Clark recently realized that he had not written a blog post since
November 16th. He hopes everyone is happy, healthy and wise (wealthy
as well, which would not apply to him).
Clark has definitely been enjoying his retirement, although
he does become concerned occasionally that he does not do much of anything
worthwhile these days. That wasn’t a problem when he first retired, because he
seemed to have lots of things to do around the house and he attended many
events in Sioux Falls, including: the annual suicide prevention walk, Sioux Falls
Canaries (baseball) games, movies, arts festivals in Brookings and Sioux Falls,
concerts, a couple of trips to Fargo to visit Zeb, and other activities. However
over time, Clark has discovered that he doesn’t need to be as busy with
activities as he was when he first retired. Recently he has learned to enjoy a
more leisurely pace.
He also enjoys spending more time with Pat. However, he has
noticed that she does not always want him following her around the house and
constantly yacking about some stupid or annoying topic, such as: Donald Trump;
The weather; What he believes needs to be done to the house (all of which will
probably never get done); Donald Trump!; How much chicken breasts cost these
days; The fact that it only takes 20 minutes to drive to the nearest Walmart;
Donald Trump!!; What strange vinyl record he just listened to (such as The
Fabulous Fabian, which he listened to recently and pronounced it to be a really
bad experience); Which vinyl records he is seeking to purchase; Where are the
pants he wore yesterday and wants to wear again today; Donald Trump!!!; What
are we going to do today; Why he has been keeping one of his socks (with a hole
in it) on top or the dresser in the bedroom for a few months, Donald Trump!!!!;
etc.
Pat and Clark try to keep in shape by walking when the
weather cooperates during the spring, summer and fall. They like to walk, with
their three little dogs, along the fourth fairway of the golf course and past
the green to the tee of the fifth fairway and the wooded area beyond and then
back home. They used to walk a much longer trek that also took them along the fifth fairway and then back home on a neighborhood street, but these days both of
them and the dogs are usually not up for that longer walk. Of course South
Dakota winters are not very friendly to us casual walkers, so their outdoor
walks have pretty much ended until spring returns.
Believe it or not Clark has gotten older, but he doesn’t
like to admit it. However, he has also developed some nagging health problems, which
are currently being controlled fairly well. He doesn’t quite have the stamina
that he had only a few years ago. He doesn’t like that at all! However, “It’s
Hell to get old, but it’s better than the alternative.”
Clark and Pat must hype themselves up to endure a rather
extreme weather environment during the next few days. About 4-6 inches of snow
along with a deep freeze of below -20 degrees and strong winds are expected.
When they first moved to South Dakota back in the early 1980s they experienced
temperature extremes like that many times and even more extreme temperatures
down to -30 degrees. However, it seems like a long time since they have endured
temps lower than -15 degrees, although they certainly have endured many snow
storms that dumped a foot or more on their driveway and sidewalks. Living in
South Dakota requires rugged determination and thankfully, Clark has a big snow
blower!
Clark tries to ignore the climate and pursue whatever strange
activities (within the limits of decency) that pop into his head, although pursuit
of many of those activities turns out to be very disappointing. However, he
pacifies himself with his vinyl collection, which is expanding at a threatening
rate. Unfortunately for Clark’s Facebook friends, he likes to post some of the
albums that he listens to on Facebook, which allows him to try to tempt his
friends to listen to the albums and comment on them, whether they like them or don’t
like them, etc. Anyway, the expanding vinyl collection is eating away at the family
room and Clark already stores some of the vinyl under the pool table. He may
need professional help with his vinyl addiction! Although Pat seems unconcerned about the
whole vinyl-hoarding situation, probably because it distracts Clark from
following her around the house.
This morning Clark could not find his eyeglasses, which he usually places on top of a small bookshelf in the bedroom before he retires. Since he gets up earlier than Pat, he had to quietly search the bedroom for them this morning. Although Clark is not exactly the calmest (or quietest) person when he is frustrated, and his frustration increased while he continued to search all over the house including several different trips to the bedroom. He was sure that Pat was awakened by all the ruckus (and the sighs) while he was in and out of the bedroom several times looking. However, Pat refused to get involved with the frantic search process and just kept her eyes closed during the process. He finally found the glasses in the bathroom attached to the bedroom and Pat is still sleeping as he writes this.
Take care,
Sincerely Clark
