Sunday, January 28, 2024

Word of the Year for 2024: Community

 


Hiking in Ephraim Canyon
24 January 2024

I've done it again. I moved. 

After 7.5 years in Newburgh, Indiana, my husband and I moved to Ephraim, Utah.  This is a return trip to the state of Utah. However, I formerly lived in Utah County (9 years) and Salt Lake County (1 year). I am new to Sanpete County, population 28,437. I did visit the Manti Pageant in 1976 and the Manti Temple in 1991; otherwise, I am very naive about all things Sanpete.   

The county has deep roots with the Latter-day Saint Pioneers. It was settled in the 1850s (with some controversy with conflicts between the white settlers and the Native Americans as well as many conflicts among the white settlers over land rights and water rights).  Many of the settlers were Scandinavian. I looked at all the photos of pageant queens at the county court house. I saw names such as Jensen, Hansen, Nelson, Olsen, Jorgensen, etc.  Ephraim hosts an annual Scandinavian Days Festival at the end of May, and Spring City hosts Heritage Day the same weekend. 

More than half the county is federal or state lands. It's beautiful here. My husband works at Snow College, but much of the economy is based on agriculture: raising cattle, sheep, and turkeys.  Many people have ancestors going back 3, 4, or 5 generations. However, in the last twenty years, there have been more people moving in from other Utah counties or even from out of state. There is a significant Hispanic population here, many working for The Moroni Feed Company / Norbest, working with turkeys.  (I think Tyson recently bought this business.)

Word of the Year

You can see that I have been thinking a lot about my new community.  I recently finished a book about the history of Sanpete County, a book that has a strong focus on the 19th Century.  I have also been trying to meet people at the college, at church, at the library, at quilting bees, at gardening club, book club, the university fitness center, the hardware store, etc. 

I am trying to create community around me. It will take me months to accomplish this.  

Monday, January 1, 2024

Happy 12th Blogoversary


Photo by Whitney
via Creative Commons

Over the last 12 years, I have managed to create 475 posts on aging. These posts explore how we can better manage our own wellness while offering support to the generation above us. 

In reviewing the "All Time Most Viewed" statistics, I can see that the Top 10 posts for this blog have remained about the same. 

If you want to see what blog readers most enjoy reading, you can go to THIS LINK for the 6th Blogoversary celebration (01 Jan 2018) to find links to the Top 20 most viewed posts. 

The most notable change in the Top 20 is that the 2013 post about Robert C. Peck's Tasks for Older Adults is slowly moving up in the rankings. You can find that post at THIS LINK

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023 Top 10 Posts

Image by Joseph Brent
via Creative Commons

It's time to look in the rearview mirror. 

In 2023, this blog hosted 14 blog posts--excluding this one. Here are the Top 10 most viewed posts in reverse order. 

10. It's Never Too Late to Stand Up Straight. Published 5 June 2023. LINK

9. My Source of Wisdom. Published 28 April 2028. LINK 

8. Posture Mantra: Tall, Proud, Ballerina-Book. 26 June 2023. LINK

7. Empty Nest Ennui. Published 7 March 2023. LINK

6. Mother's Day Gift Guide: Nonfiction Kidlit. Published 1 May 2023. LINK

5. Boomer Named Karen. Published 4 April 2023. LINK

4. In Love--A Memoir of Loss and Love. A Book Review. Published 28 February 2023. LINK

3. Numbers Top--Friday Fashion (photo at the right). Published 31 March 2023.  LINK

2. Curriculum Vitae with a Focus on Gerontology Instruction. Published 1 February 2023 LINK

and DRUMROLL, please. 

1. Word of the [2023] Year: Breath(e). Published 29 January 2023. LINK

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Holiday Gift Guide 2023: Nonfiction Kidlit

 

For the last five months, I have the opportunity to read 90+ nonfiction books for children (elementary, middle school, high school).  I do tend to favor picture books. I believe that they make great coffee table books for readers of all ages. They are great conversation starters.  I learn a great deal about a variety of topics from reading these books, which can inspire me to read college-level books on the same topic. 

I also end up giving copies of some of the books to families with young readers. You might find a title that will make a great holiday gift or birthday gift for a young person in your life: your own child, niece/nephew, grandchild, neighborhood kid, a child from your faith community.  

Yes, it was painful to select just 10 from the nearly 100 nonfiction kidlit books I have read during the second half of 2023. I hope that you have the opportunity to read at least one of these titles so that you can give a copy of that book to a child (or a local school). 

Listed by the age of the target audience. 

Meet the Bears. Author Kate Peridot, Illustrator Becca Hall. Published 27 June 2023 by Welbeck Children’s.

The overt narrative depicts a parent helping a child identify the species of a teddy bear. However, the book teaches young readers about the scientific principles of definition and classification. The illustrations set each of the eight species of bears into their habitat, and there is a great map of the world that depicts the types of bears found on 4 of the 7 continents.