In retirement, time …

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life, Peace, Retirement, Time

I saw this question on the Blog of my good friend Dr Spo, the question was about time and retirement and how it is viewed all together. Are there weekends or Monday Mornings? No not at all. Time becomes very fluid and the old markers established by school or work life are gone. They are no longer important, you have all the time in the world in front of you and you decide how to use it.

I remember when I retired some 9 years ago now, that day leaving the Office for the very last time, never to return, passing through the doors and unto the street, it was like leaving prison. The next morning I did not have to get up, I did not have anywhere to go, I could stay in bed all day, do as I wished, no more constraints.

What I discovered since you simply re-organize your life around activities you set up for yourself, you can become as busy or lead a quiet life, it is all up to you. I was told that it was important to decide before retirement from an active work life, what you will do afterwards. To decide to do nothing is dangerous and can lead to depression and an early death, television/internet is not the answer.

I knew what I wanted to do and went after it. I became involved in activities I liked. You become the manager of your own time and not the one being managed by others who set your schedule.

So no there is no melancholic Sunday afternoons, no dreaded Monday morning or TGIF either, none of that matters anymore. In fact I find that I simply forget what day of the week it is and just do what I want. As I often say to people if I am waiting in line for service, I have no where to go so don’t worry, I’m retired. I think that in retirement you can be very happy and have no stress, just enjoyment, you make of your life what you want it to be. Work what a concept, someone invented it, but who?

Villa Borghese Park in Rome, a beautiful, peaceful place.

new cooking site and news

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Canada, Death, life, Prince Philip, Royal, Time

Almost every Saturday morning we go to the Farmer’s Market, we are lucky here on this Agricultural Island that we do have a lot of farmers, real ones, none of the phoney farmers seen in so many urban markets. We are also lucky that many people shopping around have developed a personal relationship with various suppliers for their eggs, poultry, lamb, beef, cheese, fresh produce, etc..

Today I bought some very nice cheeses and some fresh lamb for stew and a leg of lamb to roast. The various farmers have developed their products to be natural and free of hormones or other nasty products usually found in grocery store supplies.

We buy our meat from Steerman, he is the old style farmer, you buy from his farm and he can give you which ever cut of beef you want. Same with chicken from Larkin or lamb. With every purchase comes also a bit of a chat, it is customary to do so.

So we bought lamb for a stew and found this really fun recipe and one that looks easy to make. On YouTube at KITCHEN SANCTUARY, the recipe is called Lancashire Hotpot.

I also bought a turkey pot pie from Larkin’s and we will have that for dinner tomorrow.

Of course, we are still thinking of the death of Prince Philip yesterday, it seems that many thought he would live forever. He was for me a mainstay all my life. We did have the Queen Mother but this was different, she belonged to the time of her husband, King George VI.

Philip and Elizabeth were married 73 years, next week the Lieutenant Governor of PEI is coming to the Club to re-dedicate a portrait of HM taken in 1951 some 70 years ago when the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were on their first visit to Canada and PEI, Her Father only had about 3 months to live. What was not mentioned yesterday, it was the 16th Wedding Anniversary of Prince Charles and Camilla. The Queen’s birthday is in a few days and she will turn 95.

It was explained yesterday by the College of Arms or Heralds, that the title of the Duke of Edinburgh now passes to his son Charles, who is also Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay. When Charles becomes King, the Dukedom will be extinguished until such times as he gives it to another member of the Family. It is fully expected that the title of Duke of Edinburgh will go to his younger brother Edward the Earl of Wessex.

At the moment Prince Philip is lying at rest (not in State) in a chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Royal Memorial Service (not a State funeral) will be held at St-George’s Chapel at Windsor castle and not at Westminster Cathedral. Those were the wishes of the Prince who did not want any fuss as he put it. However he will have his Statue on the empty plinth at Trafalgar square in London in a few years time.

For the time being his coffin will rest in the vault of St-George’s Chapel until the Queen dies and then they will be buried together in a mausoleum on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Prince Charles now will assume even more responsibilities, he has taken over much of every day duties delegated by his mother the Queen, we have entered what seems to me as a transitory period. The video was made a few hours ago at Highgrove the Residence of Prince Charles and Camilla, about 90 minutes outside London

Time is only an illusion

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Apollo, Auld lang Syne, Canada., Einstein, FATE, Fortune, Hogmany, Hours, life, New Year, PEI, Poussin, Scotland, Time

This saying is by Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and here we are at the end of one year and the beginning of another.

This saying is quite true if you think about it for a moment, we today are neurotic about time and being on time, this is because we have watches and computers who constantly remind us of time. But think before watches became the thing for the majority of us, some 150 years ago, most people went about their lives according to the Sun and the Seasons. Most people only got access to cheap watches about 100 years ago and even then it was the modern equivalent of the latest technological iSomething, not really available to all.

Many cultures in the World today still measure time according to fashion, cultural norms, in Latin America you can be 90 minutes late for dinner and no one will pay any attention to it. In many places in the World time is something people agree upon, we will meet at such a place on this day without specifying a time, there is a cultural norm that says each party knows when it will be appropriate to meet, nothing more precise about it. I remember in the Levant where I lived, friends would say let’s meet for coffee and we all knew when to meet, or come for dinner and you knew it would be after 9pm.  Here we are obsessive about time and being on time and get quite angry if someone is late.

So we arrive at Hogmanay, the last day of the old year and we will bid it farewell with the poem Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns in 1788.

The song’s Scots title may be translated into standard English as “old long since”, or more idiomatically, “long long ago”,”days gone by” or “old times”. Consequently, “For auld lang syne”, as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as “for (the sake of) old times”.

The phrase “Auld Lang Syne” is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), Allan Ramsay (1686–1757), and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns. Matthew Fitt uses the phrase “In the days of auld lang syne” as the equivalent of “Once upon a time…” in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.

I hope that the New Year 2016 will bring good health, good Fortune, Sunny Days and good cheer!

Burns’ original Scots verse
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne*?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak’ a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.

Dance to the music of Time by Nicolas Poussin

It is a triangular composition with dark background which is blue and gray apart from beautifully highlighted golden chariot with Apollo, the god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy, medicine and healing and the arts. Below are four allegorical figures who have joined hands and are dancing, but, importantly facing outwards with their backs to each other. Poverty is a man in a black robe, Labour is is a bright white golden dress. Wealth and Leisure are also present.

The figures are choreographed into a ring which is the symbol of the circle and cycle of life.

Although the different circumstances of human life form opposites (hence they all have their backs to each other and cannot see each other) they are conditional upon each other as they execute the dance hand in hand. Without Poverty there would be no Work and with no Work, no Wealth, without which there would be no Leisure. In one corner there is Time and in the other we see the roman god Janus with two heads- one looking to the future, the other to the past.

Bonne Année! Happy New Year 2016!