapted by Ian Wooldridge, and Davis’ “Deleted.,” a comedy about a support group for fictional characters deleted from their authors’ manuscripts. The group’s mission is to foster social connections, personal growth and self-esteem, as well as to demonstrate the richness seniors bring to the community.