On vacation?

Can retirees ever be on vacation? Isn't their whole life a big, never-ending vacation? The answer in many ways is yes. The freedom of retirement is wonderful. But since we've been so busy for 2 months with CRWRC, we've reached the point where we can really appreciate some time off.

The first four days of this week has been the continuation of CRWRC meetings. Crisscrossing Florida to meet with disaster planning committees from Orlando to Cocoa Beach, Fort Pierce to Immokalee, West Palm Beach and then to North Miami Beach we feel we have covered the state. Our pace has been a little more leisurely than the work we did in Mississippi, giving us time to do some biking and beaching. But the meetings are done for a few days and we have a hotel on North Miami Beach for four nights, and we will be free from any obligations. We think we have skills in the relaxation area that not all retirees possess and expect to exercise them.

Our favorite meeting was in Immokalee. Instead of sitting in a room hearing what the committee is doing and what challenges they're facing, the director took us around to several sites and showed us their projects. One house belonged to an elderly blind woman whose kitchen had been gutted--she wasn't clear how it happened--and the committee was rebuilding it for her. They are also working on homes for 2 other families--an older woman lives in one, which had extensive water damage. The Mennonites had re-drywalled a couple of rooms, and now there was a team of college students finishing the work. This woman, amazingly, had 13 children and 105 grandchildren! One of her sons, with his wife and 6 kids, lives next door, in a house where only 2 rooms are useable, so they use mom's small kitchen and bathroom. When Mom's house is done, the Recovery Group is going to tear down son's house and build him a new one.