December 31, 2019: Waiting for 2020

First a warm Sunday drive from Milwaukee, then a small blizzard drive with Dena and Gaby to Crunch for a workout, and now a frosty morning, with light snow to clear from the driveway and taking out the trash. It is a blah day in most respects, but with Jane driving in this afternoon for a New Year's Eve celebratory night, things look a whole lot better.

Sunday night I booked a spring trip to Edinburgh and London for Dena and me, and added a late summer trip to Florence that adds Gaby and, hopefully, Jane to the itinerary. British Airways is our overseas standard. We have enjoyed Mode in Edinburgh and the Liverpool Street Andaz so much that we are going back. In Florence, I found a family apartment for our twelve nights, with a view of the Arno. We have a visit to Los Angeles in mid-January, to launch the new year.

After six months of retirement, I have yet to establish a meaningful rhythm in Wisconsin. Finding new friends, a social fabric, my comfort zones has been slow and problematic. The absence of a sea of young faces after fifty years of same is more than disorienting. On the other hand, I am happy to be away from the political correctness, nonsense and eroding academic values that accelerated in the last five years.

So there are challenges that come with the new year. Fortunately, none of them are financial or insurmountable. I need to continue to combat the aging process as best I can, while dealing with and -- in some cases -- just accepting the limits of approaching the age of seventy. Hard to lose weight. Muscles and joints ache. My maneuverability, agility, and general range of motion seems to decline more rapidly since I ruined fifty, and even faster in the past five years.

While I studied goal setting, I am not prone to set resolutions for the coming year. The range of what is actually possible to achieve or fix grows more narrow each year, and that is as harsh a reality as one can face when facing the eighth decade of life. Not to worry though, and no reason to be sad. Just time to recognize my limits, only after I have counted all my blessings. And the latter are many.

So as I walk I recall and reflect on events from earlier in my life, from Lackawanna, to Eden, to Binghamton, and on to State College, Lawrence, and then Wyoming. Added Amazon Prime music unlimited to provide that 'soundtrack for my life," and I enjoy that time with my thoughts and memories.