Month: December 2016

It’s going to be a busy week. We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and are now packing up for a trip to see the grandchildren (and their parents) in Charleston, SC. Before we hit the road however, I wanted to take a few paragraphs to hit the highlights of 2016…my first full year of retirement.

I’m not sure what I envisioned a retired lifestyle would entail.  I suppose that I thought it would be a constant quest for something to do now that I was no longer working full time. However, I’m certain that I never thought that I would be asking myself this question…”When did I ever have time for work?” Admittedly, it took more than a few weeks to get to that point.  When we returned from our first road trip–Easin’ Along the East Coast–I found myself staring at the wall for a period of time before I finally realized that road was leading nowhere fast.

Fortunately, I had decided in the months before hanging it up that I would create Easin’ Along, a website dedicated to participating in and promoting an active retirement lifestyle. But, once we came off the road, what else would there be to promote? Writing one article a week about an active retirement lifestyle required activities to write about. To my delight and amazement, it didn’t take long to discover an abundance of things to do that were fun and gave me great pleasure. When searching for material to share, I only had one steadfast rule—whatever I was involved in had to interest me or else I couldn’t make it interesting to others. More than anything else, I think that is the reason that our readership has grown from a few visitors each month at the beginning to over three thousand per month in November and December of this year.

As a result, Easin’ Along has filled a great need in this first year of retirement. The need for something to write about has kept me very busy, and the desire to stay busy has produced a plethora of activity that interested me enough to write down and share. Now, looking back over this first year, I thought it would be fun to make a few observations about the lessons learned and point out a few highlights of a year of Easin’ Along.

Good Health is Critical

During our trip up the East Coast we spent four days in New York.  We were staying at the Navy Lodge in Staten Island and went into the city on the Staten Island Ferry every morning. Having no hotel in the city to work from, we did a lot of walking.  After the third day of walking non-stop, there was not a single spot of my legs and feet that did not ache from fatigue. It was at that point that I realized that an active lifestyle required good physical health. In January of 2016, Helen (adorable wife) and I joined our YMCA and began exercising regularly (link here) both in the gym and in classes. Without a doubt, this was the most important decision we made the entire year. I love the classes, and never miss if I am in town. Not only do I feel better, but being in shape contributes so much to my overall sense of well being and reduces significantly the effort required to get up and go.  Good health is just too important to neglect and I make sure to schedule annual physicals, dental visits, appointments with my dermatologist and, as noted in an earlier post, the dreaded colonoscopy.

Family is Still Most Important of All

We did a lot this year, but the absolute highlight came in July with the arrival of the kids and grandkids for a week at the lake. Our children live on each coast and we cherish every moment we can spend with them, plus having the cousins get the time to become reacquainted is so important to Helen and me. A picture gallery of that visit is posted here.

I am further blessed as one of the fortunate ones of my generation who still has a living parent.  My Mother turns 89 in a few months and is a true treasure in my life and the life of our entire family. Time spent with her is precious. This year’s Mother’s Day outing was a fun article to write. I look forward to doing that again.

The Learning Never Stops

One lesson learned is that whenever I get bored, it’s time to put on the learning cap and take a class in subjects that interest me.  A pledge to self was made that no matter what else was going on, there was always time for learning. This year I took two online courses in photography and, because I was able to retain the class material, I have reviewed them several times. Online courses are great but we have a top rated university in our lovely city, and there is no reason to avoid taking full advantage of the opportunity for enrichment. I enrolled in two classes related to website design and blogging from our university and learned much. In addition, I took a class from Alan Sims, a very successful local blogger (link here) and benefitted greatly from his willingness to share his steps to success. Learning is essential to a satisfying retirement.

Easin’ Along the American Highways

Perhaps the easiest articles written for Easin’ Along were the ones written about our two retirement road trips.  In January we spent three weeks driving along the Florida Coast, then took off again in August for a four week trip through America’s Heartland and around the Great Lakes. I have repeated often and will do so again…America is a place of staggering beauty and the best way to see it is on a road less travelled. The small towns we visited along the way are forever imprinted in my memory bank as precious gems, and writing about those visits has created, for me at least, a priceless journal of wonderful experiences. Furthermore, the time spent with Helen has served to strengthen our relationship and our commitment to making the Golden Years everything they can be.  There’s more to come.  This year the plan is for a road trip of at least two months leading us into the great northwest then down the Pacific Coast before heading east along the southern part of the country.  Stay tuned.

In summary, it’s been a great, fun-filled, and very active year.  We’re looking forward to 2017 and whatever that brings. We extend our heartfelt and sincere best wishes to all of our readers for the very best in the New Year. We’re so grateful that you have been with us at points along the way, and that you will come back often to join us as we continue Easin’ Along.

