Sabbatical - It Was Time

     Sabbatical or a sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing") is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year.

     Yep!   That describes where I and dag's workshop have been the last three weeks.   On a sabbatical.    Of course some of you may wonder how does one who is retired manage to justify that they need to go on a sabbatical.   Isn't that like saying one needs a rest from retirement?     Well, if you're retired, you'll understand.    If you're not to that point in life, I just can't come up with those special words to explain the situation to you right now.  (Just help out by continuing to fund the government's Social Security account please.)  

  Well, the picture to the left, kind of describes the activities of the past three weeks.    A suitcase; a fishing pole and tackle box;  and a pile of garden seeds, seed potatoes, and onion sets.   A package of Dahlia bulbs is in the works also.   (I have a classmate that sent me some pictures of his dahlia flowers last year and I'm having a "competitive moment" thing going on right now.)      The little blue bag tucked in the corner contains my jogging pants and walking shoes.  That's  for when I go to exercise at AnyTime Fitness.   That is how I stay so buffed.    (In case you have ever wondered.)

Suit Case:   First the wife and I took a little eight day Bus trip down to Charleston and to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.    The weather was great.    We met some fun people,  did a lot of site seeing, and needless to say, we had a great time.   Lots of flowers and for a bonus - I found this nice looking babe on the beach.   We ate our share of seafood and we also caught up on some civil war history as Fort Sumter was recognizing the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.   The first Civil War shot was fired at the Fort on April 12th, 1861.  

    Garden Seeds:  It snowed shorty after we returned and it has rained off and on ever since.   I bought some of those peat pots and thought I would get an early start on some seedlings.   I planted some tomato seeds, some pepper seeds, and some cabbage seeds into these little peat pot  trays and faithfully watered them waiting for those seeds to germ.    I placed those peat trays on a cookie sheet.  Off and on I would place the cookie sheet on a chair by the patio door so the seeds could soak up some warm sun.    

   This morning, a bird flew up by the glass and the cat (have I mentioned that this happens to be my wife's cat) came from out of nowhere, made a flying leap to the chair thinking it would bounce up and have some warm feathers for lunch.    Disaster set in as there was a total disregard for my peat trays!!!   (The cat's litter box never looked this disheveled.)      As I was looking for the rifle shells,  the wife was trying to calm me down and explain to me what a buddy this cat could be.  Especially during those times when she is off to work and I am home alone.   (Grrrrr... )      

   Fishing Pole:  Iowa has what is called a Lifetime resident fishing license.    If you are 65 or older, you can buy one fishing license that will last your lifetime.    The cost of that license is $52.50.    An annual Iowa resident fishing license cost $19.00.    I did purchase the Lifetime license.    Now I will need to go fishing for at least the next three years to break even.  (3 x $19.00 = $57.00)  If I live and fish for 4 years I will be ahead of the game.    So the question comes up -- Are you going to work in the shop today?   The answer is no. I have to make use of my Lifetime fishing license in order to come out ahead on this deal.  (Neat huh?    I may even take my buddy the cat to the lake someday.   Hm mm!)

  Blue Bag:   It is time for me to grab my blue bag as there is a tread mill with my name on it waiting for me to show up.    No pictures of this scene will be shown.     There is a certain time of the day where it's mostly senior citizens that exercise.   That is the time I like to go.  (I don't necessarily enjoy the exercise part of it, but I have to keep my heart in shape so I can at least last another 4 years or so.)    Then when I get home I catch a nap before the wife gets off work.

  DAG Workshop:   Okay.   The party is over.   It has been fun.    We'll be back in the shop next week.    (Unless there is word that the fish are biting in the river.)