Back to my regular schedule

Flag at Ski to Sea finish line

There's something a little annoying about holidays when you're retired. That's the way it's been for me, at least. I follow a weekly schedule that I enjoy, but when a holiday for the still-working crowd comes up, like Memorial Day, I am a little bit at a loss. No buses, no gym, no library; everything is closed down so others can take a much-deserved break.

Saturday I worked in the burgeoning garden, and Sunday I went to check out the Ski to Sea finish line festivities. The 90-some-mile relay race went almost as planned, with no rain but plenty of wind. The race officials shortened the final section, kayaking, by a few miles and kept all the participants hugging the shore instead of going around buoys in the open water. The waves were less of a problem that way. I missed the first finishers but saw a few of the kayakers coming into Marine Park on their way to ring the bell at the end.

Here comes the 11th place finisher (out of 500!) up the final chute. He's supposed to ring one of those bells signaling the official finish time for his team. Last year I entered the Beer Garden and enjoyed a beer after watching the finishers for awhile, but Sunday was cool and breezy, making a beer sound much less enticing. The entire downtown Fairhaven area was wall-to-wall people, with a street fair, vendors, teams and spectators celebrating the event. I paid $3 to ride a shuttle from downtown Bellingham so I wouldn't need to drive, although I did find the city buses were indeed running and I could have used my bus pass to get to Fairhaven. This is a big event in Bellingham, and other than a glitch in one of the relays (the timer's battery was dead), everything went as planned.

For me, it was interesting to be a spectator, and it gave me something to do with the day. I have been a bit at odds without being able to follow my old routine. There is no doubt about it: I am a bit set in my ways. I enjoy my normal schedule, since it is MY schedule designed for ME. When I was working, that wasn't the case. How well I remember those days I looked forward to a holiday when I could do something interesting outside the confines of my office. Yesterday, Memorial Day, was spent quietly at home remembering my own departed ones and finishing up a good book.

This swallow was busy coming and going from feeding what must be her babies inside the nesting box. One of the pastimes I enjoy very much is taking pictures, although I go back and forth between wanting an expensive camera with cool photographic capabilities and the point-and-shoot I have now. The picture above was taken with the 12x optical zoom on my PowerShot all the way out. The following picture, taken by Joe Meche and distributed on the Whatcom Birders list, always makes me consider getting into photography a little more deeply.

Bewick's Wren, 15 May 12 by Joe Meche

Definitely a difference in quality. And expense, not to mention time spent out in the park with a tripod and binoculars. Becoming a real birdwatcher and photographer would take up quite a bit of time and energy... and might be just the thing to do with myself on holidays. I'll give that some more thought!
:-)