Step-by-step….Day-to-day….is the way I try to live in retirement. I call it the “Day-to-Day-Way.” It’s always 5,470 steps to start each day on the run, followed by 10-hours to myself until my wife gets home from work. She usually has things planned out in detail for our evenings and “her” weekends. To me, there are no vacations, holidays, or weekends – every day is the same in my world. I finished my errands yesterday and watched Carpet MD clean our stone floors and Oriental rugs. I then cooked some cheeseburgers on the grill and served them over a bed of lettuce and tomatoes. It’s the first Birthday Eve dinner I’ve ever cooked for my wife. I promised her I would cook at least once in week while she was still working and I was retired. She’ll join me in three years. 

I won’t travel again for another two weeks, so my daily routine will remain consistent. This will include a lot of television and some reading. I just finished watching the Barry series with the dry humor of Bill Hader and Henry Winkler, and have since moved on to Treme, the sad story of New Orleans and its recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Our last visit to the “Big Easy” was Thanksgiving eight years ago, nearly six years after the devastating storm. The French Quarter seemed to have recovered in that time, at least on the surface, but the rest of the city still had a long way to go. We enjoyed the parades that accompanied the Bayou Classic and Battle of the Bands.

The HBO stories focus on the “Second Line,” brass bands that follow the main section of a parade, along with dancers twirling handkerchiefs and parasols. They also accompany funeral processions – a tribute to loved ones who never see that next day. This is a sober reminder that eventually the “Day-to-Day-Way” ends, so it’s important enjoy each day to the fullest. I try to blend exercise, dog outings, sports, educational/entertaining TV, and family dining into each special day. I’m loving today – how about you?