A child lives within both of us

All our lives we had jobs and worked, starting at 12 years of age. At times we had more than one job, and at times more than two.  They were all good jobs, we worked hard, and we learned something from each job, even our junior and senior high school babysitting, waitressing, and grocery bagger jobs.  We made friends at work (some of them have been lifelong friends).  We both felt good about our work and were proud of what we accomplished.

But when we retired, we never looked back, and said, “I wish I was still working.”  

We knew that our work was a job, and someone else would fill our shoes when we left, and maybe even bring in new ideas and do our job better than we had.

We’re in our mid-seventies, and now every day feels like a summer vacation day.  But our summer vacation is one that will never end, until the day that we die.  We don’t work—we play, all day long, every day.  We wake up in the morning and say, “what do you want to do today?”  We are like children and spend every day playing and having adventures.

All these adventures we’ve had during our lazy days this summer are within 15 miles of our cabin in the little village of Pine.

We cycle or hike.  And on our “rest days” we play ping pong, walk, and dance.  

Every afternoon we sit together outside on our deck, just enjoying each other, working on our projects, and watching the elk and deer walk down the road in front of our cabin.  One of the reasons for purchasing a cabin in the mountains is so we could be outside even during the afternoons. 

Towering two thousand feet above Pine is the Mogollon Rim.  The Rim stretches west two hundred miles from New Mexico to Camp Verde, and north past the Grand Canyon to Utah. Virtually the entire Rim is public lands.  It is an awesome playground for Dan and me.

Here is a view of Pine from the Rim—this spot was only 15 miles from Pine by car, and then 2 miles hiking through meadows and a beautiful pine forest!

Here are some of the adventures we’ve had together in the last few weeks…

Every day for the rest of our lives we will wake up holding each other, smile, and say, “what do you want to do today?”  We will decide on something fun to do, and then go outside to play together.  This is our life….and it is a splendid life!