I Am A Celebrant - A Blogiversary & Reinventing Yourself

My Blog is 2 years old...almost!  This coming Sunday, August 12, will be the two year anniversary of my first blog post.  I started the blog for myself.  I wanted to:

1. Learn a new skill

2. Work a regular writing discipline into my routine

3. Capture the meaningful events in my life

4. Honor people in my life who were important to me

I have accomplished all those goals and more so.  I found that my blog took on a life of its own.  Through the two years I have enlarged my sense of who I am as a person, I reinvented myself...from a person who didn't know much about computers to a person who is a "Blogger!"

Retirement for us has been  a gift and an opportunity to realize that we can continue to grow and become MORE...we can reinvent ourselves.  Sadly, we recently attended a memorial for a friend who never experienced retirement.  Mistakenly thinking he had time, he continued to decide to work, "just one more year." 

I think it is significant that the first blog I wrote was about my husband, Jay, and a class he had put together on the topic of Energy to teach at CSUDH's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute because today I want to write about Jay again.  Jay is a perfect example of someone who has re-invented himself.  He retired 12 years ago from a career as an aerospace engineer.  It was his identity...what he presented to the world and what he held in his mind. Today, he would still tell you he was an engineer because an engineer takes science and applies it in ways to try to improve the human condition.  He continues to carry a notebook, pen, pencil, highlighter in his top left pocket...but NO pocket protector!

However, how he manifests his role as an engineer is completely different.

Six years ago he began reading and hearing much about Global Warming and Peak Oil.  An eternal "skeptic" he decided to attend a day-long conference held at Cal Tech on the topic to try to determine, for himself, if what he received from the media was truth and to try to better understand the situation.  That conference was the catalyst for his re-invention!  In the intervening years he has worked to understand and monitor the "true" state of affairs regarding these two topics and their inter-relationship. He has read stacks of books, analyzed charts, dug into data, talked with experts, and mulled the situation over and over. 

As he own knowledge and analysis grew, he took on another role...that of informer.  Convinced that the government cannot solve this problem on its own because legislators are so removed from scientific data, he seeks to translate the information into a form that others can understand, inform others about what the issues are, and influence policy and action (both governmental and private) into the most effective activities toward maintaining a healthy economy, society and world.  What a huge objective!  He writes letters, contacts "those in positions of influence," and continues to teach.

Just this week he began teaching another course, this time at UCLA in their Extension Program, on The Critical Issues of Energy and Climate Change.  Today his world, his area of expertise, his world perspective and his self-image are all broader in scope and purpose.

The beauty of it all is that re-invention is a continuing process.  He will tell you one thing today, but he knows that a new finding or a tweeking of a situation can change the data.  It is dynamic and Jay remains open to new information and is willing to adjust his findings and even change his mind!  What a concept!

So...he is continuously re-inventing himself and as a result, is more fully alive!

I Am A Seeker - Participating in Philologue

"If you build it they will come..."  Sometimes I find myself in a conversation with someone who is contemplating retirement...wondering if the time is right and, more importantly, if they will be able to enjoy a fulfilling life without a regular job to fill the hours.  "How do you find things to do?" they ask.  Retiring early at 58, I have now enjoyed 12 1/2 years of retirement.  When Jay and I retired, we thought seriously about the semantics involved.  It was not retirement...it was re-creation...a time to reinvent, re-create ourselves while we recreate!

We kept our eyes and ears open and found many things to do, classes to take, places to see, books to read, skills to refine.  And....if we could not "find" something we were looking for, we could be part of "building" it.  That is what we did with Philologue.  This is the name we have given to a group of "like-minded" friends who have chosen to meet monthly to discuss various topics of interest.  It is really the brainchild of our friends, John and Lynn Taber.  After completing a very successful class in Omnilore some of the class members decided they wanted to continue their stimulating discussions by meeting regularly at each other's homes.  The name of our group comes from the word philology and is related to words and the love of discussion.

It is not easy to find a group of people who share inquiring minds and are willing to come together and talk meaningfully with each other, even if they have different opinions!  But I think the desire for such a group is nothing new.  There have been "salons," gatherings of people throughout history.  I don't know if we truly meet the definition of such a group, but we find ours very rewarding.  We have discussed fantastic topics like: Global Poverty, the War on Drugs, Health Care Reform, up-coming elections and propositions, Issues Facing the State of California, the Situation in Afghanistan, the Food Delivery System, Energy and Peak Oil to name a few.  Each month we choose the next month's topic and identify the host and then we come to the gathering prepared to share what we have discovered on the topic during the intervening time. In our discussions we question prevailing rhetoric and challenge ourselves to see where we stand on the issues.

