FOR YOUR HEALTH: Senior services that make aging in place possible

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It’s no secret that growing older comes with certain challenges. For many seniors, old age can make taken-for-granted tasks much more difficult than they used to be. This makes it hard or impossible for seniors to age in place without a helping hand (or two, or three).

In surveys, more than 80% of seniors state they wish to live at home as long as they are able to. Senior services, such as home care, senior transportation, meal services, and others, can make this possible. If you have an elderly loved one who is starting to struggle with aging in place, here are a few of the senior services you might want to consider to help make life at home more livable for your mom or dad.

Senior Home Care

Home care is perhaps the most popular senior service for aging in place. Designed for seniors who need physical assistance, specialized care, or companionship during the week, senior home care offers a wide range of advantages to seniors. Senior home care providers can help seniors with daily activities like dressing and grooming, assist with everyday errands, provide light housekeeping and homemaking assistance, and monitor seniors to keep them safe.

Senior Transportation

As we grow older, getting from point A to point B becomes increasingly difficult. Many seniors lose their licenses due to declining physical and/or cognitive performance. Others struggle with walking and general mobility, making it difficult to get out of the house. Senior transportation services — whether provided by local public transportation, taxi services, non-profits, or senior home care companies — can help seniors get around town despite mobility difficulties.

Meal Delivery: If a senior doesn’t have a home care worker or family member to prepare their meals, then a meal delivery service can be a great help. There are a number of non-profit meal delivery services that ensure seniors receive healthy and nutritious lunches and dinners throughout the week. These services make a big difference for seniors who find it difficult to shop for groceries or prepare meals on their own.

Maid Services: Physical impairments can make it difficult for seniors to maintain a clean and healthy home. While senior home care providers will often provide light housekeeping assistance, a maid service can provide a deeper clean. This not only makes seniors’ homes more attractive and comfortable, but also improves their health and hygiene, helping limit dangerous bacteria, airborne irritants, and mold growth.

Handyman Services: When things need to be fixed or installed around the home, it can be dangerous for seniors to perform the work on their own. Even changing a lightbulb or fixing a leak can be difficult or dangerous. When seniors have a handyman service they can call on, simple fixes are much easier, much less stressful, and much less dangerous for seniors.

Senior Technology Services

Studies have shown that social media and other technologies can help seniors avoid feelings of social isolation. But many seniors struggle to use these technologies without outside help. To help seniors manage these technologies, many companies offer in-home support to seniors who wish to use the internet, social media, and video chat technologies.

Lawn & Landscaping Services

Just as it can be difficult for seniors to maintain the inside of their home on their own, it can also be difficult to keep their lawn and garden in good shape. Hiring a lawn or landscaping service allows seniors to keep their property’s plant life healthy and attractive, without all of the outdoor labor these activities usually require.

Senior Exercise

There are a number of exercise classes and even personal trainers whose services are specifically dedicated to elderly exercise. These services are designed to reduce the risk of strain or injury for seniors, while giving seniors the activity they need to maintain muscle mass, prevent bone loss, and improve cardiovascular health.

If you have an elderly loved one who is in need of senior services, we invite you to contact your local Visiting Angels. Our senior home care services offer a wide range of benefits to seniors, and can include personal care and companionship care, along with specialized services such as Alzheimer’s care, errand assistance, and help with social media technologies.

Contact your local Visiting Angels office today to learn more about senior services offered in your area.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Public service announcement (Unofficial)

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American black bear. (photo by Michael Webber)

by Debbie Walker

Let me first explain this is certainly not official business. The words are all my own, the paper nor anyone connected had anything to say here. Just me.

This one has to do with the bear population of Maine. I am so not knowledgeable on this subject so you may want to check with your local game warden.

The reminder I want to bring up in this column is: I believe we are into the time of year when the bears are getting nervous about packing on enough eating to be able to survive their winter sleep. Are you remembering to be diligent about taking care of your bird seed and feeders, and anything else they consider their food such as your beehives?

Now for a little story: Imagine if you will, waking in the middle of the night to find a bear in your room. Never in your wildest imagination had you thought something like this could happen to you.

