Ice on the bird bath

Dunno if the birds knew, but I didn't expect to see the bird bath frozen over this morning. It was warm yesterday and raining last night. This is why we don't turn on the water at the camp until mid-May or later.

Last night we went to see our financial advisor at her home. In addition to the usual "spend less, save more" message, she provided us with a couple of good ideas to help us be comfortable during our retirement. She also didn't blanch when we talked about specific years for retirement. We won't be living off of tins of cat food, but if we fly overseas, it might be like this.

Our FA and her partner bought their house late last year. It's a well-designed and extremely spacious town-house with a stunning amount of storage space. The house is one of the first in a newly-constructed over-55 development. (A sign at the driveway entrance says that hard hats must be worn at all times.) These are people not much older than we are, still working, but with very flexible schedules. As we arrives, our FA's partner was taking their yellow Lab to a program at the library. Kids learn how to read aloud by reading to the dogs. (More here.)

The area where they live is evolving, as are most towns around here. There are new homes, some small and some large, under construction all along the road. There are new shops and offices for professionals such as lawyers and real estate agents and accountants. And, across the street, there's a bait shop.

The closest that I've come to putting a rusty drill bit into my eardrum was last night as I heard Pat Boone sing Smoke on the Water.

We were out late, past eight o'clock. I'm back in an old pattern of waking very early. Today it was 2:30; in the previous several days, it was 1:30. I met with my doctor yesterday and we have something new to try. New is good, because old is getting old.

We're marking the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl explosion. To the tragic stories of death and displacement, heroic stories of those covered the maniacal reactor in concrete, I can add just one tiny anecdote. The radiation cloud drifted north-northwest and reached Finland in a couple of days. The reindeer, a source of meat for the Finns and the Sami, were so badly contaminated that the meat couldn't be eaten. So, they fed it to the minks.

What would you do for an iPod? You can leave your dignity by the curb on your way out.