Last winter was exceedingly snowy and cold. Those of us who live in the Northeast don’t need to be reminded of that. People who have experienced few such winters think it was the worst ever. At my age you know that there have been others as bad or nearly so. Though the Farmer’s Almanac thinks differently, this winter promises so far to be an easy one with little snow. Trying to prepare for the unknown and what it may hold is like attempting to prepare for old age. It will be different for each one of us and, just as our lives in the past, will have good and bad days, months and years. Young old age prepared me for middling old age and both had their ups and downs. It wasn’t until now on the cusp of oldest old age, that I can truly say I am beginning to get the hang of accepting all of it and am somewhat in sinc with its peculiar rhythms. One day is not like any other, but is often an adventure if I maintain my curiosity about what it may hold. Sometimes it holds a letter from a friend I haven’t heard from in a long time, a reunion with former students, lunch with a fellow writer or artist. It often presents me with a complete surprise such as a documentary I happen upon that speaks to me on a deep level or a spontaneous visit from one of my grandchildren. Many times it’s when the writing or painting is going really well.
If creativity has sustained you throughout your life, there is no reason to think it can’t continue to do so. Physical restraints can make us rethink the way in which we have worked in the past and what is possible now. If you are a visual artist such as myself, you may have to make do with a smaller studio or paint on smaller canvases that are easily transported. Instead of rushing right into a project, you may find yourself thinking long and hard about what it will entail. Once begun, however, the process will take over and be full of the same surprises that you’ve counted on for years.
I am also a writer, and, for me, I’ve noticed only a few changes in the way in which I continue to pursue that craft. Ideas still come unbidden and the excitement is still there to develop them. Because my first love is historical fiction, however, it has become more difficult to do the primary research on site. I have found that I can solve this by making a number of short trips instead of one long tiring one. For instance, in doing research for my book Turning set in the Shaker Village of Canterbury, NH, I discovered that the planned tours involved a pace I couldn’t keep to and too much standing. I did the best I could with the most encompassing tour and returned on other days to visit places such as the schoolroom and the print shop by myself. This gave me an opportunity to question a single guide within these rooms at my leisure. I memorized the village map so as to know where to place the action. I bought the CD by Ken Burns called The Shakers, and played it over and over. In addition of course, I read extensively on the religion itself and its history and immersed myself in Shaker diaries, Shaker cookbooks, and many large and beautiful books on Shaker architecture and crafts.