The 4th Real Saturday of retirement

Today was a real Saturday, as opposed to the other six Saturdays I have in the week now that I am retired.

Today I was puzzling over what days look like now that I don’t have to try to do everything around working for someone else. Over a dinner, that I cooked (gasps by friends are occurring… yes, I have been cooking more since retirement), Joe and I talked about how we have complementary skills, He also asked me if I wanted to have our own shrimp farm when we move to Minnesota. Since he already wants a fishpond, a heated workshop, and a decent sized property for a garden and chickens, I suggested we forego the shrimp. Especially since I’m not sure how that would work year-round in Minnesota. I suspect he suggested it because my favorite food is shrimp…

Imagine my relief that 22 days into retirement Joe and I are still talking to each other. I have managed to keep myself from managing him. Some gnashing of teeth and biting of my tongue have occurred. Our brains work differently. Joe likes to talk an entire project out and get my input before proceeding. I on the other hand, know what I want to accomplish and have a tendency to dive right in. My thought is I’ll adjust as I go along.

Joe worked with metal for most of his lengthy career. Metal is not forgiving. I’ve worked with pen and paper, typewriters, computer software. Making changes was easier in my work. Oh, and I worked with people, whereas Joe worked alone in the shop a great deal of the time. My theory is that if your work centers around interactions with other people then flexibility is important.

We have both formed habits along the way that served us well. Now we are learning to live with each other twenty-four/seven.  A few of the many traits I admire about Joe include his willingness to figure out how to fix broken items, his love for the earth and living creatures (except for when Alto, our grand cat who lives with us, wants to be fed at 5:00am. Joe gets up and feeds her but pretty sure he doesn’t love her in that moment), and his sense of adventure.

I am glad we are able to sit over dinner and talk. No more work stories, No more feelings of frustration when things aren’t the way we would like them to be. I experienced this really unusual feeling this evening as we communed over dinner. It took me a moment to identify it as contentment. In that moment I recognized I was enjoying a leisurely dinner, and all was right in my world.

I may be recovering from my work addiction.