About Tuesday

I recently heard that Vancouver is the second largest port, by volume, in
North America. Imagine! We have a beach full of kids right in our harbour.

Retirement: This time I mean it. Or do I?

I "retired" the first time in 1995. I believed I was "retiring" and I went into the decision thoughtfully: I visited three different financial institutions to be sure I could afford to "retire." And I believed I would never earn money again.

For the first few years of my retirement I travelled. I used my savings to finance ten months in India and three months in Africa. But then I started "working" again. I wrote my book, three plays and a screenplay. So my first "retirement" was really not retirement from work, but from working for others. Now I may have "retired" again: This time, from working for myself.

So far (after only two weeks), I am not finding life too challenging without a self-directed project. But then it has been supremely easy to enjoy life in the warmest, driest, sunniest Spring in Vancouver's recorded history. Winter is a different animal. The endless dark morning hours of winter are a killer.

I will have to determine something to do during the winter that does not involve the getting of attention. Attention seeking behaviour is my new anathema. A course seems perfect. I've been looking at Simon Fraser University's Writer's Studio and considering a year of working with them—there is both in in-class on online option to consider.

•

There are clouds filling the sky. They are thin, though, and it does not seem likely that it will rain. But I sincerely hope it does. It is heartbreaking to see so many plants dying in the park due to the drought we have been experiencing for the past two months.

On the plus side: We will have blackberries throughout July instead of August. That will be a first. They are already large on the vine, but green.

Also on the plus side: There is improvement in my right foot (thank God). There is still room for improvement, but I can walk without a limp now.