When You Retire, It Is Okay To Become Even More Eccentric

When I worked all my life and retirement is so far away you don’t even think about what comes next. What comes next is the fact that it is not important to know what the date is today or the day of the week or the month or the year. You get up in the morning regardless of the time and go to bed when you feel like it because your daily responsibilities are over and you don’t have to be anywhere at a certain time so you can be early or late and no one cares or knows. You can do what you want when you want and no one cares.

Today I woke up at 10 AM and put on my robe over my pajamas and made a cup of coffee and walked out on my terrace listening to my music on my phone. What a beautiful cold and sunny day it is in the middle of winter and I felt like going for a walk. The properties on our street back up to a wildlife preserve and the backyards are spacious and the privacy from the front street is wonderful. So I walk at the edge of the lawns of my neighbors houses at the reserve and survey the bare trees and the marshes filled with water from the snow melt while sipping my coffee. Life is good and I don’t care who sees me knowing there are not any children in the houses. I was walking by the open area between houses and a couple in the distance walked by on the sidewalk and the wife waved and I waved back and the man stared at me the whole time. It doesn’t matter what this stranger thinks of me or if it is someone I know, they say what is new. I thought what if he calls the police and a car with red lights pulls into one of the driveways? Two officers walk up to me and I keep my hands visible the whole time so I don’t die and they ask me for ID. That did not happen, but if it did it would make no difference.

The last time an officer came to my front door, he ask if I owned a Datsun280z and I said yes. He said you left the keys in the ignition and the person saw the car and knew it was a problem. I was driving it yesterday and the engine killed so I let it coast to the curb. The people across the street were friends about a mile from my house and they saw me and invited me in. They were watching a football game and they gave me beers and I stayed the whole afternoon. Life is good when you are retired. I thanked the officer and told him about my afternoon drinking beers and how I walked home not realizing…