Dear friends and family,
Here goes, Le Shana Tova, Happy, sweet New Year’s to my dear friends who celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

It’s been a long time, but I can explain everything, of course.

DaVida and I went to the jail to participate in a ToastMasters Club meeting for inmates. It is a maximum security facility. I went for a 4 hour orientation with a group of other volunteers. Most of them were from churches or from AA. All I can remember, is that I am not allowed to wear anything that shows skin such as sleeveless shirts or plunging necklines. We're not allowed to wear sandals with bare feet but sandals with socks are acceptable. But certainly not haute couture! We are not allowed to bring in anything except our drivers license and keys to the car and an asthma inhaler, if needed. We were extremely discouraged from giving anything to inmates such as cigarettes or ballpoint pens or money.
It's a big project to go there. I was picked up at 1015 and didn't get home until four. There was an hours drive and then we stopped to eat. We were expected at 1220 and you can't get there early, or late. We parked and went into the first room where we turned over our drivers license for a badge with a picture. We waited in this room with about 40 or 50 other people, mostly relatives of inmates, and when we were called, we went through security. I went through the metal detector with no problem but DaVida set off the alarm, as usual, with her harness and leash and metal collar. The guard asked me if she could pat down the dog. I told her the dog would love it. As she is patting down the dog she says, "Is it a female because if it is a male I will have to call a same-sex guard." I said, "if you are patting her down you should be able to tell whether she's a male or female." All the guards thought that was hysterical. It seems that this was the first guide dog that ever came in to the prison that the security guards remembered. So then we went down the hall and into a room that was like an elevator. There were sliding doors behind us and then when those doors closed the other doors opened and then down the hall we went. Another room with sliding doors and then we went out of the building and across the yard with barbed wire on both sides and into another building pass the security guards down the hall and into a classroom. That was the dedicated Toastmasters room with a podium and lots of awards. The Toastmasters club had been meeting at the penitentiary for many years and had won many awards. Then the inmates started to drift in. I was surprised that they were wearing chinos and T-shirts or blue jeans. I guess I had been expecting prison outfits. But street clothes looked better. They of course started to pet the dog with my permission. One fellow said that he hadn't petted a dog in 10 years. That made me so sad. The dog was the hit of the day. She got so much attention and petting and affection and it was so good for the guys and her. There were about 20 inmates and they basically gave motivational speeches and seemed to be working on improving their lives. I was very impressed.
Several important things came out of this meeting for me. I went there in curiosity and interest in a new experience. But I came away with humility and a great feeling that I could bring some pleasure by bringing my dog to these incarcerated guy's, some of whom will never get out of there. They talked about release dates for those who will be released but some are in for life. So quite the experience for me.



On the work-front: I sort of wish I was working. I would love to have work I would love. But I do not have to work and that is nice. There are fewer work positions for a smart, half-blind, 67 year old woman. Sounds gruesome! Let me rephrase that, with all my experience and visual acuity, I probably should start my own business. There, that sounds better. I do really well when I have my own business. It inspires me and I can spend many many hours happily working. Now the question is what to do?Sell pencils from a tin cup? Too old for the oldest profession! It wil have to be something on the Web. Any ideas?

On the home-front: I applied for senior housing at the end of last year. That was 2007. I was accepted and put on a waiting list the application process was extremely difficult. They wanted many objects that I did not have such as a copy of my social security card, which I have not seen in 10 or 15 years, the annual report from Social Security which was in transit at that time, and lots of financial information which was very challenging to put together. And each time I had a piece of paper that fulfill their requirements I had to have for myself a cover page in giant letters that would let me know what it was. Otherwise I would just have to keep going through all the paper work over and over again to figure out what was what. And because I know a lot about bureaucrats, I made two copies of everything. One was submitted and the other was for my files. When I got done the package was about 4 inches high. They told me that it was the thickest package that anyone had ever presented to them. Well, I was accepted and now I am on a waiting list for a two-bedroom apartment. It is the Seattle version of rent control and, as you can imagine, is highly desirable. As I requested a two-bedroom apartment, the weight could be several years.
I had been living in a retirement building for almost 2 years. It was very comforting to live there. At first I hated it. Everyone was so old. They are still old, but I have such a different feeling about it. In the beginning many of the residents looked like grasshoppers to me. So imagine this. You know how a grasshopper looks with long skinny legs that go straight down in front. Or maybe the look of a praying mantis. Well, I can only see about six to 10 feet in front of me, and blurry at best. After that everything is gray and hazy. When I look down the hall and see all these residents with their walkers, they look like grasshoppers. Sometimes I tell them that they look like grasshoppers and if it is the right group they laugh. And what I have found is that some of the residents are bright and funny and great company. I look forward to seeing them and we have wonderful dinners together. Then there are the others... the ones with short-term memories.We have the same conversation everyday. Then it feels like Groundhog Day over and over again. DaVida and I are very popular, mostly the dog! But I will take what I can get.

At the end of July I moved to my own wonderful apartment in Ballard. It is a two bedroom two bath apartment in the heart of this wonderful town. Ballard is like the East Village in New York City. They're a lovely restaurants and bakeries and art shops and antique shops and thrift shops and many many banks and boutiques. I live two blocks from the heart of town, one block from a lovely park, one block from the Ballard Library which is very interesting as it has a living roof. Many of the community activities take place at the Ballard Library. I am just getting to know my way around, learn the bus systems. I already have a number of friends and Ballard.
So living in my own apartment makes it possible for me to keep a large fund in my nursing home care insurance and if I ever need it, it will be available. In addition, I have hired a lovely nurse's aide to come to my house several times a week and help me with food shopping and cooking. She loves DaVida, of course. Who wouldn’t love this dear dog who bounds over and kisses you whenever you show up? The world would be a better world if we all had the love of a dog in our hearts.
Some of the things I am working on right now are taking Braille lessons, I am the Program Chair for Seattle Mensa for 2009, that will keep me busy. I am also joining the health club a few blocks from here. I am studying Meditation and Buddhism, Chi Gung, (Seattle is very woowoo) and attending Celtic Celebrations such as Autumn Equinox! I belong to 4 Toastmasters clubs: 1 lunch club, 1 advanced Toastmasters club, the one that meets at the prison, and one specialty club called “Philosophically Speaking”. I am not sure that I am getting better at speaking, but I am having a wonderful time. And, of course, book clubs…lots more.

The Woo Woo Bio

Claire Anderson is a businesswoman, writer, publisher, and teacher. She is an ordained minister, Reiki practitioner, ADD Coach (Attention Deficit Disorder), and author and lecturer on the subject of achieving abundance. She is currently teaching “Spiritual Creativity” based on “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron. She is a founding member of Tri-Circle Healers, and author of Spiritualism and Healing as a Business. She is the President and Co-Director of the Center for Creative Consciousness.

She received her B.A. from Hofstra College and her M.S.Ed. from Hofstra University and was doing post-graduate work in Counseling and Guidance at the University of Miami when she met Holly Schwartztol in 1974. They have collaborated on a number of projects over the years.

Claire has owned a number of businesses. They include Metro Hobby Shop, a needlework design shop on Long Island; Choices, a personal introduction service; St. Claire-Alexander, a publishing house; The Salad Bowl, a nursery and gardening center; Claire Shulman and Associates, a financial advice and bookkeeping service; and Anderson Computer Services, a computer sales, support, and repair organization. She has written and published a grammar text for middle school students, a business management text, and many newsletters.
Claire is past president of Miami Mensa, served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, and was recognized by President Carter for Community Service.