August 15, 2019-

It always pays to get a good night’s sleep, and ask the right questions of the right people,  when rearranging the chairs on your deck.

After some weeks of pondering my livelihood, and laying out my own options, I spent much of today asking the experts.  So, there are good days ahead on the ground here, teaching-wise, if I can just hold on until after Labor Day, says the Substitute Coordinator.  That I can do.

Retirement-wise, the Social Security guru says hold off until 11/2020.  That’s what I planned to do, until a recent hiccup gave rise to doubts.  The doubts have gone away, so I will stay that course.

I will opt for more self-sufficiency, with regard to health care, which is a minimal need now.  I prefer to sock money away, for the day that it is more than a minimal need, so there will be that change.  The Health Savings Account has been worth its weight in gold, after the two work-related accidents over the past two years.

Travel-wise, things that mean a lot to me, here in the Prescott area and in other parts of Arizona, will take precedence over long-distance jaunts, the rest of this month and in September.  Fall Break (October) will take me up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then to the Goosenecks of the San Juan River, Natural Bridges National Monument, Hovenweep and the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation.  Then, there is another Convergence at Arcosanti, as soon as I get back.  The Bicentenary of al-Bab’s Birth and Baha’u’llah’s 202nd, will dominate the calendar, Oct. 28-30 and Nov. 2.  Veterans Day weekend (November) will take me back out to Southern California.  The Friday-Sunday after Thanksgiving will be spent in Painted Desert/Petrified Forest and visiting whoever is around in my old stomping grounds.

I feel my cocoon opening up again.