Retirement Reading
For 46 years, I worked. Right after high school, it was a grueling, low-paying job at a plastics factory—midnight shift. A few years later—a bank, first as a teller and eventually as assistant to the president. Then—a university and its public radio station. Finally, a consulting gig.
In these jobs, I always was bound to someone else’s ideas, priorities, strategies…although I often was able to introduce and achieve my own goals. Also always…I found ways to include writing in my work. Letters. Speeches. Reports. White papers. The list goes on and on.
But now I am completely retired from those shackles and have turned my attention more fully to my own writing.
As it turns out, a pandemic is a great time to write. What else will I do? Well…of course…read! And hike!
I typically have a minimum of 4 books going at once: 1 audio book on my iPhone…1 “book” book…1 book on my iPad…and 1 book of poetry. I find it easy to keep many storylines going at once and turn from one to the other as I do different things in the day. When the light is “good” (lots of natural light), the book-book is my preference. When I’m moving around the house or (less frequently during the pandemic) in the car, I prefer audio books. At night or early in the morning, the book on my iPad works best. When I read poetry, I like to absorb the poems slowly and over many days, and I like to read them out loud.
The past three days were a complete luxury as I read Robert Galbraith’s new murder mystery Troubled Blood (Galbraith is the pseudonym for J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame—terrific books…AND great audio versions with Jim Dale narrating). I never thought of myself as a lover of mysteries, but…well…there you have it! I like knowing that the conclusion will be a tidy summation…a gathering of threads into a finished product. Unlike this pandemic, which leaves me unsettled, frightened, and concerned, a mystery is bound to end on a positive note.
I have not read so luxuriantly since I was a teenager and read all night long. Now, with no particular pull on my time and the days growing shorter, I snuggle into a comforter in my living room, sipping tea and reading. It is a pleasure, particularly when I find a great page turner.
Having finished this Galbraith’s newest book, I’m back on the hunt for another book…
