IN SEA OR DESERT, PAIR LOVE WIDE OPEN SPACES.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET

LITTLEROCK - Clarence and Ann Orr have worked around animals all their lives.

He spent nearly three decades in the dairy business. Then he and Ann ran their own fishing and diving business before he settled down to hauling horses and livestock and she became a cafeteria manager.

Clarence, 63, and Ann, 61, are happy still to be working.

He retired once - in 1977, after he worked 27 years for the Edgemar Farms Santa Monica Dairy Co.

``I was only 44 at the time,'' he said. ``So I elected to freeze my retirement pay until last year to make sure we'd have financial security from now on, when we need it most.''

After he left the dairy, he and Ann operated their commercial fishing business off the coasts of Santa Barbara and San Clemente and the Channel Islands.

Ann, an expert diver, brought up sea urchin and abalone. The Orrs harpooned swordfish and trapped lobster for export to Japan.

The Orrs, who have 18 grandchildren, raised their five daughters to be divers. Laura Fredrickson of Coos Bay, Ore., and Lisa Nation of Long Beach are twins and work as longshoremen. The Orrs' other daughters are Debra Havens of Littlerock, Kathy Butala of Palmdale and Francine Solon, Lake Los Angeles.

Clarence and Ann Orr still love the beach and the smell of the sea, but they love their desert home, too - with plenty of running room for grandchildren.

``It's great living in a place like this, where we can have all the animals we want and see the kids frequently,'' Clarence said.

``We have quite a menagerie,'' Ann said. ``We have three horses, two ponies, two mascot goats, three dogs, several chickens, pigeons and ducks, one cat and a cockatoo named Davey that we've had since 1970.''

Clarence has entered two of the horses in many gymkhanas and in team penning contests. The two registered quarterhorses have won trophies, ribbons and cash prizes and have pranced in parades.

Clarence used to spend part of every day on horseback, but ``not since I had a hip replacement three years ago,'' he said. ``That temporarily threw me for a loop.'' Now he rides less frequently.

He loves working in the outdoors and, as his own boss, does tractor work and hauls livestock and horses for the Lancaster Sales Yard and for ranchers. He's on the road a lot but has grown used to it.

Ann cares for all their animals while he is away - almost a full-time job on top of her full-time job at Wildflower Elementary School, where she has been the cafeteria manager since 1989.

Clarence Orr and Ann Kearns were married in Redondo Beach on Feb. 21, 1952, and came to their Littlerock spread in 1986.

Clarence was born July 24, 1933, in Akron, Ohio, and his parents brought him to the West when he was a baby. He went to high school in Venice.

His wife was born Nov. 23, 1935, in Bridgeton, N.J., and was graduated from high school in Torrance. She later took courses in school cashiering at Antelope Valley College.

The Orrs enjoy traveling.

``We travel up to a ranch we have in Oregon at least a couple of times a year, and we go east to Kentucky to visit family back there,'' Ann said.

They like vacations in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands.

Clarence recently recovered from an exotic illness.

``I've just gotten over a virus I picked up from some sheep I hauled awhile back,'' he explained. ``It wasn't a usual type of thing, and they had a hard time diagnosing it, so it took some time to get rid of it. But everything's OK now. I feel real good today.''

LANCASTER - ``There are no dumb questions. Just dumb answers,'' said Robert Feiman, who heads a group for artists at the Antelope Valley Senior Center, 777 W. Jackman St.

As an addition to the many programs already available at the center, Feiman wants to begin a class in mental aerobics.

``This will be a kind of brainstorming program,'' he said. ``We seniors have lived long enough to accumulate a lot knowledge in our databases, but we need to keep our programming updated. Like any other computer, you can only get out of your brain as much as you put into it.''

It is his plan to moderate a few sessions at first and then see what happens.

``We want everybody in the group to participate, so we'll take turns initiating a topic for discussion. It can be about anything. There are a million things out there to talk about,'' he said.

``There won't be any right or wrong to it, just varying points of view to stimulate our thinking.''

He is recruiting participants. ``We need to get people who are interested to sign up as soon as possible. When we get enough takers, we'll set a day and time for the first meeting.''

Interested people are urged to call the Antelope Valley Senior Center, [phone], and register.

LANCASTER - Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk.

Monday: Juice, chili egg puff, chili beans, green beans, carrot/pineapple salad, peaches.

Tuesday: Lemon herbed fish, rice pilaf, mixed vegetables, marinated beets, orange.

Wednesday: Barbecued chicken, macaroni salad, cabbage, tossed salad, apple crisp.

Thursday: Hamburger on a bun, all the fixings, corn, cauliflower, cheesecake.

Friday: Pinto beans and ham, carrots, fiesta coleslaw, cornbread, pudding.

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Photo

Photo: Outdoors with her husband, Clarence, Ann Orr pats one of the three horses in the couple's menagerie.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News