CHAUTAUQUA

The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I have never written in this e-journal about Chautauqua, an institution which each year provides everyone, who wants to pay each day, a nine-week program of lectures, plays, operas, symphonies, educational programs, and discussion group activities.  I call it an intellectual Disney Land knowing that such a reference might be considered a bit snobbish.

Each morning during the week the major lecture lasting an hour and 15 min begins at 10:45 includes Q & A as it is called, you know questions and answers. This lecture occurs in the Amphitheater known as the Amp.  Interestingly, this structure dates back to the early 1900 and is in the throws of being torn down or just rebuilt.  Much controversy here as anyone can imagine but that is another story.  Of course with that long history, many well-known speakers have presented at the Amp.  The most notable was President Roosevelt.

A few of these lectures have celebrity speakers, many of whom we have seen on TV.  The topics vary many are about timely issues covering a host of topics.  Each week has a theme in which the speakers are expert.  In the afternoon at 2 in the Hall of Philosophy is another lecture which can have some religious connotation as it is sponsored by the Department of Religion.  This lecture can be followed at 3:30 by another lecture some of which are also presented by well-known speakers.  These can include authors of books selected by the Chautauqua book club the topic I write about later.

Besides these major lectures the day is sprinkled with other lectures and learning activities.  At night are different entertainments including opera, symphony, plays, individual or team acts including musical groups.  Bill Cosby has been a regular but I think his visits have ended.  

I have been attending this annual event for well over a decade beginning in 2002.  I discovered it when I visited my son who was Assistant Professor at the New York State University located in Fredonia, NY.  Even though it was only a half hour away and he knew of Chautauqua, he had never visited.  So, during one of my summer visits when the program was ongoing we visited it and found it to be most entertaining.  Thus I have attended every year since.  I even bought a condominium unit on Lake Erie in the little town of Westfield just a short 20-minute drive to Chautauqua which of course I use each summer.

Now why am I writing about Chautauqua in this article directed towards old people?   Well because it is visited mostly by old people who get some respect there.  In fact if you attend when you are 90 years old you get to begin to attend for free.  Of course at this age not many people are capable of attending because a considerable amount of walking is involved.

Still getting in free is a considerable savings for to attend for one week the cost is several hundred dollars per person not to mention that living on the grounds in less than lavish small quarters costs about $1300 per week.  So, attending this program is not for poor people. None-the-less I enjoy it not only for the programs most of which are well presented but because I am among so many old people.  It is interesting but when we become old we suddenly find ourselves living in a minority group.  Now this can be disconcerting especially to us white people who in American have always been in the majority.  And, I am aware of my new position in life when I go to the grocery store and see how few old people are buying food.

Of course having attended Chautauqua for many summers I have met and acquired many good friends some of which have become very close but that is another story.

In the summer of 2014 I became a celebrity of sorts as I was appointed the rare and distinguished position of a Keeper of the Gates.  Now this requires some explanation to be sure especially if you have never attended Chautauqua during the summer activities.  I previously mentioned all of the formal activities which can be attended each year at Chautauqua but I failed to mention that anyone can become a member of the Chautauqua Literary and Science Club (CLSC) by the way the oldest book club in America, by reading just ten of their listed books of which ten new ones are identified and published each year.

But what is the CLSC and why should anyone want to join this rather low profile book club when it requires four years of dues and reading ten books? And, some of these books may not be high on your list of interesting books to read.  So my interest in this book club waxed and waned for over ten years of attending these summer programs before I decided to take the plunge. And to be sure, it was certainly not about reading books for I am not an avid book reader.  Oh yes I do read a few books each year but they tend to be on history and science and not many of those kinds of books appear on their book list.

None-the-less a few years ago I decided to join and begin to pay my yearly dues and read those ten books.  Well to my surprise I had already read some of those books so I only had to read about five which was about one each year.  Well, that was no big challenge so I began my quest to become a member. 

With my four years completed in 2013, I graduated with some 300 plus book readers from all over the United States and became a dues paying member of CLSC Class of 2013.  Out membership was the highest number since the Class of 2000. Another interesting distinction was that our class honoree was Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.  I campaigned very hard for her. For many years she has enjoyed Chautauqua frequently seeing her on the grounds on many occasions so in some respect she is a Chautauquan.  And, she was kind enough to address our graduating class.

