A New Adventure

As many of my local friends know, I have become rather involved in OLLI.  OLLI stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and is a division of the University of Cincinnati.  Specifically designed for senior citizens the program offers a wide variety of courses on a quarterly basis.  The courses are taught by senior volunteers who design and offer up courses of their interest.  Each quarter costs $90 and for that amount you can take as many classes as you can fit into your schedule.  

So, since my ‘complete’ retirement I’ve been taking as many courses as I can crunch into my schedule and for the most part have loved it.  Occasionally you get a poor teacher or course not well designed, but for the most part, the classes are well done.  I’ve taken photography courses, history courses, technology, travel, etc., etc.  And then 2 quarters ago I made the leap to teaching a course.  It was a 2.5 hour overview of the life of John Muir.  I was very surprised both at the attendance and the enthusiasm for the topic.  My class got a very high rating by the participants and the organizer asked me for another class.  

Well, I came up with one, but not quite what she was looking for.  I have recently read another of Craig Child’s books Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Everending Earth and decided to offer an 8 week class on the book.  The plan is to have the class participants purchase the book or borrow it from the library, (it can also be purchased locally in Cincinnati at Joseph Beth Book Store or via Amazon) read a chapter per week and come to class prepared to discuss the chapter.  I’ve attended other classes offered this way and they have worked out really well.  

Craig Childs being my current favorite author I am continually on the lookout for any of his books I haven’t read.  I found Apocalyptic Planet one day while roaming through Half Priced Books.  Bought it, took it home, and couldn’t put it down. 

Each chapter focuses on a different environment from deserts to oceans to mountain tops and wild rivers, each chapter is a riveting exploration of how our planet evolves and changes and how, as human beings, we are now impacting those changes. 

I am confident that the classroom discussions will be as much of a wild ride as the book and plan to take notes on those discussions.  Then, the plan is to write up a narrative after the class and post it here in my blog.

If you are so inclined, feel free to read along with us and post your comments here.  Look for the first post the evening of January 27, just hours after the first class.  And then continue on through mid-March.  

I genuinely hope some will join us.  If you find the book as exhilarating as I do, it could be a fun 8 weeks!!!