Author: Saratoga TODAY

Our neck, also called the cervical spine, begins at the base of the skull and contains seven small vertebrae. Incredibly, the cervical spine supports the full weight of your head, which is on average about 12 pounds. While the cervical spine can move your head in nearly every direction, this flexibility makes the neck very susceptible to pain and injury.

The neck’s susceptibility to injury is due in part to biomechanics. Activities and events that affect cervical biomechanics include extended sitting, repetitive movement, accidents, falls and blows to the body or head, normal aging, and everyday wear and tear. Neck pain can be very bothersome, and it can have a variety of causes.

Here are some of the most typical causes of neck pain:

• Injury and accidents: A sudden forced movement of the head or neck in any direction and the resulting “rebound” in the opposite direction is known as whiplash. The sudden “whipping” motion injures the surrounding and supporting tissues of the neck and head. Muscles react by tightening and contracting, creating muscle fatigue, which can result in pain and stiffness. Severe whiplash can also be associated with injury to the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerve roots. Car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash.

• Growing older: Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc disease directly affect the spine.

• Osteoarthritis, a common joint disorder, causes progressive deterioration of cartilage. The body reacts by forming bone spurs that affect joint motion.

• Spinal stenosis causes the small nerve passageways in the vertebrae to narrow, compressing and trapping nerve roots. Stenosis may cause neck, shoulder, and arm pain, as well as numbness, when these nerves are unable to function normally.

• Degenerative disc disease can cause reduction in the elasticity and height of intervertebral discs. Over time, a disc may bulge or herniate, causing tingling, numbness and pain that runs into the arm.

• Daily life: Poor posture, obesity and weak abdominal muscles often disrupt spinal balance, causing the neck to bend forward to compensate. Stress and emotional tension can cause muscles to tighten and contract, resulting in pain and stiffness. Postural stress can contribute to chronic neck pain with symptoms extending into the upper back and the arms.

Chiropractic Care of Neck Pain

During your visit, your doctor of chiropractic will perform exams to locate the source of your pain and will ask you questions about your current symptoms and remedies you may have already tried. For example:

• When did the pain start?
• What have you done for your neck pain?
• Does the pain radiate or travel to other parts of your body?
• Does anything reduce the pain or make it worse?

Your doctor of chiropractic will also do physical and neurological exams. In the physical exam, your doctor will observe your posture, range of motion, and physical condition, noting movement that causes pain. Your doctor will feel your spine, note its curvature and alignment, and feel for muscle spasm. A check of your shoulder area may also be performed. During the neurological exam, your doctor will test your reflexes, muscle strength, other nerve changes, and pain spread.

In some instances, your chiropractor might order tests to help diagnose your condition. An x-ray can show narrowed disc space, fractures, bone spurs, or arthritis. A computerized axial tomography scan (a CT or CAT scan) or a magnetic resonance imaging test (an MRI) can show bulging discs and herniation.

Doctors of chiropractic are conservative care doctors; their scope of practice does not include the use of drugs or surgery. If your chiropractor diagnoses a condition outside of this conservative scope, such as a neck fracture or an indication of an organic disease, they will refer you to the appropriate medical physician or specialist. They may also ask for permission to inform your family physician of the care you are receiving to ensure that your chiropractic care and medical care are properly coordinated.

Neck Adjustments

A neck adjustment (also known as cervical manipulation) is a precise procedure applied to the joints of the neck, usually by hand. A neck adjustment works to improve the mobility of the spine and to restore range of motion; it can also increase movement of the adjoining muscles. Patients typically notice an improved ability to turn and tilt the head, and a reduction of pain, soreness and stiffness.

Of course, your chiropractor will develop a program of care that may combine more than one type of treatment, depending on your personal needs. In addition to manipulation, the treatment plan may include mobilization, massage or rehabilitative exercises.

With market indices at, or near, all-time highs, it’s natural for some to wonder if they can go any higher?

Never mind the fact that every all-time high has necessarily been prefaced by every other all-time high, loss-aversion makes many investors wary of a cliff. This is when you may start hearing the word “correction” tossed around. 

So, what is a correction? 

