Monday, September 17, 2007

MUSINGS ON RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES

Sometimes I feel like a foreigner entering a foreign land. I always thought that by the time I reached this place in life I would be good – you know, good at the domestic arts – a good cook, an expert seamstress, able to whip out perfect afghans with no concern for my gauge, able to chord at the piano, all the while keeping an impeccably beautiful home and maintaining a lovely garden. Now as I stand at the threshold of the rest of my life, I find I can’t just pick up where I left off. I don’t know much and what I did know has changed, all of it influenced by technology, new products, and the changing interests of society. I feel like I need a week-long seminar to help me cope and hone my skills. Not knowing where to find such a course, I will take a quilting class.

But – you can find support for anything you want to do these days, so I decided to start right where I am. That means I’ll be sure of my interests before investing a lot of money. I’ve always wanted to learn to use a treadle sewing machine. So, my resident handyman, Mike, took Grandma Ina’s treadle machine apart (20 minutes of his time), serviced it (1 hour), and then put it back together in its cabinet (5 hours!). As he was taking it apart, I protested that he was not an authorized tech, but he stated that he would be when he was finished with the project. I’m not sure either one of us thinks it was worth the grief it caused him. Anyway, we found lots of online sites providing tradle info and parts.

Of course, I have my “good” machine. Mike gave it to me the Christmas Clinton was a baby (27 years ago). It’s not that I’m not grateful. Technology changes constantly these days. I also have an old Singer portable, an early ‘70s model manufactured just before Singer went plastic. That’s the one that will go to the quilting class with me; I hope I can lug it into the classroom!

So, instead of giving you benefit of my years of experience, I expect to share the trials and tribulations of new experiences.

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