The third age

July has been a month of change and renewal for me. Early in the month we had a cousins get-together in Sydney which was most enjoyable. It prompted me to do more photo scanning and distribution and I am looking forward to receiving more photos as a result of it.
I also enjoyed swimming laps with Andrew and realised that I was over the Thursday morning coffee thing after Tai chi.
I had started Energise fitball classes on Thursdays after Tai chi and found myself really energised.
So I revisited the issue of lap swimming which had been in abeyance for several years - unused swim passes which I finally accepted were out of date.
Despite a full year membership of U3A for less than six months, I decided to join friends at Thursday morning aqua aerobics at Harristown High indoor 25m pool. I am able to do about 20 laps before the class begins at 8 am then another lot in the 15 minutes following the class. This is a solid 1 hour workout which I am really enjoying. It may get more crowded as summer approaches.
I guess I did not have to give up Tai chi but I realised that I needed a break as we are no longer being taught.
I then found the gap between swimming and fitball was too long, so I have started Scottish Country Dancing. This is quite energetic and fun. It also uses the mind and fills a gap in my life since we left Mareeba.
I am quite tired on Thursday afternoons and have been reading a novel since I let go of daily Sudoku puzzles.
We have a new player at Friday morning tennis and she does this dancing class and also Chamber Singers on Friday after tennis.
This was another activity on my wish-list, so I have joined that too. It really uses the mind and I am enjoying the challenge of reading manuscript, watching the conductor and trying to sing. The piano has been dusted off to assist, so I also get back to this activity which has also gnawed at me in recent years.
Dick is busy with golf so it is a good time to dive in at the deep end.

Brain training

It seems like a good idea to keep the mind working well in the latter years of one's life, so I decided that I would like to be able to do the Sudoku puzzle in the Weekend Australian each week.
This was easier said than done.
I started the exercise in May and found easy versions at Sudoku.com but I still needed help. By early June I was doing these and moving to moderate level and once more I got stuck and sought advice from another offspring.
My brain was starting to work in new ways as I awoke one morning to a mental reorganisation of the shed which went well, and I also continued to make progress with Sudoku.
It was also starting to concern me that this activity seemed rather addictive. I was printing out a puzzle each day and spending a lot of time on it. It was however relaxing.
I thought I had made it to my goal of the Weekend Australian by early July but I was still not there. I had moved on to hard level with the online ones. I was pleased to see that I had worked out some recommended strategies for myself - fine pencil with attached eraser and pen.
By August I was finding hard level a bit boring and tried to do tough level and I admit I cannot do these. I am also sick of spending time on them each day, but the good news is that I have done the Australian ones on the last two Saturdays.
I think I have reached my goal and I have also enjoyed reading a novel in the time slot which was previously taken up.