Pillsbury Press: Trying New Things

Semi-retirement is leaving me with some free time to explore new skills. In the past few months I have taken classes in roller skating, pysanka eggs, photography, and hula hooping. While I can taking pictures while roller skating, even Angela, my hula hooping teacher, has not mastered hooping while skating.

Roller skating

A few years ago Lawrence resident Jaclyn started TrentonSk8s. I met her a few years before that when she said she wanted to learn how to skate. She invited me to join her on some skating field trips as the closest rinks are at least an hour away in several different directions. For one reason or another I did not take her up on it -- too far away, too late at night, I was already busy, etc. etc. Jaclyn not only went she made new friends and embraced the skating culture. Through her I learned there are differences between North Jersey and South Jersey skating styles (yet something else our tiny state can argue about along with Taylor Ham vs. Pork Roll). The past few summers we have met in Cadwalder Park in Trenton. The past couple of falls and winters we met indoors at our church. With construction happening "any day now," we were encouraged to find a different winter home. First Presbyterian Church of Trenton came to our rescue. For $15 a class, Jaclyn taught us the basics. Due to my foot problems, I did not go nearly often enough, but I did learn the importance of loosening the wheels to be able to move more freely and how to make "bubbles" both backwards and forwards.

Pysanka Eggs

This was a one-day class taught at our church. The class felt rushed, but the lessons taught have resonated with me throughout spring and into summer. Use the negative space to help create something beautiful. Order matters. Uncover the hidden beauty. Relax. Take the time to figure out what you want it to look like in the end. Understand mistakes happen and incorporate them into the finale. There is no perfect way to do something. Each one is different. Each one is beautiful. You can do this.

Photography

In February I signed up for a three-week class on taking better pictures with my DSLM camera. The class was held at the Princeton Adult School, located in Princeton High School. It was taught by a Lambertville photographer who teaches this same basic class in a few different places. I learned to move away from IA and shoot in Aperture Priority (A). Cameras these days adjust a lot so the triangle shifts. He showed us tricks for manually changing that -- scary stuff! I did learn some things, but the best way to learn is to keep taking pictures. I met a friend, Erin. Through her, Don and I decided to drive to Buffalo to see the eclipse. I wish the class had opportunities to move around the building and practice what we were learning, but he does offer those types of classes. Much of his advice was about how to crop a picture, and I didn't always agree with his suggestions. It was nice to get out.

Hula Hooping

This week I finished a six-part class in hula hooping. Don took the class during the pandemic at the senior center. While I could have taken that class, I wanted to take it outside. We both had the ever-enthusiastic Angela. She is full of encouragement. To her everyone can hula hoop, the problem is with the hoop not with the person. On our last week (I missed 1.5 classes), I used a different hoop and the pieces fell into place. Angela is great about teaching people at different levels. At least half of the class had taken hooping before and were moving with an ease and grace I did not see possibly happening for me. I still have a long ways to go, but there seems to be hope for me.