On Retirement (2)
What will I do in retirement? The evidence indicates that at least part of what I’ll do is forget, as in, I forgot to post anything to Story and Meaning in October.
We had a good vacation, as Sarah and I have reported repeatedly since our return. We visited Tim & Tia for a day, spent two nights in northern Utah, and spent most of a week with Curtis and Jessie in Aurora. We met Keith and Tawnee Reeser for lunch. Then, the organizing point of the trip, a “cousins’ reunion” in Lamar, Colorado. Five cousins (Betty, Lois, Larry, Sandy, and me), plus five spouses and one nephew met in Lamar, walked some of the old family property (I brought home a foundation stone from Grandma’s house), visited the Hasty cemetery, and talked. Lots of talk. We shared pictures.
On Sunday, Sarah and I worshiped at Hasty Friends Church—and stayed for the potluck dinner. We met a man who remembered riding school bus with Uncle Don and a woman who remembered Grandma Smith as a Sunday School teacher. After Hasty, we crossed Colorado and Utah, stopping in Pagosa Springs, Moab, and St. George. Five nights in St. George, a base from which we visited Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks. Two nights near Lake Tahoe, one night near Klamath Falls, and finally home. Many memories, and no car trouble! A very good vacation.
Now, it’s back to work in retirement.
Homebody tasks: I finished replacing and staining the outer portion of our deck (discovering lots of body aches along the way), installed a door lock with an electric code, had my truck tested for an equipment recall, dried and stored the summer rug for the porch, and helped Bekah pack some boxes to the attic.
Writing tasks: I organized and edited a book of devotions and essays, 366 of them. Title? I’m not sure, but maybe: A Year of One Christian’s Thought. Today I emailed a proposal to Wipf and Stock for Castles. W&S specializes in on-demand printing. Their very low storage costs allow them to approve marginal projects; they will probably say yes. I’ve added little to No Lamp, but with other projects finishing, I can concentrate on it.
NFC elders have asked me to preach later three Sundays, suggesting I consider apologetics. I plan to avoid the standard topics and address questions Sarah and Curtis raised when I asked them why people don’t believe, questions of “distance” (temporal distance) and “value.”
The “Readers Group” will finish McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity when we next meet. We’ll break for the holidays and resume, with some new book, in January.
It’s November already, six months since my commencement speech. A new semester, with two classes on my docket, looms. Logic and Virtue Theory—it should be fun.
It turns out there’s plenty to do in retirement.
