A moment to reflect on what reading means to me as this new year, 2017, begins…
It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been three-and-a-half years since my husband and I retired and moved to our beautiful old home in Oregon. Retirement, for us, continues to be an adventure. There are all kinds of things we are enjoying as “retired people” — shopping at Costco when it first opens on a weekday morning; traveling at non-peak times; getting discounts at local restaurants; immersing ourselves in a project without having to wait for the weekend!. Simply put, we love to get up every morning and “set our own agenda,” a phrase my mother shared with us.
I thought my retirement would be filled with lots of extra reading time, but I’m surprised to discover that I’m actually reading less than I did during my busy career years. There are many days now that I’ve been “too busy” doing other things to sit down and read. My time and attention are focused on many different things: gardening, going for long walks, spending time at the gym, knitting, playing Minecraft with the Grandboy.
Oh I still love my reading and it’s a major part of my life. I’m just not concerned anymore about the numbers of books I read or that there might be books I should read. I read for the joy of it.
May 2017 be a year of joyful reading for all of us!
A Fondness For Reading 
As long as you find joy in reading, the numbers do not matter!
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Kelly, that is so true!
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I can’t believe it’s already been that long! I’ve definitely loved seeing you so happy and relaxed though so trading that for reading a few less books seems reasonable. 🙂
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I love the picture!! I always read ‘for the joy’ of it. I quit anything I don’t like. My reading seems to stay about the same most years, but I really want to make more time during the day to sit down and read my print books. I tend to just read my kindle at bedtime. I also want to spend more time in the blogging world. Retirement around here is kinda like yours – still busy, just doing different things, and for us that mostly involves the grandkids!
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Thanks, Kristen. It’s definitely a good trade off!
Thanks, Nan! I, too, quit books that just aren’t worth my time, or that turn out to me ‘not the right time’ for me. A retirement and grandkids go very well together! Precious times!
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Your life in retirement sounds wonderful! I envision the same sort of days for my husband and myself later this year when we retire! Life will be busy and hectic until late summer, though, but from that point on, I’m looking forward to sleeping past 5 a.m., reading when I want, going for long walks, traveling in our little trailer (which we’ll pick up in Canada this summer) and enjoying time with my mom in her beautiful home. 2017 will be a good year!
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Les, 2017 will be a wonderful, busy year for you! You will love retirement. We do enjoy it, and love to spend as many days as we can doing the things you describe (minus the trailer, which sounds like a lot of fun!!). I’ll bet your Mom is thrilled that you will be moving to Oregon. Will you be living with her or close by? How wonderful to be there with her in such a beautiful place.
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We will be living with her! I’m looking forward to helping her with her cooking, gardening, etc., while my hubby will help with computer issues and feeding the birds. 🙂
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