A Clock on My Desk

.. retiring from your primary career is not merely an act of ending, but, more opportunistically and relevant, an act of commencement and of the promise of a meaningful future.
Alan Spector, After the Cheering Stops

I'm not obsessed with retirement.

Okay, I said it. But, as I write these words a small clock stares back - one hundred thirty nine days, ten hours and change.

We've done the money prep, the social prep and had a meeting with someone who, with all of her dignity intact, calls herself a "shrink." My employer knows, my coworkers are getting the word... Now all that has to happen is for the date to arrive.

The common question to answer, both for myself and others, is - "What are you going to do?"

Do?

I get up early every morning as a matter of course, so sleeping in would only feel weird. There are a million things to do around the house, but the place was built in 1970 - there is always something to do around the house. We're in the pipeline for seeing the grandkids already.

So, with my humility in full swing (and knowing this is mostly for me) here is a list of things, in no particular order:

1. Writing. In addition to finishing the novel I'm still working on, I've never really gotten the chance to market what I've already written. That not only entails bugging people I know to buy something, it means a broader appeal, to find others who do not know that I write novels. I have a web site that has been dormant, a blog I haven't been especially attentive to and if I can get more diligent, it might turn into,

2. A part-time job. I'd love to write for a living, but that is entirely up to you! Amazon seems always to be hiring part time (shift work - yuck), which would be spent more likely than not on travel. I've been a teacher in the past, so a classroom assignment would be possible, since I'm a hideous on line teacher. As for law work - part time law work is 40 hours a week. Working to pay for,

3. Travel. Yup. We won't do anything crazy, since the dogs miss us whenever we are away. Yes, that reference is done intentionally. There are a lot of places we want to go, things we want to see (Lords cricket grounds in London, eg.). Travel is definitely on our list, but then,

4. Cycling. Nearly five years of a largely sedentary assignment has made me long to ride, ride, ride. Riding partners, are you listening?

A new phase, new purpose. One hundred thirty nine days, nine hours...