The Soothing Hand of Shared Purpose in Everyday Ramblings

I had hoped that we would see these guys again yesterday morning on our Trails Club hike before the quarterly potluck and birthday celebration. Mrs. Sherlock and I had done reconnaissance the weekend before last and seen them but although we went a few blocks away, no dice.

One of the members borrowed her son’s beautiful old house in the neighborhood I used to live in over on the other side of the river and it was lovely. Decorated in hardwood and these muted greens it was also fully but tastefully fitted out for Christmas. The kids and dog had been banished so it was about 35 or 40 old folks (I was near to being one of the youngest folks there) and a huge amount of scrumptious food.

They were all very welcoming. And there is quite a cross over with the Prime Timers I just joined. After these weeks out of the work environment and doing events I am slowly managing to get names matched with faces.

I heard about a marvelous sounding watercolor class, a geology-focused organization that does tours of the building materials used in our downtown area, historic architecture tours and a dining out club.

Not to mention, much to everyone’s delight, I was surrounded by five members of The Alliance, an offshoot of the Women’s Sewing Circle that founded my church that has monthly events that are oriented towards social justice and that has been actively recruiting me lately.

There we were, a little cabal of Unitarians buried in The Trails Club. I had the application in my bag that Mrs. Sherlock has stuck in my hand when I was over at her place for lunch on Sunday.

These people truly care about and for each other and our physical world. It is like the opposite of my work environment.

It was crazy loud and busy and a little overwhelming with my hearing aids but I did well. Having had the five weeks to relax and restore my energy a bit helped and my social anxiety really only manifested after hours of walking and eating and talking in close quarters when everybody got together to sing.

Yes…it was a sing-a-long. Eek. They do this at every event mostly folk and camp songs but yesterday it was all the traditional Christmas Carols. I, of course knew them all, we sang as a family growing up. And I have been known to sing in church. It was a real breakthrough for me to relax enough to sing with strangers.

This is what we do as older adults, we build attachments of purpose and affection and they become our extended family. Nobody dresses for these things, (it is a Pacific Northwest hiking club after all) and while there is some drinking, it is contained, it is much more about the being together and the activity.

I walked the better part of the hike with “The Sweep”, the person who is in the back making sure we don’t lose anyone. She is delightful, recently got back from Wisconsin and is going to New Zealand next week for a family wedding for two weeks. She is 84.

Our hostess is 92.

You get the picture.

It all kind of makes up for the patronizing email we received from the new property manangement outfit yesterday afternoon telling everybody in the complex we have to take down our bird feeders.

I think we need to organize all the cats into a union and file a grievance. :)

The pair of Downy Woodpeckers coming to the suet I have shared might have something to say as well…

I didn’t hear one person mention politics at all yesterday. That was a lovely reprieve.
It gets to be too much sometimes, truly it does.

Last updated December 11, 2019