Getting Away From Madding Crowd

After a month of working like crazy, sitting at a conference table with all eyes on me, wondering if I could actually do what needed doing, I found it a little harder than I first anticipated to slow down and enjoy life in a mountain cabin. Thankfully, my sister let me borrow her place for a bit, while I tried to remember what I was really after in life.
First, I'd wake up at 5:30 am, and by 8am, I had done everything I had planned for the whole week. I wanted to hike the lonely trails of the mountain, but Pam was sleeping, and I kept hearing banjo music in my head. I'm not sure if it was a compound Bow or a shotgun I wish I'd brought with me, but by the 4th day, my need to hike overcame my fear of walking in places where my body might not be found for weeks.

At first, the same thoughts of "work can't live without me" inhabited my brain, but by the time I started the hikes, I was in full retirement mode.

Just the week before, I had been jogging my own local neighborhoods, seeing the young dads in dress pants and long sleeve shirts putting toddlers in car seats before leaving for work. I realized I had become the old guy I used to see out enjoying life while I had been trying to stuff a 2 year old Dusty into a baby car seat, in 90 degree heat while dressed for 65 air conditioning. I had finally got to the place, I just needed my brain to truly understand this.  The big question had always been, just how much is enough?

As I sat on the front porch cabin at lunchtime, seeing the thermometer saying 68 degrees, I knew that I was at the right place at the right time. There is so much bad news on the television that this simple life seems more attractive than ever. I can definitely see why people choose it...