next step in my current saga

 Retirement as summer ends

I retired from teaching mid-June,

through July, and now into August,

people persist in asking how I'm doing with retirement,

I've often responded:

"It's summer, so there's little change,"

now as the school year gets going,

I appreciate the lack of marshaling calls for my time and attention,

the lack of time and circumstance to drive my hours,

I still have projects that call out to me

and can fill hours with exercise,

with writing, with reading,

with getting something done,

at school I still clerk a committee,

so I can lead and follow as we celebrate our 60th year:

I work hard to capture and share

who the school has been and still is for its alums,

to challenge current staff to tell their stories

and share them and learn from each other,

in the projects of who we were and who we are

we can better aim for who we will be,

at home neglected parts of the house call to me

to finally sort through and organize piles and places that need it,

I am studying German some for a trip to Germany in September,

when our son runs in the Berlin Marathon,

I both want to savor not being driven

and still find all the ways I can to discipline myself

so that I feel good about each day.

by Henry H. Walker

August  22, ‘24