I’m sure that my neighbors have identified me as a newcomer. Of course they know that we moved into our house last October, so we haven’t been here for a year yet. More than that, they know that we are new to this area. They can tell because I don’t mow my lawn in the rain. When the grass is wet, it clumps up under the mower, sticks to my shoes, and makes a general mess. I wait until it is fairly dry before mowing. That isn’t a problem for me because I have a very small lawn. It takes less than a half hour to trim and mow. Most days have a period of sunshine and some days it gets dry enough to mow. I just wait. That makes me stand out from the locals, who just mow their lawns regardless of whether or not it is raining.

That points to another thing that may make me stand out from locals. I notice when it is raining. People who have lived in this country for a long time seem to be totally unaffected by the rain. They don’t bother with rain jackets or umbrellas when it rains. If you see someone with an umbrella, it is a sure sign that they are not from around here. Not long ago, we saw someone struggling with an umbrella on a windy day. I found myself thinking, “She’s got to be a tourist. Locals don’t bother with umbrellas.”

On the other hand, I’ve gotten to the point where a little rain doesn’t deter me from using the barbecue to cook dinner. I’ve always enjoyed cooking on the barbecue. I’ve smoked a turkey for Christmas when it was below zero outside. The super cold weather helps regulate the temperature of a charcoal fire. You have to keep the fire fed, but it isn’t hard to maintain just the right temperature for slow smoking. Our grill has a cover, so I can put the food on the grill and close the cover and it doesn’t matter whether or not it is raining.

We have a neighbor that has a really nice Traeger Grill and a canopy to keep it out of the rain. I’ve never seen them cook in the back yard. I’ve never smelled smoke from that grill. It has an electric stoker, so you can set the temperature and it will maintain it precisely. I’m guessing that using the grill is a summer activity and they don’t consider it to be summer yet. We’ll see.

So yesterday I did not mow my lawn. It was sunny in the morning, and I could have mowed my lawn, but I wanted to plant a tree over at the farm and by the time I got my trailer, picked up the tree, got to the farm and dug a hole, it was nearly noon. I did a little mowing at the farm and a few other chores and it was after 1 pm when I got back home for lunch. After digging a short nap was in order and after that Susan and I took a walk. By the end of our walk it was spitting rain and I used the rain as an excuse not to mow the lawn yesterday. I’ll get it done in the next couple of days. It probably would be good to mow the mushrooms that are growing in the grass.

I did however make cowboy potatoes with onions and cooked chicken on the grill for dinner. I had the potatoes in a pouch made of aluminum foil and I have a meat thermometer with a remote probe so I can see the temperature without lifting the lid from the grill. It is pretty much a process of set it and forget it, checking the temperature occasionally. The hot food was all done at the same time and we had a lovely dinner without hassle. Clean up with the grill is easy, too.

Some time after dinner, Susan pointed out to me that there was a brilliant sunset visible from the north facing window of our bedroom, so we went down to the beach to watch the colors. The rain had stopped and the clouds lifted and the colors were brilliant against the clouds, reflecting off of the water. We commented on how lucky we seem to be to have moved to the sunset coast for the sunset years of our lives. Fridays generally are free from church meetings, so we’ve learned to appreciate them, but we don’t have too many meetings these days and can appreciate the sunset lots of evenings. We know that our pace of life is pretty calm compared to life at the farm where four children and two adults juggling work and school and home means a lot of activity every day. A few minutes to just look at the sunset and appreciate its beauty is a luxury - a perk of being retired or at least semi-retired.

I’m reveling in that designation. I’m semi-retired, so I don’t feel the obligation to join too many committees. I’m semi-retired, so I don’t have to mow my lawn on my day off. I can find a few minutes to do that almost every day of the week. I can barbecue every night if I want. I have just a little bit more time for my daily routines. If I want to linger over a cup of tea after breakfast, I can go out on our front porch, which faces south and has a roof overhead so it is dry even when it is raining. I can sit and sip and make a list of what needs to be done that day.

When we were actively working full time, we used to comment on the retired folks who only had one or two things on their schedule. If they had a doctor’s appointment, it would be the only thing they would schedule for a half day. A meeting at the church might be the only item on their calendar. We used to juggle calendars and fill them up. Now we’ve become those folks with fewer things on the calendar. It is a sublime luxury. I don’t accomplish as much as I once did. I get to the end of the day feeling like I should have gotten more done. I should have mowed the lawn yesterday. On the other hand, I rather enjoy watching the sunset and taking things slowly. Life is good and the pace seems just right for now.