Carolyn Hanson believes the key to enjoying the so-called golden years of retirement is keeping busy.

"You have to find a passion for life, a hobby, something you enjoy doing—because when you give up working and retire, that life is gone, and many of the friends you had there are gone, too," she said. "It's important to replace that life with something you can do that's enjoyable. Then life becomes fun again."

If they don't keep busy, older adults "can become dull," Hanson said, "and then no one wants to be around them."

The "something" Carolyn, 70, of Overland Park, found to keep her busy—very busy—is her hobby of photography. Much of her life now revolves around it.

"I never leave home without my camera," said Hanson. "I'm always looking for a special picture, one I might someday enter in a contest."

Hanson notes that her husband, Gary Hanson, says she sees everything through a lens.

"We'll be driving along and I see what I think is a good picture and he stops the car," she said. "He has the patience of Job."
Photography keeps Hanson active.

"I do attribute my enthusiasm for life in a large degree to my hobby," she added. "It keeps me interested."

Hanson realizes that not all retirees need a hobby that keeps them as busy as she and Gary are. But, she notes, "There are so many great things to do, so many places to go and things to know about in the Kansas City area. You just have to get out and look around."

So firmly does Hanson believe in keeping active that she has composed a list of places to go and things to do in the area; many of them are free. (See adjacent article.)

"Take your dog to Brookside for 'Strutt Your Mutt,' the September fundraiser for Wayside Waifs," she said. "Take short day trips around the area, or simply visit a park and watch people. Anything to keep moving."

Hanson and her husband have visited every place on her list and photographed most of them.

"Of course, it's easier to do if you have good health, which we do," she acknowledged.

Hanson started taking photographs in the 1980s, mostly of family trips or gatherings, nothing especially exciting. Then in 2004 she and Gary visited a bar in Fort Smith, Ark., where she took pictures of a piano player's hands. She entered one of those photos in a contest sponsored by Star Magazine in The Kansas City Star and won first place.

"I was really excited. I thought, 'I'm on my way, I've been published!'" she said with a laugh. "Now I'm always looking for a picture for another contest."

She has found them, too. In another Star Magazine contest, her photos won first, second, and third places. She has also won contests in the Prairie Village Art Show and other arts venues.

Hanson earned an art degree at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

"But I never thought I had a natural talent for it," she said. "I tried painting, but I wasn't very good. It wasn't until I got serious about photography that I felt I had a talent for creative art."

Hanson estimates she takes as many as 6,000 pictures a year. She downloads her camera chip into a computer, where she selects photos of interesting events and trips she has taken during the year. She designs the pages on her computer, writes captions or text for each picture, and sends the collection to Shutterfly to be printed in book form.

"I keep the books in a file," she explained. "It's a record of our lives. I know right where to find everything, and it's so much easier than bulky scrapbooks."

On average, Hanson spends two to three hours a day at her two computers working on her pictures, which she also uses to makes cards and letters for friends and some organizations at no charge.

"If I charged, it wouldn't be fun," she said. "It would be a job, and I wouldn't enjoy it."

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