Getting Old and Moving Away

 <---- This is one of the things I miss with this getting old thing. I really miss wine. It no longer agrees with my stomach. It is off the list of relaxation activities. On the plus side, a nice cold beer is still welcomed by my tummy and I have adjusted to that. 

Wine replacement

Another thing about getting on in years is my inability to work in the sun. I can still enjoy sitting in it. I can totally enjoy the beach in full sun or with an umbrella, but gardening must now be done in small doses or on cloudy days.
I can't take a walk in the middle of a hot and sunny day either. I walk at least 5 days a week and sometimes every day, but it is now at 8pm or so to avoid collapsing in a sweaty heap along my way. I am, however, grateful that walking is still in my portfolio of "can do" activities. It is very refreshing and revitalizing and I need some sort of exercise since I'm not fond of that "sport."

from my evening walk

Moving has caused some losses not associated with aging. Like this little ones birthday yesterday.  

She turned 9 yesterday without us. ---->

This is the fourth birthday we have not been in Michigan to celebrate. There will be many more. We've only been here 6 months.







The fourth of July has always been a day filled with Heroux family and a lot of food, drink and more catching up with each other than any other time. The laughing is unending and the smiles fill the day. This year we didn't make the party. It was hard. Hard to be here and thinking of all of them. I texted a niece I was pretty sure would have her phone on and she sent some really awesome pics. We both smiled just seeing them. It was a huge help to be electronically included. Love her for doing that. 

Just a small section of the gathering

We find our move to be such a mixed bag. Nothing has been as big a shock though as finding all of our neighborhood to be loners. They are friendly and polite and smile and wave while adding a cheery "Hi," but that is it. There is no interaction. No socializing. No standing outside in the yards and talking. They just don't. Not with each other and certainly not with us. It's crazy!

When I'm walking I often see people outside. So being the person I am and wanting to make friends out of my neighbors, I stop walking and try to strike up conversations. They are always very nice and some have even talked a few minutes, but it ends there. I have to actually ask their names. They have never introduced themselves to me even though I walk by their home every day. They know where I live, they know we are new here, they know my name because I introduce myself immediately. The response is almost always, "Nice to meet you." Not, mind you, giving me their name. I think two people have actually returned their first name in the exchange and I have done this many times. We are wondering if we might do better in a retirement sub. There are many around us in this same area, which we love, and seriously have discussed putting the house back on the market and moving to where we might actually be able to have friends. It appears that doesn't happen in this sub.

Then again, we are going to have new neighbors to our north soon enough. The lots are being prepped for clearance and maybe one or two of those five lots might be people like us with no ties here who would enjoy dinner company or an invitation to go somewhere now and then. We might wait and see how this develops. Moving really doesn't sound fun, to be honest. But it's not out of the question.

We are also planning more trips north next year. At the very least, one longer trip of a few weeks, maybe two, at least and they will be mid-summer when the kids are not in school.  

We both feel like we have just fallen into a rut of a sort, doing basically the same things every day and forgetting sometimes that we live in paradise now and we do have the freedom to drive around and see things. Hang out on the beach as often as we like and yes, we do these things, but we agree we need to do more of it. Pity parties only really happen when we stagnate. 

Did I mention getting old also means we have to talk each other into going someplace because that means getting up, cleaning up a bit and actually going to the car? Okay in fairness, Roomy is always ready to go, it's me who needs encouragement to leave my porch.
I'm working on getting over that one. Florida has far too much to offer to never leave the screen porch. Although, that is still a little slice of heaven for me. 

Jo