Retirement in The Villages, FL
The Challenge: “What’s a Perfect Day for You?” Write an Article in 4 hours.
Newspaper reporters face even tighter deadlines every day. The challenge was issued by Lucy King.
I made a great discovery by writing it. My wife makes every day is a perfect day.
Not only did I have to write the article, but I also had to come up with a Title, sub-title, and a picture. I assumed that we start the day fresh and nothing was left over from the night before.
Since I got the assignment late at night, I got to use my main problem-solving talent. I give my brain the assignment, go to bed, and wake up the next morning with the solution. My article “Managers: How do You Manage a Cat?” explains how my managers took advantage of that trait.
A reporter would not have that luxury, but I cheated and assumed that the hours are waking hours and not continuous.
Wake-up Call First thing, my wife wakes up. My wife is a type 1 diabetic and sometimes she doesn’t wake up. See my article “What YOU need to know when Employing, Living with, or Working with a Diabetic.”
On a perfect day, the numbers from her four blood tests throughout the day fall into the normal range.
We wake up with no alarm, since every day is Saturday when you are retired.
The brain has been hard at work overnight. Details for stories in progress usually pop into my head while I am shaving. As soon as I finish, I rush from the bathroom and add them to the appropriate notes. I usually have more than one story going and am never sure which story the details will be for.
This happens almost every day, like today for this article.
Breakfast I usually fix breakfast — fresh fruit, yogurt, rye toast, fried eggs or cheese omelet depending on what my wife wants that day, and hot cereal for me. We usually listen to and discuss the news on TV.
This morning, we were talking about the hot breakfasts from northern Europe and the cold continental breakfasts from the Mediterranean. That morphed into discussing the world-wide influence of England and Spain during the colonial expansion era, especially on marriages.
In the English based cultures, women change their last name to the man’s name, like Jane Smith. Sometimes, they are not even referred to with their first name, just Mrs. John Smith. The woman has to change all of her documents when she marries.
In the Spanish based cultures, people have two last names — the first one from the father and the second one from the mother. The woman’s name does not change when she marries. So, when Jane Adams Davis married John Smith Jones, the child would be named Mary Smith Adams. The woman would not have to change all of her documents when she married.
The discussion may sound a bit deep for breakfast, but it is a normal discussion for us.
Morning Activities & Trike Riding It is a beautiful day in Florida — not too hot and not too cold, and no snow.
While my wife is out riding her trike, I walk around the yard checking the fruit trees. This is their first full year after they became established. They are not very big, but we have 10 grapefruits about the size of golf balls and 4 lemons. The lemons are still blooming, so we hope for more.
Sometimes I go grocery shopping while my wife is riding her trike, but we don’t need anything today. So I spend that time reading Medium articles and making comments.
Today, we are both going to go have our hair done before lunch.
Lunch Meals have to be at specific intervals — at least 4 hours apart. My wife cooks lunch. I am usually surprised. When we got married, I thought that she was using a lot of unusual recipes.
Nope. When I looked into the fridge and pantry, I didn’t see anything to eat. She just makes things up from whatever is there. It’s always delicious and I have not starved, yet.
Afternoon Writing After lunch, I spend most of the afternoon writing or reading romance novels. I have no particular deadlines, so I am in no hurry. I usually publish an article every three or four days. I have plenty of subjects.
I also treat all comments like an article. My article “Treat Your Comments on Medium with Respect” explains how the comments can be found by a Google search.
Dancing on the Square It is a beautiful day for Dancing on the Square to a Live Concert.
The band today is one of our favorites. They played our favorite songs: Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry), Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison), Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon), Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley), and Unchained Melody (Righteous Brothers).
Shut Up and Dance would be a great karaoke song, but I haven’t been able to find a copy to download and practice with.
Finishing the Day We end the day with dinner at home, a little TV or computer catch up with friends on Facebook, and reading novels. Finally, a bit of cuddling at bedtime after turning off the lights.
Summary As it turns out, nearly every day is a perfect day. We don’t have to do anything big or exciting.
Of course, having an article curated would top it off.
Postscript 1. I always had fun at work. Finding an unforeseen benefit in one of my apps would make my day. 2. This post may seem a little long for the topic, but to quote my brother: “Oh, no! You asked him a question.”
