Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
A beacon for every season
The geese are honking their way through another autumn in droves. A whole swack of them flew right over me while I was walking the other night and, even though none of them uttered a sound, there was still such huge volume with their wings flapping and the air stirring around them in their perfect V formation. There is such strength when you...
Soliloquy for the Saddledome
One of the final hockey seasons is underway in the Saddledome and it’s making me think of all the great memories from that notorious building. I remember when it was first built and we all thought it looked like a maxi-pad. Be that as it may, it was built for the Olympics and Calgarians hold that time close to their hearts. My first time inside...
The days of our lives
(Me with the toque on The Great Wall in 1984) As of today, I have been on this earth for 32,014.5 days. The half is because I was born midway through my first day. I know this because my dad dropped my mom off in the morning at The Calgary General Hospital, where he worked, before he headed to the office. He checked on her in the maternity ward...
Choose the right attitude, which is always kindness
We’ve all seen the signs: ‘Be kind to our staff - abuse in any form will not be tolerated.’ It seemed confusing to me when they first started popping up. I would be waiting in reception at the dentist’s office and think it must be a notice for people who are anxious about their appointment. Isn’t fear of dentists right up there on the list? Then...
Just open up and sing!
I surprised a lot of people a few weeks ago when I mentioned I wanted to join a community choir – especially my friends who have heard me sing! Before they start planning on how best to console me when the rejections start coming in, I have since experienced another epiphany. I think what I might actually be looking for is opportunities to sing...
Harvesting a grateful heart this Thanksgiving
(Harvesting my little carrot bowl on the patio!) I distinctly remember my ah-ha moment of making a personal connection to where food comes from. It was in the early 60s in Vancouver, when my family stayed at great-aunt Bella’s house while on vacation. When we arrived, this ancient stranger asked me to go out to the back garden to bring in some...
Aging well all life long
The course of a person’s whole life determines healthy aging outcomes, not only the things that happen in older age. Makes perfect sense, but now the concept is supported by a ream of data which was part of a summer newsletter from RTOERO (formerly the Retired Teachers of Ontario). The group held a Future of Aging Summit in Toronto last month,...
Lost and Found
I am navigationally challenged and have been my entire life. The first time I was allowed to take the bus to my gramma’s by myself, I needed to transfer to a route going to Calgary’s southwest. Me and Mom practised this and I thought I had memorized it adequately, but I needed to phone her later to confess I was lost in the city’s northwest. Yup...
The long arm of the law
The long arm of the law seems to have wrapped itself firmly around my shoulders this summer. You may recall me writing (okay, possibly complaining) a few columns ago about getting two speeding tickets in exactly the same spot two weeks apart. Well, I promptly paid the first one and then figured I would wait until a bit closer to the cut-off date...