Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
Climbing the ladder
On my third trip to the hardware store to get the right lightbulb, I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t come face to face with the same sales clerk again. They were patient the first two times as I scrutinized the confusingly long aisle of lightbulbs this morning, but I know patience reaches a limit. Plus, I had encountered a little incident...
A field trip to the big library at last
My friend and I had tried to get to Calgary for a day at the ‘new’ downtown public library every year since it opened. For a whole bunch of reasons, it has taken us eight years to accomplish this field trip. But we got there a few weeks ago and loved every square inch of the magnificent gathering place! It was destined to be worth waiting for,...
Funeral for a friend
After months of visiting her at Calgary’s big new cancer centre, it was time to travel to her funeral. I’m so fortunate to have had her as a friend for a very long time. What I have been most amazed at, when I reflect on her life, is how many times she adapted her career – even into retirement. She was a dedicated and talented Registered Nurse,...
While you were out
I was a receptionist in a Calgary office back in the late 70s when we smoked cigarettes at our desks and had drinks at lunch. We used little pink phone message pads back then, where you would record the name and number of the person who called and then put a little checkmark beside the prompt that best describes what the receiver of the message...
Learning from challenges then letting them go
I’ve had a great year of challenges – all of which provided an opportunity to speak openly and invitingly about becoming a senior. It’s just another day added onto many that have come before, but it is a significant birthday. As my cousin said when she turned 65 a few years ago, “Yesterday I was the oldest of the young ones and today I’m the...
The Birthday Suit
It was all arranged. I was to spend my 65th birthday naked in front of a large group of people. No, I wasn’t going to streak through the downtown streets, I was going to be a nude model for a second-year drawing class at the college. I would summon every ounce of courage to be the exact way I entered the world six and a-half decades ago – in my...
Don’t respond with silence
We were driving into our favourite off-leash dog park in Red Deer the other day when we came across a man collecting signatures for the Alberta Separatist movement. A large provincial flag was flying beside him, as he chatted eagerly with a nonchalant-looking young man who was – ironically - wearing a toque with a maple leaf on it. Not sure who...
The case of the missing shoes
I was perplexed recently. Well, likely more than once, but this particular time was the result of finding my shoes missing when I went to leave my yoga class. My fellow yogis and I retraced my steps – had I worn a different pair than I thought I had? Did I really place them on the little shoe rack or had I stashed them somewhere odd. Was I,...
Asking a kid how I should challenge myself
It was taking a bit of a risk asking Charlie Stuart what she thought I should do as a challenge to myself as I approach my 65th birthday. She’s a bit of an intimidating eight year-old, after all, having been written up in the Red Deer Advocate for her generous donation of toys to the Christmas Wish Breakfast. She saves some of her allowance all...