What Next?

It's a typical February day in Vancouver. It's cold; it's wet. There is a building wind out at Point Atkinson. By this afternoon the seas will be white with foam, heaving, weaving like a hungover drunk. I am trying to recover from last night; too much beer, too much wine, too much scotch, too much food. We are doing this for fun, right?

Right now we are inside a warm cabin. The windows are tiny, covered in condensation from three grown men breathing, from coffee boiling and breakfast cooking. The hatch cover is open slightly, letting in cool air and giving us a slit view of a grey, downtrodden sky. The sun is out there somewhere; I know this because of natural laws and personal experience. Yet today all it does is push away the black and tint it to a gun metal gray.

I am beginning to wonder what I will do once I quit work. I think this whole process is backwards. I should quit work while I am able, do the things I want to do, live what life I still can. Then, once my abilities diminish, I should go back to work. The problem is that I won't have a lot of ability by then. I will likely be wheelchair bound, although I am pretty much in that state already. I will likely be unable to talk or even use a keyboard.

As to what I will do once I quit work, this is an interesting challenge. I will likely be able to travel for a while, but will I want to travel full time? I doubt it. More likely I will want to travel a bit, then come home, then travel a bit, and so on. Road trips entice me, since I can do those without airports and stuff. On the other hand I think I would like to go to the north of Italy once more before I die. It's not a show-stopper, just a thing I think about.

When I am not traveling, I think I might volunteer with the ALS society and perhaps see if I can do a bit of public speaking, as long as I can talk. I am a natural organizer, a doer of things. That, along with my experience in speaking, teaching and training, might be useful. I like the idea of being useful for as long as I can.

Or maybe I can just spend time on my boat.