My friend held her scream in as long as she could. The scream she released alerted her little tough guy, Jack Russell dog, Petey, down the stairs just ahead of her husband and on the bear’s heels, sending the bear on his way. When she was able to talk, she explained the story of the bear. Being male, he thought she had a nightmare. He couldn’t imagine it could have really happened, but he would humor her by looking around. He remembered they left the door open a crack for the cat to be able to come and go. He went out the door to look for their little dog. In the entryway he discovered their bag of sunflower seeds destroyed. Ooops, guess maybe there was a bear. He got the dog, closed, and locked the door never to be left open again, cat or no cat.

Thanks to D and D and their experience and sharing it, maybe we can prevent someone else from having a similar situation. Thank you D and D and, of course, Petey!

Maybe another note of interest: As you are preparing for the winter you know will show up sooner or later, I would like to suggest if you have animals that stay outside, please make sure to make preparations for them as well. They have to depend on you, please don’t let them down. If you can’t take care of this for them, please find someone who can. I don’t know what agencies you have there who might be able to help you, ask around, someone will know if you have such available.

I heard a good one today. It comes under the Scam topic. Nana Dee got a phone call. It was a man looking for her son, Ray. He claimed Ray had called to see about a brace for his backache. Ray, a quadriplegic, died five years ago!

I’m just curious if you have any bear stories to share. Thanks for reading. DebbieWalker@townline.org for any questions or comments. Have a great week!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Poet Henry Beard

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Henry Beard

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Henry Beard

Poetry for Cats
Villard Books, 1994, 87 pages.

Poetry for Cats is a clever volume in which Henry Beard (1945-) took 39 well-known poems by as many poets, ranging from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Poe, Whitman and Emily Dickinson, and re-wrote them from the point of view of their cats. I now offer Sitting by the Fire on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost’s cat, the original Stopping by the Woods is easily accessible via Google:

Sitting by the Fire on a Snowy Evening

Whose chair this is by now I know.
He’s somewhere in the forest though;
He will not see me sitting here
A place I’m not supposed to go.

He really is a little queer
To leave his fire’s cozy cheer
And ride out by the frozen lake
The coldest evening of the year.

To love the snow it takes a flake:
The chill that makes your footpads ache,
The drifts too high to lurk or creep,
The icicles that drip and break.

His chair is comfy, soft and deep.
But I have got an urge to leap,
And mice to catch before I sleep.
And mice to catch before I sleep.

Douglas Kenney

Beard started working for the Harvard Lampoon while attending the university during the 1960s, where he first met the late Douglas Kenney (1946-1980); they were two of the founders of the National Lampoon and collaborated on the book, Bored of the Rings. Kenney described Beard as “the oldest guy who was ever a teenager.” In 1975, they each got $2.8 million for a buyout of their magazine.

A closing statement from Gertrude Stein’s cat – “A furball is a furball is a furball.”

Beard’s great-grandfather was John C. Breckenridge (1821-1875) who served as the youngest vice-president of the United States in the nation’s history from 1857 to 1861 under Democratic president James Buchanan.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: They’re everywhere! But are they real spiders?

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

I think it was Dr. Demento who used to say, “They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere!”

Well, they are. You could be sitting on the deck or porch at camp, and there’s one on your leg, or walking across your shoulders. Go do some garden work, and you’ll see them there. Deadhead flowers in your beds, yup, they’re there, too. Go fetch a couple of sticks out of the wood pile, Bingo! More of them. They are actually “everywhere” and can be a nuisance.

What am I talking about? Daddy Longlegs. It was Jim Stafford who sang, “I don’t like spiders and snakes,” and it usually applies to me. I think he had me in mind when he wrote the song. However, Daddy longlegs don’t bother me too much. They are tolerable, not like those other scary looking, eight-legged creatures.

But are Daddy longlegs truly spiders? Let’s take a closer look.

According to entomologists at the University of California, Riverside, the term “daddy longlegs” is commonly used to refer to two distinct types of creatures: opilionids arachnids with pill-shaped bodies and eight long legs are actually not spiders, and pholcids, which have long legs and small bodies, and thus resemble opilionids, but which are truly spiders.

What we refer to as daddy longlegs are actually called harvestmen. You see them almost every day. They are not spiders – although closely related – but belong to a group with many different species, called opiliones. The common name daddy longlegs came about because of their small oval body and long legs, and the name harvestmen because they are most often seen in large numbers in the late summer and early fall around harvest time.

While they have eight legs and an outward appearance of a spider, daddy longlegs lack two of the most important features that make a spider, a spider: silk production and venom. Daddy longlegs do not have spinnerets that spiders have to produce silk and make webs. Spiders also produce venom they inject through fangs to quickly kill and digest prey. Daddy longlegs do not produce venom, nor do they have fangs.

