Do retired people take vacations?

I just returned from a two week vacation to North Carolina and Vermont, and posted on Facebook that I had returned safely home to Florida.  My friend Rocky Fucile wrote:
How do you take a vacation from retirement? You're always on vacation!
My initial response was:
Vacation is when you leave your home and the drudgery of mowing lawns, shopping for groceries, vacuuming the floor, cleaning the house, doing bills (they do still keep coming even after no paychecks comes) and keeping up with all the "hobbies" you start...you need to try it Rocky!
But it got me to thinking, which in itself is a dangerous thing. Corollary to Rocky's Thesis is "There is no thinking in retirement."

The dream for most people is that retirement is a continuous vacation, but the reality is that it is NOT...

Vacations takes planning, and scheduling, and telling people what is going on...retirement is the opposite of that...no plans, no schedule, no telling people that I spent the day doing nothing. Vacations are hard work when you are retired. You have to be pseudo-organized. What a pain.  Actually, I am NOT very good at it. I am good at retirement. I have my bucket list, hobbies, and then there is the daily grind.

The lawn keeps growing, weeds and dust still appear, pets expect the same care as before retirement, bills do keep coming for stupid things like electricity, water, sewer, cable... I still hunger for food and entertainment...daily grind...I just do not have to go to work but I still have Doctor and Dentist appointments. The car needs fixing and so does everything else you own....

I think heaven may be a continuous vacation Rocky! But I am willing to wait to find that out.

Since most of my posts have photos, I am including one taken by my friend Shari near Boone North Carolina. It shows a retired man on vacation.
BJ enjoying a RC Cola and a Moon pie
Her husband Chuck said it was from a song. I found it on the internet done by Big Bill Lister. It is called "Gimme a RC Cola and a Moon Pie."  Now this is vacationing, you would not catch me doing this in Florida. Actually it was pretty good.  I plan to do it again but since I am retired, there are no plans, so I can only do it if I go on another vacation...I am confused!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Photo Memory - BJ with others

Image
As I continue to scan in all the photos I have collected over the years, I have continually modified the way I am trying to organize the photos. I have created groups by individuals, and of course central to that are photos of me. I have shared some of the single photos of me on Facebook, and I would like to share here a few of photos of me with others. The first photo is me, not even four months old, being held by my Grandmother, Helen Rheaume Shackett. I know the photo was taking at our Weybridge Street house in Middlebury by the banister behind us. The stairs are steep in the Provoncha house, and many a drunk fell down those stairs into the cactus my mom kept at the bottom. Tom moved the bathroom from the second floor to the first when he purchased the house, so now only those spending the night get to go up those stairs. BJ with Grandma Shackett The next photo is when I turned one in the summer of 1958. I lived at the Weybridge St house all my life through high sch...
Read more

"All You Need Is Love"

Image
Weddings! All you need is Love !  The other night I had a weird dream about attending a wedding. When I woke, I started thinking about the weddings I have attended in my life. I was not sure if I could remember them all. I know the list is long and I decided to al least get a record of the ones I have pictures from. Sometimes I was just an onlooker, and there were times I was lucky to be part of the wedding party. In actuality, I always participate in the wedding party! Here are some wedding photos from my archive. Family I did not attend this wedding. It was November 24 in 1946, my mom Stella united with my dad Harold at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Middlebury Vermont. Although I was not there in body, you could say my whole future depended upon this moment. My oldest sister Patsy got married out West and none of the family attended. Pat and Brent ended up moving to Hawaii where my niece Lori was born. Tom married Robin, but it was a very small gathering. Just after I graduated...
Read more

"I Am the Walrus"

Image
 I use to be a Tiger and now I am the Walrus . Just recently I found out that my friend Randy Quesnel had passed away. Although it happened back in March, I just found out on Facebook. I had not kept in touch with Randy but I did have some fond memories of him. One connection we had was playing football together at MUHS. My Senior year, Randy was a Junior. I knew I had a photo of him but all I could find was this scan from the Addison Independent. Tigers of the Week ! This was 1974, 50 years ago. That is Randy on the left, and my classmate Bob Shaw on the right. Randy played fullback but he also spent time as defensive end. I was the defensive halfback on the same side of the field and Coach Wagner had a verbal call for me to let the DE know I was rushing and the DE had to contain. Whenever I made the call, Randy would give me a look, he liked to rush the backfield and I was messing him up. Of course, he knows the call was from either Hubie or Coach Chuck Martin or Coach K. But he ...
Read more