In September 1998 a long road trip north and west to Port McNeill at the north east end of Vancouver Island provided opportunity to experience the smooth timelessness of nature while observing orca from a kayak floating in Johnstone Strait. I was just one third of the way through my professional career and already seeking a better way to live, detached from toxicity of cities and incessant attention to ticking timepieces. Watching the pod of orca pass beneath the kayak then surface and proceed south down the strait, I longed for such smoothness in living that they seemed to enjoy.
Thirty years later, that smoothness has finally set in. No irritating schedules to adhere to. No jarring commutes amongst throngs of angry drivers just as pissed off as I seemed to be, more often than not.
Retirement is smooth living.
