Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1401019
58 I m ps e . o rg My wife is going to retire in a month or so and this could all change. Too much time together and we could be at each other's throats. At some point, Keith Morrison might be telling our story. credit sequence of The Brady Bunch and other times they seem like those Dr. Phil virtual audiences with too many people to pay attention to and technology giving the floor to whoever speaks the loudest. It's often me. These virtual meetings which you expect to last 15 or 20 minutes often last hours. My biggest beef is not boredom and it's not the need to work. It IS the not interacting with people. Fun, strange, quirky people. With the pandemic seemingly winding down, I'm expecting that to change. My wife and I have a large circle of friends, some we've known for half a century. We have a big extended family we are longing to see. Look out, I'm retired and we're coming for you. As I write this, I'm a couple of days away from my second COVID vaccine and things actually seem to be settling a little. I can see a time where life returns to some kind of normal. When it does, I'm going to be back haunting record stores and book stores, going out to eat with the great unwashed masses, visiting friends and family, meeting up with Mike and Jo at Carpenteria, getting dragged to those painful craft fairs and those Ojai art shows. Concerts! Oh my god, I've desperately missed live music. The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd, the shared experience. So much we took for granted. I plan on not taking it for granted when it returns. My solitary days will soon become less solitary. The texting, messaging, and Zooming will again take a backseat to real-world interaction. I'm still going to be hanging out in my music room because I do love it and I'm still going to lose myself in books because I love that too. I am going to continue to avoid any article about Pro Tools updates and any interview that has the dreaded "we tell the story with sound" quote because, well, c'mon, you know why. I am going to continue to not worry about my next gig because there is no next gig. That my friends, were like an actual physical weight that lifted. My tread was immediately lighter, my step was higher and my typically idiotic grin was bigger. No next gig to worry about. I feel peace. I have made friends with my new life and I truly love it. Your mileage may vary. My wife is going to retire in a month or so and this could all change. Too much time together and we could be at each other's throats. At some point, Keith Morrison might be telling our story. I think we're gonna be fine though. Forty years together and we've been through a lot. We've raised three kids to adulthood, gone through a few houses, and countless pets. While together, we've lost parents, family members, and close friends. We've paid our bills and paid our own way. We've laughed and loved and fought and farted. That she hasn't already taken a hammer to my thick skull speaks volumes. To quote every Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant, "It's been an awesome journey." Somehow the years flew by and I've become the "Lion in Winter." Okay, maybe something gentler in winter. Yellow Lab? Anyway, it feels good. It feels right. I've earned this. We've earned this. I am enjoying it. I realize that to our younger members this reads like an old man sitting on his porch, shaking his cane, and yelling at those damn kids to get off of his lawn. I apologize. Do have a little sympathy though. I think you will understand when it's your turn at the plate. Right now, I'm gonna sit back, smoke a fat one, and watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Turns out, this whole legalizing marijuana thing lined up perfectly with my retirement and I've got nowhere I have to be. Chris and Connee at Salzer's Records in Ventura, California 2019.