Retirement update

Well, let me see.

As I already told you -- ever notice how retired people repeat themselves? -- most days I go for a walk for a half hour or so to one end of Berry Road or the other. One way takes me by Jerry and his cows and barn cats, and that takes about a half hour. The other takes me past the Fosters and the pond and takes about forty-five minutes. The trip down to Jerry's is about half shade, half sun. The trip the other way is mostly shade, with huge trees overhanging the road on both sides. About half the time, Tom goes with me, which makes the walk better all the way around.

I am indeed writing every day. I decided to begin working on one of the short story collections, the one about the little townlet of Penultimate, Wisconsin. I have finished a couple of stories I had already begun, written one completely new one and am rambling along through a couple of others. I may have to wind up calling these tales rather than short stories, because they do ramble on and do not have the tightness one associates with a true short story. One thing is that most days I have set aside two hours in the morning to write, and when I get going on a story, I may keep writing the full two hours on that story. And that tends to introduce tangents. Subplots don't really belong in a short story, but one I am writing about a puzzle at a library has already sprung one subplot. I just hope I can keep it under control. When I get around to rewriting and editing, I may be able to turn it into a red herring, which would seem to justify its existence. Or I may decide to split it off into another story. At any rate, right now I am doing what "they" tell you to do -- just keep writing and worry about cleaning it up later. As The Gambler says, there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done.

I cook dinner on Tuesdays and Fridays because those are days Tom devotes to the railroad. I like to cook and manage okay, but I am not as good at it as Tom. One problem is that I like to try new recipes, and most of them don't wind up being all that great. In case you were wondering, the star-ratings you find on most recipe sites online are totally unreliable. Another problem is that I try to find recipes that fit with our allegedly low glycemic lifestyle. Again, Tom's efforts in this dietary arena far surpass my own. He compliments my meals, but I notice he tends to ignore the side veggies. Peter is following his own eating plan these days, so I don't have to cook for him. I should just follow his example and put out black beans, tuna and low-fat chocolate milk for Tom and me. It works for Peter, although when he opens the tuna up, it does set the cats to running.

The library has art classes on Tuesday afternoons during the summer, and I intend to attend those during the month of August. They are doing something with pastel acrylics (?). I have no idea what I am in for, but it will be good to do something nonverbal.  This will make a pretty full Tuesday, because I usually have coffee with a friend in the morning and I have that cooking thing late afternoon. The art class is from 1:00 to 3:00. And somewhere in there I need to get in some writing. Probably not two hours ...

When will I find time to watch The Big Bang Theory?

One final note. -- again as I already told you --I discovered that for August, the first month I get Social Security and the first month that I pay for my own health coverage in full, by adding in my royalties, I will have a loss of $0.92 for the month -- assuming I buy absolutely nothing else! Looks like I will have lots of time for walking and writing. Fortunately the library supplies all the stuff I will need for art class.

PS -- The overalls are still on the line and the ploy is still working. A bit of rain every day so far.