Simplicity

This past Friday at 5pm my intent to retire from Penn State became irrevocable.  At the end of June I’ll step on to a path for the next adventure.  One of the siren songs of this new life is possibility of having no schedule to live by.  I can’t comprehend what that might be like.

Last weekend I rode into town to meet my friend Paul at Saint’s Cafe and look at some new photographs he made in Nova Scotia.  The simplicity of a cup of tea reminds me of what retirement could be — an opportunity to focus on one thing at a time without a chorus of mental heralds shrieking a list of times and places I have to be.

Vespa Riding

The ride from home to town is familiar.  So much so that I have to heed that I don’t become complacent on the road.  My back still hasn’t recovered sufficiently to entertain long rides.  Four posts in September attest to the physical limitations I’m working with.

I’ve been looking at motorcycles again with an eye to adding one to the garage when I retire.  While partial to the Vespa scooter it surprises me how little excitement I can generate for any particular motorcycle.  The scooter has wrecked me for them perhaps.

Saint’s Cafe, State College, Pennsylvania

Even though the physical space remains the same, and often times I see familiar faces, Saint’s Cafe is like an ongoing story with twists and turns you can’t predict.  I never know what I’ll see or experience.  Can’t imaging growing tired of the place.

Retirement will test that theory.  And I’ll test it again in the morning.

I have a schedule to keep tomorrow.  Ugh…