So, how about the old legend, “daddy longlegs are one of the most poisonous spiders, but their fangs are too short and weak to bite humans?”

This tale has been lurking around for years. I have heard it repeatedly. This is incorrect, an urban myth. Most folks who retell this tale have no idea that they are referring to two completely separate groups of animals, daddy longlegs and daddy longlegs spiders.

Harvestman (left), Daddy Longlegs spider (right)

Daddy longlegs spiders are venomous predators, and although they never naturally bite people, their fangs are similar in structure to those of brown recluse spiders, and therefore can theoretically penetrate skin. For these reasons, this is most probably the animal to which people refer when they tell the tale.

The daddy longlegs we see are the harvestmen – not spiders – and can actually be beneficial. They have a very broad diet that includes spiders and insects, and plant pests such as aphids. They will also feast on caterpillars, beetles, flies, mites, small slugs, snails, earthworms, other harvestmen, and decaying plant and animal matter. Daddy longlegs also scavenge for dead insects and will eat bird droppings. Control should only be performed when absolutely necessary. The clustering behavior only occurs during the fall and for only a brief period of time. If necessary, no need for pesticides, a broom or a vacuum will suffice.

Last weekend, I noticed a harvestman (daddy longleg) carrying a small moth across our deck at camp. I watched it for a while, and observed that it was struggling with the weight of the moth. Finally, the daddy longleg dropped the moth, ate its fill, and left. I kept going back from time to time to see the moth still laying on the deck. After a while, I don’t know whether it was the wind, or the harvestman returned, but the moth had disappeared.

Daddy longlegs legs easily break off. They have the ability to break off legs similar to the ability of lizards to break off a portion of their tail if being attacked by a predator. But it can have an adverse affect on them, especially if its the second set of legs.

The daddy longlegs’ second pair of legs serve as ears, nose, tongue and perhaps even as supplementary “eyes.” The legs are loaded with nerves and literally thousands of tiny sense organs that lie inside microscopic slits in the legs. They can produce a pungent odor that is distasteful to most predators.

Although they can be pests, they have a place in the ecosystem.

It’s going to be difficult, but you now should refer to those eight long-legged animals as daddy longleg harvestmen, and not spiders.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Which Red Sox player won the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2018?

Answer can be found here.

SOLON & BEYOND: Life as a precarious Lombard tractor steersman

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Here it is already time to write another column for The Town Line paper after spending several days up in Leif’s special place, Aroostook County. He grew up there and many of his relatives still live there, so we went up and spent quite a lot of time visiting with all of them. His family is truly special and lots of fun like Lief, and we truly enjoyed all the laughter and love that was there.

There were much more beautiful colors in the trees up there than we have down here yet. The vastness of the landscape is overwhelming with its beauty. We both had a wonderful time and think about how we should go up more often, but the long…long…drive up there is very tiring for both of us.

Was also hoping that I would find lots more recent news like some of you sent for last week’s column, but no such luck! And so when I looked through my old stash of “History” I came up with this article that Robert Krumn wrote for some paper called Steer for Your Life – Sam. “Some people have never heard of a Lombard steerman, but then, there aren’t many of them around anymore. Before World War I, however, the men who steered Lombards were as much heroes to youngsters in Maine as astronauts are to kids today. They lived dangerously, walked with a swagger and made up to $4 a day – for as long as they steered, which wasn’t too long for some of them.

Sam White, my 81-year old neighbor in Alaska, is almost a legend in that state as one of the original bush pilots and early game wardens. He started flying open cockpit planes over untracked wilderness and arresting wild-eyed poachers in the late 1920s. Either job would have been adventurous enough for an ordinary man, but Sam is prouder about the years he steered a Lombard Steam Log Hauler through the forests of Maine than of all his later years of adventure in Alaska.

A steamer log hauler was the original crawler-type overland vehicle. It was invented by a homespun mechanical genius named Alvin Orlando Lombard, the precocious son of a back-country sawmill operator. Lombard didn’t consider the log hauler to be his greatest invention, but a lot of other people did, for it revolutionized the logging industry. Prior to steam power, lumbermen could only transport logs by river drives or horse-drawn sleds and drays. The log hauler allowed them to move logs from one valley to another, thus opening up previously inaccessible stands of timber.

Sam will never forget his first look at a Lombard.

