I was interested in Tiffany Lewis’ recent column on growing old, or at least to middle age. I’m 77, learned new activities and skills before, during and after middle age. It’s exciting to do!

I got my master’s degree in statistics at 51. I began freelance writing that same decade, publishing in several different fields, and at 62, taught myself German well enough to watch German crime movies with German subtitles, knowing when the subtitles were incomplete. 

I began at the bottom of many activities. When I moved here 12 years ago, I took up hiking, beginning by leading hikes, which I had never done before. At 68, I joined a volunteer trail crew that worked year-round in the Cascades and foothills. I had to learn crosscut saw and tread tool use plus power brushing (weed whacking).

I started writing about the outdoors, specifically trail work, often discussing the mundane, like a carpet of moss, an evening primrose on a street, fireweed in all stages of bloom and seed, or a hairy woodpecker on Spencer Butte.

My essays appear in two local nonprofit publications, and 45 are still being read at a radiation center, where last year, each day I underwent radiation for prostate cancer, I left an essay. I haven’t self-published a novel, but I did consider publishing my collection of 116 outdoor essays, including one on the increased creativity I had during my radiation treatments when I had no testosterone. When I lay awake at night, I was full of ideas for another essay.

I no longer awaken with ideas, but that’s OK! Creativity and ideas don’t stop at any age. Just last year, I figured out how to square any three-digit number mentally. I have just finished reading local conductor Dr. Sharon Paul’s book “Art and Science in the Choral Rehearsal,” which as a retired neurologist with virtually no musical talent I find fascinating, learning about new ways to teach that weren’t around years ago, when I taught neurology and other subjects.

I don’t know how much longer I’ve got, but I’m busy. I volunteer a few times a week removing invasive blackberries and geraniums from the Mount Pisgah Arboretum; I once volunteered at Lane Community College in the math lab, with Friends of Buford Park, the McKenzie River Trust and The Nature Conservancy. Last week, I led a crew to Lowder Mountain in the Three Sisters Wilderness to clear the trail of blocking downed trees, using hand saws and people power, no power equipment allowed.

Keep on learning, Ms. Lewis. It’s OK to start from the bottom and work your way up, be it pickleball or playing an instrument. I’ve been doing it for decades. There is a constant learning curve that can be difficult to manage, but while I never imagined living this sort of life, I sure do like it this way!

Michael Smith writes for two local outdoor oriented organizations, hikes wherever and whenever he can, volunteers removing many different types of invasive plants for several different organizations locally, and clears trails of logs and rebuilds trails in the Willamette NF and adjacent wildernesses. He lives in Eugene.