My life evolved overnight in 2020 with the Covid pandemic. I’m not even a blip in my culture but I’m all I’ve got. So in April of ’20 I was well adapted to retirement and the self inflicted quarantine seemed easy enough. After five years it may seem like a small bump in the road but I’m still wrestling with the aftermath. Avoiding human contact when you live alone is like wearing shoes that don't fit. You push on through it but you walk funny and you never really get used to it. The President told us it was a liberal scheme to undermine his MAGA plans and that sick old people were going to die anyway. His shills are still bought into all the ‘Trumpfuckery’. The Urban Dictionary definition is; “any actions involving racism, misogyny and hate speech masquerading as patriotism.” But I don’t want to go there. Been there, done that. At my age I’m not going to let the narcissist bigot spoil the years I have left. When you get lemons, make lemonade.
Some people collect stamps or play golf or any number of hobbies to stay busy while navigating retirement. Neither stamps nor golf work for me, the house and yard require some attention and I have family I like to family with. But I live with a case of wanderlust, I love moving through time and space, moving my feet; don’t need a destination just need to be in motion. I’ve shared this often, what should I call it, (personality quirk) with whoever is listening. Like anything else, wanderlust is an ultimate freedom and sometimes it goes up in smoke with crash & burn. It’s not for everyone. All I can do is speak for myself and I’ve no regrets over any of it.
There were a couple of health issues in the spring that I worked through but it was well into summer before I got all of my ducks lined up for a road trip. I put a couple of thousand miles on my truck, did my August 4 birthday on Lake Michigan's coast, made a concert in Grand Rapids with friends, a ferry ride across the big lake to visit with my kids in St. Paul, Minnesota. On return I felt so good I started thinking about my nest road trip. Fall is the perfect season to go exploring. It took a couple of days to hatch an idea (New Mexico) but I’ll be going out again 1st week of October. I write more and better I think when I’m on the road so there’s that to look forward to. Going alone I meet more people; I like that as well.
Sitting here writing I’m listening to a play-list from my I-Tunes library. It’s not easy, do one or the other but both together I listen more and write less. Just listened to Helen Reddy sing Don McClean’s ‘And I Love You So’. I’m a sucker for good love songs and this one is about as good as it gets. I really identify with the 4th verse; “The book of life is brief, And once the page is read, All but love is dead, That is my belief.”
Just now as I write, the music bumps up to Kate Wolf singing; “Here In California.” Maybe not a standard but she died early in her career (1980’s) and this one is too good to skip over. In the 1st verse and the chorus a mother cautions her daughter; “She held me ‘round the shoulders, In a voice so soft and kind, She said love can make you happy, And love can rob you blind.” The chorus follows with a cautionary metaphor; “Here in California, Fruit hangs heavy on the vine, But there ain’t no gold, I thought I’d warn you, And the hills turn brown in the summertime.” In 3 verses and a chorus she spins a story it would take an accomplished writer several chapters to write.
Some people collect stamps or play golf or any number of hobbies to stay busy while navigating retirement. Neither stamps nor golf work for me, the house and yard require some attention and I have family I like to family with. But I live with a case of wanderlust, I love moving through time and space, moving my feet; don’t need a destination just need to be in motion. I’ve shared this often, what should I call it, (personality quirk) with whoever is listening. Like anything else, wanderlust is an ultimate freedom and sometimes it goes up in smoke with crash & burn. It’s not for everyone. All I can do is speak for myself and I’ve no regrets over any of it.
There were a couple of health issues in the spring that I worked through but it was well into summer before I got all of my ducks lined up for a road trip. I put a couple of thousand miles on my truck, did my August 4 birthday on Lake Michigan's coast, made a concert in Grand Rapids with friends, a ferry ride across the big lake to visit with my kids in St. Paul, Minnesota. On return I felt so good I started thinking about my nest road trip. Fall is the perfect season to go exploring. It took a couple of days to hatch an idea (New Mexico) but I’ll be going out again 1st week of October. I write more and better I think when I’m on the road so there’s that to look forward to. Going alone I meet more people; I like that as well.
Sitting here writing I’m listening to a play-list from my I-Tunes library. It’s not easy, do one or the other but both together I listen more and write less. Just listened to Helen Reddy sing Don McClean’s ‘And I Love You So’. I’m a sucker for good love songs and this one is about as good as it gets. I really identify with the 4th verse; “The book of life is brief, And once the page is read, All but love is dead, That is my belief.”
Just now as I write, the music bumps up to Kate Wolf singing; “Here In California.” Maybe not a standard but she died early in her career (1980’s) and this one is too good to skip over. In the 1st verse and the chorus a mother cautions her daughter; “She held me ‘round the shoulders, In a voice so soft and kind, She said love can make you happy, And love can rob you blind.” The chorus follows with a cautionary metaphor; “Here in California, Fruit hangs heavy on the vine, But there ain’t no gold, I thought I’d warn you, And the hills turn brown in the summertime.” In 3 verses and a chorus she spins a story it would take an accomplished writer several chapters to write.
They say that money is the root of all evil but money and power are interchangeable and I think it's the power part that goes sour first. So the shills have power now and I'm making lemonade.
No comments:
Post a Comment