It was in Eustis, Maine, one afternoon in 1901. At four-and-a-half miles per hour, a Lombard – with its rapid exhaust and musical whistle – sounded like a train going sixty. As there were no train tracks nearby it was obviously something new and exciting, so Sam’s teacher dismissed class to watch the first two Lombards ever made clatter past. Sam was enthralled; he had never seen anything nearly as thrilling as those 20-ton monsters. He set his heart on becoming a Lombard engineer.

In those days a boy didn’t have to wait long to become a man. Sam started working in the woods during his fourteenth winter. He was a swamper first, not a steersman, but at least he got to listen to the steersmen’s yarns when the lumber crew gathered around the heater in the bunkhouse at night.

For a youngster, Sam was big and strong, and he soon progressed from swamper to bucker, then faller and loader. The work was challenging and the pay was good. In 1908 Sam came out of the woods after 91 days with $91. Lumbering was winter work, so, in between seasons, Sam got what schooling he could and worked at his father’s farm and sawmill. He still had an itch to be a hero, though. His opportunity came in 1914 when the woods boss asked him if he was ready to try steering a Lombard.

Sam, of course, considered the request a great favor, but, actually, there weren’t too many woodsmen eager to take the job. The pay was good; better, in fact, than that of the other three crewmen – the engineer, the fireman or the conductor. But the chances for spending the pay weren’t too promising.

Lombards didn’t have brakes. Mr. Lombard wasn’t insensible to the dangers of going downhill without brakes. It was just that brakes wouldn’t work with a Lombard log hauler followed by 15 or 20 sleds full of logs. Brakes in front would cause a jackknife; brakes in the rear weren’t practical.

This didn’t cause the engineer, the fireman nor the conductor any great concern, because they could jump. But not so with the steersman. He sat wrestling a large iron steering wheel, in a little open shed, on the very front of the steam engine. It was too far for him to jump sideways, so he either steered or got squashed between the boiler and any tree that got in the way.

I’m going to end there for this day, as I’m afraid I’ve gone over my space already! I’m wondering if any of you men can even remember those old Lombards?

Just a short memoir from Percy: entitled Choice: Our lives are songs; God writes the words And we set them to music at pleasure; And the song grows glad, or sweet or sad As we choose to fashion the measure. (words by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.)

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, September 10, 2020

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townline.org!

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Michael Bilinsky, of China Village, had plenty of feathered visitors lately.

A female mallard duck got up close and personal, by Michael Bilinsky, of China Village.

A male mallard duck basks in the late afternoon sun, by Michael Bilinsky, of China Village.

A great blue heron visits the dock, by Michael Bilinsky, of China Village.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: You Can Help Fight Lyme Disease

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You can help protect yourself and others from suffering with Lyme disease.

(NAPSI)—As the summer months wind down, many will continue to flock outdoors and enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, camping, and fishing. What you may not realize is that despite the weather cooling off, ticks are still very prevalent outdoors. It is important to check for ticks after spending time in the grass or garden, as ticks can transmit a bacterial infection known as Lyme disease.

The Disease

A bull’s-eye rash is one of the hallmarks of Lyme disease, but other symptoms can be non-specific and even overlap with symptoms of COVID-19. These include body aches, fever, breathlessness, eye pain, diarrhea, chest tightness, headache, fatigue or joint pain. According to the Global Lyme Alliance, there are approximately 427,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the United States every year. However, Lyme disease is often missed—or misdiagnosed—due to unreliable testing. In fact, only 30% of people with early Lyme infections have a positive test result with existing tests because the disease is difficult to detect in its earliest stages, even though this is when it is easiest to treat. If you suspect you have Lyme disease or have been recently diagnosed, you can be part of the solution to improve detection of the disease in others.

How You Can Get Involved

If you’ve recently been infected with Lyme disease, your immune system can provide important information about how to detect and treat the disease that current tests cannot. To help advance new tests for Lyme disease, Adaptive Biotechnologies has launched the ImmuneSense Lyme study to better understand our body’s immune response. You may be eligible to participate in the study if you have signs and symptoms of Lyme disease, or were recently diagnosed and have not taken antibiotics for more than three days. To participate, you can visit a participating doctor to have your blood sample collected or schedule an at-home visit compliant with social distancing guidelines.

Why Your Participation Matters

If left untreated, Lyme disease can become a serious illness for many people, but if caught early, it can typically be treated with antibiotics and long-term complications can be avoided. Early detection is key for early treatment and now there is an opportunity to help bring about new detection methods for this serious and often overlooked disease.

