What to Do

Okay, okay, I know. It's been weeks since I've added anything to this supposed blog. By definition, a blog is "a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style." So I'm not very regular.

That's because there is just too much fun to be had. On occasion, I run into someone late in their working career who, explaining why they haven't retired yet when they could, expresses concern about knowing just what they're going to do, and whether they'll be able to fill the spare time. When I hear that I just want to do the Moe slap on Curly. There is SO much to do, and even less time to do it than there is now or was before. I don't think I've had one day where I couldn't answer the question, "what should I do now?" More often, the pain is in the choosing. Unfortunately, sitting down to a computer screen to create a posting on my blog is always a few pegs down the priority list.

It's not that I'm doing much entirely different than what I did before retiring, it's just that I'm doing a lot more of it. Okay, so the Raptor stuff is new, and the motorbiking is new, but otherwise my activities simply involve more intensity in, or expansion of, pre-retirement interests.  Or it's a reboot of long-ago programs like flying. 

My Northwoods Riding Buddy

Some of my activity is rinse and repeat, leaving little blog-elicious to share in a posting. Just this week I hauled the Kawasaki back north to Cornucopia for a quick ride with my most-rural, semi-retired independent businessman/carpenter buddy. We covered some of the same ground as in the past, though some of it seemed new because it was so beautiful and exhilarating. No pictures, no memento's (other than some cheese from the quaint and out-of-the-way Benoit Cheese shop), just a full and long day of riding the back roads of northern Wisconsin. 

Or another day flying raptors. This week was different in that we could not fly the small birds in the usual field on campus, but had to take them along to fly with the eagles at Como Park. Every week a few of the more experienced on our flight team take eagles out to where there is more space, in the park next to the zoo and conservatory. They load up in a van with bird on tether, and make the two mile trip while we small bird handlers simply walk to the field on campus for our flights of owls and hawks. This week we joined them in an entourage that had to share the park with picnicking families and corporate team building exercisers. I learned a couple of different birds - one a Coopers Hawk and the other bard owl, both smaller than I've worked with before - and watched as the big eagles stretched for the distant trees in the hope of freedom. But otherwise, more of the same.

So, I'm hoping this sparks my writing inclination and escalates the priority of adding to my collection of postings... and that there's still someone around to read them.

p.s. -- If you ever want to see an eagle up close, happen to wander the south side of Como Park on a Thursday morning. Chances are the crew will be exercising one. They're very accommodating of curious visitors.