HOME & LIVING
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2020
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
PARENTING ADVICE
Making home the safest
place your kids know
By Heidi Stevens
Chicago Tribune
My son’s English teacher
has been running her fi fth-
graders through a very cool
exercise.
She puts a statement on
the wall and the kids have
to place a card next to the
statement that says “strongly
agree,” “agree,” “disagree”
or “strongly disagree.” Then
they discuss their answers as
a class.
One of the statements was,
“Every American has the
same freedoms.” That one got
a fascinating conversation
going on our ride home from
school last week — about
whether having the same
freedoms is the same as hav-
ing equal ability to exercise
those freedoms. From what
my son said, it got a pretty
great conversation going in
the classroom as well.
One of this week’s state-
ments was “It’s easier to be
a kid than an adult.” (Or
something similarly worded.
I realize I’m getting the
paraphrased version several
hours later.) My son picked
“agree.” (“We get recess!” he
told me.) I picked disagree.
A few weeks ago, I was
watching my daughter take
diving lessons. It’s a new
sport for her. Everyone else
in her class has been at it for
longer — years longer in a
couple of cases. She’s deter-
mined to catch up.
I sat in the stands — dry,
warm, fully clothed — mar-
veling at the sheer number
of times kids try something
new on any given day. The
number of times they put
themselves out there to
possibly fail, to possibly get
rejected, to possibly get hurt,
to possibly love something, to
possibly fi nd a match, to pos-
sibly feel like, fi nally, they fi t.
It’s really something.
I think we adults, on the
whole, do less of that. I sat
in those stands wracking my
brain for the last time I tried
something utterly new and
wholly unfamiliar. I tried to
calculate the number of risks
I take. The number of times I
step out of my comfort zone.
The number of times, in an
average month, I walk in a
room full of people socializing
and don’t know a soul. Not
that many.
Adulthood inoculates us
from a lot of that. Maybe
that’s for the best. Living in a
constant state of heightened
risk and burgeoning identity
and fl uctuating friendships
wouldn’t lend itself to a lot
of what adulthood requires,
particularly the parts of
adulthood where we’re caring
for others.
But I think it’s worth
remembering, as we care for
those others — especially if
those others are kids — how
bruising all that new stuff
can be. How tender a person
can feel after trying some-
thing new, possibly failing,
possibly getting rejected, pos-
sibly getting hurt, possibly
falling in love.
I want to remember it as I
set the tone in our home.
Family therapist John
Duffy, my pal and my pod-
cast partner, writes about the
vibe in our homes in his new
book, “Parenting the New
Teen in the Age of Anxiety.”
In early therapy sessions, he
asks the kids he works with,
“As you cross the threshold,
do you fi nd home to be more
of a refuge or more of a
stressor?”
“Too often, the answer is
the latter,” he writes. “Home
feels tense and stressful for a
lot of of teenagers. Some kids
tell me their parents don’t
get along. Others tell me it’s
too noisy at home, and others
too quiet. Some feel judged
whenever they are home.
Some feel they are under
constant watch, and some
feel invisible.”
Duffy encourages parents
to check that vibe. To try,
where we can, to fi ll our
homes with laughter and
conversation. To do a little
less policing and a little more
relating. Even when our kids
are pushing our buttons,
pushing our boundaries,
pushing us away.
“Your job is to hang in
with her, even in the aw-
ful moments,” he writes.
“How mighty and noble and
warrior-like it is as a parent
to stay in the game, and hang
with your child, in the face of
a slammed door, or rejection,
or a wretched attitude. Be-
cause when they come to you,
they let their guard down.
They vent. They transfer, or
download, a day’s worth of
stress and fear and identity
traffi c and anxiety into the
safest place they know: you.”
The safest place they know.
No matter how many new
things they tried — and
succeeded or failed at, lost or
gained — that day.
What a lovely, lucky mis-
sion.
Niacin: B vitamin
that can help
raise your ‘good’
cholesterol level
Mayo Clinic News Network
Niacin is an important B vitamin that may raise
your HDL, (“good”), cholesterol. Find out if you
should talk to your health care provider about taking
niacin alone or with cholesterol medications.
Niacin, a B vitamin, has long been used to increase
high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — the
“good” cholesterol that helps remove low-density
lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol from your
bloodstream.
But niacin isn’t for everyone. People who take
niacin in addition to common cholesterol medica-
tions see very little additional benefi t. And niacin can
cause uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous side
effects.
What is niacin?
Niacin (nicotinic acid) is a B vitamin that’s used by
your body to turn food into energy. Niacin also helps
keep your nervous system, digestive system and skin
healthy. That’s why niacin is often a part of a daily
multivitamin, though most people get enough niacin
from the food they eat.
When it’s used as a treatment to increase your
HDL cholesterol or correct a vitamin defi ciency, nia-
cin is sold in higher doses that are prescribed by your
health care provider. Prescription-strength niacin
includes such drugs as Niacor and Niaspan.
Niacin is also available as an over-the-counter
supplement. Supplements sold over-the-counter are
not regulated like prescription medications. The
ingredients, formulations and effects of over-the-
counter niacin can vary widely.
Don’t take niacin without discussing it with your
health care provider fi rst because niacin can cause
serious side effects when taken in high doses.
Dishing dirt on the ins and outs of container gardening
sun requirement of 6 hours a day
for most vegetables is fulfi lled.
When container planting became
Edible gardening continues to
a new concept in gardening over
be popular, holding steady with an
20 years ago, most gardeners used
average of 30 million households
participating in vegetable gardening the various sizes of the black plastic
nursery pots or the half wine bar-
over the past fi ve years, according
to the National Gardening Associa- rels.
