dementia | A Sagittarian Seeker

January 21, 2026- in my going around Collin County, I dovetail between using Apple Maps and relying on my memory and general sense of direction. Today, for example, I used the GOS to get to the Plano Costco and memory got me back to the house.

I generally don’t have trouble finding my way, though in younger days, I let social pressure get me rattled and confused. Now, I follow my sense of direction and common courtesy guide my driving. The person at an intersection ahead of me comes first and the one behind me can just wait.

There is a lot of concern about senescence and dementia, in people between the ages of 65-100+. This is a risk we all take, but there are principles of diet, rest and mental exercises that reduce the chances of mental decline.

Shakespeare wrote King Lear as a cautionary tale in that regard, and we have seen many films, read many books and heard a few songs dealing with the matter. It follows that the greater a person’s responsibilities are, the more crucial it is that a trusted team of advisers be in place, to make sure the responsibilities entrusted to the person are carried out in a coherent manner.

As a contemporary of the President of the United States, I understand the risks he is facing. As a citizen, I expect that his advisers take their responsibilities towards the nation and the world more seriously.

February 23, 2021- To start, the group of us sat in the Jury Convocation Room for 1 1/2 hours. At that point, the judge himself came in and told us that the case had been resolved without trial, and we were free to leave. He noted that the very presence of 38 juror candidates had created the energy for a pre-trial resolution. I can believe it.

The other notable event that happened in my life today was that the Title I literacy project, in which I had agreed to participate from late March to the third of May, was abruptly canceled. When changes like this happen, it usually means that my time needs to be open-ended. There is much to be done, on several fronts, so I can see that there are several options.

On the way back to Prescott from Camp Verde, I listened to an account by a young Australian woman, who has a high level of Autobiographical Memory, of her life from birth. She has vivid recollections of coming out of the womb, of learning her first words and of deciding to walk, at the relatively late age of eighteen months. I had heard of this woman, and of her ability to state with specificity what happened on any given day in her life. Hearing her speak of such events, in detail, was a marvel.

I pondered afterward, as to what her detailed descriptions could mean for language-learning, for systematic self-education and for counteracting memory loss-especially in senior citizens affected by dementia. She apparently has had the same hopes, and is working with advocates for dementia patients, with a view towards regenerating the type of neural transmissions that have made her extraordinary abilities continue into young adulthood.

Brain Research, particularly with regard to long-term memory, and its role in learning, is still in its relative infancy. I have so many questions about my own memory of things that occurred as early as my second year. Others in my family, and people I knew in childhood, have stated their own vivid memories of early years-as well as much that has happened since.

We are still using only a small part of our intelliegence.