Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

I wasn't going to blog about the (most) recent school shooting.  Full disclosure: when the news broke, the Olympics were on and I switched channels to the cable station that continued with Olympic coverage.  I just couldn't watch yet another one, partially because I think I was steeling myself against the rhetoric I anticipated would follow. It did.  The rhetoric.  And that's what threw me over the edge this morning and why I'm writing.   First, allow me to offer the highest praise and admiration to the students who have taken it to the streets.  RIGHT ON!!  They are truth tellers, peace seekers, voices of wisdom in a sad society that appears to have become inured to and accepting of gun violence.  Thank you. Second, as a member of The Clubs and a former school teacher and administrator, my personal opinion is that arming adept teachers would not provide any additional measure of safety against an armed intruder carrying one or more we...

Christian faiths are entering into the Lenten season in preparation for Easter.  The bad before the good, is one way of looking at it.  Another, I believe, is an opportunity for self-reflection as the traditional Lenten activity is to give something up during this period.  I like this article that addresses this issue. When I was a child, growing up in the conservative Catholic faith, I always had the very best of intentions when giving something up for Lent.  As I still do today, I engaged in internal monologues where I'd battle what I had been taught was the pull of Satan when I felt swayed toward violating the promise I had made, like to not eat candy or to go to Mass every day.   Gradually, as I explored my faith and spirituality, I moved away from this view of Lent to one where I see Lent as a place where I dive deeper into what it means to be the hands, feet and voice of Christ in the world ( thank you, Rev. Mary Cole-Duvall, Rev. Jeanie Smith and...

He Who Must Not Be Named's children attend the City of Lakes Waldorf school in Minneapolis.  Yesterday the school presented its 25th annual Circus, which we attended along with HWMNBN, our grandchildren Millie (age 7, currently learning about vowels and letter blends in 1st grade, 2 loose teeth) and Ethan (age 3.5, in preschool, reporting about what the class had for snack each day) and (sort of) their mother, Kitty, who works at the school and consequently was very busy with front of the house activities. The Waldorf educational philosophy is different from mainstream educational philosophies and is, by its own admission, not for everyone.  While working predominantly in early childhood education, I became heavily influenced by the Reggio Emilia philosophy which informed to some extent the International Baccalaureate  (IB) philosophy.  The school district had been exploring adopting IB for all its schools, which it subsequently did, and on the early end, Reggi...

This past week marked the first anniversary of my retirement.  Unlike the countdown to retirement, which was an App on my phone, there had been no calculation of the days without gainful employment.  It came to me when I was teaching Fearless Aging on February 1: "You've been retired one year today." This is, obviously, an opportunity for reflection so carpe diem--I'll seize the day. Anticipated: I would enjoy getting back in a regular exercise routine. Learned:  I have.  Enormously.  It took a while to find what classes were the best fit and I've settled into twice weekly yoga and two-three times water exercise, plus the Saturday Pilates I've maintained for a few years.  When the weather is nice (for me sunny and at least mid-60s), walking and gardening get added into the days. Not Necessarily Anticipated:   I would enjoy being part of the exercise clan in these classes. Learned:   I have.  Enormously.   The yogis are an eclectic...