How Do You Know if You're Elderly?

A friend of mine recently posted a question on facebook. It looked like this.

'At what age does a person become elderly?' Please answer honestly and don't think you'll offend me. Also - please answer as if you were writing a news article. That would eliminate 'You're only as old as you feel etc.' Just curious. Thanks! :-)

I wrote what immediately popped into my head given the limited facebook space. Of course, I had to add my signature bit of humour at the end. Here's my comment.

"Not a news article and not personal, just some thoughts after observing "elderly" people. You are elderly when life becomes a chore...when you no longer take joy in small things...when you become cynical and feel the need to criticize and complain about everything...when the word "fun" is no longer part of your vocabulary...when you think about death more often than you think about the rest of your life...most of all, you are elderly when you have seen the same fads and fashion trends for the fourth time. You are not elderly however, if you still fit into your plaid bell bottom pants."

I considered my response for the rest of the day and felt somewhat dissatisfied. There had to be more to this question than could be answered by a mere five lines. I headed for dictionary.com where I was surprised to discover the following definitions for "elderly"..."quite old, past middle age, geriatric". The thesaurus in turn gave me this list: "aged, ancient, been around, declining, gray, hoary, long in tooth, lot of mileage, no spring chicken, old, olden, on last leg, over the hill, retired, tired, venerable."

Wow! That sounded depressing if not offensive. After further "googling", I discovered that "elderly" is no longer a politically correct term...understandable in view of the definitions. In fact, the word "older" is suggested as an alternative. That could explain why some people consider anyone "older" than they as "elderly". I'm not certain that I agree.

Are you elderly when you no longer have an interest in socializing or having thoughtful conversations with people? Are you elderly when you start looking at senior residences? Are you elderly when you anger easily? Are you elderly when everything was better "back in the day"? Are you elderly when you have no more hopes and dreams? Are you elderly when your bucket list runs out? Are you elderly when you've resigned yourself to your circumstance? Are you elderly when you no longer keep up with technology or pop culture? Are you elderly when you are no longer spontaneous? Is elderly determined by age, wrinkles or hair colour?

 I don't think you're "elderly" because you're old. You can be elderly at any age. I think "elderly" is a behaviour, a frame of mind, not an outward appearance. In fact, many of the cliches about older people  ("you're as old as you feel" and so on ) might indeed be accurate.
After thinking, researching, and some conversation with friends, I decided to stand by my original thoughts on what is "elderly". I think that it nicely encapsulates all of my ideas.

"You are elderly when life becomes a chore...when you no longer take joy in small things...when you become cynical and feel the need to criticize and complain about everything...when the word "fun" is no longer part of your vocabulary...when you think about death more often than you think about the rest of your life...most of all, you are elderly when you have seen the same fads and fashion trends for the fourth time. You are not elderly however, if you still fit into your plaid bell bottom pants."

I felt validated while looking at this past week's Giant Tiger flyer. This fashion trend has now occurred for only the second time in my lifetime. I'm happy to announce therefore, that by my own definition, I am not yet "elderly". What about you?

Bell bottoms, not necessarily plaid

Captivated in Curacao

Downtown Curacao pontoon bridge was open when we arrived

I believe that Curacao is a fascinating, historic and lovely island with much to offer. There are bridges, a floating market, waterways, cafes, delicious Dutch food and beautifully coloured buildings. The pedestrian pontoon bridge, partially seen in the photo above is supported by 16 pontoons and swings open using two ship motors. This allows boat traffic to pass through. While the bridge is open, water taxis transport people across the waterway.

On this trip, we decided to go to view the Kura Hulanda Museum on the grounds of the lovely Kura Hulanda resort in the heart of Willemstad. The museum is dedicated to the history of the slave trade, concentrating heavily on the time when Africans were transported to the Caribbean. It shows some of the African influences in the current Caribbean culture. This was an amazing few hours.

She sat, waiting to greet us at the grounds entrance.

Our brochure said admission was $9, but we were actually only charged $7 a piece...worth every cent. The sculpture found in the centre of the grounds depicts a slave face from the front, and the shape of the continent of Africa from the side view.

We also enjoyed the vegetation, the birds and the landscaping. The photo on the left shows a banana plant and a representation of chained slaves along the wall. On the right we spotted a yellow bird not too high up in a banana tree.











The interior of the museum consisted of endless displays. There were sculptures, costumes, carvings and documents. We saw a scale model of a ship and an example of the tiny size of the hold where the slaves huddled, cramped and unable to stretch their bodies during their long journey.

