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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2018)
January 26, 2018 T he C olumbia P ress 6 Senior Moments with Emma Edwards Bad attitudes like flat tires I often read a little devo- tional booklet called “Our Daily Bread.” One day it zeroed in on the subject of attitude. Got me to thinking. It talked about how we each have our own jour- ney of learning to trust God with hard circumstances. That day, the lesson was from the epistle of James. It reminded me of a quote writ- ten by our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, “We can complain because rose bush- es have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” It is said that life is 10 per- cent what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it. As we age, it becomes appar- ent that we can’t change our past any more than we can change how people will act. Frankly, I hate to admit it -- maybe because I include myself here, but some of us seniors can act like children. (No, that can’t be you or me!) As parents, when our six children were growing up we observed a lot of attitude. Mine especially, I suppose, because four of them were girls. In our home, we had an ex- pression, “attitude change,” that we used to suggest one was necessary. The kids knew what that meant, but, as I think back, sometimes it was us who needed to change our atti- tude. In psychology, we learn from authors Eagly and Chaiken that attitude can be defined as “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.” A bad attitude is like a flat tire, the expression goes. If you don’t change it, you’ll never go anywhere. Allen Saunders is credited with the expression or senti- ment that “Life is what hap- pens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” We seniors can be cranky, including yours truly. How- ever, for all the supposing about the pros and cons of our “problems” and wishing things would change, some- times it’s so hard to deter- mine the solution. There comes a time when we must realize the solution to our problems might be our very own attitudes. And the perspective with which we look at the situation doesn’t have to be negative. Gratitude is the best treat- ment for attitude. As we age, we realize that life hasn’t been easy or perfect or what we may have dreamed of. However, we can make a choice. We can choose to be happy and grateful no matter what comes in our pathway or react like children. It would be a good idea to shout “attitude change” to our own selves sometimes. It’s up to us! Late Pearl Harbor survivor’s jacket stolen Losing her dad was hard on Donna Barnett, who served as caretaker during the last years of Spurgeon Keeth’s life. Someone stole his coat and hat from her car shortly be- fore Christmas. “I discovered the items missing shortly after his death as I wanted to include them in a memorial service display,” Barnett said. “It could’ve happened here in the driveway or at the grocery store, Post Office, etc., and I inconsistently locked the ve- hicle, depending on how big of a hurry I was in.” Keeth, who was Clatsop County’s last known Pearl Harbor survivor, died Dec. 28 at Barnett’s home in Ham- mond. He was 92. He was just 16 when he A military honor celebra- joined the military and was tion was held Jan. 6 at Camp sent to Pearl Harbor. Within Rilea and the coat and hat months his base was under were to be part of a attack by the Jap- display there. anese and he saw The coat was a many friends die. He later served in Cherokee-brand tan the Solomon Islands, zip-up style light in Guadalcanal and casual jacket with Munda. He missed a large round Pearl death more than once Harbor Survivors and suffered through Association patch six bouts of malar- sewn on the back. ia, according to old The hat was white newspaper accounts. and dark blue and Keeth Anyone who may trimmed in yellow. It, too, had a Pearl Harbor patch have seen the jacket or hat or who may have informa- on the side. Keeth was given a place tion about the theft is urged of honor during VFW cere- to contact Officer Jeff Dalry- monies and in Warrenton’s mple at the Warrenton Police Department, 503-861-2235. Fourth of July Parade. Continued from Page 1 “It’s something we always struggle about,” she said. “We lock our garbage (bins) and people come and leave their bags next to them. It’s always messy. We’ve done so many things to try to keep it clean. If it’s windy, it’s nasty.” Sometimes city employ- ees will find addresses in the bags of household waste left in the recycling area and con- tact the people responsible. Public Works Director Collin Stelzig did not return phone calls Wednesday seek- ing comments on when im- provements will be made at the recycling center. Recology, the company Warrenton uses for its recy- Recycling: Solution sought for messy situation Most frustrating are the folks who dump things there that aren’t recyclable: furni- ture, concrete blocks, house- hold waste. The city set aside $70,000 in the current budget to re- build the recycling center on Southwest First Street be- hind El Compadre Mexican Restaurant. Plans are to pave it to im- prove maintenance and cleanliness, add lights and set it up in a more user-friendly way. That comes as a relief for Maria Avelar, owner/manag- er of El Compadre. Senior lunch menu Monday, Jan. 29: Baked chicken, cornbread dressing, gravy, green beans, squash soup, apple pie. Thursday, Feb. 1: Menu was not available. The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502. cling services, is trying to al- leviate some of the problems there. “We just recently ex- changed the carts there for carts that have wind latch- es on them,” said Rhonda Green, waste zero specialist for Recology. “If they do tip over, hopefully the items stay inside.” Warrenton residents who want wind latches on their own recycling bins can re- quest them by calling the city at 503-861-0914 or Recolo- gy directly at 503-861-0578. The city of Warrenton pays for the wind latches. Those who live outside city limits will be charged $15. Tuesday event to benefit AHS band A night of music, good food and good cheer to benefit the Astoria High School band is set for Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Fort George Brewery, 14th and Duane streets in Astoria. The Astoria Band Boosters Benefit Night helps the non- profit boosters support and improve music education in the Astoria School District through financial and logisti- cal support for music educa- tion. The event is from 4:30 to 10 p.m. on the second-floor din- ing room. The high school’s jazz band will perform.
