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Wednesday, January 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Of a certain age...
By diane Goble
Columnist
What does “retirement”
mean? The word itself sug-
gests pulling back, withdraw-
ing; calling it quits, packing
it in. Nothing in there about
a new beginning, the realiza-
tion that there’s more to life
than working, that’s there’s
a whole world of unex-
plored territory out there to
investigate.
Hopefully, retirement is
the time to do all the things
you couldn’t do before
because life got in the way.
Social scientists have
determined that the most
damaging threat to well-
being later in life is bore-
dom and a loss of life pur-
pose; only rarely is it fear
of absolute destitution or
poor health. A search of the
web shows what retirees
are doing to maintain their
physical health and mental
well-being — and that there
are some differences among
younger retirees (ages 65 to
74) and senior retirees (ages
75+). It’s certainly true for
me, as I approach that 75
mark, that I’ve slowed down
significantly.
Apparently the younger
group spends a lot of time in
front of the TV for their first
10 years, probably just try-
ing to recover from working
their butts off for the previ-
ous 40 years. They average
four hours a day watching
TV compared to 2.6 for the
overall population.
All seniors spend a lot
more time reading books
than they did before retir-
ing, averaging an hour a day,
which is three times as much
as younger ages. They go to
the library more often, listen
to more books on tape, and
have adapted to electronic
media and reading ebooks.
Senior retirees spend 42
minutes a day thinking and
relaxing; younger retirees,
a mere 20 minutes. It seems
we become more contempla-
tive and reflective as we let
go of the little details of life
and finally dare to explore
higher consciousness. They
also tend to consider their life
review more conscientiously
as they are faced with their
own mortality.
Most people over 65 tend
to spend more time eating
and preparing meals; over
an hour and 20 minutes a
day. They eat out more often.
Many learn to cook new
dishes; some learn to cook
for the first time. Their health
concerns lead them to learn
more about their bodies and
how to take better care of
them so they are healthier
and can continue to be active.
Most retirees of all ages
send more time shopping
than younger folks. They
now have the time for com-
parison shopping, searching
for the best deal. They enjoy
lingering in stores, chatting
with salespeople and people-
watching. They are in no
hurry; they have no pressing
meetings to get to. They may
not need anything in par-
ticular, but they may come
across that thing they can’t
live without and are content
with browsing.
Time spent volunteering
nearly doubles when people
reach age 65. Sometimes
when we retire we find our
true purpose in life, because
it isn’t about earning a liv-
ing or saving for retirement
any more. All that is in the
past and we get to follow our
heart or our intuition, express
our creativity, pay it forward
or give back if we’ve been
given a lot — be the change
we want to see in the world.
Retirees spend twice as
much time as younger people
returning phone calls, emails
or writing letters that aren’t
work-related, and more time
at social activities. Their cal-
endars are full of birthdays
and book clubs and quilting
bees or chewing the fat with
the boys at Sisters Coffee.
Some younger seniors
still tend to spend an hour
or two a day “working,” but
most stop before 75. Those
unable to stop often become
consultants or chairman of
some board or motivational
speakers.
Retirees 75+ spend 10
hours per day sleeping or
engaged in other personal
care activities such as bath-
ing or dressing, which is
actually not as much as teens
and early 20-somethings
who spend less of that same
time sleeping and more time
primping and changing their
minds.
And finally, all seniors
spend more time doing exer-
cises for health reasons.
Walking is the most common
activity but many take up
hiking or bicycling or skydiv-
ing, join health clubs, fitness
centers and do yoga. Medita-
tion is also becoming more
popular as we finally begin to
realize the stress we’ve been
under for decades has taken
its toll and we really need to
learn to relax, let go of the
tension, and just be.
WRECk: Donation
account has been
set up at local bank
Continued from page 1
January 6, when he lost con-
trol on the icy road. The truck
crossed the center line and
struck the driver’s side of
an eastbound Toyota driven
by Nathaniel Pixler, 32, of
Redmond.
Troopers said Pixler’s
pickup rolled on the east-
bound shoulder, while
Miller’s pickup traveled in
SCHOOL BOnD: District
eligible for “matching
funds” for bond
Continued from page 1
despite some head-shaking at
the state process.
“It’s a dumb way to dis-
tribute public money,” said
board member Jeff Smith.
“Even though it’s a dumb
way to distribute money,
I’m going to stick my
hand out and hope we get
some.”
The district should hear
whether it will receive grant
funds well before determin-
ing whether they will actu-
ally put a bond measure on
the ballot. That decision will
be made in March.
Scholl also received board
backing to explore hiring a
professional firm to survey
the broad Sisters community
as to what they would like to
the oncoming lane until it
was hit in the driver’s side
door by a GMC pickup tow-
ing a flatbed trailer, driven
by Michael Sterkel, 50, of
Troutdale.
Pixler was also injured
and was treated and released.
A donation account has
been set up for Logan Miller
and his family. Anyone can
go into the Sisters branch of
Bank of the Cascades and
contribute. A You Caring
account has also been set up;
go to www.youcaring.com
and search “Stay Strong For
Logan Miller.”
see in a bond.
“That would help us craft
what this looks like,” he
said.
The Sisters community
will have a chance to learn
about local school facilities’
needs and weigh in on what
is to be done about them in
a community forum set for
Thursday, January 14, at 6:30
p.m. in the Sisters Middle
School cafetorium.
Another forum is set
for Monday, January 25, at
Sisters Elementary School.
Sisters School District
staff and officials will lay
out the needs faced by the
district to repair, maintain
and update school facili-
ties; take questions from the
public; and solicit public
opinion.
In November 2014, Sisters
voters turned down a $14.5
million bond request to reha-
bilitate, improve, and main-
tain facilities.
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
General, Cosmetic, Implant
and Family Dentistry
~ Over 22 years Serving Sisters ~
We are preferred providers for Delta Dental PPO and Premier,
MODA, Advantage, Pacifi c Source, Cigna and the V.A.
541-549-0109
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