The standard definition of a market correction is a 10% pullback in the value of an asset, like a stock, or of an index, like the S&P 500. These pullbacks can happen slowly over a period of time, or as quickly as in a single day. Corrections can vary in length, as well, from just a few days to a several months. 

Market corrections are notoriously difficult to predict, however they generally happen when the price of assets far exceed their fair value, and markets become overly inflated. How inflated an asset must become is the great unknown.

Understandably, a 10% drop in the price of assets sounds like something that should be devastating. In the short-term it can be, but in the long-term corrections can be a boon to the market. Since market corrects tend to be overly broad, can they provide opportunities for investors to rebalance their portfolios and reallocate from areas that are truly overvalued, to those which may be undervalued. 

While eliminating the effects of a correction may be impossible, mitigating the effects can be much more feasible. A properly diversified portfolio, a basic tenet of investing, can be your best defense against the impacts of a correction. Although diversification can’t guarantee against losses, it can help soften the blow when the eventual correction happens by.

So, what can be done during a correction?

The biggest mistake investors make during a correction is to panic. People are naturally tuned to loss-aversion, which tends to make them react exactly when they shouldn’t. Selling into a down market only drives prices further down, and exacerbates the effects of the correction. Savvy investors know that, for this very reason, corrections provide a buying opportunity. Knowing, and doing, however, is the tricky part!

It’s important to remind yourself that, historically, every single time the US markets have experienced a correction, they have eventually recovered to find new highs. 100% of the time. Now, this isn’t a guarantee by any means, but as far as track records go, it should help you sleep better at night, and help keep you from making any rash changes to your portfolio.

The accompanying chart shows you the intra-year lows and eventual annual return of the S&P 500, going back forty years. Note that in 2020, the index was down as much as 34%, and if you sold at the bottom that would have been your return. If, however, you had stayed invested, you would have been rewarded with a 16% gain. You’ll find similar stories in many other years. 

Is there a correction around the corner? Nobody can say for sure. What we do know is that corrections can provide opportunities, and that long-term investors should generally not let themselves be spooked by their eventuality. Afterall, you probably wouldn’t rush to sell your home next month, just because of a drop in value.

Work closely with your Certified Financial Planner® to determine how best to position your assets so that, when a correction does come around, your portfolio is ready. Be sure to communicate with your CFP® to create an investment policy around your portfolio so that you both know if and how you’ll react. Ultimately your needs will determine the proper course of action.

Stephen Kyne, CFP® is a Partner at Sterling Manor Financial, LLC in Saratoga Springs, and Rhinebeck. 

Securities offered through Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Sterling Manor Financial, LLC, or Cadaret Grant & Co, SEC registered investment advisors. Sterling Manor Financial and Cadaret, Grant are separate entities.

Given that we are still dealing with the impact of the Covid-19 Delta variant, people can differ as to whether we are truly “post-pandemic” at this time. Hopefully, however, we are past the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic and can look to forging a path forward.

Before determining that path, it would be advisable to reflect on how the pandemic changed the world of estate planning since the early months of 2020.

Remote Notarization Authorized by Executive Order

On March 19, 2020, the Governor signed Executive Order 202.7 allowing remote notarization. This authority permitted a Notary Public to notarize the signature of someone who they saw sign a document via video conference. The Governor allowed for this authority so that important documents like deeds or powers of attorney could be notarized without the need for the Notary Public to be physically present with the signer. At the time, due to lockdowns, quarantines, and other restrictions, it was increasingly difficult to access the services of a Notary Public. 

Remote Witnessing Authorized by Executive Order

On April 7, 2020, the Governor signed Executive Order 202.14 allowing remote witnessing. This authority permitted remote witnessing of certain legal documents, including wills and health care proxies. The authority for remote notarization and remote witnessing allowed basic documents for an individual’s estate plan (will, health care proxy, and power of attorney) to be executed without the witnesses and a Notary Public being present with the signer.

On June 24, 2021, the New York State of Emergency expired, and the authority for remote notarization and remote witnessing ended. This is important, because any document utilizing those techniques from June 25, 2021 forward would not be properly notarized and/or witnessed.

