In the words of the Rolling Stones, we’re living in troubled times:

“When all I hear is doom and gloom
And all is darkness in my room
Through the light your face I see
Baby take a chance
Baby won’t you dance with me”

My baby and I are dancin’ off to Phoenix, despite viral threats, stock market woes, earthquakes, and travel advisories. “The Show Must Go On,” although there are rumors that the upcoming Rolling Stones tour could fall victim to COVID-19, as has Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, South by SXSW, Coachella, and the Pearl Jam tour – just to name a few big events. Many of my friends decided not to join us in Arizona, so I’m feeling the risk of leaving home. However, I’m just getting over a terrible cold and the sunshine is what I need. I’ve been foolish before!

It’s Curse of Oak Island Day, following an evening of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. I know what day it is only by the show I’m watching. It’s called boredom, that needs an occasional dose of travel. We have plans to be gone at least a week of every month this upcoming year. This of course is subject to the “doom and gloom” that surrounds us. Can you escape by living your life in a bubble? I’m already in the retirement bubble, enjoying the luxury of not reporting to the office every day. I’ve earned the right to be lazy when I want and adventurous when I’m not a couch potato. 

I fulfilled my cooking obligation last night with a dinner of duck and cream corn. It was simply a matter of baking our Hoosier-state-based Maple Farms favorite that we frequently have shipped. Even I can’t screw that up! I’ll get next week off from what is typically the most stressful thing I do in retirement. After all, I’ve managed to stay out of the kitchen most of my life, so it’s both foreign and intimidating. Wine helps take the edge off before, during, and after the preparation process. It pairs well with duck!

Today will be spent printing boarding passes and packing, along with a couple of follow-up visits with vets. Our schnauzer Tally has a heart murmur and has hopefully fought-off some parasites. Pet.Vet. Debt. She’ll spend the week with a new dog sitter here in the apartment, still adapting to being an only dog after the loss of Tinker a few months ago. She’s now surpassed me in age at 70 dog years, while age naturally leads to more medical bills. Tinker lived to be well over 100 and was a constant drain on the pocketbook. Since canines age faster than we do, seven years for every one of ours, they become a reality check on mortality. I would like to think that I have a lot more to look forward to than “doom and gloom!”