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12 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | MAY 2021 By Theresa Rossetti, Resident Did you know that age is not a disqualifier for donating blood if you live in the U.S.? Many seniors are famous for how often, how much and/or how many units they have donated. Terry Price of Denton, Texas has donated over 1,000 times and is in the Guiness World Book of Records. Bill Hall of Naples, FL, has given up his blood 438 times and at age 75 is still donating platelets every two weeks. We even have a famous donor not so far from us. Joe McDonald of San Diego, a Marine Vet, started donating in 1963 with a goal of donating 100 gallons of blood. Impressive, all of them! Sadly, Australia cuts off blood donors older than 81. James Harrison from Down Under, born in 1936, is known as "The Man with the Golden Arm" for a component in his blood used to create a medication that has almost eliminated Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn. By the time he reached his "cut-off " date in 2018 he had donated his life-saving blood 1,173 times! Did you know that every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood? Whether it be for surgery, cancer treatment, chronic illnesses or traumatic injuries, someone will receive whole blood, red blood cells, platelets or plasma due to one person making a generous donation. Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day plus 7,000 units of platelets and 10,000 units of plasma. Seems mind-boggling, doesn't it? The blood supply in the U.S. comes solely from volunteer blood donations. Each year approximately 6.8 million people donate. Donating whole blood (one pint) can be done every 56 days, the time it takes the body to replace what was donated. Rarely is blood transfused in the form it is collected. Most units are divided into four components; red blood cells, plasma, cryoprecipitate and platelets. Each component has a different purpose. Most of the U.S. supply of red blood cells and platelets goes to cancer patients who become anemic and/or have low platelet counts due to chemotherapy. Plasma is used for burn victims and surgical procedures, while cryoprecipitate is used for people whose blood does not clot properly. Donated blood is usually most needed during the summer and over the holiday season. Vacations and travel tend to decrease the number of donations and possibly increase the need for blood as well. Currently there is no substitute for human blood although scientists have been trying to formulate one for many years. Our blood supply is very safe due to the numerous steps that are taken before, during and after donation and before transfusing it into a patient. If you are interested in resuming, continuing or becoming a blood donor, a location of donation sites and a list of medications that prevent some of us from donating can be found at www.redcrossblood.org. Did You Know? A 1962 illustration for the cover of the New Yorker by artist Anatole Kovarsky, imagined what the Great Seal of the United States might have looked like had the turkey become our national emblem. By Dick Roppé, Resident When I first started writing this article, two American Bald Eagles, Jackie and Shadow, had established a nest about 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine at Big Bear Lake. Jackie laid a clutch of two eggs, the first on February 8, the second on February 11. (Tragically, back in January, they had a three-egg clutch but none survived.) We've been able to follow them streaming live 24/7 on the Big Bear Bald Eagle Cam sponsored by the Friends of Big Bear Valley. In another tragic turn, egg one hatched but the eaglet died on March19th. Under normal circumstance a bald eagle egg will incubate for about 35 days. Egg two should have hatched about March 18th. At press time the outcome of egg two was still not known. The Friends of Big Bear Valley said on the webcam site that Jackie and Shadow could well spend several days or a few weeks past the original hatch date. Their quote sums it up best - "We do not and cannot know why any of this happens. It is nature, operating in its own way, without explanation." That said, here are some facts about the bald eagle: they are found across North America typically near lakes and rivers; in the wild, they can live for 20-35 years; in captivity, they are known to live much longer, up to 50 years; they mate for life; the female is about 25% larger than the male and both have the same coloration; they build their nests at the very top of tall trees so the eggs will be safe; some parents come back year after year to the same nest, remodeling the previous nest with sticks, twigs, and grass; they can soar over 10,000 feet high, and their keen eyesight lets them see fish up to a mile away; when hunting, they drop down at up to 100 miles an hour gliding just above the water, snagging a fish with their talons, flying off to eat it or feeding it to their young. Historically speaking, the bald eagle became the official national emblem on June 20, 1782. There is no evidence that Benjamin Franklin had lobbied for the turkey to become the national emblem. However, he did write a letter to his daughter saying why he was not particularly fond using the bald eagle as the U.S. emblem… "For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on." Needless to say - the turkey didn't fly! The Vagaries of Nature

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