Road in Retirement

    I'm sitting by my computer, naggingly annoyed by my "y" key. When it decides to work, I can craft new words like "naggingly" to upset and flummox my readers--all three of them. For the record, I have a degree in English. As I used to tell my students, I paid for the privilege of making up new words. It worked out well for Will Shakespeare ( I'm confident we two wordsmiths would have been great friends and on a first-name basis had we been contemporaries.) And he didn't have a degree in English. Okay, so maybe he introduced over 1700 words (Go ahead, google it. I did.) and countless phrases we still use today into the English language, but he DIDN'T have a PAID-FOR English degree. I'm just saying...(I hope you were duly impressed with my creative prowess in using paid-for as an adjective--if it didn't have the hyphen...).     But I digress. A Lot (still two words, people). The whole digression is because of my use of "naggingly."

    I was in a snarky mood the other day, and I made it known.  No one had said or done anything that precipitated such behavior, but I was grappling with it nonetheless. Later that day, when I had properly come out of my snit, I began to really look at myself, incredulous that I had such a war waging in me.     Then I came upon a poem which described me perfectly.                                      “Two natures beat within my breast                                           The one is foul, the one is blessed                                                The one I love, the one I hate.                                               The one I feed will dominate."                                                                      ~ Anonymous     Daily we decide which nature will starve for lack of attention and food and which one will thrive. Maybe you're in a tornado-mood, destroying whoever or whatever gets in your path. Maybe you're a rogue whirlwind, veering off the

    Comfortable. Just like putting on old, worn-in pair of jeans. That's what a good friendship is like. No matter the months or the miles. you pick up your friendship as if you were next door neighbors. This kind of friendship doesn't happen often, but when it does, treasure  it.     Underestimated. That's often what we do to these connections, we underestimate them or undervalue them. Because these people aren't in our purview on a regular basis, maybe we lump them on the wayside and don't give them the value they deserve. So why am I writing about valuing friends? Because I was recently reminded of how blessed I am to have my college roommate in my life. We've been friends since chemistry class sophomore year. I knew of her, and judged her, of not being of my ilk. She was too girly for me. Somehow I found myself in class  with her seated next to me. Later, our teacher had us pair up. All the smart kids made a beeline for the other smart kids, swiftly maneuver