Now containers are artistic and
tion’s Gardening Survey. Container
available in a variety of materials
gardening has become one of the
most popular and fastest gardening including galvanized metal. Utili-
tarian fl eece-like fabric gro-bags
methods.
A vegetable garden doesn’t have are successful and available in a
variety of sizes. Vertical gardening
to be the conventional in-ground
is encouraged to make use of fences,
garden plot. The vegetable garden
can be a mixture of containers on a railings and trellises.
Clay pots dry out easily, which
patio, deck, or balcony as long as the
By Liz Douville
For EO Media Group
BLAZERS
makes them a perfect match for
herbs that aren’t fussy. Thyme,
oregano, sage and tarragon would
be good choices.
Going back to the days when the
method was new, many gardeners
gave container gardening a thumbs
-down. The thumbs -down came
from gardeners being disappointed
with the small yields of their favor-
ite veggie that had been grown for
years.
That’s when plant breeders real-
ized there was a need to develop
smaller varieties that would be
prolifi c in a restricted growing en-
vironment. Heirloom varieties were
land was even better. The
“Bill was magnifi cent,’’
Blazers were 50-10 when
Ramsay recalled. “Had he
Walton went down with
been able to continue, I
Continued from Page 1B
the ankle injury. He never
And during that 1976-77 think he would have been
recognized as the best center played for Portland again.
championship season and
There have been other
to play the game.’’
the fi rst three-quarters of
In the boisterous celebra- nearly great Portland teams.
the following campaign,
With the backcourt of
tion, Walton ripped off his
Walton was magnifi cent.
Alongside him was Mau- jersey and threw it into the Clyde Drexler and Terry
Porter and the explosive
rice Lucas, the “enforcer’’ at crowd.
play of Jerome Kersey, the
The following day, a sea
power forward. Bob Gross
of humanity perhaps a half- Rick Adelman-coached team
moved up and down the
made it to the Finals in 1990
million strong poured onto
baseline as the small for-
but lost to the “Bad Boys’’ of
Broadway for the celebra-
ward, with Dave Twardzik
Detroit.
at the point and Lionel Hol- tion. Walton tried to ride a
The following season,
bike but eventually lost it
lins as the shooting guard.
1990-91, Portland compiled
(it was later returned). In
When Twardzik was hurt
the best record in the NBA
the ceremony at Pioneer
in the postseason, rookie
Johnny Davis took his place. Courthouse Square, Walton (63-29) but lost to the Lakers
poured a beer on Mayor Neil in the Western Conference
While Walton was dif-
fi nals. The Blazers made it
Goldschmidt’s head.
fi cult, Lucas was terrifi c to
The following season, Port- back to the Finals in 1992
me. So was Twardzik. Ram-
say enthusiastically orches-
trated it all while wearing
Providing our community
outlandishly colorful pants
hospice care!
as he prowled the sidelines.
The team won a tough
best-of-three series with
• Symptom & Pain Management
Chicago, then beat Denver
• Education for Caregivers
in six games before sweep-
• Emotional & Spiritual Support
ing the Lakers to advance
• Grief & Loss Services
to the fi nals against Julius
Erving and the Philadelphia
76ers.
(541) 624-5800 • GoHOSPICE.com
Playing at home, the
76ers won the fi rst two
(with Philadelphia’s Darryl
Dawkins and Lucas instigat-
ing a melee in Game 2) but
Portland squared the series
with two wins at home, then
pulled off a crucial victory
on the road to come back to
Portland up three games to
two.
A huge crowd greeted the
team at the airport.
“We Win It Today’’ pro-
claimed a banner headline
in the next day’s Oregonian.
And they did.
Walton was named the
Finals MVP.
extraordinary
brought back. Nursery catalogs and
garden centers are now fi lled with
varieties identifi ed with attention
-getting tags such as patio, baby,
mini or container-suitable. Toma-
toes, cucumbers, eggplant, mini
roasting peppers, watermelons,
cantaloupes, even 4-inch globes of
cabbage have been developed for our
continued fresh vegetable choices.
It is important to match your
container’s depth to the plant’s
expected root growth.
Deeply rooted vegetables, such as
tomatoes and eggplant, should be
grown in pots 1 to 2 feet deep.
Shallow rooted vegetables, such
but lost again, this time to
Michael Jordan and the
Chicago Bulls.
Meanwhile, Walton
conquered his stuttering so
well he became a pontifi cat-
ing character alongside poor
Dave Pasch, the versatile
play-by-play announcer
charged with steering his
co-worker back toward the
game.
Walton doesn’t remember
me, which is not surprising.
as lettuce, radishes, beets, onions
can be grown in shallow containers.
If you like DIY projects, what do
you have that could be recycled as a
planter? Just be sure to drill drain-
age holes if the item doesn’t have
any. Like woodworking? Make a
trellis for cucumbers or beans.
Reuse old potting soil if your
plants weren’t diseased or insect-
infected the previous year. Remove
the top 6 inches and refresh with
new potting soil.
Consider containers with casters
or use caddies under your pots so
you can move them more easily on
hard, fl at surfaces.
But Ramsay, who coached
the Blazers for 10 years
then did NBA radio broad-
casts for ESPN well into his
80s, always said hello.
If you can dig up a video
of that 1976-77 team, do it.
You’ll marvel at the constant
motion Ramsay’s system
employed.
The NBA wasn’t quite as
big a deal back then. Games
during the week were tele-
vised on tape delay.
But no matter, Portland
had its big moment to shine.
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