Bonnie and I’ve recently visited a couple of the local vineyards in the area which happen to also serve lunch. These lunch visits provide us the enjoyment a few hours in our “retirement convertible,” even though we can’t fully retire yet, while still returning us home before afternoon or evening storms have fully panicked our dog Maggie. It’s also resulted in the discovery of some pretty good food along the way.
We’ve had the time for this activity recently due to a reorganization of the company Bonnie worked for resulting in her position “going away” — a common story repeated so often these days which almost everyone will experience at one time or another in this “please the share holders above all else” way of business.
It was hoped her position might last a few more years since we’d decided last year I’d go ahead and retire, but it was not to be. So we’re in a late transitional phase of our lives which is a little unsettling but not so worrisome. We luckily have the means to take some time in finding our new path from here — a luxury we’re trying to enjoy. So, for now, this is only a “practice retirement.”
This time together has been wonderful, and we look forward to when it can be a part of a permanent retirement. I always take a camera along for these “short adventures” — these are just a few random shots gather along the way.
Sorry for the setback. Sounds like you have the right attitude.
Bob, thanks. Who knows, this may not be a setback at all. The final outcome is yet to be determine so we may just turn this into an opportunity. :-)
Sanders Ridge Vineyard looks like a great place to spend the day with plenty of photo ops. I especially like the sunflower photo. I have a strange attraction to them and love to photograph them.
Emo panics when storms are here but he goes to this Fortress of Solitude when things get loud. He needs his safe place and I don’t worry about him when he goes there.
Ken, thanks. It makes for a nice day to drive somewhere, have lunch, stroll about and take a few photos. When there is a storm Maggie starts walking in circles and hides behind the furniture. It’s been a hard summer for her from the storm stand point.
Earl, if the photos are any indication, it looks like the practice is going pretty well! It’s good to see that you are taking full advantage of the opportunity.
Tom, photography is more like play for me then practice. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens a little further down the road. :-)
Nice vineyard shots Earl. Sorry to read about the setback, hopefully it will present perhaps some new opportunities. Maybe monetize the blog with your Google resolution? :-)
Mark, thanks. It’s like they say, “Life is what happen while you’re busy making other plans.” Perhaps this will even turn out even better?
Nope…don’t think I want to plan on a retirement dependent upon Google’s changeable perspective. “Do no harm” — yeah, right!
Earl, it’s great to be getting this ‘practice’ in. I think that you’ll just keep building ideas about what to do when it happens ‘for real’, or perhaps you’ll have exhausted your local places and set your sights world-wide – then, I can follow your globetrotting, sitting here, working, green with envy, looking quite Grinch-like. ;)
Paul, I’m thinking no globetrotting here for a while! :-)
Looking at it from the other side now, Earl, I don’t know that there is such a thing as “practice retirement”. It’s kind of analogous to “practice marriage” or better yet, “practice divorce”. In reality, one day you’re not retired and the next day you are. It’s really a strange feeling when you discover that you never have to go to work anymore and every day is Saturday.
But man, you can’t sit still! It’s like the old saying: “If you want to keep breathing, you have to keep moving”. Not a problem, I guess, if you have a camera and some idea of where to point it. And you won’t have any problem in that regard.
Paul, Well, for several months now we’ve gotten to experience what it’s like to both be at home and not working. It’s nice to know we, as a couple, can probably survive and even enjoy it when it becomes permanent. At least one of us needs to work a few more years so this phase is only temporary at the moment…a practice for later.
I all in with you on that moving and breathing part. :-)
Pretty good practice photos to me. I’m not happy with corporate decisions that have been made over the past few years. As you say too many decisions are made a business model that has little to to do with keeping employees but satisfying investors and upper management. Enjoy this practice retirement and lets see what does develop.
Monte, thanks. Not much we can do about those corporate decisions and it’s not worth us wasting out time worrying about it is it. We just have to change direction and move forward. :-)
Practice makes perfect as they say.
At 53 I could potentially retire in 7 years but realistically (meaning: financially) I’ll probably need to work until I’m 75, which, if I still have all my faculties would not be a bad thing for me as long as I keep enjoying my work. For me, the idea of retirement is only an option if I can figure out what it is that will give me a reason to get out of bed every morning. I know that things like hobbies and travel won’t cut it for me. The former because hobbies done full time lose their charm and the latter because from Australia, travelling anywhere is expensive. I do however, have a couple of book ideas so maybe I could become a writer.
Anyway, all the best with your own plans Earl. I hope it all works out splendidly for you and Bonnie.
The image of the back of the sunflower is very beautiful. Bravo!