Month: June 2017

Who Was Julius Caesar?

Gaius Julius Caesar, known as Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, general and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC, at the age of 55. My interest in him was prompted by the event that happened many years later. In 1599, William Shakespeare wrote his tragedy, “Julius Caesar”, and last month, my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing a performance of the play in Ashland, Oregon. We came here after spending five days in Klamath Falls, only an hour and a half away; I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago. Ashland, which is about a seven-hour drive from San Francisco, is the place for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In its 82nd year, with four different stages, this Tony award event is the magnet for theater lovers and an opportunity for talented actors and directors to share their skills. In spite of the long drive, we come here often. My wife Elfa bought a yearly membership and we were able to see two shows this time. The second play we saw, “Shakespeare in Love”, was an adaptation of the great movie made in 1998 under the same name, which won seven Academy Awards (after watching the play, we saw the movie and enjoyed the great story again).

Ashland is a very pleasant town with good restaurants, book stores, a beautiful park and very pleasant people. We usually stay in a B&B, but this time my wife booked our stay at the Ashland Springs Hotel, one block from the theater. If you like to watch good theater productions, I strongly recommend this trip, but buy tickets in advance.

P.S. Every time I come to Ashland in the spring and take my customary walks in the residential neighborhood in the early mornings, I am amazed by the incredible blooming flowers in almost every front yard. I share four of them with you.

Enjoy and Share.

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Cheers,

Do You Like Golf?

Golf, as a majority of sports, has four basic aspects: the players, the equipment, the field, and of course the fans. The fifth one is the business aspect, which is probably what is behind making any sport activity. I do not play golf and do not care about people swinging clubs, but I like golf courses very much. Many resorts are developed in the proximity to a golf course. Some enthusiasts travel long distances just to play a few rounds.

I am writing this story after walking along one of the most luxurious golf courses I have ever visited. It was designed by Arnold Palmer, and our time share, which I wrote about last week, was located right on the course. If you play golf, the focus is on the small ball, which depending on your skills, will fly to a distant spot, when struck by a golf club. However, for many it is not only a recreational sport, but also a social excursion. A friend of mine, who used to be a big shot at Bank of America, had to learn how to play golf to enable him to bond with prospective clients. Many important deals have been sealed on golf courses, and many sports medicine doctors, in particular chiropractors, make their living from this wonderful sport, as do the developers and operators of golf courses.

It is generally widely believed that the game of golf originated in in the Netherlands during the middle ages. From there, it spread to the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, and eventually to the United States. I found a fascinating article about golf’s history in Wikipedia. Often Exclusive private golf clubs are designed for those who have very deep pockets, with waiting lists, but there are exceptions to the rules, like the beautifully appointed golf course in Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Regardless if you play golf or not, you might be able to enjoy your time on golf courses, as I did.

P.S. While staying at the resort, I would get up early and by 6.30-7am, I would go for a walk along the golf course. It was still chilly, and not a soul in the vicinity. The grass was wet from the dew, the sun was coming out from behind the trees, greeted by the chirping birds. Pelicans, who slept by the lake, woke up alerted by my approach. And since there were no players, the whole course belonged to me. Four images are not enough to share the beauty and the joy which filled my heart while I was there.

Enjoy and Share.

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Cheers,

Do You Know About Klamath Falls?

Klamath is located in 25 miles north of the California border in Southern Oregon. When I mentioned to a friend that we are planning to come here for a week-long vacation, she made a face and asked what do you do there? We stayed at the Running Y Resort in a Timeshare Exchange. Our fourth floor unit had a balcony that faced the golf course designed by Arnold Palmer with sweeping views of the mountains. On our way there, we stopped at Mount Shasta to buy groceries. It’s a dinky place at the foot of the snow-covered Mount Shasta Mountain.

Our resort was a twenty-minute drive to Klamath Falls, a local center with a population of over 20,000 and three local museums. Klamath is the name of one of Native American tribes, who lived there for 4,000 years. It is located 6 hours North of San Francisco (it took us eight hours with two stops) and 5 hours south of Portland. One of the local attractions is about an hour drive to Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park. It was formed about 2,200 years ago when the Mount Mazama Volcano collapsed into a caldera and filled with water to form a lake. Crater Lake is the deepest and clearest lake in the United States. When we got there, the surroundings were covered with snow; a magical scenery to see. People were skiing along the shore or walking on snowshoes. We were at the lake a few years ago during the summer and had a completely different experience.

The area has many other attractions. We visited the Lava Beds National Monument, which is actually located in northeastern California. It has numerous lava tube caves, which are open to visitors (You could read about this place in the last Sunday’s Travel Section of San Francisco Chronicle). Klamath Falls area is well known for their bird sanctuaries, as well as fishing and hiking. We did everything but fish, which we let others do for our dinners. But the most important part of our visit was to have a few days of rest and fresh air and it gave me an opportunity to start writing my next book, “Retirement Solutions for Smart People. 5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”. I will keep you posted. We stayed in the resort for five days and then drove an hour and a half to Ashland. I will let you know about this visit in a few weeks.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. For me, photographing nature or people has the same basis. I photograph when I encounter beauty. With nature it can be easier, to what these four images will attest.

