Keeping busy key to long life, independence
Doug Kelly scrolls through his cellphone, checking his daily step count in the health app and scanning his calendar for alerts on the day ahead.
The 97-year-old shuffles in his spot on the sofa as he browses – he doesn’t sit down often, preferring to keep himself busy by driving out to his favourite walking spots, darting off to orchestra meets, texting and using his iPad. He often doesn’t hop into bed until midnight.
‘‘I wouldn’t do without my phone. I went on to a computer after writing hundreds and hundreds of arrangements by hand ... I keep everything on the phone.
‘‘If I don’t have it, I am lost.’’
For Kelly, the daily routine of driving from his home in Ilam out to Sumner for a two-hour walk fills the morning.
He stops for lunch at a cafe after he has covered about 4 kilometres – about 8000 steps. Other days, he will pull a jacket on and visit the Christchurch Botanical Gardens for a long wander through the flora.
‘‘I start my day early. I will have an apple cider vinegar and honey with breakfast but I will have a flat white before driving if I am out. There is something in them that really perks me up before hopping in the car,’’ he said. Someone once told him the vinegar was good for his heart and health and, as he nears his 100th birthday, Kelly thinks they might
be right. Kelly has held on to his driving licence through the decades and thinks he is ‘‘probably safer in the car than walking’’.
He has lived alone since his wife, Joy, moved into care and when she died three years ago he vowed to remain independent, bulk-cooking his dinners and rarely spending a day at home.
He is one of 9000 Kiwis over the age of 90 to have their driving licence, NZ Transport Agency figures from August show.
It is a significant increase from 2016, when 7500 licence holders were aged 90 or older.
The number of drivers who had celebrated their centennial with active licences had also increased to 35 from the 24
recorded three years ago. Kelly keeps active by driving to regular orchestra meets where he plays the trumpet, practising the instrument for 30 minutes every morning so he doesn’t ‘‘lose [his] lip’’, playing the keyboard and piano in his lounge, and documenting his family history on a series of DVDs.
Kelly wrote an autobiography in his 80s, just in case he forgot everything before he had a chance to note it all down.
A decade later, he is quick to point out that hasn’t happened, although he can struggle to remember names.
‘‘I have still got all my marbles except that one.’’
1. Where would you find the North Lawn, the South Lawn, the Rose Garden as well as the Kennedy Garden?
2. In the initials LGBTQI, what does the letter I stand for?
3. What was the occupation of the characters played by Timothy Spall in the movies Mr Turner and Mrs Lowry and Son?
4. Coburg, Toorak and Footscray are suburbs of what city?
5. What two-word French phrase, a name often given to beach houses and campervans, means ‘‘no worries’’ or ‘‘carefree’’?
6. Department of Conservation signs are painted in what two colours?
7. His first name was William and he founded a multinational chewing gum company. What was his surname?
8. In a 1976 hit song by Elton John, what seemed to be the hardest word?
9. In French it’s ‘‘De´fense de fumer’’, in German it’s ‘‘Rauchen verboten’’ and in Italian it’s ‘‘Vietato fumare’’. What is the English translation?
10. What word can mean either a police informer or an annoying person?