Contained in the text below is an edited version of a devotional written last year for an Advent booklet published by our church.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:10-12 (NIV)

‘Tis the season to be busy…

There are gifts to gather, cards to create, trees to trim, food to fix, and family and friends to fuss over.

More than once, when asked what part of the season I like most, I have often replied “When it’s over”. I don’t believe I am alone with that sentiment. The holiday season can be overwhelming. For that reason, I have always savored that part of the Christmas season which begins with the Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve and continues on to the first day of the New Year.

Immediately upon taking my seat in our church for the Candlelight Service, calm prevails.  I am now able to cast aside the hustle and stress of the previous weeks and days, and replace that with thoughts of the simple blessings of friends and family, and the blessing of God’s gift to us, the birth of Jesus Christ. In the solemn serenity of our sanctuary, softened by candlelight, and our choir singing carols, the gifts stuffed in stockings are now replaced in my mind by the gift of God’s love and the peace through Christ that God gave to us.

In Matthew 2:12 we are told the following about the Wise Men…”They returned to their country by another route.”  The Wise Men had followed a star to Bethlehem. They had seen Mary and the Baby Jesus, but, having been warned in a dream about Herod, they took a different road back home.

In the winter quiet that follows Christmas, I have the time to reflect on the road I’m following in my personal journey of faith and ask the question, “Do I need to take a different road”? I just prepared with great vigor to celebrate the season of this thing that has happened (Luke 2:15). Now, with the gifts exchanged, and the tree put away, there is time to examine how I will make that journey for the coming year with Christ at my side and His Word to guide me. Will I make that examination with the same vigor given to celebrate the season?

Through the clamor that can accompany the Christmas season we see many displays of the love taught to us by Christ. We have witnessed gifts to charities and a helping hand extended to the sick, the needy, and to our brave wounded veterans. Is that the road I follow and lend my hand to those truly worthy endeavors? Or, do I follow a road of a renewed commitment to prayer and to the study of His Word in the Bible? Do I reach out to our church for a new direction in faith through fellowship? Now that I am retired, there is many a path before me.

In the calm hush that follows the Christmas rush, I am always reassured that God listens to us. Even in this busy season when we seek peace, we know that God gives us peace through Jesus Christ if we follow him.  I now ask God which route I should take as I prepare for a New Year, and I remain confident that he will listen and send me down the right road.  The road a Wise Man would surely follow…

 

“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”. 1 Luke: 35

When our two boys were very small we had a handmade wall hanging on which was sewn a Christmas tree.  The Christmas tree had 24 pockets and each pocket contained a symbol of the Christmas season such as a star or a reindeer that could be pulled from a pocket and pinned to the tree. Every year on the first day of December the tree was brought from storage and our boys fought over who would get to pull the first surprise from that day’s pocket. They alternated every day thereafter, and neither boy would dare miss a turn on his day as the designated “puller”.  It was a delight to witness the fun.  

Some of the most cherished aspects of the Christmas season are the traditions which seem to begin as simple events, repeated a second time, then enhanced and repeated once more.  In a relatively short number of years, an event that was created to entertain or amuse or simply pass some time until gifts were exchanged becomes a treasured tradition.

One year someone in my wife’s family gave everyone a well intentioned gift of some packaged baked biscuits that were so hard they were inedible. Most of the family members politely thanked the giver and then quietly sent the gift out with the spent wrapping paper. Unnoticed was one member of the family who saved his package of biscuits. The next year he re-wrapped them and placed them under the tree at the family gathering, waiting to be opened by an in-law who was clueless. Needless to say, we howled with laughter when the gift was opened and a new tradition was thus born. For many years thereafter some unsuspecting family member received that same package of rock hard biscuits as it was gifted from one person to another. This tradition ended when the biscuits were sent to my son who was serving with the Army in Kosovo. Legend has it that they were gifted to a very grateful goat.

The one tradition that I remember most fondly however, was maintained by my mother-in-law, a devoted Christian and probably one of the most joyful people I have ever known. Every year as the family gathered to celebrate Christmas, “Grandmother La-La” would assemble all of the grandchildren and, before a piece of candy was eaten, or a stocking was emptied, or even a pigtail was pulled, she would have them sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus as she held their tiny hands and joyfully smiled at her flock as only a proud grandmother can. She would then thoughtfully and thoroughly explain to the little ones (and remind the rest of us) that the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, was the real reason for the season.

Over the years new traditions sprang up in our family and a few were outgrown, but I always felt that a birthday song for our new-born Savior was one of the most sincere and loving ways to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas. Now that we are scattered far and wide at this time of the year it is difficult to repeat this tradition, but it is one that I’m certain they still remember.

Happy Birthday Jesus…Traditions come and go, but may we remind ourselves daily that you are a gift from God to all us.

May the blessings of the season be upon each of you. We’re Easin’ Along for now.