Category: Fundamentals

Retirement Reflections is a wonderful retirement lifestyle blog created by Donna Connolly, a resident of British Columbia. A link to her blog can be found here and in the sidebar on this page under blogs that I follow. Recently Donna asked me to submit an article to Retirement Reflections for her Sunday Series written by guest bloggers from around the world. In the paragraphs below is a slightly edited version of my contribution to that series. I hope that readers of Easin’ Along enjoy the article and that you will visit Donna’s outstanding website as well.

Unlike some of my friends, my decision to retire was not difficult. A career as a home builder had been both challenging and rewarding, but it often required very long work days.  An additional career as an officer in the U. S. Army Reserve was equally rewarding, but it took time away from my family and consumed vacation time for more years than I care to remember. I planned to use the “Golden Years” as a means to even things out a bit.

Today, my passion is travel and sharing the journey with others on our website, Easin’ Along. I want to see as much of North America as I am able, and I want to do it by taking the roads less traveled.  After several extended road trips in our car, Helen (adorable wife) and I invested in an RV. Now, a 26-foot travel trailer named Gracey has become our home on the road with the potential to enrichen our lives tremendously.

Around the time Donna honored us with a request for a contribution to her Sunday Series, we were deep into planning our next adventure–a snowbird trip to someplace warm. My suggestion to Donna was a post about snowbird retirees if I could find any. Well, Donna, we found a gaggle, and we couldn’t wait to introduce a sampling of these interesting folks to readers of Retirement Reflections and Easin’ Along.

Ken and Patty have been snowbirding in Florida campgrounds since 2003 to escape the winters of Southern Michigan. After overhearing a group of volunteers discussing their campground duties for the day, Patty immediately told Ken that she wanted to get involved. They have volunteered at campgrounds ever since and served as campground hosts on occasion.  Their current post is The Orman House, a historical home in Apalachicola, Florida built in 1838 by a cotton merchant. They volunteer as guides three days a week, but work in the gardens on their off days “just because we love it.”

Bill and Eileen began coming to Jekyll Island, GA from their home near Akron, Ohio many years ago. Wanting to do more than sit and whittle, Bill soon volunteered to perform odd jobs around the camp. After we parked Gracey in the campground at Jekyll Island State Park, we would see this pleasant gentleman applying a coat of paint to signposts, doors, windows while chatting with everyone who passed.  Bill told me that painting gives him a great deal of satisfaction and allows him to engage with other snowbirds. “Besides,” he said, “there is a lot to paint here, so this is great job security.” Bill is a volunteer who loves his winters and his work.

 

Jeff and Barney, two brothers from Buffalo, NY come to the Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, FL every year to serve as hosts in the RV Park on the base. Both are Army retirees with over 20 years of service to our country. We met them shortly after we arrived and encountered difficulty connecting the utilities to Gracey. Jeff and Barney came immediately, and soon we were up and running. We discovered that we had served in several of the same posts in Germany, and I had a delightful time sharing old Army stories with them. The next morning we found this tireless twosome in the camp kitchen cooking up pancakes for the monthly pancake breakfast. Throughout our stay, we continued to see both men riding through camp in golf carts offering a hand to anyone in need. I enjoyed meeting them.

Not all the snowbirds we met were looking for responsibility.  Some just came to thaw out and pursue activities other than the usual chores associated with life in their hometown. We observed a couple in Panama City who visited the beach each day to read, perhaps work a crossword puzzle or nap. Others came south to participate in the many campground activities organized by the volunteers. We found large bulletin boards filled with lists of activities available to snowbirds eager for stimulation and social encounters. Others just wanted to sit around a campfire and share information about RV lifestyle and travel including very valuable information about favorite campgrounds.

One morning at Jekyll Island I passed the community room where three ladies were seated in comfortable chairs, each knitting furiously, and absorbed in lively conversation. I walked into the room and asked them what they were making.  A lady with an enormous ball of twine in her lap looked up at me and, with a big smile, said…“Friends.”

Her reply sums up much about snowbirds. We had a delightful time Easin’ Along with them.

 

At the end of last week, many of our neighbors gathered for some socializing before the lighting of a huge fir tree that sits adjacent to the neighborhood clubhouse. A committee, led by Leah and Sarah among others had worked hard to organize the event.  They encouraged everyone to attend and bring a favorite appetizer to enjoy with wassail and hot cocoa. It was a grand time.

Toward the end of the social hour, Leah introduced a young student from the University who would lead everyone in carols before lighting the great tree. At that point, we assembled outside, sang three or four carols before counting down…five, four, three, two, one whereupon David inserted a plug into a socket and voila, the lights appeared on cue to a burst of applause. Several minutes later, our student led the carolers through the neighborhood to sing to those unable to attend the event.

When the tree lights came on, I found myself thinking about the differences in our life now and the way it was a little over four years ago when we made the decision to downsize. In many ways, the differences are profound. As readers of this website are aware, I began Easin’ Along as way of highlighting an active retirement.  My blog was never intended as an advice column for retirees—there of plenty of those out there and a few excellent ones are listed in the sidebar of this page. Nevertheless, if downsizing is a future consideration, I thought that, as our student leads us through the streets, I might lead readers through some of the changes that have made our decision so rewarding. Pictures of our tree lighting ceremony are interspersed throughout.

