“What Are You Doing Now?”

A relative asked me that very question yesterday. My answer was simple. I said, “Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.”

At this stage of the game I am a guilt free spectator. Paid my dues, did my time. I sit back and watch whatever unfolds. I refuse to engage or intervene. But it took me a while to get to here. 44 years all total. 38 of those as an RN, the last 35 in various intensive care units. Critical Care. Today I am that spectator watching a younger generation do what I did in hospitals while juggling a house mortgage, marriage, children, taxes, coworkers, baby sitters, education loans, weddings, funerals, kid’s college, divorce, child support, various bills … you know … deal with life. Its ups and downs.

Lately I have noted political mudslinging, unusual weather patterns, receding glaciers, melting polar ice, rising oceans, warming seas, droughts, floods, fires, and crop failures. Ah well.

Every week it seems another celebrity of my generation passes away making me all to well aware of my own ticking clock. Yup. Ahhh well.

All that aside, there is nothing I wish to do, accomplish, or win that compares to what I currently have; peace of mind and solitude. I sip on a freshly brewed cup of morning coffee. No schedule on the horizon. As the day progresses I play it by ear till bedtime. Sleep another night through and repeat. As my buddy says, “Shampoo, rinse, dry, comb, repeat.” Pretty much sums it up except the combing part. Why comb?

I think I will take a little walk. Talk at you again later …