Last week, Heather attended a Centre of Rural Aging and Health (CORAH) seminar at the NSCC campus in Middleton. The concept of rural aging intrigued me. How does that contrast with urban aging? Does rural aging take into account the lack of high speed Internet or the shortage of family doctors?
Peter Nicholson and Jeff Larsen (Chronicle Herald, page D4) talk about the province leading in digital and virtual health care, post-pandemic. Will that help in rural areas of Nova Scotia? Interestingly, Edward Wedler discovered a reference to their web site ‘Policy Wonks’. Check it out.
As a a member of the Retired Teachers Organization (RTO) this week, I also received notification of two seminars, related to aging. From Aging 2 Halifax. Technology and Seniors: Stories that resonate. on March 15 and 18.
My belief is that we need to deal with our sense of place. Residents of Annapolis Royal have the option of walking the French Basin Trail. With the signage, they can start to identify ducks and other species.
If you live near Bridgetown, hike up to the Communications Tower above Valley View Park. Last week, at the top, we discovered a sign to Chalet. We followed it through the woods, eventually returning to the Mountain Road, where we had parked the car. Some interpretative signage would certainly enhance the experience.
Rural aging really amounts to ‘aging in place’. Whether living in Halifax or Paradise, there exists many opportunities to find those ‘lost words’, at the same time as discovering a new vocabulary. Just one example, check out Ruth Holmes Whitehead’s The Old Man Told Us: excerpts from Micmac history. 1500-1950. Learn more about eel weirs.
Acknowledgements
Edward found the Policy Wonks web site. Heather found the Chalet sign above Valley View park.
References
RTO link to seminars.
Ruth Holmes Whitehead, 1991, The Old Man Told Us: Excerpts from Micmac History, 1500-1950. Nimbus Publishing (link is to the new edition)
Ernest Blair Experiment 