Sometimes life throws you a curve that actually looks like a fat pitch to hit. That’s happened to my wife and me. We’ve been in northern Virginia for nearly 24 years. It’s been good to us, but the only changes we contemplated were moving into DC or spending summers in Colorado. Then came the offer for her to be the COO of a company in Clearwater, Florida. We never expected it but thought it sounded like a great adventure, especially since it could be a limited engagement of a few years. So she, possessing infinite confidence, and I, possessing my new Medicare card, will soon be on the road.
I have no idea what I will do in retirement. My greatest worry is that I will bore myself to death, literally. I’ve seen that happen when after years of fearing starvation, staggering college bills and sparse later years that drives us to achieve, we replace it with nothing of consequence. The mind and then the body become resigned to the inevitable, and, seeing no better alternative, decide to cash it in.
So one strategy for me is to keep writing, even if it’s just for this blog. They say it keeps the mind sharp, but I’m as interested in its impact on the spirit. Make no mistake, as an independent contractor most of my professional life, I’ve had periods where I had plenty of free time. But the permanence of free time is a daunting.
In additional to the Fourth Estate. expect musings about cycling, politics, jazz, playing the piano, the Great American Songbook and food, as well as what we inevitably leave behind.