What I'm not doing as a Snowbird

We've been in Tucson for five weeks now. We leave in three more. Time is going faster than I wish for. I've talked about my activities as a first-year snowbird. What I haven't talked about is what I'm not doing. Here's a list.

1. Playing cards and games. Offerings here include bingo, bridge, bunco, canasta, cribbage, Mexican Train dominoes, euchre, mah jongg, poker, pinochle and scrabble. I have played everything but bunco at one time or another, but not here for some reason. Maybe it's because they're evening activities, and I like to be home then. I heard some ladies in my morning swim class talk about someone winning both blackout prizes at bingo the night before. How wonderful for them, I thought, with no desire to buy a couple of cards next week.

2.  Doing arts and crafts. I could do calligraphy, ceramics, glass fusion, lapidary, machine embroidery, oil painting, quilting, scrapbooking, silver craft, stained glass, watercolor, wire wrap, woodcarving or woodshop. Thinking about most of these makes me feel like curling up in the fetal position. Actually, next year I may try Watercolor for Absolute Beginners, but even that is a little iffy. I'm probably a pre-Absolute Beginner, and I don't think there's a class with that title.

3. Ballroom dancing, clogging or square dancing. I figure line dancing and two-step dancing is enough.

4. Playing pickleball. It looks like a fun game, really, but I haven't signed up for some reason. It's quite popular, and I'd need to play with strangers at first. Most of the players I see are lithe and trim and I am not. Besides, I take a beta blocker for blood pressure and it slows my heart. I wonder if I have enough lung capacity for all that running around. I can use my husband's knee replacement surgery as an excuse for why I'm not doing it, but it's a bad excuse. I suspect next year I'll be a regular on the pickleball court.

5.  Multiple other kinds of exercise. I do aquacise three mornings a week but skip aerobic dance, aquafit, deep water aerobics, easy stretch, guts and butts exercise, lap swim, pilates, tai chi, yoga and zumba. I'm actually pretty happy just with the aquacise. I would never have guessed I'd get up for an 8 a.m. exercise class, but I can get out of bed at 7:40, throw on my suit with jeans and t-shirt over and walk to the pool in time for the class.

6. Other stuff I don't do are American Sign Language, astronomy, back road scenic drives (time conflict), memoir writing, photography group, Red Hat Society luncheons, conversational Spanish or writers' workshop. Just never had the interest.

7. I don't ride a bike here because I didn't bring my bike. I wish I had. It's a great way to get around on a resort like this. No one locks their bikes at home or in the central area racks. That is really nice! Next year.

8. Go to the laundromat. We have a washer and dryer in our park model. It was a requirement.

9. Sightseeing around Tucson. I really should do this. I know there are interesting places. But my schedule of activities leaves only Saturday wide open, and that's the day I make a casual effort to clean. Just today we had an invitation to go to a festival at Tubac, about an hour and a half from here. When I woke up it was chilly and drizzling, so I decided to stay home instead.

10. Going to lots of restaurants in Tucson. We've only gone out for two meals in the city in the last five weeks. We do that a lot more often at home. Maybe it's because we're about eight miles out of the restaurant area. Or maybe because I don't want to drive at night. Or maybe it's because simple meals at home are easy here.

Tonight, though, I am looking forward to. We meet up with new friends at 5:30 for potluck hors d'oeuvres before heading over to the dance at the community center. We have learned how to two-step and line dance, so we'll be out there with all the other overgrown teenagers, having a fabulous evening until the dance ends at ten!