Not all slaves were black nor were they all men. This sculpture was of a pair of female slaves, one black and one white, comforting each other while waiting to be sold.

 .                                                                           

Musical instruments of African origin and display cases containing stunning ivory and stone carvings were in two of the sections of the museum.

There were modern day reminders of injustice and abuse of people as well. Samples of KKK "uniforms", news articles and documents were on display. I could not bring myself to photograph those. It didn't seem right.

                                              
The outside of the slave museum was rich with art...sculpted faces showing the torment and sadness of generations of people.

A lot of time, expense, energy and ownership of the past has gone into developing this excellent museum.




                                                                       

Junk in Klein Bonaire

Our day on Bonaire continued to be busy. We headed out in a Chinese junk which was to transport us to a small crescent shaped, uninhabited and protected island called Klein (small) Bonaire. It is purported to have the best snorkeling and diving opportunities in the Caribbean.



As we approached Klein Bonaire, snorkelers were sent off toward the dive site in zodiacs.

The water was pristine and the beach unspoiled. The island is uninhabited, has no dwellings and no facilities of any description.

I opted to remain on the junk, relax, take photos and enjoy the peace and solitude of the almost deserted boat. I wasn't alone for long as the teen son of the captain arrived, by zodiac, after his day at school. He was a most polite young man named Urs who loved to talk and proudly share all his knowledge of Bonaire. "I just came from gym class," he said with a chuckle. "We went swimming."

  He was intelligent, well mannered and clearly well educated. I enjoyed listening to his stories and soon heard about his enjoyment of outdoor life. He told about his Swiss heritage and his Dutch education at a Bonaire private school. When I asked, why the private school, he told me that he needed to learn Dutch rather than the Bonaire slang language Papiamentu which is spoken in public schools. And yes, he knew how to speak Papiamentu as well as Dutch, English, French and Swiss...five languages! I learned about Bonaire history, culture and politics while waiting for the rest of the passengers to return to the boat. Time well spent.

I practiced using the camera timer as I ran to various parts of the boat to be in the photos. I missed the mark on this one (me on the left) but found a surprise when I got home and viewed the enlarged picture on the computer. The captain was obviously peeking to see what all the thumping on deck was about. Embarassing.

                                                                  

On our return sail, we saw landmarks and lizards.

It was a terrific second half of the day. Bonaire is truly historic, fascinating and fabulous for those who love ecology and the outdoors, the sun, the sea, the sand, sailing and snorkeling.

http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/bonhis01.htm

Slavery and Salt In the ABC Islands

In some instances, a "B" can be far more desirable than an "A". This was the case when we visited the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Bonaire was a delightful surprise. The island has an area of 113 square miles with a population of about 16,000. Crime is minimal since it is relatively impossible to escape being caught. Traffic, is clearly not an issue.

In the morning, we found a delightful cab driver named Banban. He had lived in Bonaire for quite some time. In fact, I'd venture a guess that his vehicle was one of the first taxis on the island. He was eager and willing to give us a tour of the sites we requested on the southern part of the island.

First, Banban took us onto the grounds of the salt mines. We waited as he ran into the office. When he came back out, he brought us some sample sea salt crystals.

 Next, he took us to the slave huts and showed us the tiny dwellings where the slaves huddled together by night, after mining the salt all day. They were originally built with a corresponding obelisk in colours red, blue, white and orange. The obelisks showed ships where to dock to pick up salt after a flag of the corresponding colour was raised.

Huts often held 6-8 adult slaves

Process of transporting salt to ships

Although the salt mine and the slave huts were the highlight of our tour, Banban also took us to a beach and to a flamingo habitat. We returned to the ship to prepare for our afternoon tour...a sail on a Chinese junk with snorkelling on Klein Bonaire.

Banban showed us an original slave bridge

Visiting Embera Country

We recently went on a fantastic trip. It included a stop in Panama, where we were fortunate to visit an authentic Embera Indian Village. Because we needed to venture into the jungle, we first had a bus ride, then met some of the indigenous men who ferried us to their village using dugout canoes with motors. It was a 45 minute scenic ride in the canoe.

The Embera are a nomadic tribe. They have settled in an area of Panama which is now one of the country's protected national parks. They are supplementing their livelihood with tourist dollars.

As we arrived, we saw the raised village huts and children frolicking in the water. During our visit, we learned that the children are educated by teachers who come from Colon and live in the village during the week, then go home on weekends.

