Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2021 i Zoomer Magazine

“1992 IS NOT A YEAR ON which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis,” said Her Majesty the Queen in a speech she gave in November at Guildhall of that year (below). “I suspect that I am not alone in thinking it so. Indeed, I suspect that there are very few people or institutions unaffected by these last months of worldwide turmoil and uncertainty.” Insert 2020 instead, and the words ring even truer than they did 28 years ago. For much of the year, the world held its breath as a divisive presidential election in the United States played out with democracy, decency and competence on the ballot. Worse yet,…

“It’s been a rotten few months, especially if you’re old,” said comedian Mary Walsh, summing up a most tumultuous year during C.A.R.P.’s National Seniors Day online gala in early October. “It’s better than death,” she joked. “But not by much!” You have to admire Walsh for adding levity to a very dispiriting year. Coming at us in two waves, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 cut through the older population. By November, Canadians over the age of 60 accounted for 9,408 of 9,759 deaths, or 96 per cent. Our nursing homes, assisted living centres and retirement homes became epicentres of outbreaks, and they struggledto contain the infection and care for residents even as fatalities hit the headlines. “These were grandparents, parents and beloved family members, many of whom passed away…

IT’S THAT TIME of year when snowbirds feel winter in their bones. As the leaves turn and the Thanksgiving turkey carcass hits the soup pot, the first dip in temperature brings on the urge to head south. But the annual migration has been grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic this year as favoured U.S. destinations like Florida, Arizona and California struggle to contain the virus. This has raised big concerns for older Canadians at higher risk of serious complications. With the U.S. border closed to non-essential traffic, many snowbirds are nesting at home. Domestic travel is up at Chartright Air Group, Canada’s largest provider of private jets, based at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. With 50 planes in 10 cities, including lighter aircraft dubbed boomer jets, in the fall president Adam Keller…

MY MARRIAGE WAS FINE. My freelance-writing career was fine. Turning 60, not so much. I spent my birthday in bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. I had the flu, but the tears stinging my cheeks on that January 2017 morning had little to do with the aches in my joints. The next day I stumbled out of bed and walked up to the globe on the chest of drawers. As I spun it around, I understood what was missing in my tidy, charmed life: adventure. When the globe stopped spinning, my gaze landed on Brazil. Samba, ocean waves, ripe mangoes. Gloria Steinem’s words bubbled up in my head: “If you find yourself drawn to an event against all logic, go.” Brazil it would be, then. And it had…

IN OCTOBER, BARACK Obama hit the campaign trail with his former vice-president, Joe Biden. But now that the election is over, the 59-year-old can focus on another thing, besides politics, that he’s great at: selling books. In mid-November, Obama released A Promised Land, the first of his two-volume presidential memoirs, which covers his start in politics through to his historic 2008 election as the 44th president of the United States through to the 2011 killing of Osama Bin Laden. Expectations for the book are high – the reported initial print run is three million copies – because aside from his enduring popularity, Obama is known for his mastery of the written word. Not only did he write many of his most iconic political speeches, but his first two memoirs –…

THERE’S NOWHERE to go – no opportunity to see and be seen. Most people are living in sweatsuits. So it seems like a strange time for me to turn my attention to fine jewelry. Maybe it is “carpe diem.” It seems wasteful to leave valuable things lying in a safe. They should either be worn, given away or sold. I have only one niece, who has no interest – I’m hoping that will change by the time I am ready to part with my favourite pieces. For now, I am reconsidering some early purchases and things I inherited. Apparently I’m not alone. My friend Carol, a jewelry designer, is very busy remodelling unloved necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets. But that can be extremely expensive. The price of gold is through…

HOWEVER 2021 UNFOLDS, it opens on a note of optimism and hope as exemplified by Queen Elizabeth II, who has met the pandemic with equal parts aplomb and grace. As Canada’s monarch approaches 69 years on the throne in February and her 95th birthday in April, she has stayed the course, even as her son Prince Charles contracted COVID-19 – and now, we find out her grandson, William, too – as well as her Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. With the fractious fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s renunciation of The Firm and their move to Los Angeles, not to mention Prince Andrew’s questionable relationship with the late, disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, 2020 was looking like another annus horribilis for the Royal Family. Then the pandemic hit,…

IN THE SUMMER OF 1983, Diana, Princess of Wales, wore a very pointed graphic sweater to a polo match. The red jumper, as the Brits would say, featured a field of white sheep and one single black sheep. It was actually a re-wear, as she had been photographed in a very similar piece once before her marriage; seemingly, she had a new, smaller sweater made up to fit her shrinking frame, itself a reflection of her distress within her marriage. This time, the black sheep was pointing the other way. On this second outing, it was clear that Diana meant to send a message, deploying subtle wit to silently signal how alienated she felt, how she stood out within the royal fold. “The black sheep jumper was, like so much…

YOU’VE WORKED hard and you’ve saved. You thought you might have a bit more money at this point than you do, but money was never as important to you as it was to some, so you spent it on going to Greece a little more than was strictly necessary, and you bought Ardbeg when Forty Creek would have done just fine. But you enjoyed yourself and you never stinted with the kids when they were growing up either. They’re grown now and they turned out well, more or less. You’re proud of them. Now what? Your job when they were little was pretty clear-cut, but what’re you meant to do now? Just how much more do we owe our children? This is not an easy question, as I found…

Forget the catwalk — these fashionistas strut the sidewalk (while also grabbing some groceries) A new book, Chinatown Pretty, documents the sartorial style of seniors in Chinatowns across North America. They’re one Whoopi Goldberg short of a Sister Act reboot Nuns with the Poor Clares of Arundel – whose ages extend into their 90s – top U.K. classical album charts with Light for the World, their first album, meant to inspire inner peace during the pandemic. That’s the Christmas spirit A Kamloops-based organization called the Centre for Seniors Information partners with London Drugs to arrange Secret Santa donations for seniors isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. American scientists working with Uganda’s Kibale Chimpanzee Project discover that aging male humans and aging male chimps exhibit similar social behaviour For example, one older…

TO BALMORAL. It does not take long – no, not at all – for the whoosh of history to bring us to Scotland in the fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown, dropping down on a castle that sits on 20,000 hectares of Highlands terrain. Having served as a sound stage of sorts for the triumphs and tragedies of the British Royal Family since 1848 – when Prince Albert decided to purchase the estate for his bride, Queen Victoria – it has long thought to be the preferred residence of the current monarch and also the place she lands for the summer every year. Think: tartan, thistle, rolling hills, ponies, deer and moors of grouse. Think: Margaret Thatcher and Diana, Princess of Wales, too. Two women who loomed over the…

PEOPLE COPING WITH the COVID-19 outbreak today don’t have much in common with the citizens of Athens in 430 BC – the year of the first recorded pandemic in history. Athenians communicated via stylus rather than smartphone, called upon Zeus rather than Zoom and, fortunately, never had to put up with an anti-mask rally. Pandemics, however, can serve as a spark for innovation. During the Black Death in the 14th century, Venetians began the practice of quarantine, while in the 19th century, as cholera ravaged England, Dr. John Snow helped trace the outbreak to a contaminated well and laid the foundation for public health awareness of clean drinking water (and his own reputation as a pioneer of epidemiology). Of course, sometimes the wind blows the other way. Historian Thucydides…