Adventures with friends and family

My younger brother S came, all the way from Washington (the state)! We get along really well but don´t see each other too often, what with living on opposite sides of the country. And since that distance is about to get further, I guess he decided it was a good time to visit.

We did fun things that do not photograph well. Cape Canaveral is three hours away, so we took a day trip and watched a SpaceX rocket launch. This was extra cool because S is a huge rocket nerd and regaled me with rocket knowledge so I could really understand what I was seeing. There were two communication satellites on board, but no people. We were able to get within seven miles, close enough to see the huge trail of glowing gases and then the exhaust as various stages fell off. I felt awed that we as humans are able to do things like this. I really want to go back if I can while I am in Florida, especially since S told me that Europe launches very few rockets.

We also visited the giant bat houses I´ve mentioned before. On warm nights, thousands of bats stream out at sunset to catch their dinners. The most impressive part was at the start, when a bird of prey caught an unwary bat in midair and carried it away for a meal. Sometimes you are the predator, and sometimes the prey.

Photo by Larry Hyler

I also recently visited the botanical gardens with my friends L and L. He is the avid photographer who took those great portraits a few months ago, and she is full of intesting stories. We posed for lots of shots among the greenery.

Photo by Rosa Colon

My friend R hosts occasional work weekends to help spruce up her large country property. I volunteered to use the electric pole saw to cut down unwanted vegetation. Picture three-foot-tall aloe vera plants with thorns - I´m not sure what they actually were but we decided to name them the Devil´s Arugula. They were massive and unpleasant to touch, and I got such a thrill chopping them up. It was a delightful afternoon, meeting new people and helping. My friend R has tons of friends and loves connecting them, and I am truly enjoying getting to know her.

Photo by Rosa Colon

A rest after the plant massacre.

I feel so happy that I have put down roots here and made friends like R and the L´s so quickly. Having time to devote to social events combined with interesting and receptive people in Gainesville has made such a difference. I hope I will be as equally successful in Madrid when I get there.

Retirement: One year in

The application is submitted, and now there´s nothing to do but wait two or three months for a response. In the meantime, I have lots of fun stuff to keep me busy in retirement, which I have been officially enjoying for one year this past February.

When I moved to Gainesville, I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. It´s a Women Build project, which means all the volunteers and construction personnel we work with are women. I love it. I am learning a ton of new skills and everyone is super supportive even when they are correcting your mistakes. The very first day I  showed up I learned how to use a nail gun and I was hooked, returning every Saturday that I am in town. The group completes one house per year, and so far I have learned door, soffit, and siding installation. I am sorry that I live in a place where not everyone has a home, so that this group is needed, but it is now one of the most enjoyable experiences of my week.

It has been a real surprise to me how social I can (and want) to be since I have retired. I have long known that I´m pretty introverted, and when I was working I was careful to have lots of down time to recover from all the personal interactions my job required. That meant that most evenings and weekends I´d be alone. Now that I don´t have to spend my social energy on work, I can socialize multiple times per week (and sometimes multiple times per day!) and still have time to recharge on my own. Friends drop into town or have a spare ticket for something, and I jump at the opportunity. It is truly delightful, and I am amazed that I have friends in Gainesville and friends in DC. Sometimes I feel like my friendship cup is overflowing, in the best possible way.

And just because, I got to attend a Holi celebration recently. It was as delightful as I expected. Maybe someday I can even experience this in India, although that´ll have to wait at least five years, when my visa no longer has such tight travel restrictions.