Last Sunday we met at John and Lynn's home and the topic was the Supreme Court: the justices and key cases. 

Our hosts this month, John and Lynn Taber

For two hours we shared information with each other and discussed various aspects of how the Supreme Court works.  And of course, we love when the discussion winds down and we gather around the table to share appetizers!

The membership has changed over the 7 years that we have been meeting. Some have dropped out and their chairs have been filled by others. We keep our group small...just 11 of us...small enough so that everyone can participate but large enough to have a good exchange of opinions and thoughts. We always leave with new found clarity and often with some good ideas about what our legislators could be doing.  We are not as recognizable as "Brookings" or "Cato" or "Rand" but we would be happy to share our findings and conclusions!  Now if only some of them wanted our input!

We are looking forward to next month when we will gather at Karen's home to talk about Employment and the Job Market: How technical innovation will affect employment and what will be the jobs of the future. We will never run out of topics. 

So, bottom line, the message is...if you can't find what you are looking for in retirement, you can always help to create it!

I Am A Retiree - Owning My Time

One of the gifts of being retired is that I own my time.  Each day I get to choose how I am going to spend the hours given to me.  I may choose to commit the time on behalf of some person or project; I may choose to meander through the hours following my whims.  I may have a "to-do" list or I may just let the day unfold.  But the hours belong to me and the activities are of my choosing.  Today was a day that was influenced by the weather.  We knew the forecast was for rain and had prepared.  I awoke to cloudy skies and a mist in the air. 

I was looking forward to the rain, anticipating the garden getting a nice soaking since I had put in some summer vegetables over the past few days.  Setting up the ironing board in the living room, I tuned in to a British movie I had recorded some time ago and spent most of the morning feeling warm and cozy and just a bit noble with a sense of "I am a good person...see how I iron my husband's shirts!"

Just after noon the real downpour commenced.  Jay and I watched the rain form a huge puddle in the middle of the deck and the force of the raindrops propelled splashing water in all directions.  Flashes of lightening were followed (after a few..."one chimpanzee, two chimpanzees, three chimpanzees...") by loud thunderclaps telling us the lightening was quite a distance away from us, but we were cautious and powered down the computers.  We ate a warm, comfort-food lunch, finishing the last of the Italian ham and bean soup that was in the refrigerator, and then I snuggled down spend some time with Maisie Dobbs, reading the last few chapters of Jacquline Winspear's new mystery novel...An Elegy for Eddie!

We don't get much rain in Southern California so having a rainy day was a gift.  It was like returning to the womb...a retreat day that gave permission to slow down, hunker down, nurture, rest, replenish.

Then, around mid-afternoon, as I was knitting the easy, repetitive, hypnotic pattern of the moss stitch on a sleeve of the cardigan sweater I am trying to finish, the blue sky broke through and the sun began to stream through the windows.  It drew me out to the porch and I just stood there...reveling in the sights and smells of a world made fresh and clean.  Like the outside world, my inner world felt refreshed, invigorated, renewed and ready to proceed into the rest of the day. 

Retirement is a gift!

I Am a Recipient - Gifts from Friends

Presents...goodie!  I think of all the times I have been the happy recipient of gifts.  Birthdays, of course... Christmas morning hoping the items picked out from the Sears catalog found their way to under the Christmas tree.  Wedding Showers and Baby Showers.  Every time I receive a gift I feel a little quickening of excitement inside as I unwrap the paper wondering what will be inside and a little edge of anxiety as I wonder if I will like it and be able to make the giver feel appreciated.

As my life has changed with retirement, my material needs are less.  It is difficult to give my children gift suggestions...there is little I need that I do not already have.  I remember my father saying when asked the question, "All I really want is the garage cleaned!"  All I really want is the presence of my children in my life and you can't put a ribbon around that.  However, with the advent of spring, I find myself the recipient of many little thoughtful gifts that I really get excited about.

For example, about two weeks ago my friend, John, gave me a box of worms.

John has a worm bin where he makes worm compost and worm tea for his garden and his worms happily reproduce at an alarming rate.  He spent quite some time separating out a large number of worms that I was able to add to my compost bin.  What a gift and what a guy!

