lifestyle

Snow Birds

Backstory

It takes a lot of planning and logistics to leave your primary residence for two or three months and live elsewhere – even if the elsewhere offers warm breezes and sunlit skies. It was a big decision to make and here’s the dilemma that we faced.

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Snow Birds – #187

This year, we wintered in Florida. We left our permanent residence behind and rented someone else’s home for the two coldest months of the year. The sun shown daily and the dress of the day was shirtsleeves. It was wonderful.

I’m still trying to come to terms with becoming part of the great exodus southward. They call us snow birds.

Actually, it’s the natural things to do, just as the birds do. It makes sense to remove your body from the environment where it will shiver and ache as the cold wind blows.

And yet I felt that I had abandoned my place in life by taking the easy way out. Perhaps I would have been made stronger or smarter or more resilient if I stayed in my snow-swept home.

Would Valentine’s Day have been more romantic up here? Would the St. Patrick’s Day beer have been greener?

To my neighbors and friend back here, I apologize for not donning my boots and wool-lined gloves, For never scrapping ice from my windshield.

For not being able to join in the myriad of complaints about the road conditions and the salting crews and the electrical lines down.

But you know what? Next year . . . I’m heading south again!

P.S.

We’ve wintered in St Augustine, Tampa and The Villages. Looks like we’ll experience Sarasota next. What is your favorite Florida winter get away site?

[Show #187]

Shedding Her Skin

(Updated January 13, 2019)

Backstory

In simpler days, people pretty much stayed who they were and where they were. If you were a farmer, you stayed on a farm. An attorney remained in the law. A nurse kept caring for patients. Today, the marvel of available education allows us to decide who and where to be, at any time during our life. You can reinvent yourself over and over during a long lifetime. Watching a friend do that, is what led to this story.

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Shedding Her Skin – #03

She was moving out of the home she had lived in for decades; feeling like a snake shedding its skin.

She hated leaving the well read books, but knew she had extracted from the musty bindings, all their wisdom and wizardry.

Parting with the clothes was hard. From bargains never worn, still bearing tags, to favorites now worn to a thread. And the photos; surely precious heirlooms, every one.

She packed boxes of souvenirs and somehow started to feel free. A burden lifted. A life simplified. Nothing important given up, just stuff now getting in the way.

As she lightened her load, she planned her future. What a surprise! The snake that shed its skin had morphed into a golden eagle, just beginning to spread her wings.

P.S.

We are so blessed to live to the current age. So many people in their fifties are switching careers or taking on entirely new tasks. Those of us in the sixties or seventies are reinventing ourselves at will, backed by the health, education and stamina to do so. My friend, the golden eagle, made her mark on the world after rediscovering her talents and abilities and gaining the courage to proclaim them. Have you done something similar?

[Show #03]

Retirement – A Second Chance

Backstory – Retirement

Looking around at retired friends, I marveled at how active and involved they are. No rocking chair sitters, these. Taking a better look, I thought about what an opportunity retirement is to reinvent yourself. That thought inspired this week’s show.

Consider This Show – Second Chance

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Second Chance – #621

You know what’s great about retirement? It gives you a second chance at having an authentic life.

Thank goodness baby boomers are strong and healthy, well into their sixties, seventies and even their eighties – something our grandparents could not even wish for. They were tired at 50 and spent at 60. That’s not the case today.

So when folks retire, they have a second chance to have an authentic life, if it didn’t work for them the first time around. And they have the wisdom of experience, to enhance their success.

I have many friends who are enjoying a new authentic life, since retirement.

A non-profit executive from NYC – opened a flower shop in California, something she had always wanted to do.
A retired nurse became a care-giver.
A retired public speaker started writing a 90 second radio show. You’re listening to it right now.
A physicist started studying the Russian language. He traveled to Moscow to test his linguistic skills. There he found access to opera and ballet at the price of a box lunch in NYC. He keeps going back for more.

Whether your work life was authentic or not, in retirement, you could start out on a new path, if you want.

Psychologist Carl Jung told us, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” And life after retirement offers that privilege, a second time around.

