When Goldilocks Met Dr. Seuss

I said to Glen the other day…Have we been here two weeks now? Nope. We’ve been here three. Then my sister, Chris asked me…Does it feel like three months will be too long or not long enough or just right? (Don’t worry. I’m not going to “Goldilocks” this story. Or maybe…) This got me to thinking…How exactly are our days in Brooklyn unfolding?

Going backward to go forward – As Glen likes to say about my retirement that began in June 2019 – Every day is a Saturday! Or six Saturdays and a Sunday! While this is absolutely a truth, there are challenges with this more free-form lifestyle. (Trust me – I’m not complaining.) The first is that I have to pay attention to the calendar or days and hours just roll into each other. I found that I had to consciously set up a daily schedule of some sort or at 3:00, I’d look at the clock and say…Dang it, the day’s almost over and what have I done?! The same occurred as the weeks rolled by – Thursday already? So I made myself a loose daily and weekly schedule to keep me moving forward purposefully through my new life.

Then COVID hit just as I was getting into a retirement rhythm. I had established a routine that was far different from my work life, but it provided some organization and flow. I felt that I had found some purpose to my days and weeks. And as we all experienced in March 2020, I had to learn a new way to move through a new reality, to adjust to a new way of living. A new rhythm.

So…here we are in Brooklyn where we are figuring out a new balance-a new way of being. We want to “live” here, not be “tourists” here. What does that look like for us? We’re figuring it out. At the moment, I’d say we’re working our way to a rhythm where we balance chores, work life (for Glen), neighborhood explorations, city explorations, foodie explorations, down days, busy days, exciting days, dull days, history and culture learning days, and just “being” days. (Why am I hearing Dr. Seuss here?) Will we successfully create a new iteration of a “JDT and GAT” lifestyle? Do we even need a routine or a rhythm? Time will tell.

But to answer my sister, Chris – As I find myself thinking – It’s ALREADY been three weeks?!?!?!?! I have the answer to your question. Goldilocks said it best.