Life in Retirement: Good so Far

Since my Sept. 1, 2019 retirement, it’s been my pleasure to encounter a good number of folks who told me that they miss reading Compass Points. Writers never know how many people a story or column will touch, but the people who have approached me in stores and elsewhere have amazed me.
I’m occupying Managing Editor Erin Ledwon’s chair, while she enjoys a well-earned vacation, thus the notion of penning another column seemed normal as frost on the windshield.
Retirement has been good thus far. As one lady, who immediately recognized me in a supermarket, and who was similarly retired said, “It’s the best-kept secret.” She had something there.
I’ve come to appreciate the late Editor Joe Zelnik’s comical T-shirt that announced, “I’m a Senior. Give me my damn discount.” I look for bargains and sale items more now than before retiring. The dollar has taken on more meaning since there are fewer of them, but who knows what tomorrow may hold?
I cherish the unhurried life, getting up when it’s light, not when the alarm rings, taking bicycle rides when the weather permits, and lingering over lunch doing Scrabble Solitaire on my tablet. My best score was in the high 400s, which means absolutely nothing except that I, fortunately, found links with words having a Q or Z.
Retirement also means no “gray clouds” appear over one’s head on Sunday evening. Monday has become merely the day after Sunday, not a looming threat to freedom.
Faithful readers have seen some photos with my byline. That’s because, like sand in one’s shoes or printer’s ink in one’s veins, the love of photography has taken on more meaning.
Free time in retirement has allowed me to do some traveling to my beloved Virginia. We have gazed once again upon the marvel of Chincoteague and the ponies that help feed the town’s tourism base. Another sojourn took us to Virginia Beach, where I was white-knuckled driving in traffic that was akin to that in Philadelphia.
We’ve traveled up Route 13 through Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. I was amazed to see the farmland and open space that remains along that busy highway. I can’t drive through those states without comparing them to the Garden State.
Taxes pop into my mind first. In Virginia, my humble Court House abode would likely carry a property tax of maybe $500 a year; that would be just over half of what I pay a quarter locally. In Delaware, there is no sales tax. To boot, the roads in those states are, in my estimation, surpass New Jersey’s highways hands down.
After spending two years in Oahu (Hawaii), while in the Navy, I realized that, when all was said and done, “paradise” was just another place. Spend time there, or any place and the luster wears thin.
Regardless, lower taxes are a big lure, always tempting.
That brought to mind our illustrious U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd), who has garnered media attention of late after his White House visit and handshake with President Trump.
He said of the New Jersey state government, when he worked for us in the 1st Legislative District, “We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.” Sort of like “payday rich folks,” let’s get rid of that loot as fast as possible.
Wise people understand that realizing a problem is the first step to solving it. From my living room recliner, I don’t believe there is “fire in the belly” by the Garden State’s legislators to nip that nasty spending problem in the bud.
Retirement has also taught me another lesson. There is a virtue in understanding that the voice I have is one vote on Election Day. It’s a pledge I made to myself aboard the USS Gallant (MSO 489) as we cruised up and down off the coast of South Vietnam. Thus far, it’s a vow I hold dear.
ED. NOTE: The author will resume retirement.