A few weeks ago Fred blogged about his version of “ Afterlife.” The subject fascinated me . And so I’ve decided to put pen to paper and investigate this concept with a deeper dive . Fred , Paul and I have been touching on it superficially over the last few weeks . So here we go . Indulge me if you choose to .

We are talking about that period from which we retire or in other words quit working for the man so to speak and the final curtain.

How do we fill this time and how do we feel about it ? We all venture into this territory in a different way . I’ll be 75 in July . Let me tell you my strategy .

My strategy is no strategy . It’s been takin’ care of. I reap what I have sown . It all comes back at you brothers and sisters . The trick is to be at peace when you meet your maker. I’ve met mine once and maybe twice . I’m sure we will meet again.

So.... 60 years of hard work . Commitments . Marriages . Fatherhood . College . Military . Deadlines . Physicals . Check rides . Atlantic crossings . Pacific crossings . Over the North Pole . South of the Equator . Time Zones . AFTERLIFE !

I have no deadlines . No commitments . No anxiety .No guilt.  My biggest worry is who’s pitching for the Yankees tonight ? Tanaka I think .

Our master bedroom opens to a deck which encroaches the wilderness of a Redwood Forrest . The animals are my roll models . And they know it . We start at 3 AM with roosters . Followed by squirrels. Every bird you can imagine . The Hummers are my favorite . Yesterday a mother Doe and two babies came to say hello . The big dogs didn’t move a muscle . The Incense Cedar  trees and even the giant Poplar are dwarfed by Redwood “ volunteers” whose seeds blew in randomly yesterday and 100 years ago . The wild California Lilac abound . Ceanothus Diane tells me .

Oh yeah ..... Diane . Nothing was or is possible without Diane . A southern Minnesota farm girl . Solid  as they ever come . 70 years young and still carrying 50 pound bags of feed to the barn over her shoulder .

So yeah .... Afterlife . Head hits the pillow and I’m already asleep. Thinking of nothing. Accumulation of 7 kids and 6 grandkids ? Present and accounted for . Educated . Married . My mind remains a sponge in this thing Fred calls “ Afterlife “ I am blessed but a lesson learned and told . I did it the hard way . I earned it .