Facebook is making me sad. Because most of my memories this time of year point to a hiking adventure, most with students and most on New Mexico’s Mt. Wheeler. But I have no such plans this year. I guess it’s because the hiking buddy pool was much larger when I spent my days among 20-somethings. […]
Dr. Nancy Schlossberg called it “the mattering test.” In Revitalizing Retirement, she wrote, “Leading a successful retirement is about much more than money. It’s about feeling you matter, that you are and will be noticed and appreciated.” A psychologist who has written for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Schlossberg said if you […]
What if your dream is blocked because of circumstances beyond your control? That’s the theme of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” a recently released movie starring Cate Blanchette. Bernadette (Blanchette) is a once successful architect who has spent the last 20 years in a psychological tailspin because one of her masterpieces was destroyed. The tragedy caused […]
Serendipity. Mirriam-Webster says we experience it when we “find valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Other definitions add the words “unexpected” and “unplanned.” Which happened yesterday. I woke early, planning to begin my bike ride at sunup. But it was raining—not that slick pavement keeps me home. But in this part of Texas, in […]
Professional writers call them “elevator pitches.” If you had only a short elevator ride to pitch your book to a (pick one) agent, publisher or reader, what would you say? Well, here’s mine: Retirement can be scary. It was for me. The temptation is to see it as an ending—to physical abilities, mental agility, important […]
On Christmas Day, 1959, my brother Craig and I found 410-gauge shotguns under the tree, and we wasted no time taking our first hunting expedition through the field behind our house toward Tierra Blanca Creek. We were looking for jackrabbits, but when we found none, we decided to try our luck with ducks. If you’ve […]
Had dinner last night at the Bellah Building on the corner of 15th Street and 5th Avenue in Canyon, so named because Bellah 1927 is written on a large, cement block just below the roof line. R. A. Bellah built the structure when my dad (his grandson) was four years old. He constructed it for […]
“You can travel in Europe for the same amount, or even cheaper, than in the U.S.” So say Jerry and Nonette (Non) Robinson, a retired Canyon couple who have learned to do Europe on a budget. Both former teachers (Jerry was also a coach), the Robinsons’ fascination with Europe began in the late 80s when […]
In 2013, country music legends Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton released what, in their minds, would be the last of their many hit duets. It was named, appropriately, “You Can’t Make Old Friends.” Written by Ryan Hanna King, Caitlyn Smith and Don Schlitz (the latter wrote “The Gambler”), the piece spoke movingly of the kind […]
A friend wanted to know if I was writing a Christian book on retirement. “No,” was my first answer; then, “well, sort of.” I did not set out to write a theology of retirement. That is, I didn’t scour the Bible to see what the Scriptures said about the concept (the word isn’t used at […]