ADULT LEARNING IN RETIREMENT
(And, some other stuff)
The old rusty Nail
AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE
Russell Burton, an Old Person
This is the first year that I have taken courses in an educational environment to ‘formally’ learn since I retired some 11 years ago. My chum who presently lives in Florida has been telling me about these types of classes for several years. She took them at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Palm Beach. They did sound interesting but I just never got around to looking into them here where I live in San Antonio, Texas.
Interestingly, one good friend who lives here has been taking to me about them for years I just never thought my two friends were talking about similar activities.
Well, so much for the history of my lack of understanding some of the basics of growing old, for I find that these classes are taught throughout the country. And, they do not cost very much to take. For instances I can take in a semester as many classes as I wish for only $75 plus $15 for refreshments.
I want to emphasize here that I do keep my brain active by writing, reading, doing my daily Sudoku, etc. In addition, I travel to up state New York every year and attend the 9-week ‘learning program’ at Chautauqua, New York. Of course, all of this mental activity is easy for me because I do enjoy exercising my old brain.
Now, the classes in Florida are taught by academicians whereas here in San Antonio most of the classes are taught by volunteers. And, in Florida many hundreds may take a single course whereas here there are 15 or so sitting in on most classes. Of course, professional teachers provide a better product, I am sure, but our volunteer teachers usually do a pretty good job.
My learning that nonprofessionals can do a good job teaching should not really be remarkable. I think each of us knows a particular subject in enough depth to prepare a few lectures that would be a joy to attend and provide some educational opportunity to those who do not know the subject very well.
This year I took two fun classes, one on Opera and the other on Operetta. Each lasted only half of the semester but they were both quite enjoyable as we watched DVDs of various performances. The Opera instructor was very good for he was well versed on the subject stopping the performance (being shown on DVD) at key points to explain nuances which extended my knowledge of that opera. Certainly, learning more about a new subject enhances its enjoyment and for me I am still at the beginning stage of enjoying it.
My interest in opera began a couple of years ago when my Chum Karnie who I met in Chautauqua introduced me to one of her most favorite subjects. And, I have found opera to be most enjoyable. Interestingly, I have been disinterest in opera all of my life even though I have listened to classical music all day for many years on my local radio station. Of course many classical music pieces have come from operas, so in a sense I have been enjoying some aspect of opera for quite a long time. I guess, I just hadn’t thought much about this relationship.
Now, I do enjoy opera and I am so pleased that Karnie introduced me to this wonderful musical art form. If you don’t already know, the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in High Definition on a big screen in many movie theaters throughout the world providing several live performances each year to those of us unable to attend the Met in person.
These productions are fantastic and in many ways surpass seeing the performance in person at the Met. And, the cost of $22 is trivial compared to the Met where a first tier (balcony) seat is priced slightly higher than $250. Of course experiencing the Met in person is priceless so I encourage all of you old people to attend it at least once in your life time.
To better understand what this learning experience has met to me, this Spring I attended Carmen in New York at the Met. It was a fabulous adventure, for me once in a life time affair and of course it only happened because I was introduced to opera by Karnie and my Adult Learning in Retirement (ALIR) classes. Simply, we are never too old to learn something new.
It has been shown conclusively that older people must continue to exercise their brains if they wish to remain mentally sharp and who doesn’t want to fight off dementia. I first hand observed my father slowly slipping into a mild to moderate form of dementia. I am sure that he suffered from this mental incapacitation because he just never used his brain later in his life. He was a very smart man and worked all of his life at jobs that were way below his mental capabilities. Perhaps that was why he hated his job even though he was very good at it.
So, he retired from the federal government as soon as he could at age 55 and went to work selling cars and working in a liquor store. Both of those jobs he loved and they required some mental activity. But in his 70s when he ‘retired’ from both of those jobs he was not interested in any form of mental activity such as reading or writing. By the time he reached 80 his short-term memory was obviously in decline. He died too soon at 87 in a rest home because he was also physically incapacitated because of muscle weakness from old age that was particularly debilitating because he had an artificial leg.
Obviously, I learned a lot from my father’s decline in old age. Clearly, it is important to use your brain everyday whether it is reading, writing, even doing crosswords or Sudoku but just keep that old mind busy. And too, I can not stress enough the necessity of maintaining physical strength. When I visited my father and later my mother in a rest home by far the majority of those living there were there because of physical disabilities most of which could have been prevented if they had just worked out a couple of days a week doing some simple forms of physical activity.
I do simple weight lifting, some aerobic, stretching, and balance exercises at a gym twice a week. In addition, I walk outside through a local park for about an hour three times each week. And, you can’t say you don’t have time. You know, you retired so you could do the things you always wanted to do and you do want to stay physically busy! Remember all the fun you had doing PE in high school?
I think often of my father and at times his mental and physical decline. I do not want that to happen to me. Thanks Dad…
Simply, your mind and your body need to be exercised. You know: USE IT OR LOSE IT!!!!
So, find an ALIR in your town and get some more learning. It’s never too late to learn more about any subject. Oh I forgot, there is some wonderful socializing when you attend those classes. We have refreshments every day which include coffee and some baked goods where people congregate and talk about the good old days.
And get to work doing some physical activities on a regular schedule.
Oh, I almost forgot get interested in opera, it is loads of fun.
My goodness, how I have digressed from the fun of learning in retirement for us old people to love of opera, and finally some thought about old age disabilities. I guess somehow they are connected.
Until next time this is the Ole Rusty Nail signing off another article that I hope you find interesting. As always it was fun writing it. Remember my email is burton.russell@att.net I love to hear from my readers.
