Ballard High School
"Class of 1966"
Website
August 2025
August is here — ushering in the end of summer and painting the world in the warm hues of sunflowers and sunset skies! It is a month that feels slow and easy as we savor the heat and begin to settle back into our routines.
Lazy summer afternoons,
Walks along the beach,
Balmy evenings, cloudless skies,
Stars just out of reach,
The reading of a delightful book,
Lounging in the shade…
These are the simple treasures.
Of which August days are made.
“August is the month that reminds us how important it is to cherish every single summer day. May your month of August be filled with wonderful blessings of good health, love, peace, and happiness.”
If our stressful world has you down, this may help.
Now that we have so many fearful and emotional things going on in the world today, our brains are noticing more threats. Everybody has the blues from time to time. But if you have ever struggled with the feeling that nothing is enjoyable anymore and there is no point in trying anything, your sadness has a name: Situational Anhedonia.
Experiencing situational anhedonia often holds defeatist beliefs. You might have negative views of yourself, combined with negative views of the world—which are not surprising at the moment—combined with negative views of the future, like 'it's not going to get better' or 'I'm always going to feel this way.'"
Try a daily practice of self-care, often made up of small but impactful intentions, which may help keep you energized and gratified.
Exercise may be particularly beneficial for people with situational anhedonia because it promotes the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine, which is released when we feel rewarded. Although many components of the dopamine system are reduced in older age, dopamine synthesis is stable or upregulated.
Spending time outdoors in green spaces can improve cognitive function and memory.
Increase your social life with family and friends. Isolation can create a higher risk of health problems.
Slowly reducing our electronic use of phones and computers in the hours leading up to bedtime can help us reap some of the benefits that proper sleep has to offer.
Healthy eating is an important part. Having a healthy diet can help support muscles and strengthen bones, which can help with balance and independence. Examples of food that increase dopamine levels are chicken, almonds, apples, green leafy vegetables, green tea, tomatoes, and turmeric.
A meaningful self-care practice can help make you feel healthy and joyful in mind, body, and soul and when practiced over time, these small rituals can add up to a healthier and more joyful life.
Oh, and do what your doctor tells you to do.
Here’s this month’s attempt to bring humor to you.
Jeff goes to see his doctor. “What seems to be the problem?” asks Dr Wilson.
“Well, I’m not quite sure how best to describe it, doctor,” Jeff responds. “It might be easier if you hold your stethoscope to my thigh and just listen.”
Dr Wilson is slightly puzzled by this suggestion, but he follows Jeff’s request. However, when he holds his stethoscope to Jeff’s thigh, he can hear a little voice saying, “Hey man, can I borrow $20? I just need $20 to get me to the end of the week.”
Dr Wilson steps back with a puzzled look on his face. “Right,” says Jeff, “now hold your stethoscope to my knee.”
Once again, the doctor does as he was asked. This time he can hear the same little voice saying, “Hey man, can I borrow $10? I just need $10 to get me to the end of the week.”
Once again, Dr Wilson steps back with a puzzled look on his face. Jeff looks at him and says, “That is weird, isn’t it doctor? Now take a listen to my shin.”
Again, the doctor does as Jeff asks and he hears the same little voice saying, “Hey man, can I borrow $2? I just need $2 to get me to the end of the week.”
Once again, Dr Wilson steps back with a puzzled look on his face. He thinks momentarily and then the answer dawns on him.
“Ah, now I see,” says Dr Wilson.” Your problem is obvious. Your leg is broke in three places.”
An old Native American man has a need to borrow $500, so he goes to his local bank and asks to speak with the Loans Officer. The banker welcomes him and then says a loan application form must be completed. He takes a loan application form from his desk drawer and begins to question the old man.” “So, what are you going to do with the money?” he asks the man.
“Buy silver, make jewelry, then sell it,” the man responded.
“And what have you got for collateral?” asked the banker.
“Don’t know collateral,” replied the old man.
“Well that’s something of value that you provide us with to cover the cost of the loan if you fail to repay,” said the banker. “For instance, have you got any vehicles?”
“Yes. 1979 Chevy pickup,” replied the old man.
The banker shook his head, “No that will not do, I am afraid. How about livestock?” “Yes, I have a horse,” replied the old man. “How old is it?” the banker enquired.
“Don’t know, has no teeth,” replies the old man.
The conversation went on like this for a while but eventually, the banker decided to grant the $500 loan to the old man.
Several weeks later the old man returns to the bank.
He pulls out a large roll of $100 bills from his pocket, “Here to pay,” he says.
He then hands the banker $500 in $100 bills to repay his loan.
“Business has been good I can see,” says the banker. “What are you going to do with the rest of that money?’
“Keep it close to me,” the old man responded.
“Why don’t you just deposit it in my bank,” the banker enquired. “Don’t know deposit,” replied the old man.
“Well, you just put the money in our bank, and we take care of it for you. Whenever you want to use it, you can withdraw it,” the banker responded.
The old Native American man leans across the desk, looks the banker in the eye, and asks, “What you got for collateral?”
A German Shepherd dog, a Doberman and a cat all die on the same day, and they find themselves at the Pearly Gates facing God’s judgement.
God is seated on a golden throne, and he asks each in turn what they believe in.
The German shepherd answers by saying, “Dear God, I’m a firm believer in discipline and loyalty to my master.”
“That’s excellent,” said God, “you may sit here at my right side.”
