Why I keep my camera handy

One morning last week as I was enjoying my coffee, looking out my window, I was thrilled to see a cardinal perched inquisitively on the deck railing. He was beautiful with the sun hitting his bright reddish-orange feathers.

He appeared to be watching something on the ground (Fledglings? A cat? An insect?), but I didn’t want to move enough to follow his gaze. I wanted to keep him in my line of vision as long as possible.  And then I reached for my camera so I could share his beauty with you … but it wasn’t by my chair! It wasn’t even in the room.

I waited for Mr. Cardinal extraordinaire to fly away, and then I marched around the house until I managed to find the camera. I sat back down and waited, waited, waited and then finally gave up on his return.

The good news is that since most days I start my day looking out my kitchen window, I didn’t have to wait too many days for him to pop into view again, this time even closer. And yes, I had my camera right there, waiting to capture his glory.

The sun was not participating in this event in quite the same way as the first time I watched him.   

God light notwithstanding, I think you’ll agree he is magnificent. 

Do you keep your camera handy? What is your favorite 'capture'?

Have an inspired day,

Miriam

You Want a Piece of Me?

The thing I’ve noticed in retirement is that everyone wants a piece of you.  The general assumption is that you have lots of time on your hands and those still working or in school or needing extra assistance or volunteers ask you to do stuff for them.

It’s almost like folks think I’m just sitting here looking out my window ALL DAY waiting for marching orders.

This is good and bad. Since my husband is still working at a very stressful job, I am happy that I can take care of some of the chores that were his domain – like taking out the garbage and recycle and making sure we have something to eat for dinner.

It’s also good that I have time to help my elderly mother do her shopping and that we can spend time together. 

Doing more volunteer work for my church gives me a feeling of accomplishment, which I have missed since no longer at work completing big product launches (for instance) on deadline.

Being able to jump online and find a hostel in Hong Kong on a moments notice for my traveling adult son makes me feel needed. Looking up my Netflix password for my daughter in college doesn’t take long.

But when you add all these small things together, suddenly I find myself doing what I did when I worked; Running around at the beck and call of others and not having time to pursue things that are meaningful to me.

It wasn’t like this from day 1 of retirement. In fact, right after I retired, I discovered the Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to HigherCreativity and made my way through the 12-week program. As I explored my creative side, I was reminded that I DID HAVE HOBBIES and interests outside of family, work and church.

For instance, at one point in my life I was a photography major and my desire was to work for National Geographic traveling to wild places to photograph, you guessed it… nature.  At some point, I became convinced that my talent was not enough and the competition too much to continue on this career path so I chose to go into marketing.

This was by all measures a good decision as I enjoyed my career and had the pleasure of working with lots of creative people which allowed me to think creatively as well.

But now, I would like to explore my creativity on an even more personal level with this camera I purchased. Alas, I find my time being parsed up so much that I rarely take the time to just go shoot photos.

Granted I can’t blame all of this on requests from others. I do have a desire to stay connected to folks via email, social media, lunch dates and outings. I do make it a priority to workout at the local Y several times a week and I have started the Couch to 5K running program about 6 times since I retired. 

It's just that between the big and little things I want to do and the demands on my time from others, I find it hard to get to the BIG, creative, fun things on my list.

So… maybe I haven’t’ got this retirement thing quite all figured out yet.  

Do you have some advice on how to make the best of retirement?  

Or maybe you're sitting there playing the world's smallest violin for me and your desire is to tell me to stop whining.

Then by all means, toss me a comment in the space below.

Ciao for now!

Miriam

The Alarm Clock Conundrum

When I first retired, I turned off my alarm clock and buried it under some bedside reading. I was not about to fill my retired awakenings with the harsh buzz of an alarm clock - or even the tinkling of my Sleep Cycle App, I wanted to drift awake and have a relaxing start to my day – no rushing around!

I awoke daily, happily refreshed a tad after 7 a.m., headed to my window, drank my coffee and enjoyed the view. After all, I was used to leaving home a little after 7 five days a week (and at 8 am on Sundays) so my body clock was ready to rock ‘n roll at what now seems like an early hour. 

Amazingly, that went on for over a year. Every once in a while I would sleep in until 8 or so, but really that was still OK. I had plenty of time to be amazed at the wildlife outside my window, eat my breakfast, check all communications channels and get to my 10 a. m. workouts.

Then we went to Hawaii for a vacation. We enjoyed a week in the paradise of Kauai and returned home rested and refreshed. (OK, I was already pretty rested, but it was refreshing to be far away from those floors screaming, “sweep me!”)

The next week, I slept until 8 or 9 every morning! I had to rush around to get to my workout on time – in fact one day I slept right through it! It wasn’t like I was staying up half the night. I’ve never been a night owl and maybe a couple times I was pushing midnight, but mostly I was in bed by 11. 

This did not sit well with my midwestern heritage and upbringing as the daughter of a self-made man. For goodness sake I was sleeping my life away! (Dad used to make my favorite puff pancakes on Saturday mornings just to get me out of bed.)

I told myself, I must need the sleep. I told myself I had earned the right to sleep as much as I wanted. I told myself I was giving hubby dear his own space to get ready for work.

But the reality was I had all these fun, interesting things on my list I wanted to do (once I finished my chores of course, dad) and there were not enough hours in the day!

So I’m back to the alarm… at 7 a.m. Hubby is already out the door to work and honestly the window view is better. Like a camera with a softer focus, there might be a slice of fog on the water. The dew is still glistening on the lawn and flowers and the birds are singing in a powerful cacophony of song that says, “good morning, let’s embrace a new day.”

Until next time,

Miriam