As of 3 September 2021, I have retired from AMD. My time managing a research group is now ended and I am learning to be an old retired guy. One might think this is easy, that it comes naturally, but I after about three weeks, I still have a lingering compulsion that I have something to do, some meeting to attend, some HR or recruitig mishap to remedy, or a status report to write.
No.
No such thing. My days, my time, are mine to define. I still have responsibilities, but no longer a manager who sets them or an employee that demands them. For now, I have projects, mainly ones that have been postponed, some postponed for a long time. I am also fighting a global pandemic (or, rather, doing my best to avoid it) and the seasons have started to change to be more inclement. This severely limits the outdoors projects. Horticulture is no fun in the rain and I simply do not want to run a chainsaw, lawn mower, or chipper-shredder in the rain.
That said, the US-Canada border recently reopened and we have visited the cabin on Keats Island, once in August and once in September. During this time, we have done a lot of pruning and other maintenance that sets the stage for a big burn in October. The residents of Plumper Cove traditionally burn the year's pruning pile during the weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving (American Columbus Day or Indigeneous Peoples Day). Once the fire completes, the rising tide extinguishes the flames and sweeps away the ashes. I have spent hours in the trees wtih various saws, manual and chain, to produce a distinctively large burn-pile for 2021. We will also use this event to get rid of some old stain (I much prefer water-based over oil-based, if nothing else for the cleanup). After a two-year hiatus while the border was closed and the COVID-19 pandemic raged, there was a lot of growth to remove. I removed a cedar tree near the deck, stripped another cedar tree near the deck, pruned some trees to the south of the cabin (for light), and pruned the cedars on the bank under the cabin. And more. I will not pretend I am done, but the season is over and so the work must pause. the burn will come in Otober and pruning will resume in Spring 2022.
--agk 29 Sep 2021
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