I sat down this morning to write and thought again about how I often write about very similar things. I write about my world. The things that I do and think about. My world right now is very small. I have chosen this little world to help out with my new grandson. So my writing seems to repeat itself.
I stay pretty close to home each week. There is the usual run for groceries and the odds and ends of things needed. The walks to neighborhood spots to share a happy hour or a light dinner. The dentist or a hair cut provides a trip off the block as well.
It means that a good part of my life these days is spent at our house and in the 
garden. I am here when Mason needs a place to play as Mom and Dad head out to work. So he and I walk the blocks checking out the trees, the little lake near by with the ducks and migrating geese. I find small tasks to complete in the house when he is napping or there is always a book to be read.
It is a quiet world, compared to what I use to do. It is a very quiet world compared to what is happening in politics, or even just out and around the town.
At first it was driving me a bit nuts. I was feeling confined and needed to get out – go some place big. The drive was to run away from my quiet thoughts or from being still. I have never been very good at being still.
Now with a bit of time I am learning to be comfortable with the quiet. I am learning to sit still (about time now that I am in my late 60’s). I have enjoyed listening to the rain and watching the leaves fall. I have slowed down the cleaning of the garden realizing I don’t have to do it all in an hour and a half. I could do a few things each nice day. I am willing to read during the day instead of just late at night before falling asleep with the book on my face.
I have learned to pace myself just a little bit. I have begun to find a rhythm to retirement. It doesn’t mean there aren’t days when I am stir crazy and have to just get up and go someplace. It just means I am not driving my husband crazy with pacing the house. It means on a rainy day like to day I can settle into a good book or a sewing task, a cup of tea, the smile of my grandson and be just fine. 
Words from JL 
Joanne, I enjoyed reading about your quiet time. I am still trying to figure out how I can be still. Yoga and writing are lending a hand with that goal. Enjoy your day with Mason.
Love those leaves on the deck and that you’re finding your rhythm. I worry that my posts are the same too – grandboys, what I’m reading, the changing seasons – but it is a lovely season of life!
Thank you for sharing your journey in this smaller quieter space. It sounds heavenly to me but I appreciate your perspective and words about the reality of adjusting to this life.
Finding a new rhythm in life – a beautiful reflective slice. You wrote well to show how you have changed and where you are now in your life.