Usually when I sit down to write here I choose to explore the mundane and ordinary; you know, my life. A good day, like this one, would include some exercise, something good to eat, quiet time with the husband and not so quiet time with the great grandkids and a glass of good wine before bed. Today I also had a phone visit with my brother in Tampa talking about the coming hurricane.

My brother has been in Tampa since he graduated from college about fifty years ago so he has hunkered down to ride out a storm or two and has it down pat. In his younger days he would have a hurricane party with friends but we are more mature now and don’t party as much or as hard. Still, from up here in Kentucky I get a bit concerned.

My neighborhood is just as ordinary as I am. When my children were young and in school the houses on our block mostly had families with children who ventured from one house to another to play and rode their bikes all over our little town. This was in the 70’s when kids knew to get home before the streetlights came on and every parent was a host to all the kids their children knew. Now all those kids are approaching middle age and the houses in my neighborhood are mostly the dwelling place of folks who live alone. Across the street is a single father with teenagers, three widows and one elderly couple, no kids. On my side of the street we have a couple next door on one side and an elderly single man on the other. Behind us there is a single man and an empty house where the widower died a few months ago. It’s mostly quiet here. It’s an easy place to be.

I wouldn’t want to appear terribly dull. We do go places and do things. There are festivals of many kinds here at our park and in nearby towns that we like to attend. I particularly like finding good music and maybe a drink or two to wile away an evening. We have a boat moored at a marina on Kentucky lake and spend summer days soaking up sun and making boat trips to lakeside villages for a meal or event. When we travel it usually includes visiting family or friends. With my brother in Tampa and our son in New Hampshire we have toured some great places with each of them. It’s nice to be retired and able to just go if so inclined. Some days we get in the car, pick a direction, and drive. Maybe see a road that we haven’t been down, so we go to see where it winds up. Once found a farm down a country lane that makes cheeses and ships them all over the country. The smoked gouda is my favorite. Only once that I can recall we actually got lost and saw a whole lot more of Southern Illinois than planned.