If you are a stay-at-home-mostly person as I am, you are probably wondering where all of this unscheduled time came from.
Yes, I’m still retired, but I’ve never had so much time on my hands. Like most retired people, I have said, “I don’t know how I ever had time to work.”
A lot of retired people say that, irritating to no end their listeners … who still work.
Of course, all of this unscheduled time at home was strongly suggested – if not mandated – by government officials, concerned about medically fragile people and old people closely associating with the young, the unconcerned, and possibly the virus-infected.
Since I fall into the latter category, “old people” – I’ll let my wife speak for herself – I have complied. Perhaps in deference, so has my long-suffering trophy wife.
Here are some of the things we have done:
* We have become birders. Not only are we enjoying a new bird book – The Bird Way – we’ve held front-row seats to nature’s wonders as two blue jays took weeks building a nest in the V of an oak tree outside our den window. Her home finally complete, the mama – we call her Precious – sat on her eggs dutifully for about two weeks as the daddy – Homer – delivered breakfast in bed. But then a rogue squirrel got inside the nest while Precious was taking a break. Precious took a daring dive at the interloper and he or she fled. But it was too late. After a few more days of sitting, Precious abandoned her damaged eggs. I hate that squirrel.
* We repair things and do yardwork. Enough said.
* We eat well. We have spent little money on anything else – we are not supposed to go out, our daughters keep reminding us – so we might as well enjoy our one pleasure sanctioned by the government. We can eat. We mostly order and pick up outside the supermarket or restaurant. We are being good. Sometimes my wife cooks, sometimes I cook. We try to outdo each other. She usually wins.
* We read books. I don’t imply that we didn’t read books before the pandemic. I mean we have more time to read now. And there’s no hurry. We don’t feel pressured to read 50 pages every day or night. The book will be there tomorrow.
* We take walks in the neighborhood. The fragrances of spring are lovely, aren’t they? “What is that flowering bush?,” I ask my wife. “I can’t
remember,” she says. Maybe we’ll Google it when we get home. We have time.
* We watch a movie every Friday night; that is, when we can figure out when Friday night arrives. But finding a good movie on TV is not easy. What the critics like and what we like very often are two different things. We have picked out some doozies and abandoned them quickly.
* Overall, we have adapted. Life goes on. And on. And on.
But life is good. We are still here.
Phil Hudgins is senior editor of Community Newspapers Inc. Email phudgins@cninewspapers.com.