Our previous home was unquestionably our dream home. We had carved out a homesite in the middle of eleven acres of hardwood forest that overlooked the Tennessee River. The word picturesque doesn’t describe the setting. Our view stretched for over a mile both upriver and down. For most of the summer months, the sunset was directly in from of us. We had a dock for our boat and a barn for the big boy toys.  Just as importantly, whenever I needed an attitude adjustment, I could lose myself while taking a walk in the woods where solitude reigned. Flowers and flowering shrubs grew everywhere, and neighbors were not seen. The decision to leave this paradise was not easily made.

As lovely as our home was, I must be honest and admit that it was also an expensive place to live. My work as a homebuilder had slowed considerably during the recession and Helen (adorable wife) and I wanted to avoid our home becoming a drain on our hard-earned resources as retirement loomed. Therefore, cost became factor number in the decision process.

Factor number two became clear when we looked around the house. You can find a lot of places to store stuff in a large home.  In forty-plus years of marriage, we had not only accumulated our precious treasures, but we had also wound up with much of Helen’s mother’s precious treasures. We were literally living in a comfortable warehouse and our children wanted none of it. Something had to be done.

In discussing our future, we both agreed that if retirement was approaching, we wanted it to be an active one. As a military retiree, we had the option for low-cost lodging all over the world and the lure of extensive travel was strong. Being away from our home for more than a week at a time was difficult, especially with five animals in our household.

Finally, we had our health to consider. Moving was not going to be easy and would be growing more difficult as time went by.  Our children were living in far-away places with no promise of returning to live permanently. Neither of us wanted to burden them with the process of cleaning out attics, basements, and closets of unwanted items. We had to get this done while we had the energy to do it.

There were other factors, but these were the major ones. Once the decision was made, and the wheels set in motion, we moved steadily forward although it required almost a year from the time we started until we finally moved into our new home…and we needed every minute.

Moving out of our home required three long days, four storage PODS, back-breaking labor, and hundreds of decisions. About the time we closed on our house, my mother had moved also, and we could live in her former home while we remodeled our new one. This stroke of good fortune also allowed us to prepare and stage our accumulated and unwanted stuff for a three-day garage sale.  This was the most liberating event I have ever encountered. It was also astonishing because I couldn’t believe what people were willing to spend good money on. Oh, well, one man’s junk really is someone else’s treasure.

Five months after the sale and our remodeling completed, we moved into a new neighborhood joining eighty new neighbors. Helen waded right in and soon made many friends. Not as socially inclined, it took me a bit longer to get used to having others close by.  I adjusted, however, and warmed up to our new surroundings quickly.

We’ve now been in our home for four years and the experience has been a very rewarding. We’ve made great friends and are convinced that our decision to downsize was made at the right time.  With church, family, friends, and shopping close by, we love the convenience. Our expenses for mowing, maintenance, taxes, and insurance have been reduced significantly.  We love having a pool that someone else cleans. We can leave our home on short notice and stay away for extended periods when we choose. The neighborhood association is active and has strong leadership.  Helen helps decorate for holidays and I produce the neighborhood newsletter each month–activities we both enjoy very much. Yes, we’re very glad that we have that move behind us.

 

We also have Christmas trees to light and carols to sing so, let’s party…and continue Easin’ Along.

Falalalalah-la, la, la, lah!

If you have thoughts about downsizing or comments about your experiences with the process, please share them in the comments section below.

It’s Black Friday.  I’m stuffed and sluggish so this will be short.  Helen (adorable wife) and I spent the early morning prepping and cooking a turkey and setting the table for a family Thanksgiving meal at our home. Since other family members were bringing side dishes, this really did not require much of an effort.  Besides, when my mom is bringing her cornbread dressing and giblet gravy, I would do most anything to contribute.

I also spent the morning, like most people, thinking about the things I’m thankful for.

I’m eternally blessed to have a wonderful family.  At 89, my mother is a vibrant lively person who dotes on the rest of us.  It is a genuine treasure to be in her company.  We lost my father many years ago, and my mother met and married a kind and generous man, and we are so fortunate to have Don as a member of our family. My brother, Jim, is a successful businessman as well as my best friend. He and his wife Patty have two lovely and very intelligent daughters to keep them hopping. Jim and his son Carey own Planet H20, a company that discovered Artesian water in Tennessee and they now bottle and market it throughout the country. (See ad at right). My sister who you met earlier this year couldn’t be with us as she was enjoying an RV trip with her daughters.

Our time together was primarily spent enjoying each other and catching up with the activities of the girls as well as spending a few precious minutes with our grandchildren on FaceTime. We watched a little football and discussed our disappointment with the lack of success for our Tennessee Volunteers.  Everyone agreed that a new coach will get us turned around.

Mom stirred the gravy while everyone else watched and waited in eager anticipation.  There might be disappointment with Tennessee football, but not with our meal. When the mincemeat pie was served our family fest had ended in a true feast. By the time coffee arrived, I noticed that a few belts went down a notch.

There’s so much more to be thankful for, and it has been a great year so far.  I’m grateful for our health even though we may have a new knee in the family next year.  We’re blessed to have been able to travel through our beautiful country in 2017 and we look forward to more of that. We love our church and our church family and greatly enjoy our involvement there. I’m eternally grateful for Easin’ Along readers and, to those of you who have subscribed and sent comments to us, please accept my thanks for your contribution. You have added meaning, purpose, and much value to our weekly posts.  

As I said above, this would be short.  I’ll let a few pictures tell the rest of the story of our day. My wish is that everyone had as blessed a Thanksgiving as we did. It’s time to be Easin’ Along…