Retirement, Walter Mathau and how not to retire

I know I’m dating myself. But I had the pleasure of Mr. Matthau’s presence in “my neighborhood” back when they were filming Grumpier Old Men. So Jack Lemon was there too. Although we didn’t know it until our local paper wrote about it a week after they left. They had to commute every day from their decent hotel to the pristine landscape of our Lake Rebecca in Minnesota. The scenes they were filming were of course Ice Fishing, and arguing. The restaurant featuring Sophia Loren does not exist there. That was filmed somewhere else.

Anyway, one of my favorite scenes I can always recall is from the original move Grumpy Old Men. The well wishers came out in droves in the beginning of the movie. “This is not the end, but a beginning to your new life. You can now go do whatever you want to do. Your time is your own now.” At least it was something like that. This was followed by a long scene showing the reality of his life. Slowed down by stiff, achy joints, the most excitement in his life was taking medication, picking out his frozen dinner and fighting with his grumpy neighbor. This scares me.

So what am I going to do with my retirement? This flashed through my mind way back then and I am constantly in pursuit of alternative ways to make my life as full as possible. Step 1 and 2 are done. We’ve created a summer nest for ourselves in a private community consisting of families and single people from every age group. I also went online to keep track of all my ideas. Then I came up with the idea of sharing those ideas with my friends. Why not? They in turn share theirs with me. I feel like watching a movie.