BY ROBIN CARSON | Editor

First of all , thanks to the 1000 + of you who responded to the news & views survey . All of us are surveyed to death these days . Everyone wants your opinion . If you buy a hamburger , you can get your next order with fries if you just fill out a survey . Bought 37 ¢ worth of nails ? Please fill out the survey on the back of your receipt . The phone rings at dinner ? Probably a survey . So , despite survey fatigue , you responded and provided not only general information about articles and the like , but also forty-seven pages of comments ! I guarantee that all of this information will be looked at closely , then looked at again . Thank you all ! I will report results in the next issue .

One thing that many of you pointed out in the survey is that not every ARTA member is a retired teacher . That fact is the reason that in March we interviewed three excellent applicants for the new position of associate editor with news & views , and selected someone who will assist us with the next issue . Apart from the fact that news & views has grown enough to require editorial assistance , we also need to bolster our content for the members of ARTA who are not retired teachers , and our new associate editor will help with that . Again , look for more details in the next issue .

The winner of the essay category in our recent writing contest , Don Robertson , wrote about the invisibility of retirement . If you have not read it in last autumn ' s issue , you should look it up on the ARTA website because it is a ' must-read ' for every retired person . I mention it because in this issue , in her column on spiritual wellness , Peggy McDonagh writes about seeing and being seen . As we age , it is important to replace what we can no longer maintain with newness that may range from activities , to relationships , to attitudes .

Peggy provides a nudge toward how we view the world that can provide direction as our old lives slip into the invisibility suggested in Don

Robertson ' s essay .

In this issue ’ s Travel section , closeto-home travel is featured by two writers who will be working as staff writers for us . Adrian Joosten is a recent retiree with a good sense of the outdoors in general and activity in particular . Jane Thrall , also a retiree , has written several times for us in past issues . Jane ' s article in this issue was researched by approaching specialist companies directly ; and while these companies responded with both information and photographs , neither Jane nor ARTA nor news & views has received compensation of any kind from them . I mention this last point because while we try to be meticulous about avoiding ' infomercials ,' there must be room to research with companies that provide specialized services . If we ' ve sailed too close to the wind with the article , please drop me a letter — preferably , one you ' ll allow us to publish .

Too late for this issue for us to do more than make token acknowledgement of it is the horror of the Fort McMurray fire . For those of you affected by the fire , we offer what support we can , and assure you of our constant thoughts and prayers for your well-being . As I write this , governments and non-government organizations are stepping up with assistance , and that is something that we can all assure will continue . As

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