Good to see you, Josh!

Al

Good to see you, too, Al!

I was hoping I'd still find you here. How's life, plants, work, bbq?

Josh

All's well. Retired Sep 2019 and have been enjoying the heck out of putting the stress of 'the grind' behind me. Thinned the number of trees I care by 1/3 this spring and plan to trim the number further to no more than 75 trees come next spring. I started fishing this spring, bought a new jet boat for the shallower rivers and bay flats, and have been getting out on the water whenever weather allows. Since I live on the shore of Saginaw Bay in the crotch formed by Michigan's thumb and the rest of the mitten, and a confluence of the 5 rivers that drain into the Saginaw Valley are within a half hour's drive, that's quite often, usually 3-4 days per week. Retirement allows us (often fish with one or both sons) to avoid the weekend crowds at the boat ramps due to the area's plethora of walleye, bass, salmonids, and other game species, so it's a blessing in that regard as well. Currently, we're concentrating on the bass and having a ball catching (and releasing) both largemouth and smallmouth.

A few years ago, I tilled up the back garden and removed some raised beds to free up more time, and removed a good number of the herbaceous plants from the front garden and added more bones (trees/shrubs), which also freed up some time. I don't move as fast as I did as a younger man, but I'm still, very active and have no trouble hiking, jumping in and out of boats and wading the rivers/streams.

.... you still having fun doing the reenactments and experimenting with peppers and such? Still teaching? If yes. I hope you're still enjoying it.

Al

Wow, that is the path!!!

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying retirement and have put a lot of the stress behind you!

I've tried, with some success, to reduce the amount of plants I care for....but somehow they keep sneaking up on me! I've sold off a few Jades lately, and given away twice as many. My sister and brother in law bought a house last year, and I've donated several conifers to enhance their property. Truly a relief to release plants to the wild and not worry about them anymore.

My Summer garden is in full swing, and I had *intended* to only grow 3 peppers this season....but a friend *had* to give me two plants that he "knew I'd love," and a local woman gave me a Hungarian Black pepper, so I've ended up with 5 peppers total. This is the third season I'm growing out a Yellow Ghost pepper that was a natural mutation. I'm curious if it'll hold the yellow mutation again this year. For the first time, I decided to put a pepper plant in a #15 container....and, yes, it is growing much larger as a result. I might just grow fewer peppers in larger containers if this goes well, as it has dramatically cut down on watering, as well.

I've taken up paddleboarding, which my girlfriend Lacy initiated, and we've been hitting the lakes and rivers as much as we can while I'm on Summer vacation. I still have a great sunburn from Monday's trip to a high elevation mountain lake. The weather's been relatively mild; only a handful of days over 100F so far!

Teaching is still going great, although I've jumped to alternative education working with Juniors and Seniors who are on individualized programs to graduate. The program gets them into internships two days a week, and helps transition them into the community. It's really different, but it's also an interesting change of pace from teaching English year in, year out.

Currently working on a medieval dagger for my girlfriend, and prepping for Renaissance Fair season. Last October, I commissioned a medieval Portuguese sidesword, and made a nice scabbard for it. I just need to finish the suspension, and I'll be able to wear it proudly this September.

Josh