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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2018)
16 Health & Fitness Wednesday, August 15, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist Aging in Place I like a clean barn. Not the Marine Corps’ idea of clean, but clean enough I’d be happy to eat a sandwich in one of the stalls, or share a slice of birthday cake in the tack room. So I was working in the barn the other day, and listening to the radio, when I heard a talk-show guy going on about “Aging in Place.” This caught my atten- tion because I didn’t know Aging in Place was a thing. Turns out, Aging in Place is a catchy new phrase employed in the on-going effort to help us die better. That indus- try, I learned, is focused on designing and marketing gadgets and life-hacks so that we can all grow old in a chair and never have to move anywhere again. Which is a thing that will happen to all of us at some point, even if it is challeng- ing to navigate from the era of “Just Do It,” to sad-sack Of a certain AGE Sue Stafford Columnist Wrinkles are a badge of honor The development of new medications, procedures, and medical devices may offer the prospect of more years (quantity) to life but what about having a life worth living (quality)? In a society that prizes youth, there is the unfortu- nate tendency to impover- ish the concept of “aging.” But I challenge all of us, regardless of age, to be our- selves and not let the num- ber of birthdays we’ve had define us. Disregard the societal encouragement to “not get old,” the message of Madison Avenue. ideas of “Aging in Place.” Those phrases are the adver- tising world’s way of exploit- ing Newton’s First Law of Motion, which says that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, while an object at rest tends to stay at rest. I like the first part better. The Crow medicine woman Pretty Shield, who was interviewed by Frank Linderman at the Crow Agency schoolhouse in the early years of reservation life, didn’t like the seden- tary approach either. Her life WAS motion, and being stuck on the reservation and cross-fenced out of her own country was like eating cyanide. “Now my people wear gloves, and too many clothes,” Pretty Shield said. “We are soft as mud.” Which, I gather, is pretty much the idea behind Aging in Place. Pretty Shield told Linderman that the arrival of the horse made the whole world better. Before the horse, “...when an old woman was used up, no good any more, the people set up a lodge for her, gave her meat, and wood for her fire, and then left her there to finally die... In those days when men grew too old to take care of themselves they dressed in their finest clothes and went to war against our enemies, often alone, until they found a chance to die fighting. It was different with the old women. They In a number of world cultures, elders are honored and respected as the reposi- tories of wisdom and experi- ence. I have learned a great deal over the course of my life, and I view my wrinkles and gray hairs as outward badges of inward strength, courage, and survival in the face of life’s challenges and perversities. As my former physical abilities begin to change or fade, my slower pace pro- vides opportunities to notice and reflect on happenings and people around me. I also choose willingly to let go of extraneous activities and relationships that don’t bring joy or enrichment to my life. Worries about minor issues or things beyond my control can be released. If life has taught me noth- ing else, it has proven over and over that I am enough, I have what I really need, there is always enough time, and what was meant to be will be. There is a peace that comes with acceptance. I don’t mean settling or giving up or giving in. Rather, true acceptance for me involves satisfaction with what is (or isn’t) taking what life is sat in their lodges until their food was gone, until their fires were out; and they died, alone.” These days, it seems, men are a lot more likely to put on a pair of flip-flops and pink capris and die whining about their daddy issues and iPhone battery life. Horses changed every- thing for Pretty Shield and her people, for the better, because it made hard things easier and more productive. Horses can still do that for us; if you take care of a horse it will return the favor. A horse will never let you age in place, but it might let you die there. Tom Blasingame, for instance, was a Texas cow- boy who worked on the JA Ranch for 73 years. One morning, in December 1989, he rode off on his favorite horse, Ruidoso. Somewhere out on the prairie Blasingame stepped off Ruidoso, lay down in the grass, then folded his arms across his chest and died right there. Blasingame stayed in motion until the very end, and Ruidoso carried him to the next world. A horse IS motion, and when we crawl onto one we become a blended thing meant to get moving. And I mean a real horse, not the imaginary one ridden by Joanna Rohrbach in her sensational YouTube series “Prancercise.” I’m making fun, but the truth is I admire her pluck to get off the offering (or withholding) and making the most of it. Being thankful for all that is and has been, as life’s way of teaching patience, empa- thy, understanding, and com- passion, goes a long way to living a rewarding and meaningful life. My heartbreaks have cre- ated in me the ability to love more deeply and uncondi- tionally. My successes have provided the foundation for my confidence and willing- ness to try. My failures have schooled me in humility and patience. I wouldn’t trade the inner peace of my age for the physical strength and energy of my youth even if I could. I enjoy letting go of struggle and striving, and resting in acceptance and satisfaction. There are moments of frustration with dropping something for the umpteenth time, or my arthritic fingers fumbling repeatedly to sim- ply button my blouse, or los- ing a word or a name that I‘ve always known. Those are simply more opportu- nities to practice patience, accept what is, and just maybe, try asking for help. That’s a subject for another day! FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PHOTOPHILDE A horse IS motion. couch, get outside, and to do something while people half her age can’t even operate a can-opener. Montana writer Bill Kittridge noted that ranch women tend to age rapidly until they are 40, and then stay 40 for the next 30 years. They stay 40 for decades even as their diets consist primarily of everything we aren’t supposed to eat. And that’s because they can’t, or just won’t, Age in Place. Mindset matters. There was a kid in my Marine Corps platoon we called Poop. Poop was famous for being able to sleep anywhere, at any time, and so I took pictures of him whenever I saw him sleep- ing. I made a little book of those pictures called Poop’s World Tour, with photos of him sleeping from San Diego to Kuwait and back. He didn’t think it was funny, but I was trying to be help- ful. The point was we can’t go sleeping through life, and we’d better stay frosty and froggy unless Aging in Place is all that we ever want to do on this world. Pretty Shield lived to the age of 88. Her life in Crow country was incredibly dif- ficult, but always reward- ing, and the thing she loved above all was moving camp. She had seven children, and raised nine grandchildren alone. She was treed by griz- zly bears, attacked by Lakota war parties, and charged by a buffalo bull. But it was only when that life ended, and she was forced to Age in Place on the reservation, that she became unhappy. And isn’t it notable, in a culture where movement was the stuff of life, that people didn’t just die? Instead, they were proudly said to have “walked on.” Keep Those Birds Fat & Sassy! $2 OFF ANY 20 LB. BAG OF BIRDSEED! Offer good through 8-22 102 E. Main Ave. | 541-549-4151
