The weather was so perfect last weekend. Not too humid. No rain. No clouds. Temperature in the upper seventies.

And we couldn't be outside enjoying any of it because smoke from the Canadian wildfires filled the air with choking haze, giving us the second-worst air quality in the entire world. I spent the weekend inside, huddled up close to my HEPA air purifier, furiously resenting that I couldn't be out enjoying my front porch.

The headline in the local paper pretty much summed it up: we're sick of this.

Image description: Background: an urban landscape, barely discernible through a thick layer of smoke. Text reads: 'This summer has been hot, smoky, soggy. Minnesotans are sick of it. Slightly more than half of days since mid-May have featured heavy rain, high heat, bad air or some combination in the Twin Cities. Twin Cities summer weather has dealt miserable conditions.' Below is a graph indicating days with poor weather conditions. Bottom Center: an Oransi air purifier.

Smoke



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Last week was hot and humid, culminating in a blisteringly miserable weekend. I continued to cough and felt entirely disinclined to exercise or go to work. I parked myself for the weekend on the couch in a surly torpor, escaping into fanfiction.

I found myself lost in daydreams for much of the week. I have truly enjoyed my job, but I am going to be retiring in a few months, and that is taking up more and more of my mental space. I look at my portfolio and think about the switch from saving for years to starting to spend down my savings. I think about traveling. I think about starting to take classes, just for fun. I have a new grandchild. Two of my siblings have already retired, and another will also be retiring at the end of the year. I don't want to be the only one in my family still working.

I have always been a conscientious worker, to the point where my friends have frequently joked that my employers have taken advantage of my willingness to go above and beyond. But I am starting to check out mentally.

I am ready for my working life to be done.

Image description: A silhouette of a woman sits beside a window, her fingers parting the curtain to gaze out. Overlaid: a red hammock with a woman's feet sticking out. Lower right corner: a gold piggy bank.

Daydreaming About Retirement



Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.