Wait!! ... aren't I too young for that??!

Peony from the back yard

Hello dear readers! Thank you so much to everyone who has sent emails, cards, phone messages, and offered in-person congratulations after my last post. I didn't mean to mislead you that I'd retired, but looking back, I can see how many people got that impression. Official retirement is at the end of this calendar year (31 December 2026) but I won't be teaching any more courses because I have a sabbatical in the fall. But I'm going to be one of those academics who carries on after retirement supervising graduate students (I currently have four but I hope that one will be finished in the fall), doing research, and writing manuscripts for publication (maybe even a book). So "retirement" will be a slower, less demanding pace, with the fun parts of the job! I still have lots I want to do! And a big research grant until 2029.

The last two and a half months have been jam-packed. April included writing and then grading final exams; reading three doctoral theses and participating in the defences (fortunately, the theses were really interesting and well-written!), and spending hours and hours writing, revising, and resubmitting a research ethics application (sometimes I think the Research Ethics Office doesn't really want us to do research... but that is a rant for another time). OH! - and the house that was the biggest part of the estate for which I was executor finally closed in the middle of the month.

Backyard magnolia bloom

There were two big projects in May. The first was a significant revision of a paper that co-authors and I submitted in the fall and got a "revise and resubmit" after the peer review process. Fortunately, the reviewers gave really helpful and substantive feedback, but I had to dig deep in the rusty part of my brain to make the paper more theoretical and less empirical. It's about the impact of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot on food and eating practices—super interesting! But it hurt my heart to remove some of the quotes from research participants. We had to condense the results section to make room for the theory because the original submission was already at the word limit. But in the end, it was very satisfying to integrate the theory, and I'm really happy with the paper. Now we wait to see what the journal says.

Poppy from the back yard

The second big project was emptying out two rooms downstairs and painting them for my new housemate, Beth, who moved in on 31 May. I decided to do the painting myself, which ended up being a bit stressful because—of course—it always takes longer than I estimate. But it looks so good! And Beth is terrific! The woman who owns the spinning studio where I've been going, Martha, recommended Beth, and her intutition that we would get along was spot on! I finished the work just in time, and I'm really enjoying Beth's company. Having her here makes it easier to pick up and go to Nova Scotia for longer periods, and will help with the mortgage too.

I thought I would be in Nova Scotia by now, but my departure got delayed because of the work in the house... and then got delayed again... which has been okay because I've been getting lots of yard work done AND I've been enjoying the magnolia blooms, poppies, peonies, and beauty bush.

Retirement still feels distant and more of a slowing down than a full-stop. But last week I received other news that has me joking that I'm too young for that! I learned that food studies colleagues and former students successfully nominated me for the Canadian Association for Food Studies Lifetime Achievement award. It is such an honour and deeply meaningful. I wasn't planning to attend the awards ceremony, on the 16th of June in Orillia, but when my parents heard about the award, they encouraged me to attend to receive the award in person, and postpone my trip to see them. So now I will arrive in Cape Breton just in time for Father's Day, and will do another thesis defence on zoom from the campground in Edmunston along the way!

I'm looking forward to an extended time on the East Coast which will include camping in PEI and another 5-day yoga retreat (my third) at Yogaview studio outside of Antigonish. I'm also planning to hang out with my sister and parents, catch up with friends, go for long walks on the beach and in the forest, and write a conference paper. I'll write more updates as the summer unfolds.

Wishing you all a splendid, restorative summer, with many moments of joy.

Thank you to the School of Kinesiology & Health Studies for putting this together and displaying it on the hallway computer screens.