By Nick Thomas

Chances are, every time velvet-voiced Johnny Mathis takes center stage during his current US tour, the atmosphere could turn Misty.
Sure, some devoted Mathis fans might swoon teary-eyed with waves of emotional nostalgia witnessing the 86-year-old singing icon in person, but many will just dutifully sway to the familiar soothing melodies as the veteran performer delivers his signature ballads such as “Wonderful! Wonderful!,” “Chances Are,” and, of course, his 1959 hit – “Misty.”
Interrupted briefly by the pandemic last year, Mathis continues his 2022 Voice of Romance Tour with stops around the country (see www.johnnymathis.com). Although the viral menace is still lurking, it has not deterred the soulful singer from performing this year.
“Well, it’s what I do,” said Mathis from his home in Los Angeles during a tour break. “Except for earlier in the pandemic, I’ve been touring since I recorded my first album in 1956.”
Currently in his 66th year as a recording artist, the Mathis career statistics are impressive, including 79 original albums, 43 singles on the Billboard Pop Chart, 5 Grammy nominations as well as a 2003 Lifetime Achievement Grammy and songs used in over 60 films and television shows.
Then there’s his historic 1958 Greatest Hits album, released just two years after his debut album, which became the first Greatest Hits album issued by any pop artist.
“Mitch Miller was responsible for that,” said Mathis, referring to the conductor and record producer best remembered for the 60s musical show “Sing Along with Mitch” on NBC. Mathis signed with Columbia Records in 1956 and to cash in on the growing Mathis phenomenon, Miller wanted to release a new album in the late 50s but the singer was in Europe. Mathis had scored big with recent hits, so Miller bundled several together on one record and “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” would spend almost 10 continuous years on the Billboard Top Albums Chart.
Ironically, Mathis’s signature song, “Misty,” didn’t appear on the 1958 compilation since it would be featured the following year on his “Heavenly” album. Written by Errol Garner (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics), Mathis first heard the tune at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco where he grew up.
“I used to go there as a teenager to watch the singers and the owner would let me sit in the back where no one could see me,” recalled Mathis who would eventually be discovered singing at the club. “Garner would perform several times a year and play this wonderful tune (Misty) on the piano with no lyrics. His piano introduction was about a minute and a half with all sorts of chord changes and, oh man, I loved hearing it.”
Later, Mathis learned Burke had added lyrics to the melody. “Columbia usually chose all the songs for me to record but as soon as I got a chance to select something, I recorded Misty.”
While Mathis acknowledges the influence of many professional and personal buddies throughout his career, one always stands apart.
“I began singing because my dad sang,” says Mathis. “He was my best pal and my true blessing is that he lived long enough to see my success as a singer.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. See www.getnickt.org.

https://www.navigatingmedicare.com/

From Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com
text and photo provided by the Oklahoma Historical Society

You could say that Baltimore is a city designed for Senior leisure. The hop on and off water taxi around the bay is an ideal way to see a lot of the area’s attractions with a minimum of exertion, as it stops at many attractions. The minimal fee is good for the entire day. The small boat captains are eager to answer area questions as to where to eat and museum times. Note, many museums and attractions are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Of course it stops at historic Ft Mc Henry – famous for the inspiration of the Star Spangle Banner composition. (www.nps.gov/fomc) You have to change boats to go the extra distance, but worth the convenience, when you think of the inconvenience of getting a taxi or uber to take you to the far out bay point. The preserved and reconstructed brick fort is informative if you have never visited a fort of this generation. It’s humbling to stand in the area that inspired America’s Anthem.
Once there it’s always good to schedule your visit with a tour by a park ranger for details of the fort. If not, the film is always inspiring, if not a bit nostalgic ,when at the end of the movie, a curtain opens to let you view through a large picture window the Fort in the background as the National Anthem plays.
Back in the downtown area is the Flag House where the American garrison size flag was created. Besides the history of the flag you can take a self-guided tour of a small period house, complete with furniture and staging of the time.
For pure entertainment, although you can’t help but learn something, is the national aquarium centrally located at the base of the Inner Harbor. (www.aqua.org) All levels of this multilevel aquarium is easily accessible with riding the multiple escalators, or if needed there is an elevator. Hosting over 20,000 aquatic animals with a Backtip Reef and Living Seashore, and a couple of large screen animal related movies, and a live dolphin show, make the aquarium one of the Inner Harbors best attraction. Of course they host a extensive gift shop with snack bar.
When you’ve got to eat, Baltimore with its vast seafood menus offers many venues. The off the beaten track funky Little Havana Bar and Grill offers many seafood based foods along with an extensive bar and their famous large Mojito.
Phillips Seafood (www.phillipsseafood.com) is a Baltimore tradition. They offer an upscale indoor or outdoor dining experience with reservations recommended. Their 8 ounce Crab Cake Extreme with Mac and Cheese, made with pure Jumbo Lump Crab with no fillers, is served in a skillet, and guaranteed to fill your Crab Cake desires. ($50.00)
If you plan to visit the Baltimore Museum of Art, be sure you check its times, as it is closed on Monday and Tuesdays. While it was closed the days I was in Baltimore I made sure I dined at Gertrude’s, where the Museum of Art displays culinary arts, under the expert guidance of owner, John Shields, is a must. Shields is a veteran TV host, and author and is called the “Culinary Ambassador of the Chesapeake Bay” with the restaurants opening in 1998. Gertrude’s is Shield’s tribute to his grandmother, Gertie. Shields is a personable entrepreneur and you may want to pickup one of his cookbooks including the 25th anniversary, “Chesapeake Bay Cooking.” Many menu options looked appealing but I chose the Irish Salmon, flown in to Gertrude’s several times a week. This is an example of the attention paid to the high standards that has made John Shield’s reputation.
An evening dining cruise aboard the Spirit of Baltimore, is a relaxing way to see more of the bay’s landscape while enjoying a buffet and beverages served by congenial staff. The cruise departs from the west wall of the harbor and cruises the Inner harbor along the Patapsco river, and includes glimpses of Fort Mc Henry. Come prepared for a casual and enjoyable evening, mixing with other tourist and those celebrating special occasions (www.spiritcruises.com/Baltimore).
While visiting the Fells Point area of the harbor you may want to stop in to the upscale Sagamore Hotel for a respite and beverage, or if your budget allows overnight accommodations. For a budget minded traveler the Days Inn Inner Harbor (www.daysinninnerharbor.com), about 3 blocks away from the harbor, and near the Horseshow Casino Baltimore, Ravens Stadium, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards, can fulfill your travel needs.
As you can guess there is much more to discover in Baltimore than I could cover in just two days, so historic and friendly Baltimore may require repeat visits (http://baltimore.org/).

