One Year Anniversary...

Wow!   Can it be one year already?   Yep, this time last March I was flying to Puerto Vallarta where my friends Mark & Ivan were planning a special retirement party…and was it special!   It really has been a wonderful year in my life as Brenda & I traveled to New York & St. Johns, V.I. plus we visited my youngest son in Edmond, OK.  I flew out to Missoula, Montana to see my middle son so that leaves just a trip to Colorado to see my oldest son still on my to do list.    Before then, Brenda & I will travel back to Puerto Vallarta in April, back to Missoula in May & off to Europe in July.   This will be my 1^st trip to Europe and I am dreading the long air flight.  Hopefully the 10 day cruise will offset that!     If you are nearing retirement , here’s my suggestion.   If you do not have any hobbies or interests, stay working.  I have hobbies (golf, fishing, gardening) & interests (reading, traveling) and sometimes think of going back to work to rest!  NOT!!!    I retired because I didn’t want to fool with the social media requirements at work plus I had 2 health scares.   When God winks, you need to pay attention.   My yearly pacemaker checkup was yesterday and all is perfect after year two.   I do miss the storytelling of weather a little, especially since very few of our current weathercasters do any of it.   But it’s a different era with different means of communications where you really don’t need to watch TV anymore.  Just download the weather APP!

 

As I prepare my garden for some Spring colors, I see nothing on the long range computer models that would indicate any more freezes for the South Shore.  I might even buy one tomato plant just to see what I can grow.   This has certainly been a warm Winter with the exception of the December 3 day freezes.   Chicago has gone 2+ months without any real snow on the ground.  The same storm track that has drenched California over and over again, is the reason milder Pacific air covers much of the lower 48.    I suspect there will be a pattern change during the next 2-3 weeks that might try to bring back some Winter cold, but the late March & early April higher sun angle should moderate that chill for us.   Stay tuned