The Future of Remote Notarization & Remote Witnessing

Undoubtedly, remote notarization and remote witnessing were important tools during the worst days of the pandemic. In their absence, it would have been more difficult, or even impossible, to get important documents signed by clients. Whether remote notarization and remote witnessing might be made legal in the future in New York is uncertain at this time. 

I currently have the honor of serving as the President of the Estate Planning Council of Northeastern New York. Last year, our group hosted a panel with three local Surrogate Court Judges, who gave us their view from the bench regarding a variety of legal topics. In response to a question about the judges’ opinions regarding remote notarization and remote witnessing, all the judges agreed it was a positive development. Given that these processes have been viewed favorably by respected members of our judiciary, we may see an effort to make them a permanent part of New York law.

Other Options Beyond Remote Notarization and Witnessing

Currently, there is no real alternative to remote notarization; however, a version of remote witnessing is available. Remote witnessing pursuant to Executive Order 202.14 allowed the witnesses to be in a physical location different than the signer. As long as the witnesses could see what the signer was doing via video conference, remote witnessing was possible.

One potential alternative is to have an attorney supervise the signing of an important document, like a will, via video conference, with the two witnesses present with the signer. This is not “remote witnessing” per se, because the witnesses are present with the signer – although the attorney is not. This is a potential alternative to remote witnessing when it would be difficult for .te signer to come to a lawyer’s office and could be considered “remote supervision.”

The conventional process for signing a will, i.e. coming to a lawyer’s office and signing before the lawyer and two witnesses, will continue to be the most common practice. It has the advantage of not being susceptible to any technical snafus that might occur with the use of video conferencing technologies.

A New Awareness of the Importance of Estate Planning

Beyond the issues of remote notarization, remote witnessing, and remote supervision, the Covid-19 pandemic has definitely made people more aware of the need to “get their affairs in order.” Given the dangers presented by Covid-19, it is certainly wise to consider taking action on an estate plan.

The Path Forward for Estate Planning

If you have not engaged in proper estate planning, the path forward entails the following simple steps. First, put together a list of your assets and liabilities. Second, put together a list of your family, friends, or organizations that you wish to leave your assets to. Third, consider who you may want to appoint as an agent during your lifetime or after your passing. These agents are the trusted people who can potentially act as your executor, trustee, power of attorney agent, and health care proxy agent. Fourth, give appropriate thought to what assets you would like to give to what persons or organizations.

Armed with this basic information, you can have a discussion with the appropriate professionals regarding a proper estate plan. In the absence of taking these steps, you risk your assets not being left to the people and organizations of your choice. You also risk having your financial and medical decisions made by someone other than who you would have chosen. As with many things in life, the most difficult thing is simply starting the process. With the four steps listed above, you will be on your way.

Matthew J. Dorsey, Esq. is a Partner with O’Connell and Aronowitz, 1 Court St, Saratoga Springs. Over his 24 years of practice, he has focused in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and estate administration. Mr. Dorsey can be reached at 518-584-5205, mdorsey@oalaw.com, and www.oalaw.com. 

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

FREE Pitney Meadows Pop-Up Fresh Pantry

Mondays • 9:30 a.m. until gone
We are collaborating with Pitney Meadows in their Food Security Access to Farm-Fresh Produce program. They are committed to providing fresh produce donations to food pantries, senior
programs, and other programs to feed the community.

UKULELE THURSDAYS 

Thursdays  • 10 a.m.
Facilitated by Marshall Swift. Dust off your ukulele and join your friends at the Center for some singing and playing.

BRIDGE, CANASTA, PINOCHLE & POKER GROUP 

Welcoming new players. Call the front desk for times and information.

Special Events & Programs

FRIDAY BACKYARD BBQ LUNCH! 

Friday, September 24 • 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Let’s enjoy the beautiful days of fall. Join your friends for some
food and games. Let’s make the most of the beautiful fall days.

IN HOUSE CHEF DINNERS ARE BACK!    
Dinners sponsored by Home of the Good Shepherd & Humana. 

Tuesday, September 14 • 3 – 4:30 p.m. 
Simply Food by Maura. Roast Turkey Dinner – stuffing, mashed
potato, gravy, green beans. $11. To-Go dinner, curbside
pick-up: 3-4:30 p.m.. 

