A truly usable winter

One shouldn’t wish one’s life away – but I do wish my hubby Laurence was already retired so that we could spend our winters in Arizona.

There. I’ve said it. I’ve confessed that I can no longer stand Sudbury winters and have no desire to make them “usable” by skiing and skating.

I don’t know how this change happened. A few years ago Laur and I would have scoffed at RV Parks in Arizona filled with old people seemingly just putting in time before they headed back to their real home. Within in a few weeks time I went from seeing Sudbury as being a four-seasons adventure – to a place where fall, winter and spring is the price you have to pay for summer.

So can you live a meaningful retirement life – for yourself and others - in an RV community if you’re only there six months of the year? You bet. I am so looking forward to learning how to do yoga and to swim; to start knitting and stained glass. Green Valley has an Animal Rescue League which is completely run by volunteers and the Park itself has volunteer positions for things I enjoy doing – like making the newsletter.

What about my mom and granddaughter and family in Southern Ontario?

We can visit them on the way out of town, on our way back to Suds, and take two long weekends at month two and month four. And when we’re in Arizona, they can visit – we know how to get cheap travel rates.

With any luck, we’ll be able to buy a Park Model RV Park home that has an empty lot next to it - which we can plop our Fifth Wheel on and have as guest rooms for family and friends.

What about my Suds life? In three years Laur and I will be retired from our paying work, Laur can run the press from anywhere (if he wants to) my church has a fine roster of fellow lay preachers, and I can write from anywhere. There is the challenge of the cats – my own and the shelter cats at the shop.

In regards to the shop, by the end of three years I’m sure I’ll find a person who’d be happy to co-ordinate from November to April, and I’ll co-ordinate from May to October.

As for my own cats, my plan is to rent out to a cat-loving tenant for six months of the year. And, speaking of our house, we have to find a park-model-sized abode for our Sudbury home away from our Arizona home. I love our barn of a house with all its nooks and crannies, front balcony and back deck, but all we really need is a teeny tiny three-bedroom with a “crash anywhere” rec room in the basement – within spitting distance to a beach, which in Sudbury is pretty much anywhere.

I know the saying, “Man plans, God laughs,” but I hope He laughs because He enjoys Happy Hour in Retirement Homes – be it “Boost” or beer. What did Ben Franklin say? “Alcohol is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” But maybe Ben was just trying to make the folks north of the 49th parallel feel better. I bet in the original version it was Arizona.

Jan Carrie Steven is a volunteer with Cat Adoption Trust Sudbury (CATS) and the co-ordinator of Small Things: Cats & Books. For more information, go to www.smallthings.ca.