I quit my job with Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife back in March 2018, as I was 62 years old, and have paid into Social Security since I was 12 years old!! (Yes, Virginia, they used to let kids work....) I was watching my peers grow old in the Cube Farm at the Natural Resources Building in Olympia. Doug is fighting leukemia. Bob had an aortic aneurysm, and needed a knee replacement. Tim needs the "Maze" for atrial fibrillation. Steve just shot a moose using a "Grim Reaper" harvest permit. Prostates. Hearts. Tumors. Bah!! I've attended too many recent funerals for friends and colleagues my age.
So, while I was still healthy enough to get out, I did. My beautiful wife Marty allowed me to do so, after my friend at Merrill-Lynch looked at our numbers and asked me "Why are you still working?"
So, what do you do when you're still somewhat young and healthy, and not contributing to the Corporate Economy?
Well, one of my passions is "Birding". Another is travelling around the Country and seeing what it looks like.
I've determined that 2019 is going to be my "Year of Birding". It won't be a Sandy Komito - Neil Hayward - Noah Strycker - Christian Hagenlocher - John Weigel - Laura Keene sort of "Big Year", as I can't afford the back-and-forth trips from Adak to Key West to the Huachucas to ... well, you understand. It won't even be an Olaf Danielson sort of Big Year, as I expect to remain fairly-well clothed . . .
But, I am hoping to raise my ABA (American Birding Association) area species total from 574 to 650. I am really hoping to improve my birding and bird identification skills - especially on the flycatchers, hummingbirds, and Eastern warblers.
I am hoping to see Maine. And Alaska. And the Salton Sea. And places in-between. Hawai'i is unlikely to be on this year's itinerary.
I am hoping to meet new people, see parts of America del Norte I've never seen, and celebrate the fact that I'm still on This Side of the Lawn.
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