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Saying Good-bye to Summer |
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September 2004
If you are a Canadian it is never easy saying good-bye to summer. You know, in your bones, that means winter is coming. It's part of our psyche - winter is always coming at us, even when we're sweating in the August heat we know it's there.
Besides, summer is a great season for visitors and sports, BBQs and relaxing in the hammock. September means the company is gone and the town is quiet again-or does it? Quieter, maybe, but certainly not dull. The youngsters may be dragging their feet to school, but the 50+ group is heading for the action of the classroom and the recreation center in droves.
Seniors' Centers are starting up their regular fall programs of Tai Chi and Line Dancing, pool, crib tournaments, crafts and bowling. The sports centers are busy registering folks for classes or teams. The hockey players are rubbing their hands with glee and sharpening their skates. Masters tournaments are being scheduled and art classes are filling up. The phones are starting to ring at the volunteer centers where most volunteers are 50+. If you are new to the Thompson/Okanagan and looking for new friends and exciting activities you have much to choose from.
Kelowna's Centre for Learning in Retirement is starting registration for fall classes. The centers that offer computer courses are already swamped with would-be 'surfers' anxious to learn how to send emails and digital photos to the children and grandchildren. A recent study has shown that seniors' use of the Internet had jumped by 47% since 2000, making them the fastest growing group to embrace the online world. When you ask the people selling computers who are buying them, the answer is the 50+ group.
An 80-year old at Simon Fraser is using the Internet to do her genealogy research while others are enthralled with the new world of digital cameras and programs like Photoshop. There are web sites for astronomy to help newcomers get familiar with the night sky. This is where we learn that Mars is closer to Earth than it has been for 5,000 years. Those starting to research their family tree will find web sites that will make the research much easier, and more entertaining. I discovered that many, many generations back I had a distant grandfather in Yorkshire, home of English wool, who was a 'walker' by profession. Anyone know what that would entail? A word of caution on genealogy sites, most do not verify the information so you must treat it with caution and use it as the start of your own research, not as the end! As well as entertaining and educating us, computers and the Internet keep us in touch with the younger generation, who will likely never take up the old-fashioned letter writing that their grandparents knew. We knew we couldn't beat them, so we joined them and we're having more fun than anyone.
But let's not rush into winter just yet. Fall is a wonderful season in our area. The fresh fruits and fall vegetables are at their peak, and folks are busy making jam and jelly, canning peaches and plums, making pies and chocolate-zucchini cake. All the farmers' markets are busy with the bounty of the harvest season and those who don't have time or space to can or preserve can fill their cupboards with the best of the harvest, and who's to know that we didn't actually do the work ourselves?
Fall isn't all work, however. A quick glance at the arts page offers just a sampling of what is coming this season in theatre and musical productions. It's an amazing selection of talent, and some tickets are sure to sell quickly. Season tickets are selling well and auditions are packed with the 50+, some seasoned performers and others who have waited years for their change on the stage. Choirs of all types and sizes are recruiting new members and a glance at the schedule of any seniors' center makes it seem as though the entire Thompson/Okanagan is line dancing!
Whether you want to be making the jam or buying it; on the stage or in the audience; singing or enjoying the performance - this is where the action is for the fall of "04.
Pat Archibald, Editor |
