Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, September 23, 2016

Outfoxed. Means outsmarted or tricked. I’ve been reading a book of folktales from around the world, titled “Outfoxing Fear.” The heros and heroines may not always be smart, but they always win. Even the foolish younger brother ends up being smarter than the villain because of his sincerity, honesty, and innocence. But why “outfoxed”?

It turns out that foxes and humans have been close associates for several million years. In 2013, a fox fossil was discovered in South Africa that indicates it to have been living at the same time as Australopithecus, one of humanity’s earliest ancestors.

Foxes seem to have migrated all over the Earth, and there are stories from Ghana and Mali to China, Hungary, and Peru, not to mention North America. Foxes go back three- to five-million years, all the way to the ice ages and before.

Foxes were, and still are, noted for being adaptable and intelligent. There are stories from China and Japan depicting fox as a shapeshifter, capable of changing into female human form to marry unsuspecting men. They are magical, and may have as many as nine tails. The Japanese word for fox, kitsune, can mean either come and sleep or always returns, and they are mentioned as early as 749 CE.

In Europe as well as the Orient, there have been times when foxes were associated with the devil, and with witches. They were used as messengers by Mesopotamian goddesses. In Peru, they were warriors who never struck a blow, using only intelligence as a weapon. Finnish foxes outwit both wolf and bear, again demonstrating the superiority of smarts over brute strength and ill will. The Irish word “shenanigans” in Gaelic means “to play the fox.”

North American Native Peoples depict the fox as a trickster, who can benefit man by bringing him fire, or depriving him through thievery, but always using his brain rather than brawn. Aesop’s fables show the fox’s ability to think himself out of disappointment; when he cannot reach the grapes, he assures himself they were probably sour. Uncle Remus, in the American South, used Brer Fox in his tales, along with the even smarter Brer Rabbit.

Throughout the world, the consensus is the same: Fox is both a lesson in humility for the boastful and unkind, and an occasional helper of man, whether he realizes it or not. Fox demonstrates the power of intellect, but also its limitations. Smart is a powerful tool, but likewise it can “outfox” those who rely on it too much.

Coming up

You can ask all your questions about fox legends on the upcoming trip to the Festival of Nations in Albany on Oct. 23. The bus will leave the Berne senior center at 1 p.m., and will return at 5 p.m. Tickets are $4, and can be paid when you board the bus, but you need to sign up at the senior center, or call Phyllis at 872-9370 to register.

The senior shopping bus will make its bi-weekly trip on Oct. 5. Call CDTA at 437-5161 to reserve a spot and arrange for pickup. The bus goes to Walmart, and to Whole Foods at Colonie Center.

There will be a presentation titled “Understanding Medicare Open Enrollment and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) Program” on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Carondelet Hospitality Center in Latham from 9 a.m. to noon The program is free, but you must register in advance. Call the Albany Guardian Society at 269-3976.

September is not international fox month as far as I know, but it is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month, Happy Cat Month, International Strategic Thinking Month, and National Mushroom Month.

The week of the 25th is Banned Books Week (go to the library!), National Fall Foliage Week, and the International Sand Sculpting Championships.

Bright Pink Lipstick Day and Gold Star Mother's Day are Sept. 25; Johnny Appleseed Day and National Dumpling Day are the 26th. The 27th brings National Voter Registration Day (Do it!). The 28th is Fish Tank Floorshow Night (I have absolutely no idea...), and National Drink Beer Day.  As an alternative, International Coffee Day is the 29th, along with VFW Day (Thank a vet!). The month ends with National Mulled Cider Day.

Menu

Whether you are a foxy lady, a foxy gent, or just one of us old fossils, we have the very smart lunch menu for the next week at the Senior Center.  Come swap tales with friends, and enjoy a lunch that you don’t have to cook.  Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at Noon. We also have games, dominoes, and cards on Mondays and Tuesdays.

— Monday, Sept. 26, chicken and vegetables with wheat biscuit, beets with dill, oatmeal cookie, and milk;

— Tuesday, Sept 27, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, California blend vegetables, wheat bread, and apricots; and milk; and

— Friday, Sept. 30, lemon garlic baked fish, baked sweet potato, spinach, wheat bread, rice pudding with whipped topping, and milk.

Please call Linda Hodges 24 hours in advance to 872-0940 to reserve lunch, or email her at: , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.

Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Town of Berne Community and Senior Services Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.