Craft Talk II
by Lorine Parks
Continuing the interesting tradition of having as program, craft talks by members, Program Chair Diane Davis first introduced Dr. Vahid Babaian. Vahid began by thanking all who had come to the grand opening of his new Downey office in January. After learning his dentistry trade at the University of Pittsburgh Dental School, Vahid eventually bought a practice in 1999 in Downey.
Since then he has outgrown the original premises and needed to find a place to expand, including more x-ray facilities. He also had to provide more parking space for his growing clientele. From the point he was told he would have to move, until he relocated, he had only two months. He hired a team of architects and asked them if they could deliver the office he had dreamed of and planned for. The answer as we saw at the Grand Opening, was yes.
Vahid’s practice concentrates on orthodontics for children from the age of 7 and up, and also adults, and the lay-out of his office needed to accommodate that. After the intitial inserting of the braces, most visits are follow-ups and adjustments, so many patients can be accommodated in one open space. Patient privacy is still maintained by placing the dental chairs in a wavy line, instead of side by side.
Vahid also does surgeries, including jaw displacements when braces are not enough. For this, he works with Kaiser Hospital in Downey.
One of the fascinating aspects of Vahid’s office is the display of his collection of sports memorabilia. Lucite cases hold basketballs signed by Jerry West and John Wooden and Michael Jordan, as well as souvenirs of hockey, soccer, baseball, football and other sports. Attractive silhouettes of sports figures in action are painted on the curved contours of the walls. Adult patients enjoy these as much as the younger ones, and they certainly would take one’s mind off the anticipation of waiting to go into the dentist’s chair.
Dr.Vahid’s advice to everyone: be sure to brush and to floss.
Then Diane called upon this reporter to give a talk on how she managed the transition from owning Stonewood Travel agency for thirty-five years, to retiring and writing poetry. With great pleasure was the answer, and much carry-over of subject matter.
Everything that Lorine poured into travel counseling, such as her knowledge of geography, history, weather, literature, current events, culture (and shopping), she uses in making poems, many of which involve some aspect of her travel experiences around the world.
On her birthday two years ago, she said, she realized that time was passing and if she wanted to publish her work as a book, she had better do it. “If not now, when?”’ was her encouragement. The first result is Catalina Eddy, a book about weather conditions, hurricanes, killers and disruptors, that come to life as personalities with all their meteorological characteristics intact. “The Santa Anas are terrible talkers, “she says, “they’re such high pressure salespersons.” The “No-Name Hurricane” of 1900 which devastated Galveston in the worst natural disaster this country has seen, is itself devastated and mournful at having arrived before hurricanes were given a name. “Even shallow cousin Eddy has a name,” it says.
Lorine is working on her second book, writing persona poems, which take on the personalities of others and re-create their psychological states. She read one, “August 17, 2012, Air France Flight 562,” which tells about the panicked state of mind of passengers when their plane is forced to land in Damascus, a war zone, and they are asked to contribute cash so the plane can refuel and leave for safety. During the question period, members asked what happened at the end of the story. Lorine’s next book, Persons of Interest, should be published later this year.