Life is settling into a pattern. We wake up early, 5:30 a.m. and enjoy a quiet coffee together in the early morning. Then we spring into action, preparing for our work day and attending to any domestic chores that need doing before we leave our beloved home. For Attila that usually means preparing for garbage pickup and general maintenance around the house. For me that usually means getting the paperwork ready for visits to the bank, or the post office near my workplace. Then, quite suddenly it seems, we are both out the door and bidding each other farewell in the driveway. Attila drives 3.8 km to work, I drive about 35 km to work.
We both work in busy environments, no downtime, our days fly by. Then it is home again, home again. Often we run errands before heading home. Attila picks up the mail at the local post office and I do bits and bobs of shopping when I pass through town on my way home.
Then, after the drive, that seems long but isn’t, we arrive home to touch base with each other and exchange the daily news. Attila does the cooking, so he prepares the evening meal while nearby, just across the room, I take care of paperwork, filing and bill payments. Attila and I do a mean parallel play in the evenings.
When dinner time rolls around we sit side by side in our easy chairs, enjoying our meal while watching an episode of Northern Exposure. This is our quiet time.
The rest of the evening is short, we turn in early, by 10 pm. The evening is a small window of time we use to do domestic necessities like laundry and cleaning. By 9:30 pm the appeal of the horizontal becomes almost irresistible. By 10:00 pm we are sleepily bidding each other goodnight.
The next thing we know we are starting the whole thing over again, with only slight variations. This goes on six days a week.
This isn’t what I thought retirement would look like!
I am extremely lucky to be healthy enough to pull this off at my age. Good health, the real silver lining of corporeal existence.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
25 °C
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 102.0 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 25.0°C
Dewpoint: 15.5°C
Humidity: 55 %
Wind: SSE 21 km/h
Humidex: 29
Quote
“It is said that power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.”
David Brin
1950 –
[I know what I hear when I read this statement, but I wonder what this means to Mr. Brin, as he is in a relative position of power himself, when compared to the general population.]
NOTE
David Brin
“Glen David Brin, Ph.D. (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction…
Brin was born in Glendale, California in 1950. In 1973, he graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in astrophysics. He followed this with a Master of Science in applied physics in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in space science in 1981…
Brin consults and speaks for a wide variety of groups interested in the future, ranging from Defense Department agencies and the CIA to Procter & Gamble, SAP, Google and other major corporations. He has also been a participant in discussions at the Philanthropy Roundtable and other groups seeking innovative problem solving approaches…”
I hope Mist isn’t too disgruntled with both of her humans being gone all day, almost every day. Somehow, our furry companions don’t make the connection between our being gone working and the food which regularly shows up in their bowls.
I can’t say that Mist approves. Some days she refuses to respond to our greetings when we arrive home. Other days she gives us a loud fanfare when we enter the house.
Actually, her boldest statement is her newly acquired habit of lying, spread out, one paw extended, exactly in the middle of traffic areas. In the morning she settles in front of the counter where we prepare our breakfast and lunches. When we arrive home she is reposing in the hallway at the entrance. Of an evening we will find her regally ensconced just inside the bedroom doorway. Mist makes sure we take notice of her, one way or another.