Learning for Pleasure, Considering Hip or Knee Replacement at Any Age, and Choosing the Best Medicare Options After 65

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For much of life, learning came with expectations: grades, credentials, deadlines, or performance. In later years, the most satisfying learning often occurs when those types of outside pressures aren’t part of the equation. Learning for pleasure isn’t about mastering something new — it’s about enjoying the process itself, without needing a result to show for it.

One simple way to do this is topic sampling. Instead of committing to a full book or course, spend 20 minutes exploring one narrow subject that catches your interest. For example, read a short article about how lighthouses were staffed, watch a brief documentary segment on jazz drumming, or browse a museum website focused on a single artifact. Stop when your interest fades. The value comes from curiosity, not completion.

Another approach is revisiting something familiar with a new lens. Watch a movie you’ve seen before, but this time pay attention to one element only: the dialogue, the setting, or how scenes transition. Or reread a favorite novel and focus on a minor character you previously ignored. This kind of selective attention turns familiarity into discovery.

Many adults also enjoy learning through comparison. Try listening to two versions of the same song by different artists, or reading two short essays on the same historical event written decades apart. Noticing differences — tone, emphasis, assumptions — keeps the mind engaged without requiring memorization.

Hands-on curiosity is fun too. Cook a recipe you already know, but change one ingredient and see what happens. Rearrange a bookshelf by theme instead of author. Take apart a simple household item (like a pen or flashlight) just to see the inner workings. These small experiments satisfy curiosity without pressure.

The key is giving yourself permission: permission to stop, to skim, to move on, to forget, and most of all to enjoy. Learning doesn’t need to lead anywhere to be worthwhile.

“The Morning Newspaper Route”
From the life overview of Edward S., 86, Grand Rapids, MI. Shared with permission.

When I was fourteen, I delivered the morning paper to nearly fifty houses before school. Every day, I woke up before dawn, folded papers at the kitchen table while my mother packed my lunch, and loaded them into a canvas bag that always felt heavier than it should have. The streets were quiet at that hour, and my footsteps echoed off the streets, much louder than they had any right to be. Porch lights glowed softly as sprinklers ticked back and forth like metronomes.

I learned the route by muscle memory: three steps to the Wilsons’ porch, a careful toss to clear the hedge at the corner house, a gentle placement for Mrs. Avery, who complained if the paper was bent. In winter, my fingers went numb halfway through, and in summer my shirt stuck to my back. I didn’t think much about responsibility then; I just knew that people expected their paper to be there when they opened the door.

One morning, after a heavy storm, I found several porches drenched with the rain. I tucked the papers into door handles, under chairs, anywhere that seemed safe. Later that day, Mrs. Avery stopped me on the sidewalk to convey her gratitude. It was the first time anyone had thanked me for the route, and it startled me more than it should have.

Through all the years since, I have never forgotten the feeling of being relied upon. Long before I understood what work meant, that route taught me the steady satisfaction of showing up, rain or shine, and leaving something useful behind.

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Open Energy Information (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Clear, regularly updated information about energy use, prices, and trends in everyday life. The charts and summaries are practical and readable, especially if you’re interested in how energy affects households and communities.

The British Pathé Archive
Thousands of short newsreels filmed from the early 20th century through the 1970s. The footage is direct and unpolished, offering a clear sense of how major events and ordinary moments were recorded at the time.

The American Alpine Club Library & Historical Collections
A digital collection of photographs, expedition reports, and mountaineering records. Even without an interest in climbing, the materials document exploration, landscape, and risk in a measured, matter-of-fact way.

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Losing photos—especially family photos—can be heartbreaking. Phones get lost, computers fail, and accidents happen. Automatic photo backups quietly copy your pictures to a safe place so you don’t have to remember to do anything. Once set up, they run in the background.

If you use a smartphone, the simplest solution is usually built right in.

On iPhone (Apple users):
Apple automatically backs up photos using Apple iCloud. To turn it on:

Photos will back up whenever your phone is charging and connected to Wi-Fi.

On Android phones:
Most Android phones use Google Photos.

Photos are saved automatically and can be viewed on any device.

Both services let you recover photos even if your phone is lost.

If you store photos on a computer or want a second backup, cloud storage services work well.

For extra protection, many people follow the “two-copy rule”: one backup in the cloud and one on an external hard drive. External drives are available from major brands like Western Digital and Seagate and plug in like a USB.

Once automatic backups are set up, you can stop worrying—and get back to enjoying the memories instead of managing them.

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