We were greeted by a band of Embera men who made music as we entered the village. There were also a few apprentices.

Since we had been travelling for quite awhile, an essential trip to the facility proved to be quite the culture shock.

The children hammed it up for the camera as we waited for the food and festivities to begin.

The women cooked tilapia and plantain, then served it to us in an ornately wrapped leaf pouch.

After dinner, we were treated to some entertainment, a snake dance and a monkey dance. Then, we were shown the many varied handicrafts made by the families, including baskets, wood carvings and jewellery. Of course, the items were for sale. I purchased a red and black monkey mask made by a teen girl and a nut bracelet.



The Community Centre

Everyone posed for a final photo and wished us a good trip back.

Since many photos and videos on the Embera people are available on Google, I did not elaborate on their history and lifestyle, but simply descibed our unforgettable experience. 

Hotel Review

My lack of blog production is because we have been away. I am now in "catch up" mode. The first thing I've written since our return is a hotel review for www.tripadvisor.ca. I have done a few in the past, some good, some bad. Here's the latest.

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g34168-d266168-r123760550-Sleep_Inn_Ft_Lauderdale_International_Airport-Dania_Beach_Florida.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

New Year's Eve...and Beyond

Thanks to Dr. Seuss for these words...
"And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done."

Toward the end of 2011. I was in somewhat of a slump. A few issues were weighing on my mind and I suddenly felt "elderly". I lost interest in things, was sickly and had insomnia.

On December 31st, hubby and I went to a dance with some couples we know. We dressed in our New Year's Eve finest only to be surprised at the variety of clothing worn by much of the crowd. There was a more diverse group at the dance than we had anticipated. The age range was actually quite large. I looked around at the young women and couldn't help but admire their bravery as they donned what appeared to be tulle undergarments, flourescent leggings and short boots. As I stared at their crimped and feathered coiffs, I imagined the hours it must have taken them to look like that. I have a daughter. I know.

Can I be in the picture? Please, please, woof, woof....

The music was mostly fast and modern...very modern. In fact, it was a "video dance", a term which was unfamiliar to much of our table. Music videos played on a screen on the dance floor. I only knew about this because I had once supervised such a dance in a school gymnasium. I loved it and happily sang along and bobbed around. The boom, boom, booming beat and volume of music made conversation challenging. As midnight drew near, we grabbed our hats, noise makers and glasses of water and headed for the dance floor. Midnight. Balloons fell. People hugged, kissed and spilled their drinks. It was 2012! 

Hubby and I started dancing to the first slow dance of the night...

  ***"Theme From Titanic". You know the one...Celine Dion. "This can't be a good omen." I muttered under my breath. 

January 1st got off to a slow start after a late night. The day, then the week picked up very quickly. We had a lovely visit with family members. Then later, imagine my surprise at seeing this message on Facebook from my favourite Toronto hotel. (blog "Monday with...", March 31, 2011).

Hotel Victoria

Please congratulate Hilde as our December winner of a Free night's stay at Hotel Victoria!   
    1 January at 15:03

The next day, I had an appointment at the orthopaedic and sports injury clinic to investigate some foot pain. The doctor told me that my feet are sensitive, very much like hers and that I needed to treat myself to an expensive new pair of shoes. Hmmm...best medical advice I've ever received!

Hubby went on a business trip and the weather was spectacular. The longer these temperatures last, the less time for ice and snow before Spring...fine with me. Puppy and I loafed around at home. I lingered in the tub, played some video games, listened to music. We went for some walks, did some cooking and I attended to medical appointments. Since I did most of my work before New Year's ("Things to Do...", Dec. 31, 2011) there was just a bit of tidying and laundry to be done. I "weighed in" and discovered that I had actually lost half a pound during the Christmas holidays. Besides all this, free samples and coupons galore came in the mail. One coupon was for $25 off a Tilley purchase...wonderful since I received a gift certificate from the same store at Christmas.

The week just kept getting better. On Friday January 6th, an item I wrote in this blog and submitted to the local newspaper was published. I have now achieved something which was on my bucket list (see "My Bucket List", June 30, 2010)

Northumberland News, Friday January 6th, 2012

It is now Saturday morning, one eventful week since New Year's Eve. Hubby made me crepes with strawberries for breakfast. The t.v. news channel has Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" playing in the background.  I am officially un-slumped. Happy New Year.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

*** Hubby reminded me that 2012 is the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Perhaps that's the reason for the music at midnight. Perhaps it was coincidence. In my opinion however, a poor and unexplained choice.