Then last week, Marcia came to class with some little pots of transplanted garlic chives.  She had so many and had to thin them out, so she gave me two pots to bring home.  They are planted just outside the front door so I can easily clip some for a recipe when needed.  How wonderful!

Then a few days ago, I was discussing my summer garden planning in a class and a member I had just met overheard the conversation and said..."Would you like an Heirloom Black Cherry tomato plant?  I have too many that I started from seed and need to find homes for them."  Would I?  Would I?  YES!

Gardeners seem to have a generosity of spirit that makes them eager to not only share gardening experience or advice and the fruits of their labors, but also items to add to your garden.  My only anxiety now is to bite my tongue and remember NOT to say thank you.  According to my Italian immigrant grandmother, Frances, she was taught to never thank someone for a plant or it would not grow. In fact among her friends, they would actually place the gifted plant down and then turn their head so the recipient could "steal" it.  That ensured that it would thrive.  Often I would see her reach out when she thought no one was looking and pinch a leaf from a plant to bring home to propagate.  This is the same woman who said the rosary everyday!  I don't know where this superstition originated, but I am not going to tempt fate.  So I will say, "I am not going to thank you for this wonderful plant because superstition has it that the plant will die if I do." 

I Am a Student - Learning About Geology

Most of my elementary school years were spent attending St. Patrick's Parish School in Kent, Ohio.

St. Patrick's back door off playground

Entering front door of school around 1952

It was a Catholic school with most classes being taught by the Sisters of the Holy Humility of Mary.

With my 8th grade teacher who's name escapes me...Sr. Mary Holy Water?

There were lay teachers in some grades, and my mother was one of them, but the school was run by the nuns!  The nuns taught us well in the basics - "reading, writing and 'rithmetic" - and I even received a certificate for completing the course of study of the Palmer Handwriting Method.

To this day people tell me I have beautiful handwriting and the nuns would be so proud.  What I did not learn in elementary school were the Arts and Sciences. If we were lucky, we had a couple of hours a month for an art class, that was more than coloring a picture, or a simple science class.

Now that I am retired and have the opportunity to broaden my education I enjoy filling in the gaps.  This week I attended a lecture at California State University, Dominguez Hills that was offered to all members of their Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).  It was the first of a series that will be presented this semester on Topics in Geoscience: Scientific Wonders of the Earth.  The series is popular, due to the generous participation of instructors from various departments at CSUDH.  The first presenter was Dr. Brendan McNulty, a professor of Geology, who is also a winner of the university's "Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Award."  For the past 7 years, with funding from the National Science Foundation, he and a colleague have been researching the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault in the Peruvian Andes.  I am impressed with myself that the last sentence just rolled off my finger tips!  The ideas of the forces of nature within our plant, the action of plate techtonics with plates colliding and subducting, the dating of material, rocks and soils that are 8 billion years old, the work of volcanic action and thermal triggers literally blows my mind! (pun intended)

Cordillera Blanca Peru

I recall being first exposed to the idea of our "living planet" in 2002 on an Elderhostel trip that made a loop of the state of Oregon where for 2 weeks we traveled on a bus accompanied by a geologist and a naturalist and explored four different geographic settings in the state.  I had never before considered how the wonders of nature worked or how slowly but decidedly this transformation occurs.

The lecture was filled with other OLLI members and Brendan commented on how much fun it was for him to share his passion with students who actually WANTED to be there.

Olli Members with Dr. McNulty

Jay, Gary and Gretchen talking to Dr. McNulty

He was enthusiastic, waving his hands and running back and forth from his slides to point some small detail out to us.  I was sure that as a little boy he must have come home with his pockets filled with rocks!  His enthusasm was infectious and we all left energized and eager to pursue other avenues of learning he suggested, like reading more of John McPhee's books, like Assembling California or the novel of Mario Vargas Llosa, Death in the Andes, which is set in the little village of Naccos.

Bottom line, for me I know it is never too late to have a comprehensive elementary education!

Thanks, Professor McNulty!

I Am a Resident - Walking the Neighborhood

When Jay and I married, 12 years ago, we decided that I would move into his home in Playa del Rey, we would live there for 3 years and then find "our home" to move to. Three years passed and we went house-hunting but always said when we returned to Playa del Rey, "Home, sweet home. There is no place we like better than this!"  So we remodeled the house and now it feels like "our home."

