I’m back in the retirement routine today, enjoying my boring old self.  I got up at my normal time of 6 a.m. to do dog duty followed by my daily run.  I’m still a little stiff and sore, but stepped it up a bit from yesterday.  It’s a domestic duty day of vacuuming, dusting, and meal preparation, while my wife goes into work.  She was home sick yesterday, so what was initially planned as routine “my time” was really more “our time.”   I need to get my glasses fixed, but that would require a drive to Sears Optical that just isn’t going to happen.  Both sides of my glasses broke-off last Friday just before I did my first relay leg and everything was a bit fuzzy most of the weekend.  The only problem was at night when I literally had to be led by the shirttail from the finish line of my second leg of the race to the van.  We had to do the night runs with a headlamp and flashing vest for safety purposes, but once that light was turned out I could not see in the darkness.  Night vision seems to be the first thing to go in old age.  Fortunately, I had a second pair in my car that I was able to retrieve on the way home from the Coast Sunday.

I’m cooking a 5 1/2 pound whole chicken on the grill for dinner tonight.  A Diet Coke can will be inserted in its cavity to elevate it above the heat surface while suppying moisture from the inside.  This will assure a low and slow cooking process.  Technically, it’s Beer Can Chicken, but a pop can works equally as well, since it doesn’t add flavor only moisture.  I also get to drink two-thirds of the can, so the caffeine will help keep me awake.  A beer would have definitely put me in an afternoon coma.  I’ll get an opportunity to sit outside and read some more of the Bill Veeck:  Baseball’s Greatest Maverick book.  I finished both Y is for Yesterday and House of Spies to clear my busy reading schedule.

Because I just turned 66, the meaning of that number has captured my attention.  In numerology every number has its own specific interpretation, and if combined with other numbers, different messages are made.  These combinations are called “Angel Numbers,” as our guardians try to communicate with us.  6 alone is considered a maternal number and is used to deal with issues of compassion, charity, family, and relationships.  The number 66 duplicates the 6 message and becomes very powerful.  It means that I am entering a harmonious time in my personal life.  My spiritual guides are putting my mind at ease.  I share this year with Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Charo, Ed Harris, Jane Seymour, Joe Lewis, Kirstie Alley, Kurt Russell, Cheryl Ladd, Tony Danza, Dudley Moore, Indira Gandhi, Ken Kesey, Lynda Carter, Phil Collins, Ace Frehley, Al Franken, and Davy Jones to name a few of my more famous contemporaries.

These nosy spirits are certainly right today!  I’m no longer worried about training or running the Hood to Coast, an event that drained a lot of my energy.  I can start to develop a new focus and allow my spiritual side to blossom.  I already like the new me, as I’m “Back in the saddle again!” Gene Autry and Ray Whitley wrote it, while Aerosmith wrote and recorded a more modern version in 1976.  I’m riding that horse into the retirement sunset.

In some previous posts, I wrote about “What’s in a Name?”  (See #136 and #137).  In this case, What’s in a Number?  When I think of the number “66,”  I immediately recall Phillips 66 and Route 66.  They are, in fact, connected.  In 1927, the Phillips Petroleum company’s gasoline was being tested on U.S. Highway 66.  When the car’s speed hit the 66 mph mark, considered fast at that time, the new fuel was named Phillips 66, after the founders Lee and Frank Phillips of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  Phillips  Petroleum, celebrating 100 years this year, is now headquartered in Houston, Texas.  I bet they wished they had stayed in Oklahoma, where it’s dry, instead of underwater in Houston.

“Route 66” has become my theme-song this year.  (See Post #220)  I also wrote this little poem:

Route 66

On Route 66.

Lincoln sites.

We got our kicks,

We’ve seen the lights.

 .

Tulsa and OKC,

Custard at Ted Drewes.

From Hollywood Stars,

To Chicagoland Blues.

 .

Haven’t driven this road,

From End-to-end.

But Route 66,

Is like an old friend.

 .

A TV show,

Main Street USA.

The Mother Road,

Show us the way.

 .

It’s my 66th year,

On the highway of life.

The best of this journey,

Is you, as my wife.

 .

I had some bad turns,

Spark plug misfires.

Got lost a few times,

Fixed some flat tires.

. 

It’s been a long drive,

But I’m nearing the end.

Would still like to know,

What’s round the bend?

.

There’s a lot yet to see,

And places to go.

We’ll travel the world,

Let our bucket list grow.

 .

When we run out of road,

We’ll take to the air.

Cruise over water,

An adventurous pair.

 .

See the wide world,

Hand-in-hand.

Travel the lengths,

Of this great Land.

 .

Copyright 2017

johnstonwrites.com