ladypatriot
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 121
I'm still adjusting to retirement (Retirement Date 12/31/2010), but enjoying it immensely! Now, I always had summers off (school year schedule) but now the fun won't end with Labor Day, and I can look forward to autumn and traveling when the crowds thin out!
But this post is about the unexpected delights of retirement. Upon retirement, I looked ahead to spending more time with my favorite hobbies and activities; but I have also discovered new interests and hobbies that I hadn't even imagined.
Several months ago, while wandering in a bookstore, I picked up - on a whim - "The Cloud Collector's Handbook" by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. It's a fascinating guide to cloud formations, the variety of formations, why they form, and the spectacular beauty of clouds. At the time, there wasn't much to see in the skies of Pennsylvania, since it was full-on winter, but every time the skies would clear, I'd watch the clouds, book in hand, as excited as a kid to see a particular formation.
The handbook has beautiful pictures, and is designed to allow the reader to make notes on when and where a formation was spotted and the weather conditions. I didn't know there are quite rare cloud formations! It even gives cloud-collecting points for each formation, and you can keep a tally. Taking pictures is important, and I'm getting better at keeping my camera with me whenever I'm out. I'm always looking toward the skies, now. And yes, there is a Cloud Appreciation Society (www.cloudappreciationsociety.org), although I haven't joined (yet).
What hobbies and interests have others discovered by chance and serendipity, and allowed to flourish in the freedom of retirement? Have you found a unexpected hobby or interest that surprised and delighted you?
But this post is about the unexpected delights of retirement. Upon retirement, I looked ahead to spending more time with my favorite hobbies and activities; but I have also discovered new interests and hobbies that I hadn't even imagined.
Several months ago, while wandering in a bookstore, I picked up - on a whim - "The Cloud Collector's Handbook" by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. It's a fascinating guide to cloud formations, the variety of formations, why they form, and the spectacular beauty of clouds. At the time, there wasn't much to see in the skies of Pennsylvania, since it was full-on winter, but every time the skies would clear, I'd watch the clouds, book in hand, as excited as a kid to see a particular formation.
The handbook has beautiful pictures, and is designed to allow the reader to make notes on when and where a formation was spotted and the weather conditions. I didn't know there are quite rare cloud formations! It even gives cloud-collecting points for each formation, and you can keep a tally. Taking pictures is important, and I'm getting better at keeping my camera with me whenever I'm out. I'm always looking toward the skies, now. And yes, there is a Cloud Appreciation Society (www.cloudappreciationsociety.org), although I haven't joined (yet).
What hobbies and interests have others discovered by chance and serendipity, and allowed to flourish in the freedom of retirement? Have you found a unexpected hobby or interest that surprised and delighted you?