This is my first column for the Osoyoos Times and I an excited to introduce myself.

I was so sure about how to do this when I was working full time in the education field.

My career defined me. And my beloved Rocky Mountains always kept me sitting in awe on some patio somewhere in Calgary.

But, with two bitter winters in a row and massive snowdrifts clutching the useless winter tires on my car, I was in the mood for change.

It took a year but I finally found my new introductory line:  “Hi! I am a recently retired Prairie-dweller, a retirement blogger for Boomers Pot of Gold, author of a few short stories and now, excitedly, a newspaper columnist with a monthly column focusing on seniors, snowbirds and the stuff that makes them/me tick.

That last title was recently bestowed on me – and the thrill of this new opportunity had me bouncing down Main Street, Osoyoos, coffee cup in hand just a few days ago.

I am guessing that if you are still reading, you are likely wondering, “Why Osoyoos?

Like many of you – snowbirds, new residents, and established locals – I have been asked that so many times I have started to feel like an advertisement for the town.

I make no apologies. I talk so glowingly that I have to remind myself about the incidental shortcomings – but that would be another column.

Two years ago, I had never even been to Osoyoos. When I casually picked up a tourist brochure while travelling between Vancouver and Calgary, I was intrigued by the word “snowbirds” splashed across the top.

With retirement simmering in the back of my mind, I Googled it as soon as I got home and discovered the many options for snowbirds in this small town in the middle of wine country.

Here are a few of the amenities I mentally underlined – let me know if they are on your list also. They include dry climate; the warmest winter in Canada; inexpensive rent; wine.

Need I say more?

All of this combined with the hot Calgary real estate market that year and I was convinced the planets had aligned and I was ready to retire and move.

On April 2, 2014, we hopped on a plane to the Okanagan to buy ourselves a house.

Carefully manoeuvring the mountain curves, my partner and I were in awe.

We whizzed by orchards with black, empty branches reaching to the sky. We skimmed past beautiful lakes and snow-capped mountains and then down, down into the South Okanagan.

Even with only the first blush of spring peeping out and showing off her pink or yellow blossomed-branches hidden in sunny corners, there was a promise in the air that spoke to my heart.

The closer we came to Osoyoos, the more excited I became. Vineyards soon stretched from mountain to lake and orchards filled in the gaps.

Closed and boarded fruit stands dotted the landscape promising a summer harvest of cherries, apricots, peaches and so much more.

Signs shouted cukes, tomatoes and strawberries to our parched Albertan souls. Like little kids, we were ready for our adventure. We parked for FREE (sorry big-city victims) and explored the downtown all along Main Street.

Coffee shops, boutiques, Home Hardware and wine bars – my smile grew incrementally with each short stop.

We soon headed to a lakeside resort where we had scored an off-season suite.

My thoughts of too quiet or too old calmed as we explored our potential new home.

I easily pictured us with our morning coffee listening to the birds flitting around the mountain landscape as I typed my latest blog on my laptop. Oh, joy – I was home!  I was ready to be a RETIREE!

We bought our house that very day.  Easily. Confidently. Calmly.  Toasting our new home and our new life, we headed back to Calgary and started the ball rolling.

Soon, we were rolling with it, over the mountains and west to Osoyoos.

So, the exciting news is that every month, in the second week, I get to share a little of this and a little of that about life as a senior in Osoyoos – snowbird, long-time local and those just passing through.

We all have our stories – and oh, what stories they are. Remember that the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow is filled with your story – make it full of colour and life. It is what you will leave behind.

The New Old Age

EILEEN HOPKINS

Special to the Times