I became our class Newsletter writer and Secretary an honor on top of an honor. The following year we had the privilege, well really the requirement to help put on the graduation ceremony for the CLSC Class of 2014. 

This graduation ceremony is rather elaborate for what one would call a local event.  I would class it at the level of any College graduation of which I have attended more than I wish to count.  One of the high lights of this graduation which takes place in the late morning hour is for the new honorees to pass through four named gates as they make their way walking to attend the major morning lecture in the Amp in their honor.

Well as I wrote about a few paragraphs ago, I was asked to be one of only two gate keepers for the first gate, known as the 'History Gate'. This gate being the first our class gate keepers will guard as we graduated just last year is one of four gates through which the new gradates pass each year.  And, I remain a guard for each of those gates for the next three years!  Of course I had to wear an elaborate shiny ornament around my neck which cost me only $40.  My uniform for this festivity was a white shirt and white pants.  I did have a white shirt but my pants were a bit off color but next year I will be prepared with the most pure white pants ever worn at this crowning event.

  

So, why am I writing this long dissertation on my new position?  Well, it is the commitment that I made to get this honor.  At 82 years of age I am committed to stay alive for another three years!  My last year of guarding the gate I will be 85 – Wow!!!!!

Interestingly, I did not think of this commitment until I had accepted this invitation.  I guess that speaks a thousand words about my thought process on accepting old age.  Good for me.  On the other hand, perhaps I should have reasoned that three more years at my age is nothing to scoff at although the actuary table guarantees me another six years of life.  With a guarantee like that I need not to worry about my age affecting my commitment to complete my obligation.  I have always prided myself on taking any challenge seriously.  You know if I said I would do something I would do it.  So with this commitment I am sure I will live at least three more years – well maybe.

MY NEW CAR

                          The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

Yep, you read it right I just bought a new car.  I decided that my old Honda Fit had to be traded in on a new one.  It was not that my old Honda Fit had anything wrong with it, but I needed some driving aids which I could only get by buying a new car.

Today most cars are built so well that many will go 200,000 miles without any problems.  In fact several years ago I had a 1998 Toyota Avalon that I gave to my son with about 200,000 miles on it.  He and his family needed another car and they put on another 100,000 miles without any major problems and it would have gone farther but one of his kids wrecked it.  I remember a few decades ago a person was lucky to get 100,000 miles on a car before there were serious mechanical problems with it.  Then the Japanese came along and showed American car manufacturers how to do it right.

I only had 90,000 miles on my 6-year old Fit so obviously it had many more trouble free miles on it, but I needed ‘cruise control’ and ‘automatic transmission’.  Yes, my old Fit had a stick shift and no cruise control.  Why would I buy a car that was going to be my only car with those two driving helpers?  Well, it was going to be my car for running around town.  My primary car for traveling long distances was going to be my old Avalon but like I just wrote my son and his family needed it so I gave it to them. 

Well here I was with a new little car that I quickly began to love.  I have told many people that it is the best car I ever owned and I have owned many very nice and some expensive cars. A Porsche sports car comes to mind.  So, here I am with a new car that I loved without cruise control and automatic transmission.  And, each year I drive myself from San Antonio, TX to Westfield NY on Lake Erie for the summer.  That trip is just a little less than 1900 miles. 

But of course, six years ago I was only 75 years old and able to give what it took to drive for three long days with my foot on the accelerator all the time.  Well, this last summer at age 81 it became just too much to give for what it took.  My right leg just gave out as it rode the gas pedal for hours upon end.  Yes, I stopped at all of the rest stops and that helped but once back in the car my right leg quickly began to hurt again.  And, trying to drive with your left leg on the accelerator is really impossible but I tried many times without of course any success.

Now, buying a new car is as much fun as getting a tooth canal as we all know from the horrible experience of doing combat with a car salesman or saleswoman.  Yes, now we have a choice to argue and fuss at a man or a woman.  And, I can tell you from experience there is really no difference. The one difference is that the saleswoman must be pretty whereas the salesman can be as ugly as a broken down fence post.  I wonder what the saleswomen do when they began to lose that kind of sex appeal.

At my age I assume that this will be the last car I will ever buy.  Come to think about it, this will be the last time I have to argue with a salesperson and it’s the last time they have to pretend to make me think I am getting a good deal. 

