I Really AM Retired Now

Photo by my friend Marian K.

One thing I have learned about retirement is that I no longer have much of a schedule that matters. Most things can be done tomorrow, or another tomorrow, or when I get around to it. Like writing a new blog post. It's been on the list of things to do one day soon, But, as you can see, soon did not come around real quickly.

The other thing I have found is that retirement is looking to be good for my health. One thing that tended to keep me from doing things like exercising and eating well while I was working, was time.  Time that I either did not have at all or that I did not want to spend on doing things like exercising or eating well.

Summer Home

I'm at my summer home in South Dakota now. Haven't been out traveling, like to the Badlands or anything like that. I'm trying to puzzle out in my mind what is it that I do here and why do I think it's worth the trouble to come out here?

The World is Looking Better

The weather is getting better every day. Soon it will be hot, hot, hot, but right now things are just about perfect. I am feeling much better too. I no longer have cold symptoms, although I am still a bit low on energy. I've been driving around town for short errands more than I really should primarily because I just don't have the energy to do a lot of walking. I still take a nap nearly every day with Smokey Rose.

School has almost finished up for the year. I have just one student taking an incomplete, and I was given no summer school assignment this year (yeah!) so I'm pretty much free to do whatever the heck I want right now. I'll be leaving for the summer home in a couple of weeks. I'm staying in town in order to get in some hours working at Red Butte and to take part in a couple of taiko performances.

I am back to planning for the future. The next myth of retirement to consider is the one that says "your money will last as long as you need it."

Refreshed and Gladdened

First of all, I am feeling much better. A few weeks ago I had my hemoglobin re-measured, and it was up to 11 which is much improved. No doubt it is higher now, but I won't have another test until April or so. My symptoms have mostly gone away, and now I just need to get some strength and stamina back.

The weather here seems to have turned a corner, and it looks like spring IS on the way in. I can go out and walk just fine now, and I have returned to my usual activities like taiko drumming and Tai Chi. Soon I'll be back to gardening at Red Butte too, and life will be back to normal.

Cat Naps and the Will to Cook

I have a kind of new habit which really makes me happy .... napping with the cat. When I am working at home and feeling weary in the middle of the afternoon, I find I can refresh my spirit by taking a break and getting in some kitty love time.

What I Eat These Days

Our heat wave broke last week with a big rain overnight on Thursday followed by all day fog on Friday. I'm feeling so much better.

As I said before I have been eating a lot of salads, fruits and other things that require no or almost no cooking. This has been going pretty well, and I'm thinking this is not a bad way of eating overall. I've also been reading some books that have to do with good and bad ways to eat, and of course, even NPR has stories and news items and whatnot about what we all should be eating, and not eating, to keep us as healthy as possible.

I've decided on some general principles for myself that I think, overall, are good ideas, but that don't make me an obsessive nut about what should be an overall pleasurable part of living. Most importantly, it's a plan that I know I can actually live with.