What Next?

I had many ideas for what I wanted to post this week but that all changed yesterday, when I realized that today (September 30, 2022) is exactly two months from my last workday E-V-E-R!

Yes, as of December 1 I will be retired, with no job I have to get up and go to every day, no responsibilities, and no commitments.

But what am I going to DO?

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Well my long-time readers can probably guess a lot of my plans but, just maybe, not all.

A few years ago Annie and I bought Sweetwater.  Roughly forty acres of steep hills covered in trees, small caves, a rocky creek, a live spring, deer, bears, turkeys, a-a-a-and a cabin.

Yes, our little slice of heaven.

The cabin started life as a bunkhouse for a bunch of people working the mine was then on the property.  I’ve found evidence that the current cabin is not actually the original bunkhouse, but can’t be 100% sure.  Anyway, the cabin has been lived in by different people over the years, most recently a lady who lived alone.  It then sat vacant for a few years and fell into disrepair before the nice couple we bought it from patched it up a little and put it on the market.

We immediately started making repairs and modifications to make it “our place.”  We’ve built much better steps leading up to the porch, whose railings we’ve upgraded for visibility and safety.  We’ve rewired the whole place and updated the old fuse box and electrical system. 

The place had been plumbed at some time in the past half-century but that old stuff was beyond reasonable repair so we replaced it completely, adding an on-demand electric water heater at the same time.  I built a stone springhouse to capture the water in a useable manner while not negatively effecting the spring in the process.  I set up a system to pump that delicious water up to a tank, then pressurize it as it is pumped into the house.

Suffice it to say, you have no idea how great it is to use a flush toilet until you’ve had to “go” in a bucket and burn the result for a year or more.  We did, only when we were at the cabin of course, but liked it only a little better than sneaking off to the woods for that same purpose.

More recently, while I was doing other things Annie started clearing the power-line right-of-way behind the cabin.  The power company had poisoned and/or chopped down everything growing under the lines a couple years ago.  Needless to say, when we bought it, that couple acres of ground was covered in weeds, thorny vines, scrub brush, stumps up to a foot in diameter, and the trees that had been cut down from those stumps.

Annie cleared much of the brush and I joined her when I got to a “quittin’ point” on the water system.  So, our last few visits to Sweetwater have been occupied with hard work as we’ve been cutting and burning the logs, stumps, and brush.

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Well, we/I want to finish clearing the right-of-way all the way up to and on top of the cliffs.  I’ll spread food plot seed to make it more appealing to all the deer, turkeys, etc. that already seem to love the clearing.  Then we can keep it mowed shorter than the thick brush that was there when we bought the place. 

A couple decades ago the boys and I rebuilt the barn on the farm Mom, Dad, and I bought when I was still at home.  Soon after I used some of the old cypress lumber we took off the barn to make a rustic bench that I gave my parents.  They loved it.

I repaired the aged bench and Annie and I took it with us on our most recent visit to Sweetwater.  It now sits on the hillside facing the cliff.  When we finish clearing a bit more we’ll carry it up to the top of the cliff where we can sit together and relax, looking out over our domain.

Yes, it will be awesome.

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After I retire I want to finish the inside of the cabin, installing the glass-fronted wood stove for warmth and ambiance.  We’ll paint the walls and put down new flooring.  Once I’ve added skirting around the area under the cabin I can add some insulation.  After that we want to re-side the building with some type of wood siding.

Of course I want to add some shelves and other small tasks, and I want to do some other minor modifications to the property itself, but the above is the big stuff.

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It’s been a bit over a year since Annie and I bought the place outside Piggott, Arkansas where we now live.  The people we bought it from had started modernizing the place, and we continued some of the stuff they had started and made some modifications to make it ours.

But there’s stuff I’m going to work on there after I retire too.

We sold the hot tub which sat beside the pool.  We used it so rarely that we couldn’t justify the expense and time of maintaining it.  In its place we had a shed built attached to the deck beside the swimming pool.  We also added a roof over half the deck so that visitors can sit in the shade as others swim.  Annie and I put a new liner in the pool last week so there’s really nothing pressing for us to do there.

There was already a very nice machine shed on the place that doesn’t need a lot of work but there are some changes I want to do to make the place a better fit for our needs.