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Cheers,

Why And Where To Go Running

After participating in the Bay to Breakers race, I wrote about two weeks ago, I have a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you, relating to the synonym for the word “running”, which is the word “rushing”.

Running as a sport was introduced during the Olympic Games, which first took place in 776 BCE in Olympia, ancient Greece. But the number of runners was relatively small. The rest of the world population was growing rather slowly. There was no reason and nowhere to rush. The actual change came during the Industrial Revolution, which started in 1760 with the invention of the steam engine. Consequently, people could accomplish more in the same period of time, and work longer hours. In addition, as a result of a breakthrough in medicine and changes in lifestyle, people could live longer, productive lives. Over the course of this period of time, we have been doing more and more. But the question remains – are our bodies and our mental state ready for all the pressure and demands on our lives? During the dot-com bubble, which took place from 1997 to 2001, thousands (if not millions) of young men and women have worked hard, longer hours. And then the bubble burst. However this did not stop the rush. In the last few years, more and more start-up companies have been popping up and driving the competition and the rush to make it another Google or Facebook. People are rushing to catch the next business opportunity, and not only young people.

There is a story about Bill who was running in the street and ran into his friend, John. “Where are you running?” John asked. “To catch the business opportunity”, Bill answered. John replied, “How do you know that the opportunity is not trying to catch up with you?”

So, what makes us rush and run? Years ago a friend recommended I read the book, “What Makes Sammy Run?” The book was written by Budd Shulberg in 1952. It is a story written about a young man – Sammy who wanted to succeed in Hollywood (over sixty years ago).

Years of rushing through life, working hard, short vacations, and not enough money leads to stress. Many people look forward to their retirement. Are they ready? I first came across retirement issues about a year ago when I helped a retired couple buy their first home by utilizing a reverse mortgage.

This led me to the realization that many people are not ready to retire. After doing some research and reading a few books, I decided to write my own book called “Retirement Solutions for Smart People”, as well as to conduct seminars titled “Retirement Solutions 4 You.” The first seminar took place last Wednesday with an incredible turnout. We will continue these events. Please stay tuned.

P.S. I took over 500 images at the Bay to Breakers race. Then after deleting more than half of them, I still have a few to share with you. As you can see, people have different running/walking styles. Some fly above the ground. I encountered a man, who in spite of being handicapped, found a ways to compete with specially designed prostheses, while yet another man couldn’t walk straight, but this did not stop him from running. But there were also those who felt that their clothes slowed them down and found a solution by simply taking them off.

Enjoy and Share.

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Cheers,

When It Is Time To Retire

I received a phone call recently from a childhood friend. She and her husband, with whom I went to school, used to live in Virginia. We saw them at least twenty years ago on a trip we took to Washington DC. She told me that after losing her job and her husband selling his business, they decided to retire in Sarasota, Florida. They were able to buy their new home for cash, after selling their house. After waking up late in the morning, they take a fifteen-minute drive to the beach and swim in the warm Caribbean waters. They meet and spend time with quite a few other people in Sarasota, who have chosen a similar lifestyle. Their children live quite a distance away, but they see each other often. My friends are planning to take a Scandinavian Cruise in May, which will end in our hometown of Riga, Latvia. For many retirees this kind of life sounds great, but not for me.

Being only seventy years young, I feel that my retirement can wait. We just moved into a new office. The lease is for five years with a five-year extension. Thus, I am planning to keep myself busy by helping other people to enjoy their retirement, for at least the next ten years. Last year I started to help a number of clients get reverse mortgages. During this experience I realized that a lot of people feel lost and need my assistance later on in their lives. I decided that I can help them by writing a book. Not about reverse mortgages (there are quite a few on the market), but rather about how to prepare for retirement.

The title of the book is “Retirement Solutions for Smart People. 5 Easy Ways To Enjoy Your Golden Age.” Retirement is a popular subject among the baby boom generation, and I’ve found quite a few books on the subject. Most of them are written by professionals who manage money or by professional writers.
In my book, I’m going to write about the following 5 Easy Ways to prepare for retirement:
1. Having a retirement mindset
2. How to create savings
3. Who can help to get better results
4. How to make the Government your partner
5. How to manage and lower your debts

I expect my readers to be age of 30 and up, since it takes time to prepare for one’s retirement. As soon as you start to develop your retirement mindset, it will be easier to enjoy your next life’s journey, many years later. We are launching our discussion about the retirement with the seminar “Retirement Solutions 4 You”, which will take place in our office on June 7th. Please come, learn and enjoy my photography on the walls of our office.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. During my wandering around San Francisco I encountered many people in their advanced age, who seem to have found their way to enjoy “Golden Age”.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,