Zooming into Winter

Well, the frost is on the pumpkin. The weather changed so suddenly I think a lot of us were taken by surprise. Many days this month felt more like January than October, and that makes for a very long winter. In Saskatoon I remember it was the normal thing to send the kids out on Halloween with a snowsuit under their costume. One year we handed out small cups of hot chocolate, which was a bit hit! But this is not the prairie and many of us were hoping for a lovely long fall. One that would give us time to adjust to the coming winter. You know, come to terms with it gradually. Ease into the sweaters and warm socks. Slowly warm up to the idea of cold, so to speak. Not to be.    Even the most diehard gardeners have thrown in the towel and abandoned their garden tools and turned instead to hanging up the Christmas lights. Experience has taught many that hanging those house lights on a sunny weekend in early November can be the best Christmas present you give yourself!  Trying to string up lights in the face of a force ten gale is not an experience to be repeated.   Once that is done, we can curl up with our cup of tea or coffee and spend many happy hours browsing through the seed catalogues. With a little imagination we can plan amazing flowerbeds, create new patios, design entire water features with waterfalls and a pond – all without leaving the comfort of our armchair. Then there is birdseed to buy and bird feeders to hang. Some happy travelers will be planning trips to warmer climes while the hardy snow lovers will start their pre-ski exercises. The curlers among us are doing their stretches and the skaters are sharpening their skates – there are good times ahead. All of the Adult Ed classes in the Valley report that enrollment is going up each year and demand for new classes is constant. It seems there is a demand for a model train club and a group of scroll saw enthusiasts would like a club as well. Camera and photography groups are getting steadily larger while art classes, weaving classes and pottery are all offered now at every level from beginner to advanced. Many of our friends and neighbors may be moving into retirement but they are not planning to sit back and put their feet up.                                                                                                  One pastime that is growing by leaps and bounds is adult music lessons. Some of these keen students had lessons in distant childhood but many, many others are just now finding the time to pursue an activity they have always dreamed about participating in – being on the stage at last, and no longer in the audience. When you chat with these folks they confide that they have no dream of ever being good, but they are having so much fun they all wish they had started sooner. Much like the writer, McCall Smith and his ‘Really Terrible Orchestra’* (which does actually exist, by the way) these musicians are amateurs in the purest sense.  They do what they do for the love of it.  McCall Smith himself, the orchestra bassoonist, confides that he has a lot of trouble with C sharps, so he simply doesn’t play them. That’s the spirit!   If you are new to the area or new to retirement, scan the schedules of the various senior centres. They have such a rich mix of activities that you are bound to find something you’ll enjoy and once through the door you will meet a wonderful group of active, positive and enthusiastic new friends. If you are one who enjoys volunteering, this might be the ideal place to start.   Don’t let the winter be without rest, however. No matter how much you enjoy these various pursuits save some time for sitting back as a member of the audience. This is a very important role, as those who have ever cheered madly at a school concert can tell you. Once the leaves start to turn yellow and fall to the ground, the actors and performers among us begin to make their way to the stage, and every stage demands an audience. They depend on us! No audience, no show!   The various symphony orchestras are rehearsing for their winter concert series and this year “Peter and the Wolf” will be on offer. What could possibly be better than that as a means of introducing youngsters to the world of classical music? We can enjoy ‘Oliver” in November and look forward to the “Pirates of Penzance” in December. No matter what your taste in music, there will be something for you to enjoy in the months ahead.    Remember, too, to keep on ‘zooming’. As a zoomer (body of a 60+, brain of a 40+ and heart of a teenager) a great many groups and organizations depend on you. Zoom on! *You’ll find The Really Terrible Orchestra in McCall Smith’s lovely novel, The Sunday Philosophy Club. He is also the author of the very popular Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. McCall Smith and his orchestra can be found in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

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