Mental Health NSV Goal
This 57-year-old northern Minnesotan thinks a fun, mental health NSV goal would be to become a short-term, solo snowbird during the bitter, cold months of January and February. Please offer suggestions for places/ideas for me to read as I sit here in a down jacket, furnace down again, and deciding it is time to strategize for better mental health during future winters. At 4 1/2 years post-op, the NSV's are diminishing by choice and need not be. To get better cooperation from DH, a two-month employment opportunity would be ideal. Imposing on family and/or friends located around the country is too much to ask; besides I like being alone. Anything come to mind other than construction work on a Mexican wall? (edited to add: furnace fixed!)
Hi selhard,
Try creating a bucket list for things you have wanted to do after you lost weight. I grew up in MI and lived most of my life in IL so I understand winter. Try a site called meetup.com No it's not a dating site 
it shows you groups that get together and do outdoor activities. Put in things you love to do or might want to try and it will give you a list of groups within your area. Maybe you like to read or have always wanted to try winter hiking with a group. Let us know what you tried and if it worked.
Good luck to you and STAY WARM!
HW:330 - GW:150 - MW:118-125
RW:190 - CW:130
I don't know about employment opportunities, but a really wonderful place is St George UTAH. There is a lot of growth in that area--construction and otherwise--one of the fastest growing places in the region. Also lots of tourism. So there would very likely be temp opportunities, and sales positions in local retail.
St George is very very close to Zion National Park, which is one of the most beautiful and popular national parks. If you were to go, you would see why. I cannot say enough how much I love Zion Nat park! Plus St George is near other national and state parks that are truly stunning. Bryce Canyon, Snow Canyon, Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Escalante, Lake Powell (rent a houseboat). The recreational opportunities are awesome.
Also lots of golf, because lots of people retire there. About 45 min away is Cedar City, where they have a nationally recognized regional theater--Shakespeare festival, and other playwrites highlighted. (See bard.org.) There is also Tuachan theater, where they do high quality regional theater broadway plays. But Tuacahn is more summer and fall. St George and Cedar City also have small universities, so you could audit classes or attend college performances.
In St George, there are a lot of rental properties available. Also it is pretty close to Las Vegas--maybe 1.5 hrs. Salt Lake City is about 4.5 hours. So if you miss the snow, head up to Salt Lake City for some of the best skiing in the country.
I totally vote for St George!!! Two months would be about right. Plus you could come visit me!
My husband, son and I drive across country at least once a year -- taking different routes as often as possible to see all the National Parks on our way to Oregon. We have been to over 28 of the 59 National Parks -- and Arches is by far our favorite. I would love to live in Moab. I just wi**** weren't so remote to any work we do.
"What you eat in private, you wear in public." --- Kat
It almost looks like Arches National Park will be under major construction. I live near a secluded national park that has been honored by National Geographic; to watch Voyageurs Park's northern lights display, click on the two-minute video found at www.vimeo.com/189932180
Moab really is kind of remote, even for those of us in its general vicinity (5-ish hours). We went there last year for spring break, and what a great place it is. There are some fabulouse hikes outside of the national park that we went on that were just spectacular.
Fun Moab story. A friend of mine is kind of the piano tech man in the state. He maintains the pianos for the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Church's large buildings in SLC, as well as the pianos for many other music groups (and also for some friends like me!). He is the kind of guy who at any given time might have, in his home, two 12-foot Steinways, plus a large organ, and in his garage, a Steinway he is rebuilding. sometimes they are on loan, sometimes he is planning to sell them, sometimes he just owns them. He and his wife are both fabulous pianists, and several of their children as well.
Anyhow, the Moab part: Just this week, he told me that currently in his house, he just has one 12-foot Steinway. And it is the very Steinway that they float down the Colorado river in the Moab music festival each year (around Labor Day). It is not technically his--but is owned by the music festival. He sets it up on the boat and tunes and maintains it for them during the festival every year. They needed a place to store it for the other 50 weeks of the year, so he said, "Hey! I could store that at my house!" And, a piano in use is better than a piano in cold storage. So he has free use of a 12-foot Steinway. He says that it has a little red sand every year that he has to clean out of it. He never worries about it. If something happens to it, the festival will buy another, and he will "store" it for them for 50 weeks of the year.
p.s. Have you been to Zion? Or to Capitol Reef? I love those parks, and their combinations of vastness, plus intimacy. Lots of people bypass the Kolob Canyon part of Zion, which you have to enter another way. It is so stunning! If you have not seen it, add it to your list! The sheer red cliffs in Kolob Canyon are incredible.
Thank you for good ideas and kind gestures. Meetup's motto reads "you are what you do"--- motivating words to make the snowbird goal a NSV reality. It looks like Amtrak offers a train ride through the mountains from Minnesota to Seattle. It also looks like National Parks have an entire program set up for senior citizens. My first name is Sue--hoping to post plans for "the year of Sue" come January, 2018. Thanks again.
