“Rise free from care before the dawn and seek adventure……….”
And such an adventure it is! So much has happened since I last texted, typed and tarried over the keyboard. So much, and yet so little has changed. We have new leadership on the horizon! The half of the country that has been clapping its hands for eight years is now wringing them and the half that’s been wringing them for the last eight years is now partying like there’s no tomorrow (which may prove to be true!) That’s a net zero – just as many unhappy people as we had before – only the faces have changed. The good news is that the stock market has gotten drunk reading their own tea leaves. (I’ll have to ask my friend, Bob, if that’s actually possible – he will know!) Anyway, we know how that party ends — just not when!
Retirement is good. In just the few short weeks that we have actually been in Ithaca, and now that the weather has gone from dreary to dismal, I have cultivated an astounding lack of ambition. An unrealized and superlatively untapped potential until now. I’d like to call what I do meditation but that would be deceptive and misleading. “Meditation” would imply that some attempt was being made to actually meditate when in reality I just stare at my foot for long periods of time. It doesn’t have to be my foot but more often than not, it is. Usually I snap out of it when Susan has to vacuum around me. I also spend a lot of time hanging around just to see what she is doing. Susan does more than most people so this keeps me busy for longer stretches than one might imagine. She makes great lunches so I also spend a lot of time waiting for her to do that. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t always stare at the same foot.
Our other activity….I won’t go into that…..but we also get up well before first light three days a week for exercise classes. I still marvel at the fact that it’s so much easier to go to Body Pump classes at 6:00AM than it was to go to work at 7:00. It’s all about expectations for the day I guess. It’s also an excuse to go out for coffee. I never really drank much coffee in my working years because nobody warms up to a dentist with shaking hands but I’m really enjoying it now. It’s also a good way to stay busy until happy hour. Speaking of which, what time is it anyway? The days we don’t go to exercise classes, we run. The expectation would be that we’re in great shape but it’s becoming apparent that at a certain age one must run as fast as possible just to stay in the same place!
One day a week we pick up apples from the Cornell Orchards to deliver to the local Food Network. Susan is encouraging me to get involved with volunteer work and it turns out that putting bags of apples in the car is something that I’m particularly good at even when highly caffeinated. Who knew? Her ulterior motive of course is to get me out of the house so that I can contemplate my foot somewhere else. As you can see, my plate is pretty full right now especially with it being the Christmas season and watching Susan make cookies, wrap presents and decorate the tree. I’ve tried to avoid being political since we haven’t been in touch for a while so I will deal with our Christmas tree in the next edition. Guess I’ll go see what Susan is doing!
Until next time,
Caveat lector
Yeah, Anthony used to meditate but he was really napping.
Jim, Like the beard. As to politics, I learned a new word, spoken by your mother, when Obama became president in 2008. I still chuckle when I think about it. Happy retirement.