Playa del Rey is a coastal community situated between the Los Angeles International Airport

and Marina del Rey.  Most of the community is built on what are actually sand dunes with west facing houses viewing the ocean and east facing houses viewing the San Bernardino Mountains (on a clear day!).  Our house faces east.

But if we walk just three blocks, we are greeted with this fantastic view:

On mornings such as today, we will grab each other and head out the door to walk the neighborhood.  We are not alone.  There are dog walkers

 headed to the little triangle Dog Park...which often seems to be a little lunch time "meeting place" for various people!

and fitness runners

We see the fruit trees

and landscaping ideas.

We notice some homes optimistically up for sale despite the current real estate slump.

We see a tree trunk that was uprooted during the recent rain storms, waiting to be hauled away.  Makes me wonder how my "age rings" are evidenced on my "trunk!"

We have some homes with "stories attached to them" like this vintage house that once hosted parties for movie stars in the twenties...like Ronald Coleman and Myrna Loy.

This is the entrance to Marina Del Rey.  The houses below it are locally referred to as "the Jungle" I guess because of the "wild life" that occupies them, especially during the summer months...young adults and college students from nearby Loyola Marymount University or UCLA.  On clear days like today we look at the curve of the bay and see the city Santa Monica and all the way to Point Dume.

This gradual path ambles along a restricted area and takes us all the way to the beach.

The restricted area is property claimed by the City of Los Angeles years ago by eminent domain due to an airport expansion and is now protected as a habitat of the El Segundo Blue Butterfly.  I have never seen one!

It is an interesting neighborhood and we always see something new. We often tell each other that right now people are saving their money and planning a future vacation to travel thousands of miles to visit the location that we have right outside our front door.  Los Angeles may be very crowded, have horrendous traffic on gnarled freeways, have blighted areas and dismal crime statistics, but on the other side of the coin, we are fortunate to live in Paradise.  And, at the end of the walk, like today, 1.06 miles later, we return to "Home, Sweet Home."

I Am A Student - Participating in Lifelong Learning

Whenever we receive applications and forms to complete, I always pause at the field marked: occupation.  Most of the time I comply with the expected..."retired."  But occasionally I write in "student."

In 2000 when Jay and I retired, we had T-shirts made that said, "Not Retirement...Re-Creation" and that was our mantra as we set out in this new chapter of our life..to explore, learn, grow in areas that had been left untapped or put on the back burner during our working years.

Retirement T-shirt

One of the first avenues we found to aid us in our quest was a Learning-in-Retirement organization called Omnilore.  There are many types of lifelong learning programs, usually under the auspices of a local college or university, but we found Omnilore to be unique in that it uses an active learning format.  The members run the show...creating their own curriculum that is offered three times a year. At this time, members sign up for the course of study that interests them and they are put into Study/Discussion Groups of 8 to16 people.  OK...so what is unique about that you might ask?  Well, the members are both the students and the teachers.  Each member selects a topic related to the group's subject to be studied and then does extensive research on the topic and, at an assigned class, teaches what has been learned during the research to the rest of the class members.

We recently received our class assignments for the upcoming Spring Trimester.  I am taking two classes this time: one class will study the Cuisine of the Mediterranean, using food historian, Clifford Wright's, book and the other will study a collection of short stories written by Californian authors about the state of California.  I already have a stack of research books to begin working on my chosen topic for the first class..."The History of the People and the Cuisine of the Island of Sicily."  50% of my Italian heritage springs from Sicily and I am drawn to its story like a duck to water.  I have been pouring through fascinating books, calling out to Jay various factoids as I read them, like..."Did you know there were over 19 occupations of Sicily by various cultures?" ...a people always occupied but never conquered!  or "Did you know that it was the Arabs who brought sugar cane and sweets to Sicily?"...ah, cassata, gelato, cannoli!

So it has been 10 years, 30 trimesters, approximately 60 courses and research projects.  I have learned about Impressionist Painting, Bach, The Italian Renaissance, Islam, the countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and India, Immigration, the Genome, Globalization, the Food Industry, Jazz, Ethics, Energy to name a few.  Can't you just imagine what a conversationalist I am at a social gathering!!  In the process I have stayed informed about the world and discovered new interests that never hit my radar screen before.  Jay and I love learning and we love teaching.  We have gone from using little index cards with our notes to full-blown PowerPoint Presentations as we share our research.  If the current research on the brain is correct, then hopefully I am giving my gray matter a work out...developing new connections, synapses.  There is a whole world out there.  There is so much to learn and explore.  Who ever said retirement was boring?