- One Week To BIG Community Meeting
- CGT Friday Planting Update
- Health Corner - Sleep
Countdown: One week to Toledo’s Annual BIG Community Meeting. Visiting lawmakers and other dignitaries from all over Western WA will be on hand to hear progress reports from vision:Toledo and stakeholders from all walks of life. Local businesses and civic-minded organizations alike will mark their growth during the last 12 months, and since 2010’s catalyzing fire that tested this town’s mettle.
The resulting reinvigoration has been nothing short of astounding by any measure, all the more so given daunting challenges. And Toledo is welcoming newcomers, the barometer of health in any district.
I’m proud to call Toledo home.
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Congrats to Gallery 505 Artists Co-op for making #1 on DiscoverLewisCounty’s list of Stuff You Must See & Do in Toledo. All this week Toledo is featured on DLC, a great warm-up for next week’s BIG Community Meeting! Be sure to thank DLC on Facebook for their great promotion and weigh in with your comments.
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Update: Common Ground Community announces “those coming to plant tulips at 10 a.m. this Friday - new rendezvous place will be the empty lot beside the bank...we’re going to need space as a staging area for the (300) tulips. Bring trowel, shovel, garden gloves, raingear / gardening clothes, muck boots.”
Planters and garden spots around town will get an infusion of fresh greenery and color just in time for nest week’s BIG event…
New gardeners welcome. Common Ground Toledo is on Facebook.
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Health Corner: On Sleep
Sleep is the foundation of good health, as everyone knows. Lack of sleep has significant short-term and long-term effects. A Harvard med publication notes “chronic sleep deprivation can lead to...medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease...that may lead to a shortened life expectancy.”
Medical professionals routinely recommend rest for recovery from injuries and illness. Simply put, you need it to heal. One health care provider explained it thus: “If you can’t sleep, it’s an emergency (situation).”
mindbodygreen lists the fours stages of sleep - REM, NREM, slow wave and delta. The last is where deep healing and repair occurs; people in their 30’s get about 2 hours of this nightly, but this type of sleep ebbs over time.
Getting the right quantity and quality depends on several factors including hormones and individual genes, stress, environment, and mattress. How to improve yours? Start with Harvard Med’s Twelve Simple Tips to Improve Your Sleep. Or: Sleeprate posts 6 Foods That Will Help You Sleep. Add a small bowl of cereal to that list. #5 on this list of sleep tips from helpguide.org says: wind down and clear your head. Learn to relax before bedtime. #6 speaks controlling one’s sleep environment, and brings to mind a quote my wise friend utters: “Your bed should be reserved for two things, and worry isn’t one of them.” Reading is the other one, right?
Get help if your sleep is impaired. Many insurance providers cover sleep studies and issues, including Medicare.
Pleasant dreams!
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Photos from TOT archives unless otherwise noted.
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