This Month's Features

Life here is laid back and people need little excuse to party. Even the sunset provides one. Each evening, a crush of people congregates at Mallory Square as the sun dips toward the horizon. Jugglers, musicians and other entertainers compete for an audience — and tips.

State and federal budgets giving short shrift to the needs of retirees.

Though this seems an ideal setup, grandparents, who provide childcare, may find that some things have changed since they were busy raising their own children.

Raniero Campigotto, the owner of a mountain hut nearly 7,000 feet up in the Dolomites range, has resigned himself to the impossibility of serving dinner without having his guests jump up mid-fork through the polenta and grilled sausage and run outside.

Billboards that recently touted the benefits of socialism now advertise designer clothes and the latest electronic gadgets.

For Elizabeth Souza, 62, of Amherst, that empty nest feeling started when her first child, Noah, began looking at perspective colleges in his junior year of high school in 1993.

I also relived the mastery, and mystery, of the great Mayan civilization. I hiked hidden paths, enjoyed gentle canoe paddles and explored the jungle, rain forests and rivers that encompass inland Belize.

Looking for a job isn’t just a concern for those under 65. Retirees and those past the traditional age for calling it quits increasingly need or want to work.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) has joined previous honorees DentaQuest of Charlestown, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on AARP’s 2011 list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50.

Many people picture the Dominican Republic as a place of golden sand beaches and inviting all-inclusive resorts. While there are many such settings, we had other things in mind during our recent visit.