I have rarely been bored. There has always been something to do and I like it that way. I wanted to be sure when I retired that boredom would not be an even sometimes companion. It wasn't difficult to identify a couple of major projects that that could be "saved" for when I had the time to devote to them.
The biggest project by far is to organize the hundreds, if not thousands (no exaggeration here) of photos that have been amassed over the years. This is not only for my benefit, but for our kids and grandkids and even future generations. Many, in fact most, of the photos are not identified or dated in any way. I also have hundreds of my parents' photos now too, and I don't even know who is in a lot of them, particularly the ones taken before I was born.
Initially this seemed to be an insurmountable task, and realistically it is. I have to accept that I will not be able to identify names, dates, places in many or even most of these pictures. But I have decided to be satisfied with the ones that I can.
There is a bonus here though - as with many major projects, little sub-sets pop up within the project. Once I thought about it a bit, I realized that I could use this project to catch up with many of my relatives that I rarely get to see, except at the proverbial weddings and funerals. I never considered this an actual project, but something I really wanted to do anyway, before I realized that there was no reason I couldn't combine the visits to family and friends with the possibility that they may be able to provide more information on some of the photos. Another big bonus - they would likely have a new or different perspective on the stories behind the photos.
I knew for a few years leading up to retirement that I wanted to do a blog and that it would definitely include photos and family stories. In fact, these would be the inspiration for some of my posts. So it's a no-brainer that these visits would really help with that, but would also give me the pleasure of re-connecting with cousins I haven't seen in a long time.
Actually, the blog itself was another of the bigger projects I set aside for retirement. I have always enjoyed writing and telling stories so a blog seemed to be a natural "fit" and I am really excited to finally get going on it.
There are a few other things I put off until retirement - not the least of which is going through the masses of paper and documents I have collected over the years and severely "editing" it (as my sister would say). In harsher words - get rid of most of it. This is not going to be as much fun as the Photo Project, but I have been assured it will still be satisfying once it has been done. So I will look on the bright side - some of these papers may spark a memory or story that will be material for another post. We'll see. In any event, I don't think I need to be worried about getting bored any time soon.
The biggest project by far is to organize the hundreds, if not thousands (no exaggeration here) of photos that have been amassed over the years. This is not only for my benefit, but for our kids and grandkids and even future generations. Many, in fact most, of the photos are not identified or dated in any way. I also have hundreds of my parents' photos now too, and I don't even know who is in a lot of them, particularly the ones taken before I was born.
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| Me and my dad taken at my grandparents' cottage on Lake Simcoe - probably 1949 |
There is a bonus here though - as with many major projects, little sub-sets pop up within the project. Once I thought about it a bit, I realized that I could use this project to catch up with many of my relatives that I rarely get to see, except at the proverbial weddings and funerals. I never considered this an actual project, but something I really wanted to do anyway, before I realized that there was no reason I couldn't combine the visits to family and friends with the possibility that they may be able to provide more information on some of the photos. Another big bonus - they would likely have a new or different perspective on the stories behind the photos.
I knew for a few years leading up to retirement that I wanted to do a blog and that it would definitely include photos and family stories. In fact, these would be the inspiration for some of my posts. So it's a no-brainer that these visits would really help with that, but would also give me the pleasure of re-connecting with cousins I haven't seen in a long time.
Actually, the blog itself was another of the bigger projects I set aside for retirement. I have always enjoyed writing and telling stories so a blog seemed to be a natural "fit" and I am really excited to finally get going on it.
There are a few other things I put off until retirement - not the least of which is going through the masses of paper and documents I have collected over the years and severely "editing" it (as my sister would say). In harsher words - get rid of most of it. This is not going to be as much fun as the Photo Project, but I have been assured it will still be satisfying once it has been done. So I will look on the bright side - some of these papers may spark a memory or story that will be material for another post. We'll see. In any event, I don't think I need to be worried about getting bored any time soon.
