I’m taking the week to write list poems of all the things I’ll do when I retire. They say we should never retire from something, always to something. So I’ll retire to some work and some play, but I want to steer the wheel and throw away the clock. This is day 5 of 5 that I’ll list ten things I’ll do when I am officially off contract for life.
First, a review of the previous days:
- I’ll write into the day.
- I’ll visit the library twice a week to check out new books.
- I’ll read into the evening by the fire.
- I’ll shop at the farmer’s market for fresh fruits and vegetables.
- I’ll cook things fresh-grown and scrubbed clean.
- I’ll take morning walks with the dogs, strolling instead of hurrying.
- I’ll make pictures and put them on calendars and notecards.
- I’ll pick wildflowers.
- I’ll put the picked flowers in the flower press.
- I’ll make bookmarks with my pressed flowers.
- I’ll savor my coffee, linger longer before showering.
- I’ll meet friends for lunch.
- I’ll design patterned rag quilts.
- I’ll cut flannel quilt squares and stitch them in rows.
- I’ll go to sleep when it’s dark and awaken when it’s light.
- I’ll wash my dishes by hand in warm water with fragrant dish soap.
- I’ll bake fresh, healthy muffins for breakfast.
- I’ll volunteer to drive someone to a doctor’s visit.
- I’ll make a big pot of soup every few weeks to freeze and give to shut-ins.
- I’ll pick my own apples in North Georgia.
21. I’ll take more impromptu personal field trips to satisfy my curious adventure spells.
22. I’ll coordinate my wardrobe down to the kind where all the tops match all the bottoms and all the outfits have three shoe possibilities – and live more simply.
23. I’ll go on writing crawls, writing in first one place and then the next through the day.
24. I’ll attend more book festivals near me and listen to more regional authors speak.
25. I’ll sit in Starbucks and write just for the crooner music and the perfectly-lit ambience.
26. I’ll carry only a small crossbody bag with my driver’s license, some money, and a tube of Candy Cane chapstick that I buy by the box.
27. I’ll sit on my front porch and pray.
28. I’ll learn more about making salves and tinctures, and take a hobby class on it.
29. I’ll wrap all my wine bottles with twine to create vases and fill them with wildflowers and leave them on random doorsteps where they don’t have Ring cameras to catch me.
30. I’ll take more slow country drives at sunset to see the sun sinking below the fenced cattle meadows.
31. I’ll choose the matinee movies on cold, rainy days and take a blanket to the theater.
32. I’ll read more travel genre books and go to places my feet may never actually walk.
33. I’ll spend more time grooming my dogs with glove brushes because they love it when I place them in my lap and give them the brush glove massage.
34. I’ll spend a few hours each week one morning chopping vegetables and fruits to go in plastic tubs for easier use in omelets and soups and snacks and dinners.
35. I’ll take more writing cabin excursions and map my route on Roadtrippers.
36. I’ll hang my tree hammock in the afternoon shade and read until dusk.
37. I’ll stroll through the aquarium and take the time to really see what I’m looking at, and spend more time watching my favorite critters (the otters) play.
38. I’ll read more blogs.
39. I’ll listen to more podcasts.
40. I’ll sit in silence more, savoring its goldenness.
And now today’s:
41. I’ll take longer showers and make them my prayer time.
42. I’ll do more bird counts.
43. I’ll piddle.
44. I’ll leave the television off – as I have always done.
45. I’ll minimize the social media scroll.
46. I’ll teach my grandchildren to make homemade ice cream.
47. I’ll read more picture books.
48. I’ll eat more charcuterie-style dinners.
49. I’ll write the memories of old photographs.
50. I’ll remember that while I have the opportunity to do more, it’s okay to do less.
Common Threads 
Your lists have made me feel better about retiring. I have to admit some apprehensions. I worry about leaving my students. Can I trust the next teacher to take care of them and teach them poetry? #29 intrigues me. I’ve given flowers in secret on May Day and it’s surprising fun. Thanks for helping me look forward with more yeses.
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Margaret, your poetry must live on. Volunteer to go in once a week and do a poetry reading and activity. Start a poetry group once a week in the afternoons. I think you will enjoy it all even more once you retire because it won’t seem all consuming and can be so fun. Those twine-wrapped bottles are a great way to make a vase – – cover a bottle in double sided tape and start winding twine from the bottom to the top. Add a flower or two or three. We can drink some wine and wrap some bottles when I visit in April!
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