Housebound in the Outpost

The weather has been wet and dreary for the past two days and it looks as though it will continue the same for the remainder of the week.  We can’t pretend to be disappointed.  It is a welcome break from what has been our relentless bicycling routine for the past three months.  It speaks to the truth of the observation that I slept until almost 10:30 a.m. this morning, something which would normally have been an outrage but my weary body told me otherwise.  In any event we weren’t about to bicycle on our fender-less bikes in the pouring rain. Not to mention that the temperatures haven’t risen above 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

By the time I finished my customary breakfast it was pushing one o’clock in the afternoon.  While spearing pieces of orange, banana and black berries I sipped my dark roast coffee and leisurely answered overnight emails. There is usually some topic to pursue with one or more of my friends (most of whom are no longer engaged in gainful employment).  Later I subjected myself once again to James Joyce’s Ulysses but I have at last abandoned the project.  I have satisfied my life-long curiosity about the book but otherwise I am not much further ahead.

We’re quite happy to kill time until our departure on Saturday morning, four days hence.  The long range weather forecast thereafter is clear and warm weather (70 degrees Fahrenheit).  We don’t feel we’re robbing ourselves of valuable time by doing nothing much.  It takes some time to reconcile one’s self to departure, to settle in one’s mind what needs to be done before we leave.  I canvassed the possibility of having my teeth cleaned for the second time in as many months, to remove the stain of that strong, black coffee I drink every day.  But His Lordship suggested (that’s being polite) I wait until our return when I have already made an appointment for a cleaning.  I deferred.  My obsessive mission to renew is seldom as gratifying in the act as the anticipation.

Given the foreseeable weather we fleetingly toyed with the idea of leaving early.  Why not?  It’s not as though we have any time table to which we are attached though of course there would be some unnecessary duplication of accommodation costs. It wouldn’t however be the first time we jumped ship early. Oh well, we’ll likely just sit tight and relax.  As odd as it may seem, it might be the only time in three months that we just put our feet up.

Meanwhile for lack of anything better to do I have tumbled in my mind what it is that keeps relationships going. Most of the socializing we have done while here for the winter has been long-distance.  The perspective has accentuated the character of my personal relationships.  It likely still remains true that “if she knows why she loves him she doesn’t” which is to say there is no list of prerequisites to a successful relationship.  That said, I am convinced there are signals about the nature of a relationship and it is both wise and desirable that one should understand those clues. As part of my retirement catharsis I am revisiting everything in my past. I am just as prepared to throw away superfluous relationships as I am to let go unnecessary possessions.  Oddly the same rules apply to both. In general terms, if you don’t need it, or you’re keeping it “just in case”, then get rid of it!  I imagine that the separation from the world of business has something to do with this theory of liberation. Besides there is just too much work required to invest in a good relationship to allow it to become a chore.