I consider myself a pretty organized individual. I have never been much for clutter. My mother never ever had to really tell me to clean up, and since we didn't have any sisters, my brothers and me had to do all the household chores. When I went into the Air Force these organizational traits were heightened. Even now I always make my bed in the mornings to get my day started.
With that as background my days and time have always had some type of structure. After the service I joined the workplace with an eight to five outside sales job. Monday thru Friday was established with a route itinerary each day. After five o'clock it was home or out with friends at the club, eat, sleep and do it again. The Saturdays were reserved for sports, either actual or on tv. Sundays were for church and professional sports watching. After getting married this stayed about the same with some adjustments as the family took priority after work hours. I also moved up into management with more time in an office environment with meetings, and less travel time.
Once I retired this whole routine changed. No longer did I have to get up at a set time in the mornings with a designated place to go, people to meet with, and things to be accomplished at the "job". However a new schedule developed. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings were designated as work out days at the gym. Tuesdays and Thursdays became household chores and activity days. Afternoons were filled with things such as book reading, music listening, and tv watching. Evenings again went to entertaining my wife's interests. Whatever she had in mind for us to do, and any grandkid after school activities.
The next change came with the downsizing and move to Florida. Now both myself and my wife Donna were retired and life was again unstructured. The first part of the transition we spent together making changes to the condo. Including new flooring, some new furniture, fixtures , etc. I continued with the Mon, Wed, Fri. daytime schedule at our complex's gym. However, I was getting up later, or should I say getting more and better sleep. Our weekly schedule now revolved around looking at the newspaper to determine what festivals, farm markets, museum exhibits, or events were occurring in the Tampa Bay area that week. There was "always" something going on and we filled our calendar accordingly. Evenings were reviewed as to whether to eat in or check out a new restaurant. There were many. Each night of the week there was at least one primetime tv show that we watched together.
Then came the coronavirus pandemic and time changed again. The new words for the day were social distancing. No more crowds, sports, restaurants. We stocked up on food and my wife jumped into her passion for cooking. At first we could get out to the park, and began walking one to two miles each morning during the week. All sports both college and professional were cancelled, even the NCAA Basketball Tournament. What is March without March Madness. All my sports channels went null and void as they began to show reruns of past events, which really were of no real interest to me. Businesses were shut down. No school, gyms, pools, or parks were open, and people were told to stay safe by staying at home.
Now each day seems like the previous one. We walk around the circular complex waving at neighbors who are home now with children, or working their jobs from home. The afternoons are spent reading or playing games on my cell phone, while sitting on my sun drenched balcony. There's the occasional ride in the car, just to get out some and Donna fills the time making meals and doing online shopping. Saturdays are like any other day, not the highly anticipated end of the week. Sundays can be identified by the gospel music being played through the sound bar and by watching our pastor, Kevin Cosby, preaching live over the internet on our big screen tv. All in all we are handling our self imposed isolation pretty well. Since the move I am spending all my time with someone who I love and care about, without the stress that comes with other family members and their problems. We stay in contact with them via telephone, Facetime, and social media which helps keep us from being completely disconnected from family.
Hopefully the pandemic will eventually come to an end and be under control. The world can go back to being connected again and people and business can get back to living. While it will not be the same world we had before the pandemic in many ways, we can be optimistic that we will have learned things that will make it better.
With that as background my days and time have always had some type of structure. After the service I joined the workplace with an eight to five outside sales job. Monday thru Friday was established with a route itinerary each day. After five o'clock it was home or out with friends at the club, eat, sleep and do it again. The Saturdays were reserved for sports, either actual or on tv. Sundays were for church and professional sports watching. After getting married this stayed about the same with some adjustments as the family took priority after work hours. I also moved up into management with more time in an office environment with meetings, and less travel time.
Once I retired this whole routine changed. No longer did I have to get up at a set time in the mornings with a designated place to go, people to meet with, and things to be accomplished at the "job". However a new schedule developed. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings were designated as work out days at the gym. Tuesdays and Thursdays became household chores and activity days. Afternoons were filled with things such as book reading, music listening, and tv watching. Evenings again went to entertaining my wife's interests. Whatever she had in mind for us to do, and any grandkid after school activities.
The next change came with the downsizing and move to Florida. Now both myself and my wife Donna were retired and life was again unstructured. The first part of the transition we spent together making changes to the condo. Including new flooring, some new furniture, fixtures , etc. I continued with the Mon, Wed, Fri. daytime schedule at our complex's gym. However, I was getting up later, or should I say getting more and better sleep. Our weekly schedule now revolved around looking at the newspaper to determine what festivals, farm markets, museum exhibits, or events were occurring in the Tampa Bay area that week. There was "always" something going on and we filled our calendar accordingly. Evenings were reviewed as to whether to eat in or check out a new restaurant. There were many. Each night of the week there was at least one primetime tv show that we watched together.
Then came the coronavirus pandemic and time changed again. The new words for the day were social distancing. No more crowds, sports, restaurants. We stocked up on food and my wife jumped into her passion for cooking. At first we could get out to the park, and began walking one to two miles each morning during the week. All sports both college and professional were cancelled, even the NCAA Basketball Tournament. What is March without March Madness. All my sports channels went null and void as they began to show reruns of past events, which really were of no real interest to me. Businesses were shut down. No school, gyms, pools, or parks were open, and people were told to stay safe by staying at home.
Now each day seems like the previous one. We walk around the circular complex waving at neighbors who are home now with children, or working their jobs from home. The afternoons are spent reading or playing games on my cell phone, while sitting on my sun drenched balcony. There's the occasional ride in the car, just to get out some and Donna fills the time making meals and doing online shopping. Saturdays are like any other day, not the highly anticipated end of the week. Sundays can be identified by the gospel music being played through the sound bar and by watching our pastor, Kevin Cosby, preaching live over the internet on our big screen tv. All in all we are handling our self imposed isolation pretty well. Since the move I am spending all my time with someone who I love and care about, without the stress that comes with other family members and their problems. We stay in contact with them via telephone, Facetime, and social media which helps keep us from being completely disconnected from family.
Hopefully the pandemic will eventually come to an end and be under control. The world can go back to being connected again and people and business can get back to living. While it will not be the same world we had before the pandemic in many ways, we can be optimistic that we will have learned things that will make it better.
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