I’ve been rehearsing retirement these last few months. In saying that, I have been working; in the home, helping out on the farm and project managing a renovation. I guess I have never acknowledged these things as work. Mind you, I don’t get paid for any of those jobs (where payment for work creates the differentiation between them).
On my Homepage, I referred to a set of goals that I hoped to achieve by creating this website. I was going to ‘document the transition from work to retirement’ and this is how it is looking thus far.
Through a global pandemic, would it be better to self-isolate in the city or country? I have chosen to stay in the city at a house we share/rent with our daughter and her family. Australia is in lockdown and WA has closed its internal borders. The country is quiet enough as it is. As I write, I worry how long this will all last.
City life
Through this period of self-isolation, I feel as though I am on some type of perfect holiday; going to the beach, walking, cycling, reading, blogging, watching Netflix, SBS, and ABC On Demand. I finished Delia Owen’s book, Where the Crawdad’s Sing, a brilliant novel and well worth reading. Follow the Walking, listening, and reading across the acres post above for a full list of recently read books.
South City Beach during COVID19 social distancing regulations.
Farm life through covid19
Meanwhile, the farmer went home to feed sheep and truck them to another farm, 50 km away for the last of the summer’s feed. The dry 2019 winter meant that there wasn’t a great deal of crop stubble, and even less sheep feed available.
Although we can’t do much at all under this lockdown regime, anything that is of value in the scheme of things is still possible (buy and prepare food, care for others, exercise). I think over time that it will become quite evident that life will not return to the way we lived it previously.
Under the COVID19 lockdown, there had to be clear and compelling reason for travel outside your residential border region. Other than for medical purposes, travel restrictions could be lifted where it relates to work and other essential services. It became apparent throughout the lockdown that doing renovations under restricted travel conditions during COVID19 were not mutually exclusive.
Pushing out the walls so that the room open onto the garden
I am taking a break from work after almost 30 years in the same job. The older I get, the less I am able to tolerate work stress and pressure. Right now, life is wonderful. But we are in the midst of a pandemic and countries all over the world have closed its borders. I am self-isolating at the farmhouse during COV19. In fact, I joke to others that I have been self-isolating for years because we are so remote.
Despite the need for social distancing and self-isolation during Covid 19, the lawns at City Beach are filled with picnickers, couples, and families. There is an eerie feeling out there though and I cannot pinpoint it. I am sitting here alone, feeling miles away from the sunsets on the farm.
How does one cope with prolonged work pressure? I sought medical leave when the stress and pressure were more than I could bear. Waking at 4 am and not being able to get back to sleep, thinking of what I needed to do to get through the next day meant that I was always worrying about work. I was undertaking complex tasks while sleep-deprived. This became extremely mentally challenging. My work involved travel between the campuses of the college; undertaking tiring, unforgiving, and often thankless tasks.