Learn More

Visit www.immunesensestudy.com to learn more about the study, and how you can be a part of the solution for better testing. Editor’s Note: This article can be of interest to anyone but is of particular use to those living in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., New York, Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.

THE MONEY MINUTE: As goes Maine…away goes hunger

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by Jac M. Arbour CFP®, ChFC®
President, J.M. Arbour Wealth Management

Hunger in Maine is much more prevalent than most people know, and it affects our state deeply. Community members of all ages, all throughout our state, lack access to adequate food. Hunger needs a much broader definition. So does food.

Last year, the Good Shepherd Food Bank was instrumental in serving over 30 million meals to Maine people. Thirty million. But don’t be fooled: this did not meet all the need that was there. It may be a hard figure to take in, but try for a moment: here in Maine, even 30 million meals does not fill the hunger gap.

Over the past few months, I have shared time with leaders of organizations such as the Good Shepherd Food Bank, smaller local food banks, AIO out of Rockland, Full Plates Full Potential (founded by Justin Alfond and John Woods), the Greater Boston Food Bank, Feeding America, and more. I love these people. I love their spirits, their vision, their drive, and their internal need to be impactful members of society. It is a beautiful thing to witness and experience the determination that is so firmly rooted within these leaders.

One thing all leaders I met with said, is that their goal is to work themselves out of a job—to end all hunger in Maine. Imagine.

Some people are especially cognizant of the deciding role that nutrition, or lack thereof, plays in the development of our youth. Right now, at least one in five Maine children are experiencing hunger. Due to COVID-19, the number may be higher. Further, if we as a state keep doing exactly what we are (and aren’t) doing now, food-insecurity (and the results of it) in Maine will only increase. So how do we approach this issue?

We need to feed kids in a way that lasts a lifetime. Let me explain.

There is an immediate need to feed kids food, as we have discussed. A child cannot be expected to leave school on Friday, go two and a half days without food, then show up at school on Monday to sit in a chair for hours, pay attention, retain information, and develop as does a child fueled by nutritious food. Therefore, organizations like the ones I just mentioned and the people who lead them, are silent heroes. They are doing everything in their power to make sure this doesn’t happen, and they are doing one heck of a great job.

Now, let’s think beyond the immediate need for a moment. What else feeds kids?

We need to feed kids positive ideas, books that take them to new places, keys to the libraries of the world, direct access to education and career opportunities that might seem untouchable, the crucial ability to identify opportunities, access to speakers who can share their stories about building a life of significance, and most of all, awareness of what’s possible.

At J.M. Arbour, we mange IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and other investments. Only CFP® professionals and Chartered Financial Consultants® meet with the participants in retirement plans. We donate 50% of our net profits to meet the immediate need for food in Maine and further, to structure a network that will feed the hearts and minds of Maine’s tomorrow: our youth, for years to come.

Maine is well positioned to become the first state in the nation to literally end hunger among its people. Actually, when you step back and take a look at what that would require of us, it is quite simple.

We—the organizations and small companies fighting hunger—need teammates. We need you. Call J.M Arbour’s Chief Operating Officer, Devon Pcolar, and let us know if you want to help us end hunger in Maine.

See you all next month.

Jac Arbour CFP®, ChFC®

Jac Arbour is the President of J.M. Arbour Wealth Management. He can be reached at 207-248-6767.

Investment advisory services are offered through Foundations Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Little things matter (continued…)

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by Debbie Walker

Good afternoon! Grab a cup of your choice and relax. In this column I am sharing a few “memories” I received from our readers. It’s a follow up to “It’s the Little things That Matter” column from the August 6 issue. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Hopefully, these will bring more memories of your own.

One of my readers sent me a copy of a eulogy her daughter wrote and presented at the grandfather’s funeral. I wish I could share the entire writing because it was beautiful and yet more proof that the memories of the ‘little’ things are so important. In the eulogy I saw no mention of how much money he spent on his grandkids, just activities they enjoyed. It is particularly important to recognize that she is proud of his character over his life and her grandparents having been married for 61 years. Thank you for sharing, Peg.

