On Retirement and Failure
This is really an essay about failure (read on down). There is no user guide for how to be "retired," but we each do whatever we think is right for us. I picked up two new duties this week: I'm going to help a friend start up a distillery (not co-own it; just help, probably with permitting and setup); and I just got selected to a commission to help design the art/plantings in the center of several Washington traffic roundabouts (that is random and cool, and they are not ready for some of my ideas. So, I'm adding those two new things to: growing and championing modern grapes; making wine; writing stories and books; volunteering with the Gleaners (taking produce to food pantries); being the GM of a running group; being Education Committee co-chair (and past board member) of SW WA Winery Association; serving on the HOA Board and leading a volunteer group that's replanting the gaps along our n'hood's frontage road where older plants have died; trying to lear