Things to consider doing in retirement…

I did something this weekend that I have never done before. After listening to a guy on the radio talk about what kinds of germs and bacteria develop on unwashed bird feeders I decided to wash my three feeders for the first time ever.

My theory in the past was always that the little shits were lucky I put out seed at all, so count your birdy blessings. But after listening to this nut on the radio, and realizing that my feeders were empty after I had been away for a week, I decided to do the right thing.

I think this is part of the retirement experience – making the work expand to fill the available time. I certainly never considered it a necessity before. And the ground under my feeders has never been littered with dead or dying birds.

The guy on the radio said feeders should be washed more than once a month! I think my feeders just got their spring cleaning. Perhaps I’ll think about it again in the fall. He also talked about cleaning and emptying the bird houses. My house sparrows live in my bird houses year round so when would I do this?

By the by, there are lots of household chores that were regularly done at my house in the past that I do not do today. My mother and grandmother changed window curtains seasonally in every house we lived in. I’m just pleased I have curtains at all. My mother-in-law boiled the silverware to clean it thoroughly and ironed the underwear and the bedsheets. In both homes, big meat and potatoes meals were prepared every day, not just on the holidays like in my house.

Socks were mended, small appliances were repaired in the garage and little thingys were applied to the backs and arms of chairs. Perhaps the objective of retirement is to return to an earlier time.