summer – Retirementally Challenged

After taking a 2+ month “spring break” from my blog, it’s time to jump back in again. The season seemed to fly by and now those of us in the northern hemisphere are about to welcome the official beginning of summer.

I used some of my hiatus decluttering and organizing, but most of it was spent traveling (more on that soon, but suffice it to say that it involved planes, trains, and several time zones).

Something I wouldn’t see again for over two months.

Back in late March, not only did I stop posting but I turned off all the blogs in my feed so I wouldn’t get post notifications. The upside was that I enjoyed a less crowded email inbox and lots of freed up time every day. The downside, of course, was that I missed the connections… after all, that’s why most of us blog, right?

I hope to re-connect with everyone soon, but it may take a while. When I temporarily turned off the blogs in my feed, I thought I would be able to easily switch all the “unfollows” back to “follow.”

Well, best laid plans and all that…

Unfortunately, my blogroll has now disappeared from my dashboard and I will have to recreate it the best I can. Looking on the bright side, it will give me a chance to make a few adjustments. So many blogs I was following (60+… yikes!) had become inactive or had content no longer relevant to me.

So… hello again. I hope spring was as enjoyable for you as it was for me. I am looking forward to catching up.

Most people mark the beginning of summer in June on the Solstice, or when the kids get out of school, or when the weather turns reliably warm. But, for many people who live in my city – especially those of us who are retired or have flexible schedules – our summer begins after Labor Day.

After months of sharing our city with visitors and putting up with roving packs of teens and pre-teens, all of a sudden a kind of quiet descends over us. Most of the tourists have gone back home, the kids are starting back to school, and we look forward to what is often our best weather in September and into October. We rejoice that our beaches are far less crowded, restaurants are quieter, and we no longer have to share our favorite hang outs with the masses.

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And, it gets even better: even though we will celebrate the Fall Equinox on September 22 this year, Daylight Savings mercifully doesn’t end until November 6. Then, it’s just over a month until the Winter Solstice, after which the sun begins to make its way north again and daylight hours start to get longer and longer.

Even though we continue to struggle with the drought here in Southern California, I am so grateful that I live in an area where winter doesn’t mean months of snow, spring feels right around the corner even in September, and the delights of summer can often be enjoyed well after those living in colder climates have traded their flip flips for boots.

I’d also be very grateful for a good dose of rain, though.

Tag: summer

So… did I miss anything?

GratiTuesday: Our summer has just begun!