Another woman remembered some simple words that made a difference in her life as a mom. “If you run now you will run for the rest of your life.” Those quite simple words came the first time the Mom had let her toddler play outside with her cousin, and her little one fell and puckered up to cry. The new grandmother stood with the new mother and watched the incident, guess what. That new grandmother knew what she was talking about. So far, this wisdom has traveled down to what certainly will be this new fourth generation. Thank you, Alice.

My mother told me once, “If you don’t make a big deal out of it, they won’t.” And, oh my goodness, how true it was to me over the years of motherhood and nanahood. What you don’t realize at first is how this will help to keep all involved calmer over the years. Thank goodness, you realize eventually this wisdom will help to keep the drama down. No matter how scared you are if you force yourself to react calmly you can make it easier for those involved.

Yet another lady told me a story about her adult nephew. He asked her to go out with him one night, just the two of them and she did. She learned how important the little things are. He reminded her of her bringing pool toys with her when they were on a family camping weekend. She took these toys for the nephews and little niece and she had toys for each. He realized somewhere along the line that while they were having fun they were also learning skills and endurance. There was nothing fancy about the toys, it was the time spent that he remembered. He said they always knew they could go to her for fun. They both remember that wonderful evening.

Hope you enjoy these comments and when you are ready to send me yours, I will be right here.

Before I finish, I have to tell you a story. Have you been getting calls from people wanting to sell you extended warrantees for your car or possibly threats from “IRS” and you owing money and will be arrested that afternoon? Well, Nana Dee got a different one. She got the call from a Medicare/Medicaid representative telling her about her son Ray calling them and requesting a back brace this afternoon. She asked when he had called and was told it was last week. She said she didn’t realize he had been having back pain, she didn’t think he needed a back brace. Ready to start his speech she stopped and informed him that Ray had died five years ago. That ole boy was tripping all over his tongue!

I am just curious what you will send me next!! Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thank you so much for reading and have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Homeland series on the Hulu channel

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Homeland series on the Hulu channel

Originally on Showtime, Homeland ran for eight seasons, was one of the two or three most successful programs in its history and was still attracting new viewers when it came to an end. It starred Claire Danes as C.I.A. agent Carrie Matheson, who is also bipolar while being very good at her work. In addition, Danes was one of the producers.

Claire Danes

I have been watching it regularly for the last two weeks, am now on season six, episode 61, and have ignored all other programs. Due to a combination of storyline, plausibility, quality of all production details, relevance to current events etc., it is an addictive viewing experience.

The opening episode begins with the rescue of a Marine sniper, Nicolas Brody, who has been held in captivity for eight years by Al-Qaeda and long thought dead. Carrie comes to believe that the sniper has been programmed by his captors into a terrorist but is unable at first to convince anybody else. The first three seasons revolve around this premise and has cunningly developed plot twists, including a romantic relationship between her and Brody, superbly portrayed by Damian Lewis, who brings out the complexity of his character and his convincing return to being a decent man in the end.

Damian Lewis

Seasons four and five deal with the invasion of the American embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; a traitorous C.I.A. station chief in Berlin; a terrorist plot with Sarin nerve gas on a railway line; and the usual political landmines in D.C. Actress Danes’s depiction of Carrie’s bi-polar episodes when she’s off her meds is some of the most convincingly harrowing virtuosity seen in any acting performance. As Carrie warns a later lover at the start of their relationship, “I can get very ugly and violent !”

Other actors warrant attention:

Mandy Pantinkin as Carrie’s agency trainer and mentor, Saul Berenson.

Tracy Letts as the insufferably arrogant Senator Lockhart who leads an investigation into secret agency activities, only to be appointed C.I.A. director himself and who manages to become quite likable before he’s dismissed from his position (Letts is an accomplished playwright and wrote August: Osage County, which became a 2013 film starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.).

Mandy Pantinkin

F. Murray Abraham as Dar Adal, Saul’s longtime agency colleague and expert in black ops (Abraham won an Oscar for his role as Salieri in the 1985 film Amadeus.).

Miranda Otto as Allison Carr, agency chief of the Berlin station, another protegé of Saul and his lover, and a double agent for the Russians, whose basically evil character has its own complicated dynamic and sympathetic context.

Turkish-born Numan Acar as the Afghan terrorist Haqqani. During season four, Haqqani kidnaps Saul for ransom and the conversation between them conveys a powerful other side of the story in the conflict between Western values and those of Islam, although Haqqani is quite despicable.

Claire Danes was supposedly paid $500,000 for every episode, and the production for each one often ran to $6 million.

Again, the series is very, very highly recommended.