OLLI members are immersed in Zoom meetings to continue learning, to enjoy each other’s company and to conduct the business of the organization. Unlike many of our business colleagues, OLLI members enjoy the frequent appearances of pets on screen. So much so that in early November, OLLI gave the Zoom link to the OLLI pets to make their appearances on an invited basis.
Who didn’t show up? Jack, Jen and Brian’s cat, whose long black tail reliably curls across the full height of Jen’s Zoom block at every meeting. To be fair, he did make his appearance near the end of the two-hour event. Maybe he was perturbed at the invitation to all those other pets? Or, maybe, well, he’s a cat.
OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, at Granite State College is a program for active learners age 50 and beyond. It features a varied menu of cost-effective courses as well as opportunities for volunteering and social interaction.
Since mid-March, OLLI has been operating entirely remotely, using Zoom technology to continue its programming.
Pet Tales attracted 13 humans, 10 pets, innumerable stories and pictures and an uncountable number of “awwwwwws.” As always, when OLLI members get together to share stories, there are great laughs and ever-deepening friendships. Two members in attendance have been part of OLLI for 15 years and have commented that all the years of classes, meetings and parties have never yielded “getting to know you” in the same way as these Zoom affairs. After all, through Zoom, we are in each other’s kitchens, studies and even bedrooms, as well as meeting the furry families!
Ed’s RSVP to the Pet Tales event included the suggestion “Ask me about Satan.” So we did. And Ed told us about the big ferocious dog which his father had named Satan. Ed recounted how his father would stand on the porch of his Philadelphia house in a predominantly Irish-Catholic neighborhood and bellow, “Satan, come here, right now!”
One of Peg’s four cats strolled across the desk, two of Terri’s seven jumped up for a cuddle, Marcia’s big longhair purred happily on her lap and Dan’s little black cat tried to type a chat message by walking across the keyboard.
From the canine side, Barbara managed a brief appearance by her reluctant pup and Diane introduced Mugsy and Tia Marie in turn. Linda, Jen and Ray told heartwarming stories of how their cats came into their lives when they were particularly vulnerable and made all the difference in their lives.
All the stories did not involve fur. Jacki confessed that she was not an animal lover all her life, starting with her first pet, a quarter-sized miniature turtle that terrorized her by trying to climb out of a soup dish. Peg recounted an experience in her first year of teaching. She had agreed to keep a snake belonging to one of her fourth grade students in the classroom as a way to help the boy transition from snake ownership to setting Mr. Snake free (at the non-negotiable direction of the boy’s mother). Peg designed science lessons about snakes as the reptile happily relaxed in the classroom terrarium. One morning, however, the class came in to find the terrarium empty, prompting a hands-and-knees search by all students. A knock on the door proved to be the principal requesting permission to observe the class for a while later in the morning.
“Certainly,” said the nervous first-year teacher and she returned to the class to bring everybody to order and committed to secrecy. The principal found a seat at the side of the room, resting his arm on the warm radiator from which the snake emerged, mere inches from that arm. Of course the children noticed and eyes darted in that direction, but they kept it together as the principal finally announced he had a meeting, thanked them and left, completely in the dark about his near encounter with the slithery science project.
OLLI’s academic term ends mid-December, however, free events will bridge the time between the fall and spring terms, including a Lunch & Learn on memory will be held in December and two Lunch & Learns, one on the history of race and the other on the Merrimack River are scheduled in January.
A Zoom Game Day is scheduled for Dec. 11 and wear your best ugly holiday sweater at another Mug ‘n’ Muffin on December 21.