The healthy heart thrives on flexibility, using any available nutrient source for fuel. But in diabetes, that flexibility stops.
Scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are investigating why this inflexibility occurs with diabetes and, ultimately, what can be done about it.
“The healthy heart has a dynamic capacity to respond and adapt to changes in nutrient availability—it’s an omnivore,” said OMRF researcher Kenneth Humphries, Ph.D. “The problem with diabetes, though, is the heart’s inability to use or make insulin, a hormone that allows your blood to use sugar.”
In diabetes, either you’re not making enough insulin or it’s not working properly, said Humphries. This increases the heart’s reliance on fats to meet energy demands, which can lead to damaging effects and even death.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in diabetic patients, and it can result in a specific type of heart disease called diabetic cardiomyopathy.
“So far, there are no effective treatments for this type of heart disease,” said OMRF graduate student Maria Newhardt, who contributed to the research. “We are trying to increase our fundamental understanding of heart metabolism and how it is disrupted in diabetes so better therapeutic treatments can be developed.”
Humphries and his team conducted a study to see if they could increase flexibility in the hearts of diabetic mice by introducing the complications of obesity.
“Obviously, regulating blood sugar would be the ultimate goal, but we’re looking fundamentally at how the heart responds to differences in nutrient availability,” said Humphries. “We decided to try to force the diabetic heart to use more sugar and see if that made the diabetic heart go back to its normal function.”
The team uncovered a previously unknown form of metabolic regulation. They discovered that two cellular switches in the heart that determine what nutrients the heart will use are interrelated, rather than independent, as previously thought.
These switches need to be able to turn on and off, but in diabetes, one is constantly turned on.
Newhardt said this basic finding is a next step in understanding how diabetes impacts heart health and how interventions—future drugs and therapies— might be used to treat the effects of diabetes on the heart.
Other OMRF researchers who contributed to the findings were Albert Batushansky, Ph.D., Satoshi Matsuzaki, Ph.D., and Mike Kinter, Ph.D.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Aging, all parts of the National Institutes of Health, as well as a Graduate Research Fellowship Program grant from the National Science Foundation.