I’ll work on those from time to time.

When we bought the place there was an old tool shed with a dirt floor.  The previous owner said he wanted to doze it.  We had other ideas.  We fixed the rotted frame and sided it with steel that matched the big machine shed.  Now it has begun a new life as a chicken coop.

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There was also an old garage that was probably built in the first half of the 20^th century.  It too was rotting down, with holes in the roof and termite damage to the walls.  The concrete floor in one half had collapsed and was a little dangerous.

I doubt it would have lasted another year.

I wanted to salvage the old place and convert it into a studio for my writing, photography, and art.  Oh, yeah, it will make a great man-cave, reading room, and guest room.  I can even hide out there when I’m in trouble.

I’ve been calling it my studio but, now that I think about it, maybe I’ll call it the Dog House.

Yeah.

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We had the old garage reroofed and the building sided to match the hen house and the machine shed.  We put a nice porch on front and built a deck on back, off the attic.  We had the wall between the rooms removed and concrete poured to fix and level the collapsed floor so that we now have one 16’x16’ room rather than two 8’x16’ ones.

The building looks great from the outside, but I have plenty of work to do on the inside.

I’m going to check into using epoxy to cover the concrete floor.  From what I’ve read so far epoxy is a strong, long-lasting floor covering, easy to clean and looks nice.

I’ll clean up the old tongue-and-groove siding that covers the walls.  I’ll pull out the nails that remain from taking off the old cement shingles that some previous owner nailed and glued on them.

After I get all the nails out, I’ll use my pressure washer to clean what’s left of the cardboard that backed the old cement shingles off the boards.  At the same time I’ll try to use the pressure-washer to clean up the aged wall covering itself.

I’ll take all the old tongue-and-groove wood off the walls and save what I can for reuse.  I may remove the same wood from the ceiling but am waiting to decide.  No need to put myself in for more work than necessary. 

One of the reasons I plan to take all the tongue-and-groove off is because we put new windows in the building to replace the old ones that had deteriorated beyond use.  The new windows were slightly different sizes than the old ones.  Some of the old windows we just took out and had the holes studded-up.  We love lots of windows and the light they provide but we thought a little more wall space and a little less expense would be more conducive to what I had in mind.

Another reason for taking off the old wall covering is so that I can put insulation in the walls, in my studio as well as in the walls and under the roof of the attic space.

Back downstairs we took out all three windows in the east wall.  I’ll build book shelves on that wall.  Hopefully it will be enough shelving to hold all my books, with a little room left over for some of the many curiosities I’ve collected over the last almost 65 years.

The guys who took out the center wall did a very poor job of saving what they could so I know there is not enough on the remaining walls to re-cover them, plus patch holes and make repairs, so I’ll buy galvanized tin, like you sometimes see on old barns.  I’ll use it to make wainscoting to cover the bottom three or four feet of the walls.  It will also serve to accent the old wood we can save.

When I put the tongue-and-groove back on the walls I’ll mix up the lengths so that, hopefully, the old window holes and repairs are not as obvious.

Similar to the cabin, I bought an old glass-fronted wood stove that I’ll put on the west side of the studio.  First I need to take the stove outside and start a fire in it as I suspect the previous owner painted it with non-heat-resistant paint to make it look better for selling.  I can already tell that I need to replace all the fire brick.  It is so old it’s crumbling.

As a side note, I have a steer skin rug that I’ll put on the floor in front of the stove at some point in the future.  I think it will look nice.

After the floor and walls are done, I can move in a desk and some other furniture and decorate the walls with some of my photography.  Of course, I’ll hang up a big screen TV. 

Hey, I won’t be able to watch the fire in the stove all year long.

Besides the wood stove, I’ll install a gas heater to warm the studio when I can’t be out there to stoke the wood burner.  For the warmer months Annie and I have talked about having a double-split air conditioner installed. 

A-a-a-h.

I need to rework the floor in the attic and finish the knee walls we had put in to help save the roof.  I’ve thought about building shelves into the knee walls but I’m not set on what I’ll do there.

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A few weeks ago, when two of our granddaughters, Harper and Hallie, were visiting, Harper stood in the attic and asked what I was going to do with it.  I told her I planned to store stuff in it and she just shook her head.

“Pa, I think it would make a great playroom for grand kids.”

