Relishing more time in retirement

Now today, the old homestead has had a few coats of paint, inside and out, and a raft of improvements done, the things that would have taken me many weekends to do, are now done in days. Even after two years the novelty of not staggering out of bed at dark o'clock in the morning still thrills me, and the challenge of filling my day with worthwhile endeavours is relished.

Some retirees have an allotment, others play crown green bowling, and some mix and match at day centres and clubs, none of that is for me, because from the neck up I am still 21, and from the shoulders down an arthritic, myopic, overweight old granddad.

I suspect that a lot of bus pass holding old un's feel the same, still able to climb a ladder and clean out the gutters, scrabble about on hands and knees in the garden, and weld a paint brush with the best of them. The time between doing the household maintenance is reserved for reading, something I could not do too easily when working full time, and now bliss, and consequentially when out and about in the village, or up town, a visit into the many and various book shops is a must, which means storage, and so in the last 24 months two new bookcases have appeared here in Levy Towers, much to the annoyance of ‘her indoors’.

I cannot be the only retired bloke that has found out the secret of existence after a full working life, things that you never thought you could do suddenly become possible, and consequently the day is full of meaningful pursuits, reading, visiting, writing, and my proudest achievement, finally mastering, to a degree, the operation and secrets of the computer, the internet, and how to stay one step ahead of her...."Tony come down here, the bin need emptying", to hear is to obey.

Tony Levy

Wolverhampton