Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
Contributing to a health study for 25 years
Me and 55,000 fellow Albertans have been contributing our insights and our bodily fluids to a massive research project for the last 25 years! The Alberta Tomorrow Project (ATP) is a large-scale research study, involving men and women aged 35 to 69 from across the province, to study the causes of cancer and chronic diseases over a 50 year period....
Challenge to self: find out with the psychic says
So I’ve been setting small challenges for myself and reflecting (very casually) on my lifepath, in the lead-up to my 65th birthday in March. I figured it was time to ask a psychic for their comments on my life thus far! I’ve been to a psychic a few times over the years, approaching the interaction with a lighthearted interest and a big grain of...
Self-evaluation assignment led to a change of heart
It’s a brand-new year – perfect time to reflect on the 365 days we’re leaving behind and gird our loins for the resolutions we are cornering ourselves into. Funny to have an old, recently rediscovered college assignment remind me that I used to thumb my nose at backing into a corner at all! When I was taking the social services program at Red...
A coin in the hand is worth two in the card
A number of years ago when I was still working full time, I was setting out to mail a birthday card on my lunch break. A quick glance in my wallet showed I only had a 20 dollar bill – still a bit rich for me to stick into my nephew’s card. So I zipped into the lunchroom to see if any of my co-workers had change. “Oh, how old is your nephew?!” one...
Challenge to self: Learn to crochet
Does this look like a pumpkin? The crochet instructor said we would all go home with one we made ourselves! Doesn’t knitting and crocheting sound like a perfect pastime for aging persons? Keeping your fingers agile, your mind active, your giving spirit open – I mean, do you know anyone who knits anything for themselves? It seems to always be...
Farewell to a force
We said goodbye to Jane Goodall recently, but she also said goodbye to us. We followed her partnership with the great chimpanzees of Tanzania over the decades, we learned from her scientific quests, and we were moved by her devotion to nature. And then we were touched by her message to us, after her death, through a sensitive and clever interview...
Our daily bread
Did you buy a loaf of bread at anytime between 2001 and 2021? Maybe you made some French Toast on a quiet Sunday morning, or put together a peanut butter sandwich for your child’s lunch, or stuffed a festive turkey. If so, you should add your name to the Canadian Packaged Bread Class Action Settlement before December 12, because someone was...
Challenge to self: Skate
I have skated a lot in my life. The whole of my childhood years was spent on community rinks, followed by teenage and young adult years gliding along the pond at Bowness Park in Calgary. We’d blast across the ice holding hands and playing crack the whip until the whole lot of us tumbled in a heap of laughter – and no broken bones. How is it that...
Small business owners believe anything is possible
It was small business week a few weeks ago and I am more and more aware of what that means. Partly because I’ve recently been asked to do some freelance work for the Chamber of Commerce at a town south of Red Deer and I’ve been interviewing business people about their goals and dreams. Also because some small business owners near where I live in...