Do any of you make New Year’s resolutions anymore? As Mark Twain wrote on New Year’s Day in 1863, “Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time.”
It may be surprising, but 50% of those who make New Year’s resolutions actually keep at least one of them. And a little hint: You are more likely to keep a resolution if it is about adopting a new habit, and not about avoiding one — such as not having that bowl of ice cream every night.
And do we really need them? I mean, at our age, we’ve experienced enough that we should have it all figured out, right? And what do we really want to change?
But New Year’s resolutions are an opportunity to imagine what changes we would like to experience this year: Walking with friends every day, finishing that book you’ve been meaning to read, or mailing out the Christmas cards! (Is it too late?)
There is much we can’t control: Medical emergencies; the size of our social security check; whether it is going to rain or snow. But there are still many aspects of our lives we can control or at least influence.
So here we are, in a new year. We can keep doing the same old same old — and there is nothing wrong with that. But we can also branch out — take this opportunity to contemplate other ways to make our lives worth living — so we won’t miss what is truly important.
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I couldn’t answer several of the past Brain Teases, since I’m not the sharpest bulb in the drawer, but I hoped you could. But for the next several weeks I’ll provide a little respite and share teases which I think you’ll find easier — maybe too easy!
How can a woman pass three cars going 70 miles-per-hour, while going 60 miles per hour?
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It’s time to catch up on all of you who responded to the last three weeks of “Remember When” questions. And as you know, each winner will have a ticket entered in a quilt raffle drawing.
Dec. 21 — The name of the popular toy invented in 1943 that can travel down a flight of stairs, end over end and land upright, was a Slinky.
I received responses from Donna Mollett, Jay Waterbury, Rhonda Spies, Doug Nelson, Barb Blair, Pat Evenson-Brady, Lana Tepfer, Maria and Paul Kollas, Patty Burnet, Jess and Kim Birge, Keith Clymer, Jim Tindall, Tina Castanares, Bruce Johnson, Robert Mobley, Stephen Woolpert, and this week’s winner, Melissa Hayes, who sent a Slinky Commercial she found on YouTube.
Dec. 28 — The name of the 1957 tearjerker starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr was “An Affair to Remember.”
I received correct answers from these romantics: Kim Birge, Debbie Medina, Doug Nelson, Rebecca Abrams, Tina Castañares, and Bob Johnson, the week’s winner.
Jan. 4 — The name of the automobile manufacturer that built the Lark and the stylistic Avanti was Studebaker.
I receive correct answers from Jay Waterbury, Dave Lutgens, Donna Mollet, Doug Nelson, Bruce Johnson, Steven Woolpert, Marlene and Keith Clymer, and Emmett Sampson, this week’s winner.
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The national college football championship game is over and to acknowledge the end of the season, I’m going to ask a college football question that has Oregon roots. For this week’s “Remember When” question, who was the quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 1962 and surprisingly also helped lead his school to the NCAA Basketball Tournament Final Four in 1963? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788, or send it with the Jan. 7,1963, edition of Sports Illustrated, where he was named “Sportsman of the Year.”
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“Many years ago, I made a New Year’s resolution to never make New Year’s resolutions. Hell, it’s been the only resolution I’ve ever kept!” — D.S. Mixell
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Well, it’s been another week, trying to remember to write 2023 and not that other year. Until we meet again, may you have more laughs than tears this new year.
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Nutritious home-delivered and in-person meals are available at noon Monday through Friday unless otherwise noted.
Seniors of Mosier Valley (541-980-1157) — Mondays and Wednesdays; Hood River Valley Adult Center (541-386-2060); Sherman County Senior and Community Center (541-565-3191); The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels (541-298-8333).
For meal sites in Washington, call Klickitat County Senior Services — Goldendale office (509-773-3757) or the White Salmon office (509-493-3068); Skamania County Senior Services (509-427-3990).
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Answer: The cars she passed were going in the opposite direction.
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