So, having returned not long from my summer trip back to Texas I had to buy a car with speed control and auto transmission.  Certainly, now days because most cars are so good a late model used car is a real bargain and worth looking at, but the Fit does not loose much value.  I paid $14,000 for it six years ago and the retail Blue Book was over $7000! An interesting side note is that 2007 was the first year that the Fit was imported into the US.  It had been in use in Japan for several years before they decided to start sending them to us.  Of course Americans had to ask for more car so it quickly got longer by 3.5 inches, with more gadgets, etc. so it weighs more and gets less gas mileage.  Still, the gas mileage is not all that bad. My first tank of gas gave me 33 mpg and that was mostly around town.  My old Fit gave me 42 mpg on the highway.  We’ll see…

So, why did I buy a Honda Fit?  Well, there are lots of reasons besides the fact that it gets relatively good gas mileage and I am concerned about global climate change.  Of course there are other cars which get better gas mileage so why the Fit.  The first big reason is that it is a very dependable car.  Consumer Reports of which I am a great fan, always gives it the highest marks on its list of several criteria.  According to CR I should be able to get a minimum of 200,000 miles on it without any major problems.  For me, it is practical for I like the huge rear space for hauling things which includes the ability to collapse the two rear seats for more room.  And, old people should drive small cars for the simple reason that they are easier to handle.  Lastly, it is reasonably inexpensive to buy.  

I’m still learning things about it which is fun.  Many surprises and most of them are rewarding.  Last night I suddenly realized that when I got in the car I could not find where to put in the key.  Of course the roof lighting was not turned on right. I had a difficult time finding the ‘on-off button’ for the radio.  For some reason they moved it from where it was on my old car, but the radio still looked pretty much the same.

It has tinted windows, some thin fake strip of paint on the side, and the door edges have some nearly invisible covering that the salesman pointed out with considerable pride.  I didn’t need this stuff but it came with the car so not much I could have done about it. And, of course they discounted the car so that stuff came free. Yea right…

It is silver in color which I like.  My other car was white.  These light colors are important when living in a hot climate for obvious reasons.  Everyone tells me that the tinted windows will help keep the interior cooler.  I suppose so…

But, I must admit that this car rides much better and with less outside noise.  I do love it already and I hope that those feelings remain as the years pass.  Speaking of years passing, when I get it paid for I will be 86 nearly 87 years old.  Yes, I financed it for some important personal reasons.  I usually pay cash for things like this but I may need the cash so I decided to finance it through the car dealership.  And, at 0.9 % interest the money is costing me very little.

I thought at my age they might think twice before offering me a 60-month contract and without life insurance.  Now, they didn’t bring up my age but they found out of course working out the contract with them.  And, the girl looked shocked at finding out my age.  Well, she tried to look surprised as she told me I looked much younger.  Now, that was not a reason for me buying the car from her, but it helped.

Now, I have monthly payments which I hate.  I am trying to get it taken off my bank account automatically each month so I don’t have to write a monthly check after they send me that monthly statement.  I wish they would just give me a book with monthly coupons which I could just tear out and send it in with the check.  Monthly statements sent to me become complicated when I move to NY each summer.  You know a change in address. 

I asked at the dealership about getting it taken off my bank account automatically each month.  He said just go to your back when you get the first statement and they will do that for you.  Well I did just that and the bank person told me no, that it was done through the dealership.  Oh well… 

I still love my car and I have had it for nearly two weeks now.  And, I think I am getting better gas mileage as I examine the gas gauge but of course I will not know for sure until I fill up the tank and check the mileage.  I should get good mileage for I drive like an old man.  I still try to stay out of the way of speeding cars which pass me like I am standing still yet I am going the speed limit.  Well maybe a few miles below it.  I think with age comes more responsibility behind the wheel of a car.  The trick of course is not to drive so slow that you impede the traffic flow.  I am cognizant of that because I don’t want anybody to think I’m an old person.

Oh by the way, occasionally I find myself trying to work with my left leg the clutch that isn’t there and I forget to sometimes use the cruise control when I should.  Oh I still attempt to lock the car by pushing on the right door lock button instead of using the electronic door lock button I now have on my car  key.  You know the problem of teaching old dogs new tricks.