I've been noticing that a lot of people I know are retiring. I guess it is that time of my life. People my age are retiring.
When I was a kid birthdays were the big party event. In elementary school I remember going to many of my friends birthdays. W, e would spend an inordinate amount of time discussing, planning and attending birthday parties. Having the best birthday party ever was always the plan. It never lived up to that ideal. I could never talk my parents into building a go-cart track in the back yard for the party. Sigh!
Later in Junior High we were more interested in boy & girl parties. There me and my buddies saw a darkened living room with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" or even "American Pie" playing and hoping not to hear " Gilbert O'Sullavan "Alone Again (Naturally).
Then the big party was prom in High School. Oh we had plans....but as in most of life the expectations never live up to the reality.
We did have parties in college but the memory of them seem a little vague. Not sure why.
The we had wedding related parties. Bachelor parties, Bridal showers, Wedding showers,
Weddings and receptions. All lots of fun and very fancy.
After the wedding parties, sometimes surprisingly soon after there were baby showers. And then we are back at birthday parties. Only now we are bearing the cost and drying the tears from too much cake and fun.
So now I'm attending retirement parties. Some
go into the parties excited (like me) at the prospect of a new chapter of their life. Others with a little trepidation at entering the unknown.
I have an idea of the next set of parties in my life but am in no hurry to get there.
Day 6 , October 15, Hot Springs. Here we stayed at an AirBnB on Lake Hamilton. It was very nice but before we got to our new residence (If you are keeping track this is the 5th place we've stayed so far on this trip) we stopped by downtown Hot Springs for a tour. We started at the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center. This is the park headquarters and has been beautifully restored. We were able to tour the bathhouse and see how it looked in its prime. The sculpture of the Spanish Conquistador and the Tiffany stained glass ceiling were in the men's tub and steam room. The ladies section was not quite as well appointed. Here is the women's dressing room . While nice and functional it was not quite up to the standards of the men's room. Down the hall from this room was the third floor sun deck where the ladies could catch some sun without any prying eyes. I'm not sure how much sun they got because the outfits displayed there were long sleeved, ankle length dresses...
Now that I'm retired each morning really is a new day. In the past most days have been planned out well in advance. Get up shower, eat breakfast, go to work, repeat till the weekend. Weekend, do what I could not get to during the week. Now I got a more open schedule. I find that my mornings consist of getting up when I open my eyes. Then fixing coffee and drinking a cup. While I'm doing that I decide what I want for breakfast. Jan is not as infatuated with breakfast as I am and can get by with just a bowl of cereal. But I need something cooked and more coffee. So I start the morning with no more plan than to fix a nice breakfast and have coffee. I watch the news, read the paper, and eat breakfast. Some days I mix it up by eating out on the patio. My signal now to start my day is when I reach the bottom of my cup of coffee. As you can see I'm now at that point. Today my plan is to get out all the suitcases out and see which ones we will be taking on our upcoming trip t...
Going out for lunch with friends and family. Something I have missed doing for the past several years. Now with the pandemic seemingly under control we all can start getting back to normal. Today we visited Hellas Greek restaurant and bakery. We started with Saganaki . I had one of my favorites, grilled octopus. For dessert it was chocolate covered baklava. Overall a great way to spend lunch.
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