Ready to walk across England to Wallsend, April 2018.
This is Life, Phase 3.
“Retired” is a term to avoid as that frames each day in terms of what life, now, is not. Identity is not former job titles.
This blog is for me to consciously embrace every day of Life, Phase 3. Each day matters.
I grew up in Phase 1. I’m grateful for good people and many privileges, including stable parents and a post-secondary education that made it easy to sell my time in Phase 2.
Phase 3 is a time to grow, unconstrained by work. These are the “Go-Go” years (3.1); health issues and normal aging lead to “Slow-Go” (3.2) then “No-Go” (3.3).
I spent my childhood in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, then lived, as a young adult, in Manchester, England, and Aberdeen, Scotland. I’ve lived the majority of my life in Minneapolis, Minnesota; I’m grateful I’ve been with my husband, Dwight, for most of that time.
Gratitude is a choice: I value my journey.
Place and Living, the two root categories in this website’s taxonomy, are evolving with the journey.
In April 2026, Dwight, two friends from the UK, and I backpacked Scotland’s Rob Roy Way. We had divided the trek into eight one-day sections, but one leg proved about five miles longer than we thought prudent. To manage the distance, we lopped off those extra miles by taking a country bus from Strathyre, where we had stayed overnight, to Lochearnhead on Loch Earn. There, we planned to pick up the trail again…
Since 2013 I’ve been posting something positive (usually) about each day. In recent years, each December, I’ve selected one Micropost from each month of the past year to include in an omnibus Post. The main theme of this Blog, “Journeys,” is what primarily inspires my choices for Microposts. I’m grateful my health journey continues to… Continue reading 12 Months of Microposts: 2025
I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. This year, I visited temples 71 through 75 for the first time.
Rain this morniing, time to ride the rails and find a place Instagram influencers have yet to over-love: Tsutsuishi Station, on a rural line, approximately 60 riders a day (mainly school kids), in a 7-mile tunnel, 130 feet underground, no elevator. Click through for a photo journal.
Since 2013 I’ve been posting something positive (usually) about each day. In recent years, each December, I’ve selected one Micropost from each month of the past year to include in an omnibus Post. Here’s my 2024 roundup: All Microblog Posts | All Blog Posts | All Journeys
Back in the summer of 2017 we found ourselves with a tight two-month deadline to declutter our home. We’d listed our house for sale and anticipated a quick sale, leaving us little time to downsize into a rental apartment with half the square footage. We knew we’d be living in that apartment for about 15… Continue reading Summer of Declutter
