As described in the Summer 2017 issue of BC Law, Collington resident, my wife Joan, was given one of the five Law Day awards this year by Boston College Law School for her lifetime of dedicated work in domestic violence and sexual assault. She saved thousands.
Here is the video of her being introduced for the Hon. David S. Nelson Public Interest Law Award and her speech. (I apologize for the quality of the video at the beginning. It gets much better at about 2 min, 25 secs.)
Fabric Art by Jacob Kijne
Every few months the corridors of Collington’s main building are the site for a new exhibit of art work done by residents. These shows will be featured on the website as they occur. This summer, one corridor is the site of a show of fabric art by resident Jacob Kijne.
Jacob, an irrigation engineer and soil scientist, started creating fabric art when he was living and working in Lahore, Pakistan. He bought a sewing machine, and had his secretary translate the manual from Urdo. Inspired by the ready availability of local fabrics, he made his first piece, Sunflowers, shown in the exhibit and center below.
When he moved to Sri Lanka to become Research Director of the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, there were more great fabrics available, and also some great scenery that inspired a number of wall hangings.
In retirement Jacob married for the second time, and spent over a decade consulting on water issues to several developing countries, based first in a small home north of London, and then condos in Washington DC. Some of the hangings he made during these years are also in the show.
Above left is a view of the houses in the Dupont Circle area; Jacob had a view similar to this from the window of his office/work room in the one-bedroom condo he lived in when first coming to Washington. Above right is a hanging commissioned by his wife Marian Fuchs (also now a Collington resident); she wanted something in the colors of the great room of their home in England.
After some time, the couple moved to a larger condo in the heart of downtown DC. This home had lots of windows, and not very much wall space. So Jacob made a series of long, thin wall hangings to display between the tall, thin windows. Here are some on display in the Collington corridor this summer, show here sideways.
This wall hanging was made after attending an exhibit at the Textile Museum a few years ago. The show was called Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa. The mats, blankets and baskets were all done in shades of beige and black or dark brown, and were a feast for the eyes of intricate abstract patterns..
This piece is called ‘Red Squares’. The fabrics are left-overs from making pillow covers for the new condo ‘great room’. Most of the textiles came from stores in England and the US, but a few were collected during visits to India.
‘Umbrellas’ was inspired by the long escalator at the north entrance to the Dupont Circle metro. On rainy days riders keep their umbrellas up until they are half way down the escalator and in the metro proper. The bright colors are always a charm on a grey day.
Above is part of the wedding quilt shown in full at the start of this article. When Jacob and Marian married in England in 2004, guests were asked to give as gifts a scrap of fabric to be included in the quilt. The big center piece was the fabric Jacob used to make his bride a dress for the occasion.
Here are two more hangings from the exhibit. The first was made in nostalgia for winter, while Jacob was living in the tropics.
Ten Birds was inspired by a painting by Fred Tomaselli in an exhibition in 2000 in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Jacob made the hanging 17 years later, so any resemblance is unlikely. A generous donation of fabrics from a fellow resident, stimulated Jacob to finally make the piece.
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Posted in Campus, Photos, Residents, Works in Progress
An article in the Sunday, July 9 issue of the New York Times addressed aging and housing as they affect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Not having some of the options available to many family members, L.G.B.T. adults often worry about where they will end up, and wonder about their ability to afford getting old and possibly sick in a society that is not totally accepting of them.
We are fortunate that as a married lesbian couple we do not have to depend on our families. And, we can afford to live within a community that practices its nondiscrimination policy. We interviewed only Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRs) that were welcoming. Only at one CCRC were we introduced to another gay person. We shared meals and histories with all the residents we met before we signed on to live at Collington Life Care. Here we met people who were friendly, curious, of course, and encouraging that Collington would be a good match for us.
The article spoke about gays and lesbians who had to go back “in the closet” or remain there in order to find a retirement community. That is a particularly sad state when individuals cannot be themselves and have to live a lie, mostly to protect the discriminator! We have no bias against those who are not like us. We are “out”. We have had a good life and continue to have a good life in the Collington community where there is diversity, friendship, intellectual stimulation, fun things to do, cultural activities, and paths through lovely woods inhabited with wild life.
The picture for older adults is not always this pretty regardless of sexual orientation. But for the L.G.B.T. adult, the choices can be limited and less clear. Communities such as Collington provide the safety, security and variety of activities we all want to enjoy during these elder years. We could have selected other communities, but Collington provides us with the best of many worlds.
We are grateful for all of you!
Editor’s note: Thanks Lois and Nancy, you have already added so much to our community.
Posted in Activism, Residents, Strategic Planning
This folks, is your chance to see Grant Bagley as an Inquisitor and Margaret as a nun. You have been warned! (Review here.)
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by Anthony Ernest Gallo Directed by Beatrix Whitehall A guest production from Seventh Street PlayhouseAll Teresa of Avila wants is to open Carmelite convents and attain an elevated state with God. First, she has to deal with a nervous novice, two lusty friars, a nosy Royal mistress, the Church hierarchy, and the Spanish Inquisition. Will she survive?Featuring: Emily Canavan, Renate Wallenberg, Margaret Bagley, Hazel Thurston, George Spence, John Starrels, James McDaniel, Beatrix Whitehall, Grant Bagley, Steve Rosenthal, Sam Simon, and Rodney Ross. July 15, 15, 21, & 22 at 8PM Ticket prices: $22 General Admission, $20 Students/Seniors/Military, $12 Youth (12 and under with adult) |
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Posted in Drama, Humor, Perspectives on History from Residents, Residents, Works in Progress
Grant Bagley is a longstanding leader here at Collington with achievements than I can remember, but they include law and medical degrees. As he explains below, he and a colleague (Wes Chapman) were invited last summer to make presentation to senior Trump staff on how to deal with our healthcare problems. In the paper below, they put their very best foot forward.
Hey, President Trump,
To fix the Healthcare mess, listen to the dog that didn’t bark!
Dr. Grant Bagley & Wes Chapman
July 4, 2017
Preface: This is the first in an occasional series of articles looking at selected healthcare policy issues best addressed by the famous conundrum of the “Dog that didn’t bark” in the 1892 collection of short stories, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story “Silver Blaze,” is a mystery about the disappearance of a famous racehorse and the murder of the horse’s trainer. Sherlock Homes solves the mystery in part by recognizing that no one he spoke to in his investigation remarked that they had heard barking from the watchdog during the night – the absence of the expected is the clue to the mystery. We propose, and hope to convince the reader, that to solve the mess unfolding around the repeal/collapse of ACA (Obamacare), don’t listen to the howls of partisans and media. Instead look for policy solutions in the silence – where the dogs don’t bark.
In the late spring of last year, just before the Republican convention, we were invited to present to the Trump campaign (at the Cabinet Secretary level) regarding the best healthcare policy for the Republic under a Republican Administration. This was a treat to put together, and a fun presentation to make – it’s not often that you can imagine a White House beholden to nobody, with a clear but inchoate mandate for change. And we were proposing the framework to contain and direct that change – for over $3.0 trillion in annual expenditures.
Our initial premise was pretty simple, US healthcare is the most expensive among comparable nations, with the lowest quality. In simple terms, we spend 17% of our GDP for healthcare, and rank dead last among 11 comparable countries in terms of quality. Our suggestion was pretty simple, let’s take a look at what these other folks are doing and learn from it.
Here is the full Barking-Bagley paper. Simple, crisp, clean and right.
Posted in Activism, Health Care, Residents, Strategic Planning, Works in Progress
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