When it comes to luck, my sense of timing could not be worse.
If one lane on a congested interstate suddenly starts moving at normal speed, I just moved to the other lane, and am now sandwiched between two semis, both hauling explosives.
If I schedule an outdoor party, local weather forecasters immediately start telling viewers to expect rain the entire day. Historically, they have been correct most of the time.
I never owned GameStop stock but I’m certain I would have dumped it at its 52-week low of $3.77 as opposed to the all-time high of $483 it achieved in January, following chatter on Reddit investor forums.
Now comes word that ordinary Americans are getting rich just by rolling up a sleeve and getting jabbed with the coronavirus vaccine. Just ask Abbigail Bugenske, 22 of Cincinnati.
In exchange for doing something ALL Americans are being urged to do as soon as possible, Bugenske received $1 million as part of Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery. Four other Ohio residents will be receiving similar windfalls if their names are chosen. Not to be outdone, California is offering $1.5 million prizes to 10 vaccinated residents. New York, Maryland and Oregon are among other states that feel cold hard cash is the best way lower coronavirus numbers.
I had the misfortune of settling in Illinois, where no money will be changing hands, or arms, as of now. Some retail establishments have stepped up, however. Illinois is one of only 13 states that feature White Castle restaurants, and, through May 31, the chain was offering vaccinated patrons one of its three “desserts on a stick.” For free! I chose not to partake in that offer, feeling I was simply trading one potentially fatal malady for another. I won’t die of the coronavirus, but clogged arteries kill plenty of people annually.
For the record, I received my injections back in mid-February, when the vaccine was still in its rollout stages and states were struggling to figure out who should have priority. I asked for nothing in return, feeling I had won a personal lottery just because I was able to snag an appointment. Heck, I didn’t even take a complimentary candy from the dish that sat next to the health care worker processing my exit paperwork. My prize was relief that I was on the road to a life free of facemasks and quarantine.
But now it’s payback time. Even though I shunned dessert on a stick, I want a piece of the pie.
Somebody needs to mow my lawn.
As I write this, I have just completed the weekly task of pushing the mower up and down, back and forth over bumpy terrain, trying to keep up with my neighbor who feels grass should be pampered, as opposed to clipped. He is much younger and, I’m sure, doesn’t spend the following day recovering from the assortment of joint pain that lawn mowing delivers to my body.
Ironically, I suffered no side effects from either vaccine dose. While friends updated me, via social media, of their high fever and body aches after vaccines one or two, I went about my day pain free. I would like to continue doing so, hence the lawn mowing request.
Sure, I could use a million dollars, but other Illinois residents need it more, vaccinated or not. All I want is to wave my vaccination card at a passing lawn service truck, have the driver do an about face and follow me to my yard, where his crew would cut my grass while I lounge on the patio. I would like this routine repeated weekly until at least Labor Day. I’ve read I may need a COVID-19 booster shot in approximately eight months, which I will gladly receive.
Provided I win the Illinois “Shovel My Driveway” vaccination sweepstakes.
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

Dear Savvy Senior, Does Medicare cover any weight-loss treatments for overweight retirees? I just turned 65 and need to lose about 100 pounds and would like to know if Medicare can help. Overweight Owen 

Dear Owen,
Yes, traditional Medicare does indeed cover some weight-loss treatments like counseling and certain types of surgery for overweight beneficiaries, but unfortunately it doesn’t cover weight-loss programs or medications. Here’s what you should know.
Who’s Eligible
For beneficiaries to receive available Medicare-covered weight-loss treatments your body mass index (BMI), which is an estimate of your body fat based on your height and weight, must be 30 or higher.
A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese and increases your risk for many health conditions, such as some cancers, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and sleep apnea. To find out your BMI, the National Institutes of Health has a free calculator that you can access online at nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm.
What’s Covered
If you find that your BMI is 30 or higher, Medicare Part B will cover up to 12 months of weight-loss counseling conducted by a medical professional in a primary care setting (like a doctor’s office).
Most counseling sessions entail an initial obesity screening, a dietary assessment and behavioral therapy designed to help you lose weight by focusing on diet and exercise.
Medicare also covers certain types of bariatric and metabolic surgery for morbidly obese beneficiaries who have a BMI of 35 or above and have at least one underlying obesity-related health condition, such as diabetes or heart disease. You must also show that you’ve tried to lose weight in the past through dieting or exercise and have been unsuccessful.
These procedures make changes to your digestive system to help you lose weight and improve the health of your metabolism.
Some common bariatric surgical procedures covered include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which reduces the stomach to a small pouch that makes you feel full even following small meals. And laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, which inserts an inflatable band that creates a gastric pouch encircling the top of the stomach.
What’s Not Covered
Unfortunately, original Medicare does not cover weight-loss programs such as fitness or gym memberships, meal delivery services, or popular weight-loss programs such as Jenny Craig, Noom and WW (formerly Weight Watchers).
Medicare also does not cover any weight-loss drugs, but it does cover FDA approved diabetes drugs that have unintentionally become very popular for weight loss.
Medicare Part D plans cover Ozempic and Mounjaro for diabetes only, not for weight loss! So, your doctor will need to prescribe these medications for diabetes in order to get them covered.
Medicare also does not cover Wegovy or Zepbound because they’re approved only for weight loss.
The reason behind the weight-loss drug omission is the Medicare Modernization Act, which specifically excluded them back when the law was written 20 years ago. They also excluded drugs used for cosmetic purposes, fertility, hair growth and erectile dysfunction.
Medicare Advantage
If you happen to be enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan, you may have coverage for gym memberships and some weight loss and healthy food delivery programs. These are considered expanded supplemental benefits and have gradually been added to some plans to provide coverage for nutrition, health and wellness. Contact your plan to see what it provides.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit https://savvysenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.