September

Just yesterday I sat under a giant walnut tree by Clinton lake and thought what a wonderful place.  You couldn't hear any man made sounds, only the sounds of the cicadas and a family of noisy crows just over the hill.  The weather was perfect and I realized just how lucky I am.

I am saving this design for when I'm too old to ride the trails

A lot of that great feeling is because of the idea my brother-in-law, Ken planted a few years back.  He came for a visit and brought his recumbent bike.  I loved the idea of being able to sit down on a large seat and enjoy pedaling down bike paths.   With his guidance and bike building abilities, we now get to spend hours and at least 200 miles a year seeing places that a lot of people don't go.  While we were looking for parts and pieces, Ken found a recumbent, an EZ-1, in a sale ad.  We bought it and considered using it for parts until Barb rode it for the first time.  She smiled and it became her bike.  We found other parts for my bike and now we smile together as we ride.   Ken also helped me rebuild the 53 Pick-up truck and we throw the bikes in the back and ride from trail to trail. 

A lot of the feeling also comes from the fact that a few years back, Barb started managing our money and played Dave Ramsey better than he does.  She didn't have to preach all that pay your bills crap, she just did it.  When we retired, we did so with a stash of cash and the bills paid off.  So far we have been able to live off the retirement checks and she is holding on to the investments.  When we started to invest, we decided that the return of our money is more important than the return on our money and so far the volatility of the stock market hasn't dented her future plans.  Of all the 401 (k)s, 503 (b)s and whatever, only a very small went into a mutual stock program.  It has bounced up and down like a pogo stick and I am glad we don't have to depend on it to make ends meet.  Besides, all I have to do is to ask our account manager how the account is doing and he doesn't try to get us to invest more.

The third best thing we did was to purchase the 18 acres here on Tecumseh creek.  Any time I want to go out and wonder around in the forest, there are things to do that can take all the time I want to spend.  I could fuel a fireplace for years off the wood I have down right now.  Not that I want to fuel a wood stove to keep me busy. 

I guess the last thing that makes life wonderful is that I can manage to kill more time than anyone I know and Barb doesn't seem to mind.  Take her riding now and then and to the library and she is as content as a cat in the window.  Like that cat, I'm not sure what she does but as long as she enjoys herself, why would I bother her?  

MUD