It’s tough to argue with her logic.  We’ll see.

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Of course I’m not set rock-solid on the order I’ll do any of these things, but this should give you an idea of what I want to do.

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A few weeks ago Annie and I were talking to one of our sons on the phone and the conversation turned to the weight-loss contest we had earlier this year.  He commented that he’d regained everything he lost.  I told him I hadn’t regained anything and had recently restarted my walking/running regimen.

I felt that was a good time to come out with a crazy idea I’d had.

The boys used to put together a team to run the marathon portion of the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Weekend competitions.  They called their team the Redneck Runners.  They won the race five out of six times they competed and broke the record all five of those.  In recent years life has gotten in the way and they haven’t been able to find enough friends to fill the gaps.

The two eldest boys, Scott and J.B., have been running in one race or another to continue our uninterrupted string of years competing at the Conservation Weekend.  Scott is planning on running the half-marathon this year and stepping up to the full-marathon next year.  He had mentioned to me that there was a way he could run a leg of the team marathon and then just keep running to complete his “other” race.

I asked, “How would y’all feel about making the Redneck Runners a two-generation team?”

My son’s immediate response was, “John may not be ready to run yet.”  We have some older grands, but eight-year-old John is the oldest who has shown an interest in running.

I guess he missed my point.  “I meant me.  Don’t plan on winning with me on the team, but it would be a good experience.”

Since that conversation, I’ve talked to all my sons.  All of them loved the idea of the two generation Redneck Runners.  They all also added that, as soon as John is ready, we should make it a three-generation team.

Wow!  I mean…WOW!

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Speaking of exercise, after retirement I plan on going out every morning for a walk/run before breakfast, just like I did for so many years before life made it more difficult.  Working 70-80 hours a week didn’t make it any easier.

Even with just a little time off for injury, I should be able to do a good old-man’s version of the running man.

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Piggott’s Community Hall is about a mile from out house.  It has exercise equipment, a full basketball court, and two racquetball courts.  All are free and not many people use them; the place seems to be a hangout for old retirees…like me.

The Community Hall with people in my generation could offer me the motivation to get up and go every morning.

Oh, did I mention that it is free?

Yeah, that helps.

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I’ve loved producing the blog for the last five years (and the newspaper column before that) and want to continue doing it on into the foreseeable future.  One problem is that my income will be much more limited after retirement.  I wanted to get enough free subscribers by now to attract advertisers to buy space on the site but my attempts have failed. 

The big deal is that it costs me every month to keep the blog up and going.

I love doing it so I’ll keep going until finances tell me it’s no longer viable.

If I have to stop I’ll miss sharing my ideas with my friends every week but I won’t cry…much.

Of course, I’d rather get enough subscribers to pay for the blog.

Rich would be nice too.

Just sayin’.

Whether or not I continue doing the blog I won’t stop writing.  I just can’t.  But I do want to find the books I wrote on my Macintosh.  Then I’ll transcribe them on my PC.  After that I can try again to find a publisher.

Those books are about a group of young teen kids who called themselves the YAKs, for the Young Adventurers’ Klub.  I love the character I created and the adventures they had, but I wasn’t able to find a publisher and I switched from Macintosh to PC and shelved the idea for a while…a long while.

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I also have every post of A Different Drummer.  I have assembled them into six volumes.  That includes the column I did in the newspaper.  This year will be the seventh volume.  I’ll upload them to Amazon as I try to find a publisher who is interested in them…if possible.

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I have some ideas for other books which I’d like to get into the computer.  I’ve started several but just didn’t have the time I needed to dedicate to them at the time so I have shelved them for the future…which seems to be coming up in two months.

A couple book ideas I’m excited about involve coin collecting.  As a coin collector myself, even I think it sounds like a boring idea for action adventure novels, but the ideas I have (working titles St. Gauden’s Gold and One Red Cent) really have me excited.

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Besides the above, my new freedom will make it easier for Annie and me to schedule visits to our family and other adventures.  In a few years, when she retires, we plan on traveling.

O-o-oh yeah.

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Anyway, I’m sure I’ve covered enough for one post, and am risking losing all of you if I keep going.

With all I have planned for retirement, it’s a good thing I won’t have a job to get in the way.

I can’t wait!

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