I have a small complaint I’d like to register at this time. It seems that just a couple weeks ago, I was listening to The Who singing “My Generation” on the AM radio thing; and now I’m a few years older and I think it’s been 50 years or so (I Googled it…54 years!!) since that song was first released and I can’t figure out where all the time went so quickly and how could this happen to both me and my Beautiful Girlfriend when we were just 17 years old when we first met and now we are saying things like “Medicare” and “Social Security” and this causes me to write run-on sentences because I mean really, how does this happen to gentle people likeUS??
How??
One day at a time I guess.
So there we were, minding our own business, driving down to Florida to celebrate Grampa Hilliard’s 85th birthday, and all of a sudden an “economic summit” erupted. We took the opportunity to discuss retirement finances; and because we were in a car that was set to cruise at 70 mph (OK, maybe a smidge more), it was not really a good idea for either of us to stand up and walk out of the room when we came to a challenging part of the discussion. That would just make ouch and bad road rolling. Even after 45 years of wedded blisters, money discussions can cause very bad juju if not handled delicately and with mutual respect. Thankfully, there was no weeping or gnashing of teeth; and we came to the agreement that neither of us need to sell our bodies on the streets in exchange for cans of tuna fish and expired loaves of bread.
Hey kids, this is kinda scary stuff!! In a little over a year, I’ll be retiring from a good paying job. I’ll go from “Highly Trained Monkey What Knows Computer Stuff” to “Highly Motivated Penny Pinching Garden Grower Person.” I’m very grateful I’ve acquired the skills to keep a good job, and I’m also very grateful that I know how to grow food, because I have a feeling we’re gonna want some. We like to eat, you see.
When it comes right down to it, though, my Honey Pie and I are blessed beyond belief. If things keep going the way they are now, we’ll be able to retire with no debt; and we may even have a little extra socked away for emergencies and maybe even some fun stuff. And yes, I’ll be growing food, and selling it to anyone who comes to visit us. I’ll be practicing my sales pitch… “Ummm hi!! Thanks for coming over! Long time no see!! Did you know we now have a ‘visiting tax?’ Yes!! You pay us money and we give you food items from the garden. Whaddya mean you don’t like eggplant!!??!!”
Well OK maybe not.
As I mentioned before, we are blessed beyond belief. And the good thing is, getting old doesn’t mean we can’t keep having fun. We were fortunate enough to attend a Who concert last year, and those old farts are still rockin’ out.
And we intend to do the same.