My Retirement Journal: Day 2

My second day of retirement. And my last day in the United States of America.

Yesterday I sold my car and spent a good portion of the day with Amy, my former student, and her son Seamus, the new owner, going to the Department of Licensing, getting lunch in Pioneer Square, and then to the Motor Vehicle Office. Then in the evening I had drinks and dinner with my friends Mark and Chris. I realized that Mark is my longest-standing Seattle friend. I met him in the fall of 1998 in the Seattle Men's Chorus, just a few months after I moved here. So it is probably apt that he was one of the last people I got one last visit with before I leave.

My flight is at 5:00 am tomorrow. I am already packed, of course, since I had to pack to move out of my house. I just have to reorganize a few things, but I am ready to go. I have checked off all the to-dos on my moving checklist.

Is this what retirement is like? Having nothing to do but wait for the next thing to do?

Today I say ¡Hasta luego! to the USA and to the last few friends I will see here before I go. I'm heading to the airport late tonight, and so glad I'm getting a ride from my friend Joy, who is actually the Seattle friend I've known the longest; we met in graduate school long before either of us came to live here.

Through the last month or so, since I got back from my trip to central Europe, I've been so focused on the things I've needed to get done, so worried about keeping all the dominoes standing and removing them from the lineup without knocking the others down. Now there are just a couple of dominoes left. And I think it's appropriate that I have nothing on my agenda today. Because focusing all that energy on the tasks at hand hasn't really left me with a lot of time to reflect. Today I am going to take some time to think about not what lies ahead, but what I am leaving behind.

And what better place to start doing it than here: