There are a couple of guys in the parking lot arguing about whether the song they playing on the radio is is called Let’s Spend Time Together but I don’t tell them it is called Let’s Stay Together by Al Green.
That is because what they have on is Barry White and I am curious why they have the name wrong because satellite radio usually gives that information.
It occurs to me they might not have Sirius so maybe the mistake is my own presumption. Still I consider heading to my car to see if I can find it playing because I have Sirius.
I don’t go running over to check it out because it is silly. There are 1,968 stations and I might not come across it and it could still be on the FM dial.
That FM dial thought makes me laugh because there are no dials in cars any more and if there are, it is rare.
Probably have a few stations playing Gordon Lightfoot songs in slightly increased rotation. Somewhere in between muttering lyrics from Sundown and Carefree Highway I hear myself say something about starting a story whose end must wait and I shake my head.
That is not Gordon, but I relate to it anyway.
So I look up at the sky and say “Let’s spend time together, there is much to talk about and some opportunities ought to be explored.”
The Sounds Of Silence
No one answers which isn’t unexpected because no one is around when I say the words aloud and I remind myself that some habits from living alone haven’t faded.
It has been a hell of a day, slightly less busy than I was on my birthday but not enough for me not to feel like I want to find a beach and retire.
It is not that I dislike what I do it is that I have put in so many years there are moments where I am tired of having days where you have to grind it out.
Retirement isn’t something that is likely to happen in the next few years but it is no longer something that is so far away I cannot imagine nor picture it.
Dad retired at 59.5 but I don’t think I’ll match or beat that. I don’t see it is as a competition which is good because he had a different job and a compensation package that hasn’t been offered in decades.
I used to think he was really old when he hung up his spikes but definitely don’t feel that way now. That is not spitting distance yet but damn, if I blink twice it will be.
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So I think about what opportunities will come and what may not. Think about who I was, who I am and who I want to be and consider how to integrate it all.
I remember Dad talking about some of the changes he experienced in his fifties and understand some of what he said differently now.
It is funny sometimes to think about some of the evolutions I have seen and experienced.
There are days where in order to recognize my reflection I have to look at the eyes in the mirror more than the face.
Moments where I reaffirm that some conversations are best had in person so that you can look in their eyes, hear their voice and follow their body language.
Text can be so sterile.
It is easy to miss things and to be misunderstood. It is also easier for people to avoid talking about the important stuff and sometimes those conversations can’t be avoided.
You can put them off for a bit, but sooner or later they need to be had.
