Since I've last written, I have retired from the public service and moved to Calgary from Ottawa. Both those life events happened rather quickly in 2012. When opportunity knocked, I answered the call. And I'm happier for having done so.
The move to Calgary was more serendipitous since a friend's brother has a house for rent at just the right time and it seemed fortuitous that such availability would be open in my universe, just as I was readying for this life change. The house is tiny and perfect and its size forced me to shed a few pounds of books and other items before settling in. I also hired a professional organizer to assist with the unpacking and putting away of much of the bumpf of stuff that I alone could no longer deal with. She was terrific at finding places for things and reorganizing to make places for things.
I keep moving into smaller and smaller homes. Sooner or later, the small urn awaits. Then nothing will follow me and all the stuff that surrounds me will have to be distributed to friends, family or those who could do something better with it. And then I will be dust in the wind by the sea.
But for now, here I am settled in Calgary and with my books and music around me. Friends have been called and called back; I have dined with a few and even ventured out afield exploring the surrounding countryside, heading off to Brooks, the XL meat packing plant, the world heritage Badlands plus Head-Smashed-In and Lethbridge. I haven't made it to the mountains yet though. These days there's a dusting of snow on them.
This week I attended a choir rehearsal - to get back into singing. I may instead take individual lessons from someone; that choir was too chatty and do not respect the music enough to be quiet between rehearsed sets. Plus directors who split themselves between piano and directing are not doing right by either one. I did see a director I may want to work with and that is Jane Perry who has established a choral group for LGBT community in Calgary which would be fun to be part of. They meet Monday evenings at the Unitarian Church.
The challenge with retirement for me is to keep myself busy - my brain busy - without obsessing about something. So far I'm reading novels and non-fiction plus not watching the news much, though the radio does delivery the basics to me every day. I am trying to be vigilant about a diet of protein and fruit and not being too successful at it. Balance is what I need to strive for in my food choices, as long as the choices include chocolate - hehe. And further, I am sleeping consistently, which is great news if you are my couch, which formerly saw me dozing on it until the middle of the night. Now, I am in bed by midnight if not earlier and asleep by 1am. This means I am awake early in the morning and have a full day to explore the opportunities before me. Which are many.
This blog is about to become a whole different angle on what is going on with me and my world. In fact, I might form a new blog to comment on the impact of retirement on "young seniors" and what can be done to ensure we make the most of our days and talents.
God knows we could volunteer ourselves to death. But there is so much more to do, be and have - not in the material sense but in the community sense. Why not work together as young retired seniors to get what we want in term of community social enterprise?
It may be worth exploring and expressing in a blog of its own. This was an idea tested at ALIA last June
which found some traction among a variety of young seniors and the children of young seniors - and older seniors too.
Let's see where it takes us.
H
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