Dec 8, 2009
The Snow as a Complementary Feature of the Culture of Immobility and Fear which Permeates the Retirement Communities of an Aging Society. by Howard Sachs, MD, PhD
I’m 83 years old, a retired neurologist, living in a retirement facility in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where most of the residents are widows between the ages of 68 to 98. The two major activities here are engaging in eating and sitting immobile near the fire, engaging in gossip.
The first snowflakes serve as reinforcement to the above activities since the beautiful site of the snow outdoors is terrifying to the residents who regard stepping outdoors, regardless of the amount of snow as unthinkable. I personally love walking in the snow as long as pushing my walker through it is manageable and not treacherous.
I do have a great pair of cleated boots, but admittedly, it would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to push a wheeled walker. I do recall the ease of walking with ski poles along the desert of snow in Antarctica, or on the trail in the Nepali Himalayas. Nevertheless, I feel grateful to Ram Das, who in his book, “Still Here” reminds us not to dwell in the past. For certain, I will never revisit those places again.
But certainly, the ploughed parking lot outside of this “Inn” is hardly comparable, and simply provides a little exercise and lovely cold fresh air. Nevertheless, it’s understandable why the elderly women with their osteoporotic bones fear walking in the snow and falling. However, I do resent it when the staff places me in the same category as these decaying souls. Although no longer a college football player, the years of hitting the ground and training did build a sturdy bone structure, not easily perturbed by a fall in the snow.
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