[Show #621]

Courtesy Close In

Backstory – Courtesy

In our adult, two-person family, kind words are natural and spoken often. I wondered how good we were about being kind to each other as the kids were growing up. I remember one request for politeness that worked. I asked one day that everyone ask, “May I be excused?” before leaving the dinner table. It stuck, and from then on, they did. Go figure!

Consider This Show – Courtesy

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I was coming around the corner in the grocery store. So was he. Whew . . . close call with our carts. “Excuse me,” he smiled. “No problem,” I replied with a smile as generous as his. We were so kind and polite to each other, we two strangers. I was proud of us both.

But sometimes we forget to be equally polite to the people we love and who mean something to us. A child approaching while you’re fixing dinner may hear, “Watch out; get out of the way.” A wife reaching for a kiss during the football game may be waved off. A teenager arriving home with the groceries may be greeted with, “It’s about time you got back” Instead of “Thanks for making that trip.”

We expect that those close to us will accept this kind of behavior. After all, we can’t go around the house muttering “Please, thank you, excuse me” – all day long. Can we? Why not?

Why treat strangers in a kinder and more polite way than those we love?
Practice thinking and saying those special words around the house. Practice courtesy towards those you love!

Please . . . thank you . . . excuse me. It will be such a joy when the new kinder gentler you takes hold.

And when you find the words being used by children and grandchildren too . . . well, that’s when you know you’ve made your corner of the world a slightly little better place.

[Show #336]

Twas the Night

Backstory – ‘Twas the Night

Surely you know the traditional Christmas poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. My version acknowledges the tens of thousands of grandparents who find themselves raising grandchildren. Safe to say that few expected to spend retirement years caring for young’uns. This poem is a loving Christmas salute to them all.

Consider This Show – ‘Twas the Night

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‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
The sound of kids laughing reached the wife and her spouse.

These folks, in their sixties, that is apparent,
Did not expect filling their days as a parent.

But fate somehow chose them, to do it again,
One child or more, badly needing a friend.

They didn’t expect, at retirement age,
To be moms and dads, and not turning the page.

But children need love and attention galore,
And there they were standing, right at their front door.

So, here’s to the grandmas still braiding young hair,
And learning of Sponge Bob with pants that are square.

And grandpas at soccer and football and such,
Your love and devotion are meaning so much.

The kids keep you whirling around and about,
By day’s end, you’re sometimes completely worn out.

You’ve learned about iPods and lap tops and cell phones,
American Idol, the GaGa and ring tones.

You’ve put in your time at the pool and the park,
And soothed little people afraid of the dark.

Here’s wishing you strength in these rushed, busy days,
When hours rush by in a holiday haze.

Santa may bring you some sleep as your gift,
Along with the toys that you sort, wrap and lift.

He’s seen all your efforts through these many days,
He said God has seen too and sends you His praise.

And I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
Granny and Papa, now have a good night.

[Show #255]

Time to Hide?

Backstory – A Time to Hide

This story came from concern about the daily news in our country. While we await progress and decision making and leadership, what we receive is foot dragging, finger pointing and blame. We would not put up with it in our own life, why do we allow it in our government? Hear where we might look for guidance.

Consider This Show – A Time to Hide

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Americans are worried. You can see it in our words and hear it in the emails we exchange with each other. The questionable practices that brought us to this state of the economy have long been in place. It’s impossible to revise things over night. Our good days have suddenly become the good old days.

There will be no easy out or fast cure. So what do we do? Shall we hide until it all goes away? Shall we ignore it all or turn the other cheek, or just hope for the best?

But this is not the first time that America has faced economic challenges. It’s not the first time that others have stolen away what is rightfully ours. Whether it be our savings, our home, or a loved one. Life isn’t fair, but we sometimes lose what out to have been ours to keep.

It’s time for families to turn inward. Discuss what the hard times mean for you and for others. Acknowledge the stress created by not knowing what can happen next. Ask your parents and grand-parents how they survived previous downturns. Just talking out in the open can really help.

Remember that life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. Something to consider.

[Show #601]

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