My second month in Huntington Beach, or Surf City, is almost completed. Oh excuse me, a lady just walked into my senior apartment building. She looks as if she might need help.
"Welcome to the Sunny Side Senior Apartments. You seem lost." The little old lady is lost. Her daughter had just dropped her off in front of the apartments. She is caned and small. Her steps are cautious. Her apartment lies on Florida Street, which I call Widow's Walk.
"I am a first-time-widow and I am lost. What do I do?"
"Well mam, you have come to the right place. There is a lot that you can do."
"Do you know where the third floor is?"
'Let me walk you to the elevator. This is your room."
"Thank you so much. I am having a bad day in this heat."
Mildred is not alone. Widow's Walk is home to the canes, walkers, wheel chairs. Most our women who have lost the loves of their lives...,or so they thought when they got married. Many had been married for over forty years. These apartments, like others on Widows Walk, have an abundance of white-haired ladies who just don't know what to do with their lives ever since Barney went to the other world.
A few in my building have caretakers who take them out for a stroll. Those with less means sit outside in their wheel chair and enjoy the scenery. The older we get, the more we learn to enjoy the sights and sounds of life.
Widows Walk is actually Florida Street, just off of Main and across from the Trader Joe"s Shopping Center. That is George getting into his beat-up old Chevy. So who am I? I am the engineer for the building and know most of the people. But I am busy today as the front fountain has sprung leak.
'Hey George, stop the car for a moment! I am busy so can you take these sightseers on a drive through Surf City. They are seniors and wish to maximize their enjoyment."
"No sweat Carlos. Be just obliged to take them around today." Three new to Surf City climb into my old car. Two sit in the back and I remind them to put on their seat belts. My first stop is Wal-Mart. Inside the can shop or just drink coffee and have a cheap McDonald's breakfast...I order their pancakes and coffee, total of four dollars and change...I no longer buy their bacon ever since the Farmer John's had all fat inside the package.
I put their groceries inside the trunk and we are off to the new Huntington Library. It opens at nine most days, except Monday and Sundays when it is closed do to the Sabbath. Inside there is a children's section and a special room where you can buy cheap books for fifty cents or a bit more I enjoy the Mac 7 where I do most of my blogging and written work. Upstairs I read the local papers as well as my favorite, the New York Times. A microfiche machine allows me to read the paper from way back in the early nineties. There is a section for new books also.
Down below is a coffee shop where cookies and sandwiches can be bought . A beautiful view can be had while you enjoy the water fountain. It can get hot in the afternoon like today, another heat wave day.
I then take them to the Rodgers Senior Center. If short with change, the Center provides a free lunch and a piano player-of course tips gladly accepted since I am the musician. Today it is Taco Day and I say hello to two of my friends Alphonso and Eleanor ...I played a few numbers on their $5000 dollar grand piano and had lunch. The old timers enjoy music, and why not, it removes the drudgery of the day and takes them back to a time they can relate to. Rodgers also had a singing group, bridge and even one that teaches the Uke.
By now you know what old timers need to do in Surf City. Get out there and mix it up a bit. Never be a couch potato.
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