Exercising Mind, Body, and Spirit

Oh dear, more than 6 months since my last post. Let’s call it a period of trying things out: getting involved in my community, learning and growing, using what I already know to make some small difference, and traveling. I work out regularly at the Y, including swimming but also taking several classes such as strength training and line dancing. People have been very friendly and welcoming, I look forward to it, and it has provided my days with some structure. I joined the local community chorus (no auditions required) so I could sing. The chorus practices from August until December, leading up to a couple of Christmas concerts. It has actually been hard work trying to get comfortable with unfamiliar music and rehearsing in the evenings, when I am tired. One fun concert we gave in the fall involved standing on a skipjack (an old-time oystering sailboat) tied at the dock and regaling the audience gathered on the dock for the annual Schooner Rendezvous. The cold wind blew our music around and chilled our backs, but it was fun nevertheless. Then I got sick and missed the big Christmas concert, but at least was able to sit in the audience and enjoy it. Perhaps next year I’ll be more comfortable with the whole routine. I am still seeking volunteer opportunities that would use my skills and experience. Shelving donated books for the FOL is sometimes fun, but I’m also using my online skills to help promote the monthly book sale and to sell the more valuable books for better prices on eBay. I am enjoying making some new friends. More recently, B and I attended an orientation meeting for the Skipjack Nathan volunteers. It is a historic oystering sailboat that provides public historic sails during the summer months. I was soon commandeered into helping maintain the already well-designed website. I started a MOOC last fall from Udacity called “Web Development.” It has been challenging but I have amazed myself to have gotten through 2 of the 7 modules so far. I paused and then took a free online course offered by Google on Python for Programmers, and that has proven to be the most fun I’ve had during retirement. It felt like getting back to the technical aspects of my career that I missed, and it was exciting to find that I could still do it. So now what do I do with it? A few months later I started another MOOC in EdX, called “Unlocking Immunity to Change”, which has been stimulating, frustrating, and possible actually helpful. Finally, we took a Road Scholar trip to Puerto Rico, after months of perusing the catalogs and finally settling on something first not so very far and not so very different, but very active, involving hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, in mountains, wet and dry forests, and water. The trip exceeded my expectations, the group was very amenable, and I am ready to sign up for another one. Just prior to that I also took weekend trips to visit friends in Atlanta and to attend a family reunion in Charleston, so was travel-ready.