Retirement Reflections Part 1
Retirement - So it begins
This is the first in a series of blogposts ruminating and reminiscing on life in retirement. June will always represent the beginning of summer for me. June 10th this year marked 3 years since I retired from teaching after 36 years in the classroom. It’s been an interesting journey for sure, not quite what I had imagined. I always figured retirement would allow me the time to do all those things I never had time to while working full-time and raising our boys. I didn’t have a specific plan laid out but we had a general idea. Downsize, sell the house, and spend a year in Hawaii to see if we really did want to move there.
Summer Fun
Monday, June 10, 2019, I closed up my classroom for the final time. We listed our house for sale on Tuesday and on Wednesday, boarded a flight to Hawaii. The plan was to spend some time with our son before he moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, kick off retirement with some sun, sea, sand, and a ride on a submarine. His submarine, the USS Santa Fe was changing homeport and moving from Pearl Harbor to Portsmouth where it would undergo scheduled maintenance. It was our last chance to visit him in Hawaii before he left and we were invited on a day-long Sub Cruise. We had a wonderful trip, the highlight being the ride, it was pretty magical getting to see life on the sub and our son at work.
The Pacific Northwest is beautiful in July! In between house showings, we relaxed and enjoyed the usual summer activities, motorbike rides, hiking, waterskiing, and a trip to Lake Billy Chinook with friends. The housing market was quiet but we figured we’d just enjoy the summer at home.
At the beginning of August, we made a trip to Annapolis to help our son house hunt. It was a whirlwind trip. We looked at so many properties in the first two days. He settled on a beautiful townhouse near the Naval Academy where he would be teaching for the next few years.
Aside from traveling, I was gradually starting to fill my days with passions long ago put on hold, playing the piano, taking harp lessons with a friend, and monthly lunches at the Bye and Bye with my Irish-speaking pals. I even started taking belly dance classes again. Retirement just felt like summer vacation, I was off for the summer anyway due to school holidays.
Fall Travel
September was our big trip home to Ireland. For the first time in years, we went for almost a whole month. It was great to not only visit with friends and family but also to have time to explore places we had not visited in years. The advantage of going in the fall meant attractions were less crowded. We spent time in Northern Ireland visiting family and my husband got to visit the Giant’s Causeway for the first time. We traveled to the West stopping in Sligo and Athlone and even packed in a weekend trip to Cambridge to visit my sister and nephew.
On our return, we made a trip to Bangor, Washington to visit our youngest and spent several days traveling back along the coast. Roger had a successful knee surgery and recovered well allowing us to make a trip back to Annapolis to help our other son move into his new home.
Back in Oregon, the house was still on the market, we had moved most of our belongings and furniture into storage in anticipation of moving and were living pretty minimally. We had bedroom furniture, a kitchen table and chairs, and a few old beat-up papasans from Pier One. It was not the most comfortable for those long wet days. So in December, we decided to escape the rain and cold in Oregon and head back to Hawaii for a few weeks before Christmas. It was heavenly, easy-going, and relaxing not having to prepare the house for showing and leave for several hours every few days. We spent time on the beach, visited Pearl Harbor and did a few hikes, and were back in Oregon in time for Christmas.
In between trips to see our sons and family, I continued to catch up on my wish list. I was enjoying belly dance classes with Deanna at Prana Bellydance, continuing harp lessons, and teaching Irish once a week. As the Irish Officer of our local Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Group, I was also organizing some Pop-Up-Gaeltachts in local pubs once a month. Retirement seemed to be falling into place but we still had not sold the house and felt we were in a bit of a holding pattern, not able to move forward until we finalized the sale.
Winter in Hawaii
By the end of January, the house started to weigh on us. Living in an empty house was fine during the summer when we were out and about most of the time, but during the long wet winter, it was no fun. As January came to a close, we were done and decided to just go back to Hawaii for a month. It was where we wanted to be. Why just go for two weeks when we did not have to be back for Oregon for any particular reason? We had family from Alaska traveling to Hawaii during February and this would be a chance to see them. We found a small place to rent right on the beach and left on February 3rd.
It was so nice to be back in the warmth, being able to have morning coffee right on the beach and take a walk whenever I chose was wonderful. We spent time with our Alaskan grandnieces and nephews, some of whom I was meeting for the first time. Our youngest son got back from deployment and managed to come to visit for a few days. We checked out some properties and looked at some areas we might consider living. All in all, we felt very blessed and figured the house would sell in due time. I even got to volunteer and help with the cacao harvest at 21 Degrees Estate and taste their delicious chocolate. n
Coronavirus Hits
On February 28, the first case of coronavirus was detected in our local elementary school, and they were closed for the week due to quarantine. We arrived home on March 4, on March 8 the governor declared a state of emergency, and on March 23, she issued a statewide stay-at-home order. Little did we know this would drag on for so long. Across the pond, in Ireland, they were facing similar restrictions. As seniors were even more restricted due to their susceptibility and because my 85-year-old father lived alone in the countryside, my siblings and I started a weekly Zoom Chat. We joined in from Cork, Limerick, Dundalk, the US, and the UK. It was nice to see them and catch up. Little did we know we would still be hosting these weekly chats over two years later with family chiming in from all over the world.
Spring Staycation!
Lockdown was the beginning of the Zoom era for sure. I hosted my Irish classes online, and both belly dance and harp lessons moved online. In an empty house, I was looking for things to do. I played a lot of piano, did a Couch to 5K program and eventually in June when restrictions were eased, escaped to the gym fully masked up and by appointment only.
It certainly was not quite where I expected to be a year into retirement. I did feel very fortunate to be retired and not have to navigate the workplace during the lockdown. I was thankful we managed to get in as much travel to see our boys and family as we did. Stay tuned for Retirement Year Two to see how the next year unfolded.
