{"id":12061,"date":"2026-06-02T15:22:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/?p=12061"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:28:24","slug":"living-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/living-wide\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVING WIDE"},"content":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t all win the \u201cliving long\u201d lottery, but sometimes we can remember to live wide\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m calling him\u00a0Mister 95<\/em>\u00a0because he\u2019s taken 95 spins around the sun.\u00a0\u00a0Well so far.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s 832,753 hours of playing in the sandbox and the school yard, falling in love, enlisting in the military, college, getting that job at NBC as a lowly page and then spending the rest of his career in show biz.\u00a0\u00a0Eating, sleeping, growing a big family and deep enduring friendships, celebrating life, grieving loss and waking up in the morning.\u00a0\u00a0Still.\u00a0\u00a0Grateful.\u00a0\u00a0Joyful.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Full\u2026full enough to share the spotlight with\u00a0you.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0We know how it feels to be around a human being like that.<\/p>\n

Mister 95<\/em>\u00a0decided to put on a big birthday bash for his friends at the local retirement home where I teach ukulele.\u00a0He reserved the auditorium\u2026and\u2026 an additional overflow room with a video feed.\u00a0\u00a0Because Mister 95 has<\/em> a<\/em>\u00a0lot of friends.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Like almost everybody who lives there.<\/p>\n

This variety show has three musical acts (including me) and a magician who is like \u201ccrazy good.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0After his set, the magic guy packs up his gear, leaving two doves and a rabbit in the green room because he loads them last in his climate-controlled SUV.\u00a0\u00a0The rabbit is snoozing inside a top hat. The birds are sitting quietly on a chair next to me as I stare them down and wonder which one will poop first.\u00a0\u00a0For the record, the birds hold it and I\u2019m the one who has to sneak out to pee.<\/p>\n

Mister 95<\/em>\u00a0is all about audience participation.\u00a0\u00a0In a very big way.\u00a0\u00a0He purchased one hundred kazoos and distributed them to everyone with a ticket.\u00a0\u00a0Apparently some residents complained that their kazoos were broken because when they blew through the hole, nothing happened.\u00a0\u00a0So it was my job to teach them the right way to do this\u00a0thing.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0I presented a brief \u201cshow-and-tell-and-blow\u201d demonstration before we launched into the song \u201cDon\u2019t Worry, Be Happy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Because\u2026yeah\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Share a few seconds with a hundred kazoo-tooting grandmas and grandpas. \u00a0Click here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to watch.<\/p>\n

A few days later I meet\u00a0Mister 95<\/em> before my Friday class. We are sitting on a hallway bench as he greets other residents passing by.\u00a0\u00a0There are big hello\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0all around and after they move on, he shares a short vignette, a splash of \u201csomething special\u201d about each person.<\/p>\n

This reminds me of a story I heard years ago.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a traditional Sufi tale about a traveler who sees a wise man on the road and asks what kind of people live in the village up ahead. \u201cI am looking to move from my present home.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The wise man asks \u201cso what were the people like in your old village?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The traveler replies \u201coh they were mean, cruel, rude, so dishonest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The wise man tells him that \u201cyou\u2019ll find the same kind of people here too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later on, another traveler approaches the wise man and asks the same question and the wise man again asks about the people in \u201cyour old village?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The traveler smiles and says \u201coh they are kind, courteous, polite.\u00a0\u00a0Just good people.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The wise man responds, \u201cyou will find the same kind of people here too.\u201d<\/p>\n

We see the world not the way it is, but the way we are.<\/em><\/p>\n

🌺<\/em><\/p>\n

I wrote special lyrics for the song \u2018Proud Mary\u2019 just for\u00a0Mister 95\u00a0<\/em>and his friends.\u00a0\u00a0It ends with this stanza:<\/p>\n

So come on over, drop on by and meet people who are living wide.
\nYeah the clock is ticking.\u00a0\u00a0The boat is sinking.
\nBut we keep singing and staying alive\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Rolling, rolling, rolling down The 4-0-5.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are wondering, the \u201cFour-Oh-Five\u201d is a parking lot\u2026er<\/em>\u2026freeway\/superhighway\/major coronary artery here in Los Angeles. \u00a0But no matter, make up your own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t all win the \u201cliving long\u201d lottery, but sometimes we can remember to live wide\u2026 I\u2019m calling him\u00a0Mister 95\u00a0because he\u2019s taken 95 spins around the sun.\u00a0\u00a0Well so far.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s 832,753 hours of playing in the sandbox and the school yard, falling in love, enlisting in the military, college, getting that job at NBC as a lowly page and then spending the rest of his career in show biz.\u00a0\u00a0Eating, sleeping, growing a big family and deep enduring friendships, celebrating life, grieving … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[277,280,283,286,274],"class_list":["post-12061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-audience-participation","tag-kazoo-and-ukulele","tag-senior-communities","tag-singing-along","tag-ukulele-joy"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog 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