Perspective...

"Perspective" gets talked about a lot.  Your perspective on a topic may be completely different from your friends' and neighbors'.

Yesterday, our neighbor came by, just as I was laying down to open the oil drain.  I stopped and visited for a while... haven't seen my friend since we got back.  He commented about how we seem to be "coming and going a bunch," then asked, "How long are you home for this time?"

"Oh, another 4 or 5 days."

Being home such a "short time, we didn't start "spreading out"... that's a term we use for RVers who are down for an extended stay: lawn chairs, patio mat, bicycles, grill... we didn't get much of our stuff out at the house.

Another perspective: seniors.  For most of my adult life, I was a professional photographer.  My perspective on "adult life" is that time when I entered the work force as a guy with a "real job"... being a rock 'n roller up to that point wasn't my perspective of "adult."  ;-)  I put my "adult life" behind me when we retired, 9 years ago.  While certainly an adult in stature, not being on a schedule that revolves around work seems less responsible.  Almost like being a school kid, we are about to head out for our "fun summer jobs."

Back to that senior thing.  During our "career years" (Is that a better term?), the word "senior" meant only one thing to me: high school seniors.  A big part of our business was doing senior portraits.  When not making senior portraits, I did seminars for professional photography groups - the topic: senior portraits.  We geared our time off around "senior season"... which led to us taking more time off during the winter.  Which also changed my perspective about the cold and snow.

Nine years after retiring, I've reached another milestone: by anyone's measure, I qualify as a senior... as in: senior citizen.  I get a break on the price at the movies.  Some restaurants have a special menu for me, with reduced prices and portions.  In another few months, I will be able to get a pass for all the National Parks, for the rest of my life, for less than half what it would cost just for the entry to one park, like Yellowstone.

And another big step: Social Security.  A friend told me, "It's great - getting paid by the government instead of the other way around."  I don't see it that way... I see it as getting some of my money back.  I was hoping to live long enough for that; and that Social Security would still be viable if/when I was eligible.

When I was sixteen, I couldn't wait to be "a senior."  Except for the aches and moving a bit slower, I feel that again.  ;-)