Courtesy WikiCommons Hassocks 5489

It’s always good to know that you’re on the cusp of an emerging trend. I learned this in  Hipsters Discover the Shuffleboard Set, The Wall Street Journal.

 We’ve already downsized twice—both times to small college towns, the first in Maine, the second in North Carolina. We simplify by moving to  smaller condos.

I don’t need the Journal to tell me how cool it is to leave the car at home, step out the front door, and stroll across manicured campus lawns shaded by venerable trees to attend concerts, sporting events, and plays. Enough seniors have settled around here to keep the Active Older Adults classes filled at the Y.

One young man told the Journal, “If you love Jethro Tull, you’ve got to go where the seniors are, where they pump ‘Locomotive Breath’ into the yoga center 24/7.  Well, thanks! Some appreciation for a change!

The Journal tells me we’ve transplanted ourselves to “slumbering, unsuspecting college towns­—auditing classes, biking through the quad, hanging out in student cafes.”

True. When I audited a Memoir course, the class encouraged me to tell my tale. The professor helped me structure it. Ever since, I’ve been working on the story of my Danish immigrant father’s years in Seattle and the way secrets affected my life.

Pollination between the generations is good. College students see through fresh eyes. Seniors have a lifetime of experience behind their cataracts.