"Playing a lot of golf?”
I get that a lot since I retired. I am an avid, though quite
atrocious, golfer. But the answer is ‘no’.
I am approaching the one-year mark since I officially
retired. I use the word ‘official’ because I spent 41 years as a radio
announcer. My wife was an administrator at the University of Georgia; that’s
some heavy lifting. It can be argued that I never really worked.
We chose to retire on the same date. Some friends and
colleagues wondered if that was a good idea. Several have admitted to going
back to work in some capacity to get away from their spouse for at least part
of the day.
I get that. When you and your partner have been separated
for most of the day 5 or 6 days a week, suddenly having all that time together
could be… challenging? Suffocating? Time to question whether murder is really a
sin?
We’ve struck a nice balance on the togetherness thing. I
play golf; she’s not invited. She joined the gym; I’m not invited. She reads; I
watch TV. We do our online shopping on separate computers and without
consulting one another. (To that last item, our coffee maker recently died. We
now have two. Be in touch if you’re interested.)
Advice from friends already retired on how much free time I
would have was a mixed bag. Some had found other jobs, if only volunteer or
part time, to fill the void left by not having to show up at the office.
Mostly, though, the warnings were opposite, that I wouldn’t know where the
hours of the day went.
Boy, were they right. In fact, whoever told me, “You won’t
know how you ever had time for work!” nailed it.
In the year before I retired, I played 122 rounds of golf. As
I reach the one year anniversary of no job, I will have played well less than
half that many times.
Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around? What
happened?
Travel gets some of the blame. Or credit, perhaps. By the
time we reach the one year mark, we will have been to Alaska, Europe, Mexico, Disney
World, Boston and New York City, not to mention trips to see family and friends
closer by.
Moreover, though, I think work brought structure to my day. Working,
I was up at 4 a.m., finished with work and on the golf course by noon, then
whatever needed tending to would happen after that.
Take the car into the shop, buy groceries, make a Home Depot
stop… on any given day, I could squeeze the necessary chores into whatever
hours were left in the afternoon. What didn’t get done simply rolled over into
the next day’s effort.
Nowadays, there is very little structure. Heck, we’re lucky if
we to make the motion detector blink by 10 a.m. Breakfast often gets skipped
because we’re too close to lunch by the time we get motivated to do anything.
That sort of inactivity can really shorten up a day!
Then once you do get moving, there’s always some sort of agenda:
plant the garden, work in the yard, fix the leaky toilet, grocery store, drug
store, doctors and dentists… oh my word, we could fill this page with doctor’s
appointments.
I’ve often heard that the reason you retire is so you will
have time to go to the doctor. I shouldn’t have dismissed that notion so
nonchalantly. And we are healthy people!
So another day begins and golf is again not in the plan. I’ve been splitting firewood and have chosen a gorgeous
spring day to try and get that finished up rather than frustrate myself trying
to accurately move a little white ball 60 yards in less than five shots.
If I have time, I need to pick up the computer from the
repair shop and run to Lowes. I could also use a haircut. Oh, and the ‘check
engine’ light is on in the truck. I doubt anything is wrong with it, but the
shop is clear across town. That takes time.
By day’s end, another day of retirement will have been
filled up without going to a job and without playing golf. Then I’ll have to
fire up the grill and drink a beer while cooking dinner.
*sighs heavily*
Do my chores never
end?