Bull by Bull

Retirement is a big deal. Having recently left the workplace after 44 years, I can't tell you how much fun it is to be back out on the playground. "You must always remember to skip," my mom said. The energy, warmth, and even the peace that abounds out here is like no other.

I highly recommend it ... when the time is just right, of course.

Talk about timing, that's another thing that is great about being retired. I get to see so much more of this way cool way in which God shows his grace and mercy in my life. After retiring, the cards on my kitchen windowsill were all about love and change. I was close to 13 years at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, a long and lovely season, indeed.

We had to put Vernon's old horse down last week. So sad. Vernon and I moved here over 21 years ago, and Spud was one of our "original" critters, so you know he had a good, long life. Still sad. I heard Vernon tell Spud his good-byes ... two old friends looking at the end of the trail together ... one knowingly and the other not needing to know at all.

They say the favorite smell is hot cinnamon anything. Mine is toast. My 1958 Toastmaster toaster is a treasure ... not to mention the most-used appliance in my kitchen. There has been more than one time in my life when I've all but lived on toast. As kids, any time mom and dad would go out, we'd immediately make toast and eat cold cereal. Wonder Bread and REAL butter. Those were the days.

s s s

I closed the front gate of 17530 behind me tonight for the first time in almost 22 years. No need to close it lo those many years, what with all the coming and going, including hundreds of trips in and out a-horseback. Now, though, it is time to sell everything off and then sell the place, too.

Such a profound sadness I feel at this moment - relief to come, I pray. Everything wasn't always good there, but things got better and better as we got better and better. Life is so simple.

s s s

Not having kids makes life far different for me than for moms. Motherhood takes a lot of time, guts and love, and I admire mommas greatly ... "You are the bow, and they are the arrows," says my friend Dianna, "and you must let them go." says she.

Easy to say, hard to do, I suspect.