Tuesday, September 28 • 3 – 4:30 p.m. 
Staff. Pasta & Meatballs, salad and garlic bread. $11. Dine in at the Center with your friends at 4:30 p.m. OR take your dinner To-Go 3-4:30pm. Please indicate your choice at sign up.

SENIOR TECH FAIR    

Tuesday, September 14  • 1 – 4 p.m.
Where older adults come to learn, explore and share smart technology. KeyBank staff will be here to help you with ANY & ALL questions regarding technology! How to use: E-mail, cell phones, IPADS, Laptops, Kindles and more.
Snacks provided. Please register!

SENIOR “RIGHT SIZING” HOUSING SEMINAR     

Friday, September 17  • 10 a.m.
Free. Own a home and not sure it’s still right for you? Come join us for a 90 minute informational seminar on rightsizing housing for seniors. Learn about the resources available to help you make informed decisions about whether you should downsize or age in place.

NEW YORK STATEWIDE SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL MEETING      

Thursday, September 23  • 2 p.m. at the center and via ZOOM
Presents Saratoga Initiatives in Supporting People with Chronic Illness. Overwhelmed by the complexities of the health system? Wondering how to sort all this out, and what it means for the future? The Senior Life Transitions Program may be able to assist you with these challenges. Open to the Public. Call the Front Desk to register and get ZOOM link.

LEARN TO FALL IN LOVE WITH “ART” 

Monday, September 13 & 27  •  2 p.m.
$5 material fee. Facilitated by Barry, member and artist. Afraid of expressing yourself through art? Barry has a foolproof easy method to get you to draw! Using designs provided by Barry, you will create pictures that are unique and colorful! Open to any level of experience but geared to those with none.

PAINT & SIP

Friday, September 24  • 2 p.m. 
$5 supply fee. Facilitated by Skidmore students. A Paint & Sip combines the fun and relaxation of a party with a paint class. Guided by Skidmore artists, you will create a masterpiece that is suitable for framing. The emphasis is definitely on the fun. We
encourage conversation and laughter rather than serious focus. All levels of experience welcome.

CHIT CHAT & MUSIC GROUP 

Mondays • 1 p.m. at the Center 
Facilitated by Anna, Skidmore Intern. Join your friends for a fun hour of chit chat, laughs and music! Meet new friends and connect with old ones!

BARBER AT THE CENTER

First Monday of the month • 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. 
Ryan will be coming to the Center to cut our men members hair. Must call the front desk to make an appointment.

TAROT CARD READINGS

Last Thursday of the month • 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 
Facilitated by Mary Shimp. $5 suggested donation. Do you have some unanswered questions about your life? A tarot card reading provides guidance to gain an insight into what the future holds using a special deck of cards. Call to make a 15-minute appointment.

VAN TRIPS 

Dinosaurs in Motion at Universal Preservation Hall 

Friday, September 17
Dinosaurs in Motion is an amazing blend of science, art and innovation which engages and educates you by using 14 magnificent, fully interactive, recycled life-size metal dinosaur sculptures inspired by actual fossils. Pay $27
at sign up. Leave at 9:45 a.m.

The Big E 

Tuesday, September 21
Shopping, entertainment, midway rides and foods from around the world – all during New England’s most colorful season! We leave the Center at 8:30 a.m. Pay $32 at sign up. Please bring any additional money for lunch and spending.

Lunch Bunch – 550 Waterfront 

Tuesday, September 28
Enjoy lunch at one of Saratoga Lake’s restaurants with a magnificent view. Pay $3 at signup. Bring money for lunch. Leave the Center at 11:30 a.m.

ONE DAY BUS TRIPS 

BURLINGTON/SHELBURNE MUSEUM   

Thursday, October 7
Member price $60. Non-members welcome, please call the front desk. Sponsored by Blue Shield. From weathervanes, quilts and American art to transplanted 1950s-era homes, a railroad station and a fully outfitted steamboat, the Shelburne Museum really does have a little of everything on display. Nearly 40 buildings, filled with various exhibits, span the museum’s 45 acres. 

