Retirement is truly incredible.
It is taking some time to adjust to the freedom. I find I am adjusting well. A typical day is a relaxing breakfast, playing guitar or banjo for an hour or so, going for a bike ride, doing some writing and catching up on books and movies that I’ve been meaning to get around to. I see friends, family and play a lot of poker
One thing that has changed radically is watching T.V. Working long hours meant little television. Truth is it never really interested me that much. It wasn’t long ago that I discovered BBC America. I found great shows like Luther, Top Gear, Torchwood, Life on Mars and Dr. Who.
At night I sit and work on a song that I want to learn like Sally in the Garden. I take a musical phrase and play it over and over until it becomes part of me. I have the T.V. on and I find the distraction helps with the repetition.
Couple weeks ago we were watching Animal Planet and a new show came on and I was gobsmacked. The show is called Hillbilly HandFishin’. The gist of the show is people pay money to a couple of guys who take them out to body of water where they stand in the mud and stick their hands or feet in holes where large catfish are. These fish can be anywhere from five to sixty pounds. The fish bites down on your appendage and you yank it out. The people claim it is like being hit in the hand or foot with a hammer. Many of the hands come out bloodied with skin missing. It’s called hand fishing or noodling.
I went online and found they charge $350 a day per person not counting food and lodging. I was planning on taking the wife on a cruise but for the same money we can stand in a muddy river and stick our hands in holes and get bit by slimy fish. It’s a toss-up. We’ve been married twenty-seven years and I may have to save it for our thirtieth anniversary.















