Category: Retirement
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Sweaty Start
The summer heat destroyed my Slow Start habit. Now that it is cooling off, I’m eager to resume leisurely mornings most days. This summer the only reasonable time to garden and exercise was in the morning. I grudgingly switched my schedule around to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. I was still drenched by lunch, thus…
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Adult Spelling Bee
This post has photos from our 2023 trip to the “Top of the World”, Utqiagvik, Alaska. The text is the story of the Virginia spelling bee I joined last night. Our local library system hosted an Adult Spelling Bee fundraiser last night. I haven’t competed in a spelling bee since classroom competitions as a school…
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Wonder
I have always been fascinated by the natural world. Far from becoming jaded as I get older, nature is even more compelling. We returned from a month of traveling, and I realized most of my photos are wildlife. We had a family gathering in Florida, with lots of board games and chatting, plus attending a…
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Light
I woke up at 4 this morning, realizing it would be cold and dark for hours. I stayed awake in my warm bed feeling despair over the darkness and hatred bubbling up in pockets of my country. I should be doing something to encourage love and compassion and healing and peace, but I feel powerless.…
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Healthy Food
The photos below are from snowy spring in Alaska (mostly March 2023). I am happy we had our adventures living there half of each year 2022-2025, and equally happy to have different challenges now. C is going to miss spending the summer Alaska. One of our joint goals in retirement is to eat healthier. Hopefully this…
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Slow Start
Mornings are better in retirement. I like a slow start so much that I try to avoid scheduling anything before 11 am. While I usually get up between 7 and 8, there’s no pressure to do so. Sometimes I set an alarm, but if I don’t want to get up, I just shut it off. …
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Flow
One of my minor goals this year is to achieve a psychological “flow state” most days. I consider myself successful if I accomplish that state of timeless immersion while birding or cleaning or gardening or tax planning…. My approach, which might be ridiculous, is to have 5 to 10 tasks on my calendar for the…
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Greenhouse from Costco
We have been home just over a month and spent a chunk of that time building a Yardistry 8′ x 10′ greenhouse from Costco. We have lots of rocks on our property so used them before adding the landscape stone that we purchased. We chose to install the greenhouse on a flat area near an…
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Russian River and Eklutna Tailrace
We have 10 jars of sockeye salmon in the pressure canner. While the ten pound weight dances, I am writing this post. The above photo shows our campsite this morning. In the foreground you can see the canner with the windscreen. To the left is a can of bear spray in case I need to…
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Wild Life
We have spent the past week in Healy, where my primary focus has been volunteering at Denali National Park. We have a good group of volunteers providing Wildlife Safety and Education at Savage River Trailhead. I am the only returning volunteer in this position and am working regularly until the middle of June. While I…
