AARP Rewards Community Learning & Earning Contest August 2022

I’m in the process of relocating to one of AARP’s livable communities!  In the new community I am learning to play Pickle Ball.  I love that the action helps keep my bones healthy while the scoring method means I always have to keep track of points for both my team and the other team.  It’s a mind/body juggling act!!

during the spring summer and fall I keep my brain active by golfing 4 to 5 times a week plus it also keeps me mobile and I also like 2 games that I play on a daily basis Mahjong and Charm King which I'm proud to say I'm at level 6024 as of today .. 8/20/22 during the winter months I go back into the gym for the exercise but also for the social environment that my gym offers by working out and talking with friends that I've met there  

I love puzzles. Crosswords, sudukos, ken kens and the like.

My apologies to Cheryl. Apparently, I responded to her rather than post my OWN activity! So, I guess learning more about computers SHOULD be on my TO-DO list!!  What I said was that woodworking has always been a hobby I never had enough time for. But now, in retirement, I can keep myself, and my chisels, sharp by spending time in my shop. 

I write every day. It might be poetry, a letter to the editor, awork on a short story, a letter or email to a friend, a response to a news media article, or whatever else catches my attention.

I keep my brain sharp playing games, do quizzes

and memorizing things.

I enjoy and keeps my brain active is singing karaoke. I try to memorize the words, even though they are in front of me, if I get stuck, I made friends in the bar and I dont have to drink, can make any drink a virgin (no alcohol), I usually get a virgin Bloody Mary.

First became an AARP member in 2004 at age 50, to only get the latest info to care give and help my aging parents to navigate Medicare and long-term care options.  My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer and I vowed as a caregiver to take every preventive and proactive measure for myself.  On June 16, 2022, I took the AARP Staying Sharp Brain Health Assessment.  I assessed the parts of the test that I most needed improvements –  and set out to work on those areas.   Such as, remembering names.  As a poet, I developed a game where I now write an Acrostic from that person’s name embedding the place where we met in the poem and rhyme wherever I could.  It works.  AARP has brain fit exercises, weekly new quizzes, weekly exercise and meditation or yoga classes, monthly museum tours … all of which I do regularly.  I like the AARP online scramble more than the crossword puzzles.  Now, I do recall from an AARP magazine, that engaging in unfamiliar learning activities are the most challenging stretch for the brain.  So, I returned to university-level courses taking far-fetch and new, challenging studies like ancient Egyptian, Greek and Hawaiian mythology and history- - and then, running a hypothesis of the common and different elements of their origins, hieroglyphics or cave writings- - the reward is being able to read ancient manuscripts, thousands or hundreds of years old.   I constantly keep up with the latest in technology, but this was my career path for 30 years.   Learning ancient and foreign languages has been the most challenging.  Next year, I plan to learn Sanskrit.   Creative applications are, for example, working with a translation of an ancient Egyptian recipe for bread (OK but not that tasty…), translation of a Hawaiian chant to locate an old historical surfing spot where today’s surfer can surf and study its significance.  And finally, to keep my brain sharp, for the last several years I engage in weekly philosophical debates on Zoom with a group consisting of deacons, priests, psychologists, and astronomers.  We spin different topics each week.

I keep my memory sharp by helping my grandkids with their homework and watching lots of game shows.  I also do a lot of reading in the bathroom. 

I am a voracious reader...mostly non-fiction, but I mix it up with modern romances and thrillers!