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 3 of 5 that I’ll list ten things I’ll do when I am officially off contract for life.
First, a review of the past two 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, dogs in my lap.
- 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.
And now today’s list:
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 pretty much ditch the rest to 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.
Common Threads 