Many seniors no longer work at a regular job so there is no need for that morning dash to the subway or car or train and the attendant exercise that it provided for us. So, many of us walk or have chosen Tai Chi, Yoga or a gym workout to keep fit. But what about our brains? They are not challenged any longer by a job and our brain needs exercise too, a fact substantiated by science. Recently, one answer,at least for me, is the wonderful United States Mint's Quarters Program which covers a 10-year period (1999-2008) as it commemorates each of the 50 United States, with the last issue being that of Hawaii next year.
I surrendered to temptation and ordered a few rolls of 'Mint' New York State quarters - also a roll of the Washington Presidential One Dollar series but more about that at another time. I began collecting the quarters by just checking my change after a purchase and became fascinated with the beautiful detail of each design on the reverse. That led me to doing a bit of research on each state as to date of statehood and the basic things of note such as the flower, tree, bird and motto. Then, I suddenly found my self remembering items about various states - with no apparent effort on my part.
Well, that led me to a map of the United States and the exact location of each state - the mid-West has always been a muddle to me, but no more. And then came the major rivers, lakes and mountains - and it continues. Like the fact that the beaver is the state animal of New York and just two weeks ago the papers reported that for the first time in a great many years a bea ver had been spotted in the Bronx River building a dam! And do you know that there are several 'beaver' ceramic designs in the Astor Place subway stop? Most fitting, since the Astor fortune was made dealing in furs. So many, many things of interest and I think the United States Mint has done a great service for all of us when, perhaps, we need a reason to be proud of our great country when we are told so much of the world now holds us in low esteem.
One further note, my West Virginia farmer ancestor named my great-grandfather Lewis Clark Phillips, and so early on I read an edited version of the William Clark Journal of the search for a water passage to the Pacific, and recently devoured a wonderful book. It is called "Undaunted Courage", the heroic story of the Lewis and Clark expedition. So, again, I was thrilled to find that the 'Corps of Discovery' was the design for the state of Missouri which is so very appropriate.
I'm not urging everyone to research a history of each state or even of New York or your home state if it is other than New York (the only one which features the Statue of Liberty). And as for a memorizing exercise, I have decided to limit myself to the design of each state - a great workout for the brain and one that is much fun and which has led me to many interesting bits of information. The Quarters Program just seems such a wonderful and exciting way to exercise our brain - and, the good part, there is no final exam! Enjoy twenty-five cents to your heart's content.
