Retirement isn't about stopping living; for me it was about choosing how I wanted to live my life, and where I wanted to live it.
moving
Falling for Portland
I didn't fall in love with Portland right away. I wasn't all that impressed during our many visits early on. It felt more like a blind date, a set-up by our daughter. Portland was an occasional fling, not marriage material. Landing at the airport on the northeast end of town, we drove through the grittiest … Continue reading Falling for Portland
What I Saw in Mexico
First impressions can be superficial. I arrive in Mexico forgetting that it takes time to appreciate and understand something foreign and complex. What I first see: homes and businesses in stages of stalled construction or general disrepair, lots of trash on the streets, and dozens of scruffy dogs and ragged chickens and roosters pacing or … Continue reading What I Saw in Mexico
Changing For Good
I set out alone from Santa Barbara on a hot July day, my little sedan packed to the brim, and cruised north along Highway 101. The one key I owned was to my car. I had just finished packaging up my life, to leave the place I'd lived for 32 years. I was alternately thrilled … Continue reading Changing For Good
Over the River and Through the Woods: A Tale of Two Bridges
Big city driving is confusing, and if you don't know where you're going, you end up somewhere else. The complicated, unfamiliar choices come at you fast. Just trying to navigate along one side of the river, you somehow end up on a bridge to the other side. At which point there's no turning around. "Wait, why … Continue reading Over the River and Through the Woods: A Tale of Two Bridges
New City Friending
It turns out making friends is harder and slower now than when I was younger. I'm not in school, I don't have a workplace, I'm not raising kids, and I don't have old friends introducing me to new friends, or inviting me to parties. Those old ways to friendship are gone. We planned for retirement … Continue reading New City Friending
Ready Set Go
I should have started a blog 3 years and 3 months ago. That was when I first retired, sold our house, packed up a life, left a town I'd lived in for 32 years (and a state I'd lived in for 60), moved to Portland where both kids landed, became a local Nana to my … Continue reading Ready Set Go
