Retirement allows us time to expand our horizons. New experiences may be closer than we think. You might want to check out your local courthouse and find out what trials are scheduled to start soon. Here is the story of our experience.

We wanted a rig that was relatively safe. We wanted airbags and all of that other fancy stuff. And as well as safety we wanted a bit of comfort. When one decides to take a road trip that could last a few months, comfort becomes important.

Deciding to see America from the road is an easy choice to make when one enters retirement. It’s a big country and to drive around it takes a lot of time; time that most folks don’t have until they retire.

"Why" has to be among the first words we learn. Little children have a way of repeating it over and over until we just wind up saying, "It just is. I don't know why.” It is strange how this simple exchange seems to hold over the years.

Words have a way of sometimes getting us into trouble; take the word waffling. Now that word has a negative connotation. No question about it. However, it might indicate a pause in the mind to consider or think of alternatives.

No wonder that retirement comes as such a shock to the system for many of us. We have never had to really engage our mind independently of family, school or job. It is no wonder that a person can be 60 years old, very well educated, skilled and competent and yet say, "I don't even know who I am. I don't know what I am."

Retirement gives us time to pause with poets both living and dead. We could do worse than spend some time in their world. Poetry has a way of staying with us. It becomes part of our blood. It is concise, meaningful, and nourishing.

There are many ways around the mountain. I guess it is up to each of us to find our own route. We know that without good health life itself disappears. That tells us how important it is when we consider what we are doing with our life on a daily basis. It is always best to put health in first position.

What is the key to keeping healthy in life? There are about as many theories as there are people. The older I get the less attention I pay to all of these "secrets to a long life". What I like are ideas that fit in with what I am already doing.

Conversation depends on sharing some experiences that two or more people can discuss. Retirement presents a different problem. We don't see the same people every day. We don't have common goals. We tend to become isolatos in our own houses.