In the coming year, I will turn 80 — a reality I sometimes find unfathomable. But given our national discourse, I find many of today’s realities unfathomable. What I find most troublesome however, is how I am coping with these realities. Among my circle of friends, concerns surrounding aging, death and dying ...

As young campers, we chanted one song ad nauseam. Since I only liked one version — about prey outsmarting predator — I’d often lead us in that one: There was an old man named Michael Finnegan. He went fishing with a pin again. Caught a fish but it flopped back in again. Poor old Michael Finnegan. Begin again....

What makes a gathering of people magical? Well, it’s the waiting for everyone to drive up the drive. It’s the hellos and the hugs and stories of the trip and how the dogs fared. It’s waking up in the morning to, “Who wants coffee? I got some on to brew.” Pancakes? Waffles? Eggs? Scrambled or fried? While brea...

As I was sitting down to write this piece, I saw a story in the Times-Standard about North Coast Ophthalmology closing because the retiring owners have been unable find anyone to take over the practice. Regular readers of Senior News will be aware that we’ve been tracking the declining medical scene here in H...

On Leap Year Eve 2020, I retired from the federal government. I thought I would be traveling to exotic locales, but COVID stopped my international travel plans. Living on the East Coast, I visited national parks during the pandemic. This led me to move to Humboldt County in October 2020 to breathe clean air, ...

The state housing department has adjusted its measure of what it means to be “poor” in California, the nonprofit news source CalMatters reports. For housing purposes, a single person without dependents earning $109,000 is considered “low-income” in five California counties — Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, S...

I gave up New Year’s Resolutions designed to improve myself several years ago. Let’s face it — that ship has sailed. Resolutions sound much more like a wish list for FedEx or DoorDash to deliver … ASAP. This New Year, I have only three things I desperately want to drop out of the sky and land on me without ma...

I have seen my fair share of grief with death over my lifetime. I lost a father at age 12 from excessive drinking, and an older brother whom I was close to, from suicide when I was 18. My mother died at 72 from a heart attack when I was 36. My older brother died at age 49 of melanoma when I was 38. The good n...

For many seniors in Humboldt County, navigating access to essential services can feel overwhelming. Complex applications, online systems, long wait times and confusing government notices can create barriers that prevent older adults from accessing the help they need and deserve. But countless community member...

Volunteer certified tax preparers will once again be available at Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC) this year to help you get your tax forms filled out and filed. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program has helped people with their taxes at sites nationwide for 50 years. The service helps low ...

Humboldt County is blessed with a variety of engaged local news outlets, a rarity in this era of dwindling local news and spreading “news deserts” across America. One of these news sources, of course, is Senior News, your free community newspaper offered by Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC) since 1981. I...

The Humboldt Senior Resource Center thanks the Widows Sons Masonic Riders Association, Brothers of the 3rd Degree, for their $2,500 donation in support of Meals on Wheels Redwood Coast. The donation will help pay for nutritious meals for homebound older adults who are unable to cook or shop for themselves.

Eleven smiling faces, including my own, captured in a photo 24 years ago. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were enjoying a late lunch at the legendary Berghoff’s in downtown Chicago. My friends had gathered for a three-day weekend to celebrate my 50th birthday. The echo of laughter from that weekend still r...

In November, I wrote about sarcopenia — muscle loss — and how it can negatively affect aging. This time, it’s about a second disease affecting older adults, osteoporosis — weak and brittle bones. These diseases can often occur together. When that happens, you can lose your independence — a major fear for seni...

The older I get — and I’m already pretty old — the more I think about transitions. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and don’t feel bad if you’re thinking about it, too. At our age, it’s important to understand that a transition is a word, phrase, sentence or group of sentences that relate a preceding...

One of the most lasting and wrenching transitions of my life was losing my brother Woody 30 years ago. I was 47 and Woody, my best friend and confidant, my ally, my teacher, was 54 when he died of complications from AIDS. Some of the light went out of my world. I always think of Woody at this time of year — h...

I’m so proud of our seniors, so many of whom showed up in the streets in front of the courthouse and elsewhere to participate in No Kings protests in 2025. We weren’t alone, but many of us were gray-haired and carried wonderful signs protesting the current political trends and violations of the rule of law. I...

“The old world is dying and the New World struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.” — Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), Italian communist imprisoned by Mussolini.

Too much global thinking without local knowledge, leadership and adjustment is failing us at home. It is way past time to expand our reliance on local community knowledge and action, particularly to improve local health care. One of the best examples of how local activism makes things happen is the 2024 reope...

To the Editor: As this New Year dawns, so also dawns that annual mental activity known as Making New Year’s Resolutions. For a number of years growing up, I would resolve to not get poison oak. It usually worked. Please allow me now to suggest a New Year’s Resolution for you to ponder and consider. It is call...