Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

Retirement Talk is one hundred episodes old and still growing. The role it plays in my retired life serves as a focal point for using projects as a method of retirement living.

Neighbors can make retirement miserable, or if approached with care, become tolerable if not enjoyable. Retired folks need to move cautiously when they venture into the neighborhood. Care must be taken.

Sometimes choice of words affects us more than we are aware. Retired folks have years of experience on which to rely for clarity. We need to exercise due diligence.

We know our muscles, lungs and cardiovascular system needs to get some exercise. We may not connect this exercise with the best thing in the world we can do for our brain. But, it seems to be true.

One topic of conversation that is prevalent among the retired people I know is politics. There is a lot of experience and history among we older folks that can make for varied thoughts concerning the way we govern ourselves. This podcast offers a glimpse into a recent political discussion.

Retirement brings many topics of discussion into our lives. Some may continue on from youth. Dick Smith shares with us his everlasting interest in geodesic domes.

Some times society values what we choose to do with our life in retirement with continued income. Imagine, doing what you really want and getting paid for it? My friend, Lewis, created a perfect match.

Many of us imagine ourselves recording stories of ourselves, or someone else, before it is too late. It is a great thing to do in the retirement phase of life. In this retirement podcast, Dick Smith shares a story written in his Senior Memoirs Writing Group about doing the very thing.

Suicide is a topic that is rarely discussed and yet remains a very real possibility. This retirement podcast is not taking an advocacy position but is just relating the story of four people I know who have chosen this path. It springs from retirement talk with some friends.

Frustration seems to be part of life. Retirement and being a Senior Citizen doesn't make one immune to sleepless nights and worry over trivial matters. Hopefully, with all of our life experiences, we can manage it a bit better.

Retirement gives us time to find the beauty in former daily routine. Jackie Spinks takes a moment to reflect on a time when life was hard and people were close. The Monday morning wash set the tone for neighbors, families, and towns.

Having a retirement of our own choosing is what most of us desire. We want time in our life to do whatever we choose. Other people and events have a way of under mining this dream of independence. We need all of our resources to live the retirement we have always imagined.

Retired people and seniors have experiences and knowledge that needs to be shared. We all need to be heard and we all need to listen. Dick Smith shares with us his current experience in a memoirs writing group for seniors.

Staying fit is needed throughout life. Enjoyment of retirement calls for special attention to this need. Luckily, we have a head start on all other segments of society. We've had more practice.

Retired people like to eat. We have time and tastes that make good eating possible. The problem: eating too much good food . It is easy to, "do lunch". It is easy to linger over a good meal. It is easy to gain weight and ruin our health.

Dick Smith shares a story of a retirement activity that might be well used by many of us. Writing a book with a grandchild, or young child at a school, might be just the thing to create a little mystery and change our lives.

Death happens to each of us. Lying silently, tied to a container of drugs, in a nursing home for days or weeks waiting for death to finally end our pain is one way. There are many ways to die. Thinking and talking about this process is something that is in short supply

Physical beauty is of paramount importance most of our lives. With age comes retirement and hopefully wisdom. We learn that there are more important attributes to beauty that the physical. This may be one of retirement's greatest benefits.

Jackie Spinks is my guest. Her recent conversation has focused on the 1940s and her memories of why she formed opinions she held at that time.

Retirement and birds; how do they fit together? When four birds are killed by flying into my windows glass during breakfast, it got me thinking. Retirement may be a great time to speak up on behalf of birds.

From birth to death, music is a part of life. The love of one type of music seems to be every changing. Is there yet another door into the world of music? Perhaps retirement offers us another, yet unexpected, opportunity to expand our appreciation.

Technological changes keep coming at us. Some retired folks give up, What's a person to do? Should we become exhausted chasing something that never stops, or, kickback and let the world roll on without us? Do any of these "technological gadgets" really help us older folks? Or are they all for kids?

Jackie Spinks look back with clear vision at part of what makes up our past. Time in the dentist's chair was all part of the "good old days". Lets be honest.

We all have moments when we think we don't have enough friends. Where can we get some new friends? That is a question that is often asked. Maybe if we look back we will find direction to developing new friends.

Retirement gives us time to examine ourselves better than ever before in our lives. Living with tension in our body can be something that has developed over a lifetime. We may not be aware of what has become, "natural". Learning to relax may still be within our grasp.