It’s November, 2022. It’s after 7:00 am, and it’s still dark outside. It’s 31 degrees. This past summer we sat on our patio every morning, we worked in the yard and the garden. We spent most of our time outside, and now all that is gone for this year. Now we’re inside for most of the day, finding other things to do. Lately Barb has become involved in refinishing an old Buffet that belonged to her grandmother. A lot of sanding, gluing and clamping. She’s also downloading lots of music onto her computer and from there, to her MP3 players for the car. Instead of walking in the cold, we’re using the treadmill. We want to keep up our exercise. I’m doing a lot of reading about classical music. Learning what I can about composers, concerto’s, sonata’s, and the many instruments involved. Classical piano is my new favorite.

The garden is finished for the year and the weather forecast for this Winter is for cold and lot’s of snow, which will be good because our part of the state has a 9 to 10 inch deficit in rain for the year. We had to do a lot of watering this summer to keep things alive. We stayed so busy with outside work this past summer that it’s now become a challenge to find other things to do. I’m thinking about an Intarsia wood project. Intarsia is a technique where you use small pieces of wood to make a picture.

I have lot’s of small scraps of wood and I’ve never done this before so I’m thinking it would be fun. And time consuming, which will be good for Winter.

We’re planning to spend some time this Winter in warmer weather. I’m sure we’ll be busy there. We plan to explore, and get involved in things to keep ourselves busy. I see retirement as a time to do the things you didn’t have time for when you worked. We worked a variety of jobs over the years and while neither of us had income that was considered great, we managed to save enough, and pay enough in to Social Security so that we can live comfortably in retirement. We have never lived extravagantly so we don’t even know what that’s like, but truthfully, you don’t have to live that way in order to enjoy life. Material wealth does not bring you happiness. Happiness come from within yourself.

So as we transition into Winter we are making plans to head South for the worst of it. Our house will be secure, so we can lock the doors and say goodbye to frigid temperatures. In the mean time we’ll see a concert or two, read some books, bake some bread, and start packing! On to the next adventure!