Me at my desk now. This is my life in my very comfortable Delaware home.
Fifteen days into this year and I'm keeping my goal of blogging daily. Of course a blog title of "Blogging Daily" isn't going to get many blog views. but sometimes it's hard to come up with an attention grabbing blog title without wearing out the shock value. Of course my blog title that has received the most hits is "Naked On The Beach." I really was naked on the beach. It was back in the Seventies and I took the challenge from a guy (Tony Bellafato) who I met on the beach who was into nude sun bathing. I did it because I was curious and wanted to check that hot item off of my bucket list. So here we go folks, probably not my most provocative and titillating blog posting but a slice of my life today. By the way, a nude picture of me lying on the beach today? I would probably lost at least half of my blog followers. You don't want to see my bod these days. I weigh about the same but everything has shifted.
The temperature is 24 degrees outside right now. There is another winter storm watch this weekend but it looks like we're going to miss the snow here on the Delmarva peninsula. Thank God for small miracles. However, the Carolinas and other south mid Atlantic states won't be so lucky. Hopefully my longtime blogger friend Jon of Lone Wolf Concerto won't lose his power. Jon is up in the Tennessee mountain wilderness all by himself with just possums, mice, raccoons and an occasional snake sneaking into his bedroom bureau drawers. I am familiar with his circumstances, I have relatives from father's side of the family who live in the mountains of western North Carolina near Johnson City, Tennessee. Beautiful country but I wouldn't/couldn't live there. First of all, as beautiful as that area of the country and all those churches, they're very homophobic. I prefer to live out my final days not dodging that relentless hate from my neighbors.
Pat and I are still discussing and and when we move to Palm Springs. Living in Palm Springs is definitely in my future, the only question is will it be full time for just a month or two a year? If I live long enough I will probably need a caregiver myself. I'm no spring chicken at eighty years old. Pat is just seven years younger than me at seventy-three years old. We've made a new friend in Glenn M. who is preparing to move to Palm Springs after losing his partner, Glenn of whom I spoke about early in this blog posting. There are a lot of older gay guys in Palm Springs. I would hate to leave my very comfortable home here in coastal southern Delaware but if I need care, I may not have a choice. I would hate to part with my lifetime of accumulations of things that hold such dear memories but I eventually would lose all that anyway. Decisions, decisions that will have to be made in the future. As for right now my immediate priority is taking care of Bill. This time next year, who knows?
What is your situation? Do you plan to fade out at where you live now?
8 comments:
Hi Ron,
I will write my answer to your question in Dutch, because that is much easier for me. I reckon you will be able to translate it through Google translate.
Op dit moment zijn mijn partner en ik onze verhuizing aan het voorbereiden. We hebben besloten ons huis, dat veel te groot is voor 2 mannen, te verkopen en in een appartement te gaan wonen. Een paar kilometer hier vandaan wordt op dit moment een gezondheidspark gebouw, waar appartementen komen, maar ook een medisch centrum, een verpleeghuis, zorgcentrum, winkels etc. Alles wat je als oudere mens nodig kunt hebben. Wij hebben besloten om het nu te doen. Ik ben 65, mijn partner 68. We moeten afscheid nemen van enorm veel dingen in huis. Simpel omdat we van 160 naar 90 M2 teruggaan. Het voordeel is dat we niets meer te maken hebben met schilders, timmermannen, loodgieters, aannemers etc. Ook vinden we het fijner om zelf afscheid te nemen van (een deel van) onze spulletjes, dan dat later iemand anders het moet doen, als we het zelf niet meer kunnen. Ik wens je veel geluk met de verzorging van Bill. Ik heb daar veel respect voor.
Hoop nog eens van je te horen!
Hartelijke groeten uit Nederland,
Je trouwe volger,
Walter
Happy blog day! May there be many more!
It seems every month I hear of yet another gay couple planning on moving to Palm Springs. The place is full up with old gay guys1
Will there be enough room for us all at The Desert Inn?
Ron,
My most popular blog over all the years I have done one is "There is Nudity in this B;og. People must be desperate for titilation. Actually, there is no actual nudity in that post, but year after year it remains my my viewed.
I am fighting hard to stay put and live here until I die. Yjings have gotten harder these days. My wife came hope in bad shape, really. She can't stand up and he should not have been discharged with that problem, Can't get anyone because it is a holiday weekend.
Lar
I love the idea of no more snow or ice in our retirement years, but it's hard to find a warmer state that aligns with our political bent. Also, because we will be state employees with a pension, we would be gutted by taxes most places we move. We will most definitely be finishing out our lives in the North East, but hope it won't be in our current neighborhood. We hope to move to Massachusetts once we're both retired, because it's closer to all the places we love to go, including CT where the BFJ lives, although Ptown would be my dream retirement locale. However, if for whatever reason this is the house and neighborhood we wind up remaining in until death, we will be comfortable and content. We could do a lot worse.
Sassybear
www.idleeyesandadormy.com
Breenlantern,
I feel the same way you do abut where we will end our years. Mine will probably be here in Southern Delaware. I love our house, it is just right for us and should I be alone, I can manage. I mainly moved to southern Delaware because of the low taxes (my school tax is only $2,000 versus $9,000 at our former home in Pennsylvania). Plus I don't have state income tax, personal property tax, state sales tax and whatever else Pennsylvania's part-time lawmakers dream up to further gouge their senior citizens who are living on a fixed retirement income. Many Pennsylvania retirees move to Florida but I can't take that humid weather plus I would never live in a red state. California is nice and would be my only option should I need full-time care like Bill is getting from me now. I will never go to an assisted living or nursing home. I'll check out myself before I go that route. I would love to retire to Provincetown or that area of Massachusetts but the taxes are horrific there also plus the long cold winter but in season, perfect. I love New England! Haven't been there in years though. So like you I will probably stay here until I die with visits to Palm Springs, Canada, Philadelphia -my favorite places. Maybe a trip across the United States, something I've always wanted to do and just one more trip to Provincetown but I expect to be disappointed if and when I visit Provincetown again. I could never replicate the Seventies.
Ron
Ur-Spo,
Pat and I will probably end our days in Palm Springs. First time I visited Palm Springs, I felt so comfortable. Not only because there are a lot of "old gay guys" there but just the overall climate and ambiance and ease of living. I am so tired of the extended cold weather and underlying bias against gays wherever I have lived, including here in southern Delaware which touts itself as the "Eastern Gay Capital of the United States." That's bullshit, there is a gay presence but they're very exclusive. Mostly Washington D. C. snooty types. After sixteen years living here I have yet to break into that exclusive club nor do I desire too now. Probably the same would happen in Palm Springs but the weather is great, except maybe in the summer. We already have a backup plan there, go somewhere cool in the summer. Our new friend Glenn Miller and his new boyfriend Kyle Johnson are looking for a place in Palm Springs. So already we know some "old gay guys". in Palm Springs!
Ron
Hey, Ron - that's a nice photo of you at your desk. Last night there was a lot of icy rain here in the wilds of TN. I was beginning to doubt that we'd get the predicted snow - - but late this morning (Sunday) it began snowing hard! There were a few brief power outages, but I'm okay (so far...). Thanks for mentioning me on your blog.
BTW - I remember your blog post about being naked on the beach.
Jon,
I wind is whipping around outside now. We're lucky we're not getting snow even though earlier in the day the temperatures were in the low twenties. I suspect you're getting this snow. Whenever there is bad weather like this I think of you all alone with your critters (possums and mice included and an occasional snake in your drawers). I hope you're warm, safe and comfortable and have power. Your comments are always welcome on my blog.
Ron
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