My step-mom, Ellaine, passed away two weeks ago from complications due to Covid. Both she and my dad (whom you may recall is 100) tested positive for Covid a little over three weeks ago. Needless to say, it has been difficult to concentrate on anything else during this time, and writing posts about fun adventures just didn’t seem that important. Hence our absence from the blogosphere for a while. Ellaine was my step-mom for almost 48 years. My mom passed away when I was 45. I was blessed to have two moms. The “step” prefix for one was irrelevant. Ellaine changed my life for the better in so many ways,…

My father was a clipper. He routinely read several newspapers, always connecting people in his life to what he read. My fellow Ripper and I could expect a pile of clippings next to our bed when we visited about things that he thought we would enjoy. Despite the trend to online news, I inherited his preference for print on paper and find myself tearing out articles to mail to others even when my fellow Ripper tells me that there is a much easier and faster way to share news. In preparation for a long winter of recommended evenings at home, and the promise of a time ahead that will be…

Is it possible? Have we really been publishing this blog for a year? It’s true. We published Post #1 on November 14, 2019. In some ways, the time since then has flown by. In others, it has been the longest twelve months we have ever experienced. Despite all that has transpired in 2020, we have made the best of a horrible situation. We managed our regular program of adventures until mid-March (interrupted only by my torn hamstring), and while our behavior obviously changed from then on, we carefully moved ahead and managed to squeeze in some more adventuring, safely so far, and staying connected with all of you through Senior Ripper…

Since we last posted, it looks like we’ll have a new president. What better tine to talk about new beginnings. I’m Medicare minus 3 months. I could probably do an entire post on that process, but I won’t. Instead, coming of Medicare age brings to mind retirement. To me, they should go hand-in-hand, but that remains to be seen. There was talk of my retiring last January 1. I moved my law practice to a larger firm in August of 2019, with the intent of ultimately having them take over my practice. When, I do not know, but it’s getting closer. What does retirement mean to me? Again, that remains…