“So, Doberman,” says God, “what is your response to my question?”
The Doberman reflects on the question momentarily and then says, “Dear God, I believe in love, care and the protection of my master and his family.”
“That’s very good,” said God, “you may sit here at my left side.”
God then looks at the cat, he smiles and then says, “So, my feline friend, what is it you believe?”
A moment or two passes before the cat looks at God nonchalantly and then says, “I believe you’re sitting in my chair.”
A lawyer was reading out the will of a wealthy man to his family and everyone mentioned in the document.
“To my loving wife Mary, my rock and without whom my life would have been very different, I leave the mansion in Bel-Air and $20 million,” the lawyer read aloud.
He paused momentarily for his audience to digest this information and then he continued reading. “To my darling daughter Louisa who supported me so much when my health began to fail and never once complained, I leave my business, my yacht and $1 million,” said the lawyer.
Again he paused momentarily to allow this information to sink in. The lawyer then continued reading the closing section of the will, “And to my brother Neville who argued with me constantly, hated my guts and thought I would never mention him in my will. Well, you were wrong. Hi Neville!”
A zoo was experiencing serious cash flow problems due to visitor numbers falling. The zoo’s management got together to discuss how they could reverse the trend by introducing a major attraction.
Following the meeting, the manager persuaded a visitor, who was a big, stocky man, to take a job dressing up in a gorilla costume and masquerading as a great ape.
This deception worked well as the man really threw himself into the role with enthusiasm; devouring buckets of bananas, swinging from branches, pacing his cage menacingly, beating his chest and roaring loudly.
However one day he went a bit too far and he accidentally fell into the lion’s enclosure next door.
Panicking, the bogus gorilla started shouting, “Help! Help!”
The lion let out a tremendous roar and then rushed at him. He put his paw on the bogus gorilla’s chest and growled, “Shut up buddy, or we’ll both lose our jobs!”
In a little village in the far north of Scotland, an elderly widow was living on her own, struggling to get by with just a small, State pension for income. A very cold, hard winter had been forecast and, naturally, the old lady was worried that she would not be able to pay her heating bill, with gas becoming so expensive. She had no family left; she was completely alone and had no one else able to help her.
So, she turned to God for help.
She decided to write a letter to God, in which she said,
“Dear God, you will know that I am on my own now since my late husband Jack died and you will also know that I have little income. In your endless mercy, can you please send me $150 to pay my winter gas bill to help me survive by warming my little house during the bitterly frigid winter nights ahead?” Not having an address, the old lady simply addressed the envelope “To God” and then dropped it into her local post box.
The following morning the letter arrived in the local postal sorting office and, on seeing the address, the postal workers were unsure where to send it. So, the supervisor opened the letter for more information, and on reading it, he felt genuine sympathy for this poor widow. Being a decent man, he decided he would do something to help her.
So, he called all his colleagues together, explained this poor woman’s predicament, and requested they all dig deep into their pockets to raise money to help her.
This collection raised a total of $130, which was close enough, so the supervisor put the money into an envelope with a letter explaining that he hoped it would help her. The letter was signed “God” and addressed to the old lady.
A few days later, another letter addressed to God arrived at the postal sorting office. The supervisor gathered his colleagues together before opening it, thinking the old lady would be conveying her gratitude. It was not what they expected. It read, “Dear God, Thank you for the money. It was genuinely appreciated. However, you should be aware that those thieves in the postal sorting office had stolen $20 from the envelope.”
What do you call a man with a rubber toe?
Roberto!
What is the difference between a tick and a politician? One is a blood-sucking parasite, and the other is a tiny insect.
An elderly man returned to a Mercedes dealership to find the salesperson had just sold the car that had his interest to a beautiful, busty blonde.
“I thought you said you would hold that car for me until I raised the $75,000 asking price,” said the old man. “And now I am told you just closed a deal for $65,000 to that lovely young lady over there. You insisted there could be no discount on this model.”
“Well, sir, what can I tell you?” replied the salesperson, grinning. “She had the cash in her hand, and just look at her, she is stunningly beautiful. How could I resist.”
At this point, the young lady approached the old man and handed him the keys to the car.
“There you go,” she said. “I told you I could get this joker to drop his asking price. See you later, Grandpa.”
Let me tell you a story about something that happened last week. My wife and I went into town to do some shopping. We came out of the store only to see a police officer writing out a parking ticket. Naturally, I went up to him and said, “Come on buddy, how about giving a senior citizen a break?”
Well, he just ignored us and continued writing the ticket.
As he completed the ticket and was putting it on the windshield, I called him an “asshole.”
Well, he just glared at me and then started writing another ticket, this time for having worn-out tires.
As he completed that ticket, my wife called him a “jerk.”
He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing more tickets.
This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we called him offensive names, the more tickets he wrote. Having slapped the last one on the windshield, he then started walking away with a smirk on his face. Just then our bus arrived, so we got on it and went home.
Moral of the Story: When you are retired it is essential that you look for ways to have a little fun each day.
I have started investing in stocks: Beef, Chicken, and Vegetable. One day I hope to be a Bouillonair.
Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought
about you today. You make the world a better place just by being in it.
Live life for today.
Look for a single moment of joy each day.
Pray for tomorrow.
Cherish your blessings.
And visit with your precious memories often.
Thank you for visiting.
Your Ballard High School Class of 1966 Reunion Committee.