A DAY IN BOSTON 

Thursday, November 14
Member Price $53. Non-members welcome, please call the front desk. Between the beautiful architecture, unique culture, amazing history and delicious food, it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations on the East Coast. November is a great time to get unique gifts for the up-coming holidays. 

I’m sure all mothers know that feeling of being at both ends of a spectrum of emotions at the same time. When you can’t wait for your baby to become more self-sufficient and less needy, for example, and yet you lament the fact that the time is going way too fast and why can’t they stay little forever. Or when your kids are hanging backwards off the couch for hours/days/weeks in the summer moaning because they have nothing to do and you long for school to start again, and then it does and you’re all going from the crack of dawn until bedtime with all of the busyness of the school year and you wish it was summer again. Or you think that these carefree kids who make fun of you for always being tired and cranky have a real thing coming when they have to start jobs and have adult responsibilities, and then those things start happening and you cry into your coffee because you know that their carefree days will never be here again and you feel so bad for them.

It’s exhausting, this “both/and” existence! And I have been over my head in it all summer. 

My oldest is starting his senior year in high school! We’re (I’m) thinking and talking all the time these days about college and career ideas, and he worked two jobs this summer to save for school and life expenses, and I could just bust with pride and devastation that my tiny boy is such a man.

My youngest, who I still refer to as “the baby,” is turning three today and will be spending a little time in his nursery school classroom this morning to meet his teacher and see all the “big boy things” he’s heard about from his brothers, and I’m so thrilled for the fun he’ll have and absolutely wrecked that my baby is so big.

My exact middle boy — the one who has three older brothers and three younger brothers — is moving on to middle school this year, which means that I’ll have more kids in the big school than in the elementary school. I’m finding it very difficult to wrap my mind around this whole-family shift from a family with mostly little ones to a family with mostly big kids — I really can’t think too much about it.

I read Charlotte’s Web to the boys as I’ve done every summer for years, but only to the younger four because the big boys were always at work or doing other big-boy things. My tallest boy’s pants have a 36” inseam, and I also bought a size 3T T-rex costume as a birthday present for my dino-obsessed baby. I spend a lot of time making mental lists of the things my oldest will need for his first away-from-home living space next year while also trying to adjust to the fact that my youngest is transitioning out of his daily naps.

It’s no surprise to me at all that the day I emailed the baby’s teacher to introduce myself, which was also the day that my oldest has his senior picture taken, was the day my doctor decided it was time to start me on medication for high blood pressure.

I’ve found a certain peace in having a meticulously detailed daily to-do list, even sometimes including such minutiae as “take a shower,” “meal plan,” and “do laundry,” just so I’m reminded of the simple, normal rhythms of life and can feel a measure of control over this turbulent time. I constantly look at the enormous desk calendar I’ve started writing everything on (since the normal-sized wall calendar I’ve always preferred to techie options is no longer nearly big enough) — I check in with it frequently during the day, updating and revising our family’s goings-on as needed; it’s the first thing I look at in the morning and the last before I go to bed. Whether I’m laughing or crying — or both — with little boy stuff and/or big boy stuff, my to-do list and daily calendar keep me focused and able to care for everyone appropriately and able to get everyone where they need to be at the right times. It’s so nice to not have to worry about dropping balls as I’m constantly grappling with my emotions, and it’s strangely soothing to see all these emotionally charged things reduced to neatly organized scribbles of ink on paper.

I think so often of my mom and the other older moms I know when I’m wrung out with the intensity of coexisting happiness and sadness because of these kids and coexisting big boy things and little boy things — they all went through these kinds of things and survived, after all. Not a one of them has disappeared in a puff of exhausted smoke; not a one of them has gotten whiplash from the back and forth between emotional extremes, or spontaneously combusted from feeling everything all at once. It’s just the growing pains of motherhood, I guess! I bet a lot of you are feeling your own versions of these things as your kids go back to school — good luck to you all and be patient with yourselves!

Kate and her husband have seven sons ages 16, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, and 3. Follow her at www.facebook.com/kmtowne23, or email her at kmtowne23@gmail.com.