Even though I retired from my daily editor’s duties a few weeks ago, my first official day off was the day I wrote this column. And I have to say, that’s when I realized that from now on, every day will be the weekend. Instead of the usual scramble to get in a 3-mile walk and a coffee stop before 8 a.m., I woke up leisurely—the way I vaguely suspected other people got to do. Then it was off to an aerobic swim class at Shaw Park in Clayton. (It still counts as exercise if you’re really there to sunbathe, right?)
Turns out swim instructor Peggy was a drill sergeant, but then, that’s what exercise teachers are supposed to be. No paddling softly in the shallow end during this class. At 9:30 a.m., we hit the water and didn’t stop moving until she said so. Twist it. Twist it. Hold those abs in tight. You’re going home with stronger abs tonight! Well, not all of us; she really couldn’t see what we’re doing under the water. I learned several things that first hour of retirement. On the plus side, I can do karate kicks and jump rope in the pool! On the downside, I do not have what it takes to be a Navy Seal.
The water works up quite an appetite, so next up was ‘out for brunch’—words that have never passed my lips on a weekday. Apparently it’s a thing. I didn’t realize how many other folks all across the country were sitting in restaurants during the week, eating pancakes. Now I can be one of them.
The afternoon was a little less leisurely: I actually had to do some work—a meeting, some writing, obligatory reading … but that’s OK. I wouldn’t want to enjoy all my retirement ‘firsts’ at the same time. After all, too much of a good thing, is, well, another way to describe retirement.