Well Hello.
Hoping you haven't forgotten me. I used to come around here quite a bit, but times took a different road than I expected. but I'm back and wow has it been an interesting few years.
Earlier this year I retired from what was a particularly stressful job. Actually, let me amend that. The job wasn't particularly stressful, though it had its moments. The people I worked directly for were stressful. In January my wife and I took a trip to Hawaii for a week and I was startled with how badly my physical and mental health were doing, and I made the fateful decision that despite having two more years to gain full social security retirement benefits, I was pulling the trigger at 65.
And now, having walked away from full-time employment on May 7th of this year, I am five months into what is becoming a comfortable rhythm.
I have taken two trips this year, so far, both of which were to Hawaii. The aforementioned was to my favorite island, Kauai. The second, just a few months later, was to the Big Island. Both afforded me time to stop and reflect on what I want to accomplish and how I want to handle my semi-retirement going forward.
And a major component of that plan involves getting back to writing and photography. And travel, of course. Over the last eight years in which I've been badly remiss on writing my two blogs (this and the A Bartender's Tour blog), and need to resume both. I love doing it, it's simply tearing myself away from the unfamiliar pleasure of being a couch potato and watching too much tv.
Another motivator is a work associate who is himself starting to write. And several of my writer/artist friends have all had success at getting their words and art "out there" for people to read and see.
Anecdotes and other tales to come.
