We have been asked by the curious what we do now that we are retired. Well, for one thing, I have time to do a bit of blogging. But aside from that, one just lives one's life with less stress. And there is a bit of time to volunteer when opportunities arise. But doing small home improvements come up from time to time. Here is Martin looking pleased after installing a new over the stove microwave. I really appreciate him having the time and ability to do things like this! Me, on the other hand, recently spent hours and hours racking my poor old brain after taking on the challenge of the Globe & Mail's holiday crossword puzzle. The solution was published the week after New Year's. I only missed 15 out of 1,100 words! Of course, Martin helped, I used google searches, dictionaries, and a thesaurus. Plodding along, step by step, little by little, I filled in the words, learning much along the way. For example, the word motet was new to me. The clue was, "sacred song". This was one of the ones I left blank. All I could think of was chant or hymn, neither of which fit. I noted the word when I got the solution. The very next day I ran across the word in a book I was reading. A four centuries old musical piece was referred to that included a forty-part motet titled Spem in Alium! Wow! The composer was Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). I did a video google search so I could hear it sung. I was transported and inspired by the beauty of this acappella song of worship. All because of a crossword puzzle. For me, time well spent.
We have been asked by the curious what we do now that we are retired. Well, for one thing, I have time to do a bit of blogging. But aside from that, one just lives one's life with less stress. And there is a bit of time to volunteer when opportunities arise. But doing small home improvements come up from time to time. Here is Martin looking pleased after installing a new over the stove microwave. I really appreciate him having the time and ability to do things like this! Me, on the other hand, recently spent hours and hours racking my poor old brain after taking on the challenge of the Globe & Mail's holiday crossword puzzle. The solution was published the week after New Year's. I only missed 15 out of 1,100 words! Of course, Martin helped, I used google searches, dictionaries, and a thesaurus. Plodding along, step by step, little by little, I filled in the words, learning much along the way. For example, the word motet was new to me. The clue was, "sacred song". This was one of the ones I left blank. All I could think of was chant or hymn, neither of which fit. I noted the word when I got the solution. The very next day I ran across the word in a book I was reading. A four centuries old musical piece was referred to that included a forty-part motet titled Spem in Alium! Wow! The composer was Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). I did a video google search so I could hear it sung. I was transported and inspired by the beauty of this acappella song of worship. All because of a crossword puzzle. For me, time well spent.
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