Goodbye Work and Beach, Hello Lake and. . . .Wait! Is this Retirement?

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Saying goodbye to a lifelong career in public education last week was bittersweet. Spencer and I are excited to begin our new future, but a great deal of my identity outside my family is tied to teaching and serving students, teachers, and leaders in the field of education.

One thing I do know. The important work of service and support for those providing education in Corpus Christi ISD is in good hands. These folks (and a few not pictured from our team, plus a whole lot of others in our C&I department) are specialists in their respective fields, and they work as a well-oiled machine to ensure all CCISD stakeholders have whatever they need to fulfill the important work of educating our students.

While saying goodbye was hard, knowing that my life's work will continue in the capable hands of these folks makes it easier to look ahead.

Leaving Padre Island, our beach house, glorious sunrises and amazing sunsets during our daily walks in the waves, and the friends who became family evokes an even deeper level of sadness. Rita is especially distraught about leaving her sandy playground.

But on to retirement. If you've been following along, you know we are working on RV sites: 1) to keep us busy, and 2) to supplement our retirement income.

Here's how I was picturing retirement on our small acreage near Lake Belton:

I loved spending time in the hammock near our pool on Padre Island. I read many, many books, listened to all my favorite music, and watched Spencer putter in the garden, all while sipping a cocktail and swaying in the breeze. For some reason, I thought when we moved the hammock to Belton, I would enjoy the same practices in a different location. Notice how beautiful our property looks after all the spring rains. And there is my hammock, waiting for me to jump in.

However, this is only part of the property. And this part looks great only after A LOT of backbreaking effort.

Spurred on by our middle son Joseph, we bought 5 acres about 4 years ago. When Joseph set up a time to look at the property, he advised us to wear jeans. We had to park on the pavement and crawl through brush that looked just like this picture. I thought we would eventually get to a clearing, but NO. The entire 5 acres was solid brush: trees, weeds, lots of poison ivy, and years of undergrowth, all settled into a solid caliche hillside.

Joseph was thrilled to find a bulldozer way back in amongst the bushes. If you know Joseph, you know he got that hunk of junk running and used it to start clearing.

After four years and lots of manual labor, much of the property looks like the area where I hung my hammock. And we have some RV sites up and running.

However, we have not even begun to landscape anything, and there is still a lot of clearing to be done. So, instead of swinging peacefully in my hammock, most of my first week of retirement has looked like this:

And this: (See earlier post about Jones Family dangerous work-arounds).

Retirement so far is not exactly what I pictured. But there are some bright spots:

Spencer and I have been working mornings, taking a long lunch where we eat outside in the shade, and spending lots of time together planning and dreaming about our RV sites and our future travel excursions (We are also committed to more healthy eating focused around what we make and grow at home).

Also, I found TWO peach trees hidden among the brush. And they have PEACHES! I cleared around them, and I'm going to talk to them every day, and give them everything they need to produce years and years of fruit for pie, cobbler, ice cream topping and more.

Keep following the blog and watch the Place Marks, Gathering Around our Table category for all the recipes I'm planning to make.

I also realized on my morning and afternoon walks today that sunrises and sunsets at the lake are still the same gifts I enjoyed at the beach, just delivered in a different location. And now I have time to enjoy them more often.

If you want to try some fresh peaches, swing in the hammock, haul some rocks for some great cardio, feast your eyes on some amazing sunsets, or SOMEDAY SOON book a site for your RV, a stay in our cabins, or rent a tent site, drop by On the Rocks Rentals at Westcliff. Or keep following the blog and live vicariously as we Get Busy Living.

Hope to see you on the blog or at the lake.

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