It feels like a bit of return to normalcy. Even though COVID has not gone away locally, the numbers of cases are significantly down. The Red Tide (algae bloom) is also significantly dissipated. There’s also been an intentional resurgence of my own Out & About planning and execution!
The third tenet of my Putting Positive Psychology into Practice is Invest in Experiences. (link here to original posting.) This means when planning activities, think about them with pleasurable Anticipation; when doing activities, be Attentive in the present moment; and when they are over, Reminisce about positive past.
I’m combining getting to know people (intentional connections) with some of my favorite things to do (be active & invest in new and/or fun experiences). In keeping with “PPPP Tenet #3”, here’s a positive reminisce on some of the fun things I’ve done this Fall:
- Helped to set up local Garden Club plant sale – a morning of outdoor physical activity plus I’m starting to recognize local flora and some folks at the club.
- Visited a Palm Arboretum and then hubby snagged an arborist doing work next door – we learned what the palms on our property are (so cool – we have 11 different types!) and which are not doing well (6 need to be removed – oh dear. 4 of those are one type – Washingtonia– but that will still leave us 10 of that type. Yes, we have a lot of palm trees!)
- Joined a monthly Bunko group – mostly new people to me (new friends?) plus an evening of fun.
- Went to an outdoor night concert – not our usual thing and not sure how often we will do this (free concert – you get what you pay for.)
- Joined in on the Taste of the Beach event – this is our usual thing and we were invited to join by a new friend!
- Returned to attending live theater (yes, masked) – I adore this activity and the first show of the season at our (new to us) local theater was delightful!
- Hosted Book Club – my first gathering on our patio; thanks hubby for the string lights!
- Donated books from my book club to local Little Library sponsors – a feel good activity and explored a new area of town.
- Did both St Pete Mural Tour & Fairgrounds.Art Exhibit – both were plans I initiated with hubby and others. Both were fun, especially as we combined each with dining out after. Have more plans like this upcoming.
- Biking to the local OctoberFest – Oops, not the 4 miles distance anticipated; it was 7.5 miles one way (other end of town versus where I expected). I made it there and back only a bit sore.
- Lunches, brunches and dinners out – thankfully Florida has lots of outdoor dining places and my tracking shows I’ve tried 11 new places this Fall so far (so cool!). Of course, my New Recipes Tried tracking has slackened off considerably.
- Walk at local state park – saw alligators (my first in the wild spotting here in this part of Florida) and an armadillo (first ever outside the zoo.)
- Spontaneous lunch date which included beer – it was a Tiki Hut! Does this make me finally a Florida retiree?
I’m learning that summer in Florida is the “slow season”. This year it overlapped with a COVID surge, a severe Red Tide, and our Big Move upheaval – quite the trifecta of hurdles that resulted in nothing on the calendar for weeks on end. (Or it felt like that at least!). The jump in activities the past few weeks and all the things I’m joining have me slightly concerned that I’m in a reactive, frantic, do-do-do mode. But I have hope that things will settle down into a good blend of doing and being.
This type of reminisce helps me stay in a positive mind-space. Any fun things you can reminisce about from your Fall activities?
Photo Credit: Me: A glorious sunrise this week!
retirementtransition 
Hi Pat, I am glad you have had a good beginning to ‘season’. Your efforts have definitely paid dividends. Welcome to the land of active retirees! You’ll fit right in.
I have never heard of Washingtonia Palm so I looked it up. I have always thought that variety was a Palmetto Palm, which grows wild in Florida. Now I know. Probably best to take a few of the older ones down. That’s a lot to maintain.
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It was really great having an arborist on my property for a bit… I’ve been struggling to ID a number of our palms. And the fact palms have multiple names! A Palmetto is also called a Sabal Palm and a Cabbage Palm and yes, they are one of the palms native to Florida. We have one of those on our property, too. They don’t get as tall as the Washingtonia. I really do need to count all the palms and post the final count!
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Wow Pat, I am impressed by your activities and delving into all kinds of things…I like the planning and how you have gone about this. Learning to be where you are right now (physically and mentally) is sounding like much good progress is being made. Good On YOU!
It’s been great to have your blog post linked up for the week on Life This Week.
Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you next Monday too. The optional prompt is Sharing Your Snaps (photos).
And a big thank you for showing your appreciation for guest blogger, Mr Whelan, in 2021.
Take care, Denyse.
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Denyse, I was looking back at some of my posts over this summer and was surprised at how down I was… the move really hit me harder than expected. The support I got from the blogging community was so helpful and I am in a much better place right now. I’ll see how it goes as we get into the holidays – we have no family nearby … and most local friends are still in the beginning friendship stage.
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What a great list Pat, you sound like you’re going really well in your new place. Love that photo too!
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The sunrises at our place can be breathtaking some mornings. And right now, sunrise is quite late in the day, so I’m often sitting with my coffee and journal just watching it lighten up from darkness. This one I posted was the best I’d seen in a number of weeks.
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It sounds like you are embracing your new home and making some great friends. You are doing great!
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Thanks Janis. It’s feeling much better. I’ve also given myself permission to allow things to happen “not totally according to plan”. And I’m super lucky that hubby is willing to do many things with me if I can’t get anyone else to do them. A number of things have ended up being just me and him. He might not love the activity, but he’s been willing to go along with it for me!
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I knew you would get things going! I’m thrilled (and jealous) that you are making new friends and doing all those fabulous activities! You are a great planner of all things, especially new and interesting. One of the many things I miss about you is having you asking me to do all these different things together! You are going to make an excellent Florida retiree!
Our life is getting back to normal (albeit often masked) as well. We have traveled to D.C. for a birthday party, Chicago for a wedding and this coming week I’m going to San Fran to visit my son for the first time since he moved out there last August. We, too, are back to the plays! Saw Pretty Woman (it was really cute) and had dinner before. I did Hell Week at Orangetheory and Michael walked his 23 Flying Pig.
I agree with feeling a little over run with activity. Hopefully I can find a good median between the nothing and too much!
Thrilled for you!
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Candyse, I’m working on finding that balance between doing and being. And just allowing myself to not stress over things not going “as originally planned”. But I am enjoying the activities. My next crazy one it to see if I can get a group (or at least one other person) to try belly dancing.
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Wow, so many ‘firsts’ and new experiences there. I’m very impressed and a little envious though realise you’ve made a concerted effort which makes all the difference so very much deserved.
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It has been very intentional. In the past couple of years, I’ve had a goal of doing 101 “new” things for the year. New has a broad definition – new restaurant, new food, new event, new recipe. What I actually like about this is not hitting the goal, but being able to look back at the list and reminisce about the fun things I’ve done. It also encourages me to say yes when an opportunity presents itself. And the planner in me gets busy looking for opportunities as well. That planning mode was shut down in the pandemic, so yeah, restarting it has been intentional.
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For someone who was worried about being able to make connections and become part of the community, you seem to be sailing through and doing remarkably well. I was very impressed with all the outings and friendships and groups you’re involved with – so well done – and yes you definitely have a lot of palm trees!
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Leanne, Isn’t always the case that we expect things to never get better and then they do! It’s been a really good few weeks, and I do hope things stay in this positive way. Now, I’m thinking I need to count all the palm trees just to be able to say how many! A task for this weekend I think.
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