Slacker

I must admit that when it comes to putting my thoughts down on a regular basis, I’ve been slacking. Between the never-ending array of projects I’ve been doing, finishing one, then starting another, I’ve allowed the dust to start collecting on my keyboard and when I finally sat down (tonight) I had some difficulty logging in. In a way, it’s my laptop saying “where the heck have you been and why haven’t you been writing?” So here I am, making an effort, staying up late again (no alarm when one is retired) and as the clock approaches “turn into pumpkin time”, I’m finally going to say SOMETHING.

Juneteenth has come and gone but some things to note about that day in June (the 19th) is first of all that honestly, I had no idea until this year that this day marks the end of slavery in these United States. Did everybody but me know that? It’s also either brother Pat or sister Penni’s birthday and I’m not sure whose birthday that is, since one was born on the 9th of June. Shameful, isn’t it? But I’m just being honest. Here’s why the nineteenth of June is of personal significance to me. It’s because on that day, I turned in my keys, said my goodbyes and walked out the door of my last job and into the “unknown at the time” world of retirement. In a way, it’s a scary feeling to leave a job without having another waiting for you out there. I remember thinking that I would just take a couple of weeks off to wind down and then start looking. Would it be another job similar to the one I just left or would it be a night position at a sleep lab? How would we be able to “survive” without me having a full time job? Even as I recalled how much I hated being on the way to work when the majority of the working population was at home relaxing and enjoying their evening with family and friends AND sleeping during the day. Living a lifestyle that goes against your circadian rhythm is simply not healthy. There are, I know, people that prefer to work at night. I was not one of them.

So, let me steer myself back to June 19th. Do I dare to say that, in a sense, I was set free on that day (now that it’s been over a year and I’m looking back). Pure coincidence really since I’ve already admitted that until this year, I was clueless to what was being celebrated on that day. In a nutshell, I expected that we would struggle some, financially. That has not happened, thank God! And boredom? There hasn’t been one day since THAT day that I have not had something to do. The year has seemingly zipped by. I had a possible opportunity to return to the sleep lab on a part time basis but decided against. We scaled down to one vehicle since I stopped working and I ended up eventually investing in a new Indian Scout motorcycle, which I rarely take out of the garage because I’ve been so busy. But, basically, in three words, “Life is good”. And I’ve taken the first few return steps to this blog and I can only hope that it’s a good sign that I will be here in this corner of my world more frequently and documenting my thoughts. So, it’s good night America, I must put our “babies” out to do their business before I “retire” for the night. See you tomorrow! (I’m thinking positive) And it’s not like I struggle to write or that I can’t think of anything to say. I just have to be more disciplined and budget my time better. Always room for improvement, right? “Free at last”…….to do whatever I choose and let those creative juices flow.