Winter has been difficult in the Midwest. The snow missing at Christmas came around New Year’s Day and frequently thereafter. Cold, damp weather set the stage for too many sweeping bad storms. Record-setting snowfalls kept kids out of school, wrecked weekend plans and created terrible trials for those without financial, physical, or emotional resources.
Two weeks ago, after a stretch of melting temperatures uncovered winter mold and dirt, I flew to London. Red-eyed and tired from losing a night’s sleep my traveling companions and I perked up during the drive from Heathrow. The weather was cool and misty but tulips, daffodils, forsythia, crabapple trees, and other flowering plants showed off their colors. Spring. Not the semi-tropical greenery of Florida, but the blooms we treasure at home.
The weather was typical of London at this time of year. Most photos have that look of normally proportioned people wearing too many clothes. I left heavy sweaters and gloves at home so I wore layers of everything else in my suitcase. If the flowers weren’t enough to forgive the lousy wind and rain, the sight of baby lambs running and jumping in fields along the roadways had us smiling. Nothing like a pasture of all those fluffy ewes and their lambs to charm city dwellers.
Twenty-two hours after unpacking extremely wet snow began falling in our hometown. Whatever progress spring had made in claiming its place disappeared under ten inches of the stuff before wind gusts and icy rain mucked up the place. To add insult, the storm was so strong that it carried dust from Texas creating yellowish-tan ‘snirt’. The media loved telling the story. Untangling the dog’s leash from a bare branch tree I slipped in the stuff ending a personal record-breaking season of walking about outside without a fall.
That awful mess is mostly gone. We won’t have flowers in our yards this weekend for Easter egg hunts, but at least we won’t need to wear parkas and boots. The blessing of daffodils and tulips is still to come. If not I’m heading back to London.
5 responses to “How Time Disappears in Retirement”
Wonderful! I am so glad you see time for the gift that it is. Isn’t it lovely to own your own schedule??
Yep, I love it! I hope consulting has given you the chance to flex your schedule. thanks for reading and commenting!
Hear, hear, Ellen. As I’ve grown more cognizant that each day brings me closer to my inevitable end, I’m determined to spend my time well and wisely. May we live well and prosper!
I can so relate, Ellen. I retired completely about a year ago and I do stay busy, but not so much with ‘scheduled’ outings, but scheduling the things I love to do like take walks, travel, work out, meditate, write, and read… So I am actually home a lot of the time (which is not unusual considering that I retired from a position working from home). I do participate in a writer’s group and take art classes weekly. But like you said, it is so good to finally be able to set my own schedule – or non-schedule most of the time.
Sounds like your days and weeks are similar to mine. I’m also active with writers groups. Thanks for reading and commenting!