HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I want to wish this little man a very happy day today. He was a handsome delight then and is the same today. Have a great day with your family, wee glass of wine maybe and a hunk of birthday cake!
Sorry about the date, Michael, 12th July isn’t the best for cards and parties but I couldn’t help it! However, throughout the years we’ve managed and this is the first year there won’t be marches in your honour!
Well said Samuel and your words are as relevant today as in 1665. It’s a farce. People on holiday in Ireland are flaunting the expectation of distancing, sanitising hands and wearing masks even Lone Ranger Donald Trump wears one – on occasions and away from the press. Suits him!
I wear a mask all the time when I’m out of the house and I feel they are quite fetching, an air of mystery and trying to smile with your eyes is good practice. Talking of practices, I was outside a medical one last week, there were about six of us waiting to be admitted, two of us wore masks. I would like to think that the others donned theirs before going inside, I don’t know, however there were spare ones inside the door so there was no excuse. One man laughed and asked was this a ‘stickup’ why didn’t I tell him I was protecting him but he didn’t have the decency to protect me.
I thought it was funny, I stood with my back to the building looking at lovely old trees, some quite exotic and a tiny wren darting in and out of the ivy. Everyone else was facing the door and missed a fascinating view but there you are, we are all a bit uptight these days – me included! I’m still smarting following the failure of my second crop of tomatoes but I now know why they all died. I have a big plastic green bucket filled with water and I dip the watering can into it and so to the greenhouse. Could it be something to do with the water? I poured some on the grass and next day there was a big dead area of withered green. So I poured the rest over a flagstoned patio and successfully killed all the weeds growing between. I should have bottled it and sold it to gardening centres for public use! However, there is still a good crop of raspberries growing wild round the house, porridge, raspberries and a drop of cream – now that is a lovely start to a lovely day.
ZOOM ZOOM
I’ve recently became a baby zoomer! I managed to join a union meeting of around 14 people although I just waved at everyone and said hello. Then low and behold, two days later I got a request from Engage with Age to chair a conference with an audience of 50 and a panel of experts – and me. Now that’s no problem in reality but virtual reality via zoom was scary. However, nothing ventured nothing gained and the experience opened my eyes to many things especially how people of a certain age are taking to zoom in their thousands and I loved it.
Since then we have had a zoomed birthday celebration for four and as we were all in different parts of the island, we had a happy and funny half hour together and there will be another one later today.
What is zoom?
The idea was developed in 2011 as a platform for the world of business to communicate via video, cameras in boardrooms all over the country so meetings could be conducted ‘live’ with interaction between those attending, any number of people on the screen at the one time each taking their turn to speak. Brilliant idea and it took off. Today it’s the go-to tool not only for conferences but for story telling, quizzing to family group chats and the rest.
What was originally embraced by young whizz kids today has proved a valuable facility especially during the age of lockdown and people working from home. And age is no barrier, apparently 65 to 74 year olds are known as ‘younger older’, 75 to 84 are ‘older’ and over 85 are deemed to be ‘older older’! Some organisations even classify 50 as being the age of descent into old age! Rubbish.
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Tipically lovely that a grandmother talks most days to her granddaughter in Edinburgh and is able to watch the little girl grow up without loosing touch and able to show her the unique love a grandparent has for their grandchild, especially important as who knows when we’ll be able to travel to give real hugs. It’s no wonder that older people have taken so well to zoom. At the Engage with Age conference the subject was Older People and the New Norm and there were many people of 80+ tuning in with their questions and opinions and such was the importance a paper on the issues of concern is being prepared to go to all councillors, MPs and people of influence.
Until last March Eamon Quinn, director of Engage With Age, a charity the works with a range of organisations to combat social isolation and loneliness and to promote health and wellbeing, hadn’t heard of this electronic conferencing and now it’s a mainstay of his organisation for debates, singsongs, dancing, quizzing and ‘chocolate bingo’ an hour of fun and friendship.
As Eamon points out not everyone has a computer nor an iPad or a smart phone. “That’s where libraries come into the picture as so many of them have computer suites and in my experience they are always busy.”
Dinah Weiner is 79 and life has taken on a new excitement. She’s a member of a creative writing group that is about to launch a book of reminiscences gathered by visiting care homes and meeting men and women with stories to tell. That can’t happen now so Dinah decided on remote visiting and now makes contact via zoom meetings.
“The first time one of the ladies on my screen said it was lovely to see me and thanked me for getting in touch, you know she said – we’re the forgotten people, well she isn’t forgotten anymore. Another resident asked if I could get her some murder mystery books to read but not too racy, one of the others sitting in on the conversation quick as a flash offered: ‘I’ll take them!”
Workplace Revolution
Before this Dinah worked in the retail business where pen and paper were the tools of the trade. “Then came technology and I was able to cope with that and although I was a bit fearful of the zoom I’ve managed very well and I’d encourage others to have a go.” Already her colleagues Gerry McCool and Peter Newman are zooming as well. “It’s a lot of fun and a great way of making friends and at our age friendship is very important.” A couple of times a week, by prior arrangement with the care homes who set up the link for the residents, Dinah goes into her lounge, opens up her computer, puts away the phone and calls in on her friends. She talks of her own experiences and encourages others to share theirs. She was born close to the shipyard and although she has lived in north Belfast for years, connecting with a care home to the east of the city has brought her right back to her roots. “And I feel close to the community again.”
So, it might be joining friends for a virtual coffee all on the screen at the same time, showing a new photograph of the family, admiring the garden, just like the real thing. There is still resistance from some older people and that’s quite understandable but as confidence grows more and more will relax into something that is a lot more than a phone call. On line for 40 minutes is free and that’s to anywhere in the world or just across the road. Check it out.
More at engagewithage.org.uk
I hope the sun is shining on you. It’s a trying time for most and a sad time for many and I hope this coming week will ease the pressure and bring some peace to everyone.