Retirement can do funny things to my time sense. Perhaps yours too. Ever since I was in kindergarten I've had a reason to know what day of the week it was, the date on the calendar, the season of the year. Even after retirement there was remembering which night a certain TV favorite show aired to help me keep oriented.
Things change. The last few years there have been my club obligations, knowing which days it was open, of those which were the days I was responsible to open the doors, when meetings or classes were. TV as a time setter tended to drop out because the DVR recorded shows, to watch whenever we felt like it. Then the writers' strike meant little new was there to watch anyway, and we branched out into networks which played multiple episodes of an old show together and it would take a while to get through them. Barring a doctor's appointment, or the 1st Wednesday Senior's Discount Day at the local grocery store each month, who cared when was when?
It has had jarring effects. I often find myself thinking it's a different season. Being without winters for many years helps, but I've always been much better oriented until recently.
Take elections. There is one upcoming in a few days. Just not right where we live. Phoenix has one, neighboring communities have some local ones. We don't. I noted to myself months ago I won't be voting in Arizona again. We'll be in Minnesota by then. (I'll have to figure out the logistics of moving and voting later: does AZ want us to officially say "Good-bye"? They automatically mail out ballots to us. It seems responsible to cancel.) Somehow, though, I'm disoriented each time I hear about the looming election because I am thinking it's about 6 months away. But this isn't spring. Where does that orientation come from?
Is it because everything else we're doing right now is geared towards heading north again, and that kind of planning usually happens spring of the year? Fall should have fall leaf colors but that doesn't happen around Phoenix. I had lots of fall colors just before we headed south, and spring up north would have meant lots of bare branches and sporadic snow, also not happening. I should have had the cues. Trees which keep their leaves down here are doing so. Or at least the ones that survived the heat. Our next door neighbor lost a very tall saguaro over the summer, but that doesn't signal me at all as to season. Neither do the temperatures, though we're finally dropping into the upper 80s. Ahhhhh.......
Heck, I haven't even stocked up on all the Halloween candy I usually stock up on this time of the year. It's not that we have any kids roaming this neighborhood of seniors, in costumes ringing the bell and asking for the candy. It would have all been just for us, and only the varieties we ourselves like, not what's available and cheap because somebody else is going to eat it instead of us. (What? You don't shop for Halloween candy that way, even it it's just the leftovers you get to eat?) It's just a convenience to have smaller pieces instead of a large one, as if taking three out of the bowl at once didn't make up for that difference... each of the three times a day we did it.
Even on the micro scale I'm disoriented today. First, we had to get up and out early to pick up groceries before coming back to open up the book / garage sale for the day. So no usual weekday morning TV. Not only did I think it was Saturday repeatedly through the day, then have to check myself, but by 10:00 I was convinced it must be afternoon and continued to be surprised when the sale customers and Steve kept greeting each other with "Good Morning." I had even done some yard work cleanup while the sale was getting going. It must be later, right? I checked my phone. It must not be keeping contact with the towers that transmit time. I shut it off, restarted, and it was still 10:00. I even asked Steve if his was turned on and to verify the time. Ditto!
Even late in the afternoon, time to start bringing a few things in for the night and tuck others back out of the way of the car to come in the driveway, I was thinking more of end-of-the-sale tasks instead of evening ones. We still had too much stuff left!!! Then I'd mentally kick myself again and remember we've been hoping for the Saturday crowd, people not retired who come into the area to scout the sales on their day off work. Hopefully, ones who read, and, in Arizona, are willing to admit it! Spending money is a bonus!
At least I won't have to worry about sleeping in and not opening the sale up on time in the morning. I'll be awake by 5 if not earlier. That internal clock for sleeping is pretty fubar as well.
Hmmm, no wonder geeezers tend to fall asleep in their chairs in the daytime. I used to find that funny, as if old folks were too feeble or something to stay awake more than a few hours. Granny snoozing in the rocker used to be a TV comic cliche'. I guess that idea still carries some weight. But shhhh, we don't have to tell anybody about that, now.
Do we?
No comments:
Post a Comment