by Jayne Bodner
We moved here on June 23. This year, summer began on June 21 and ended on September 23, so we spent almost all of summer in our new home! And, to me, summer proved to be a very good time to arrive! (Not to disrespect Fall, which is already beautiful here, Winter, where I will not be shoveling or blowing snow, and Spring, which I expect to check out every growing thing in both arboretums!)
These are some of the highlights of our first summer here. Then, I promised myself I’d get started on switching over to winter coats and Halloween decorations!
We had a whole summer of outdoor pool exercise classes, up to 5 days a week. These were led by a member of the Medford Leas Fitness Center staff (3 days) and by one of our neighbors (2). It was a wonderful way to begin to establish our new exercise routine, and a surprisingly good way to meet lots of our new neighbors! Residents come from both campuses to use the outdoor pool at Lumberton Leas in the summer.
So many people introduced themselves, and then graciously reintroduced themselves, around and in the pool. (One problem unique to the situation was that meeting people in bathing gear and then seeing them dressed made it a little harder to connect the names to the ‘dressed’ faces! But, again, people were very forgiving.) The exercises proved to be challenging and do-able for each participant’s ability, the pool area was well maintained, the water felt wonderful, and I swear it hardly ever rained and the blue skies were stunning. My husband also joined in on pool volley ball – among the residents, and in games vs the staff, various groups from other CCRCs, and even with the local Boy Scouts.
There were three monthly gatherings at the Lumberton campus, themed to the calendar for July 4th, the dog days of August and Labor Day, with potluck meals, much conversation, and sharing of history and interests. I almost wish that the sitting down to eat could be done like Musical Chairs, to get to sit with and talk to multiple tables’ worth of neighbors during the evening (but I would have needed a week long nap then!).
We attended the Medford Leas Residents Association monthly meetings, learning so much about the various activities, committees, and special events available and about how the residents on both campuses volunteer to make it all run so well. There is clearly a richness of experience and interests evident in our community, and accessible to all.
We went to three of the Thursday morning “Vid-U” DVD presentations from “Great Courses,” right on the Medford Leas campus. (These are literally college courses, on a wide range of topics, each course consisting of from 6 to 18 one-hour classes. The instructors on the DVDs are all fully vetted professors, rated topnotch, in their fields academically and with their more traditional student bodies.)
The courses I got to attend over this summer were one on Medieval Cities of Europe, one on King Arthur, and one course which is just beginning on explorers over history and around the world. The course on King Arthur left me surprised and pleased by how interesting, fact-filled, and far-ranging the classes were on what could have been a light and lightly handled topic.
We went to Thursday evening “Music Videos” also on the Medford Leas campus. We enjoyed the music and the excellent camera work which brought so much of the musicians’ actual performances so clearly in view. A few times, we treated ourselves to dinner at one of the main campus dining rooms (five courses, gentle, helpful service, very good food, and very good value) before the music began!
In early September, we attended a Chef’s Night on the main campus in the Gathering Room, where there were sample size offerings of four appetizers, four entrees, four side dishes and four desserts, prepared and presented in that order by our hosts from the Dining Services staff, to showcase the truly inventive and delicious range of their talents.
We also had many friends, from where we used to live, over to our new home to see how well we’ve ‘landed.’ And we went on a total of 6 trips in our new motorhome!
This is not everything we got into, just what first came to mind as I paused before Fall!