Grugger’s Way

Joys of Retirement FOUR - the Joy of Hearth and Home

I had never equated “joy” with being home before, but since joy is the subject I am addressing these days, I certainly have to include the enjoyment of Hearth and Home as a joy that I have discovered since retirement.

I never realized how little time I really spent at home. When I was employed full time I worked about 50 hours a week.  Add commuting time to that and I was gone about 55 hours a week.  If one wants to talk about quality time remaining to enjoy “home,” we probably ought to subtract at least two hours a day for “getting ready” and “chores” that have to be done every single day.  During the winter months here in Montana, it was dark when I left for work and dark when I returned home.  My wife and I did not stay up late into the night (we both worked), so we had about three hours together each day.  (I think back to the days when there were children in the house, and we really didn’t have ANY time to ourselves then.)

So…back when I worked full-time, weekends were pretty much IT when it came to free time and the enjoyment of “hearth and home.”  But, being realistic, weekends also meant chores.  We spent most of our time working.  If we took a trip anywhere, it had to be short because we would have to find some other time to make up for the chores we didn’t finish.  What a rat race!  I never even realized what a rut of a life we had worked ourselves into.

Did I enjoy it? Umm. Didn’t know any better.  You have to have something to compare it too, and that was the only life I had known for…what…FORTY-SOME YEARS!

So here I am, mid-morning, retired now, and the pets are fed, the garbage taken out to the street, the wife is off to work, and I sit here in front of a computer screen.  Well, I did a lot of this before retirement too, but now it is by choice.  I can get up and do something else any time, so there is comfort in that.  I enjoy my extra time at home immensely.  I ought to capitalize the word “IMMENSELY.”  This is the best time of my life.  I enjoy my morning coffee and newspaper.  I enjoy watching the wildlife wander by.  I enjoy messing around with the pets. (They are finally getting used to having me around.  The five of them were pretty much in charge around here most of the time.) I enjoy watching the weather changes…I see the clouds forming on top of the mountains, the wind picking up and the first rain drops falling.  This is leisure.  This is life.  I think I will shop for something to have ready for dinner when the wife returns tonight…perhaps I will fire up the bar-b-que and surprise her with wild salmon grilled the way she likes it.  This is the way I envisioned retirement; I saw it and it was good.

Clouds form above Morman Peak in the Bitterroot Range of Montana

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