What My Retirement Should Look Like

I often wonder what the next phase of my life will look like. I'm familiar with childhood, teen years/high school, college-into-young-adulthood, marriage, and divorce-hood. Through most of these phases, I worked, worked hard, worked multiple jobs simultaneously, and was loyal to my employers. Retirement looms in front of me now as the next big phase, but it is a ways away (a decade) and I'll have to pay off some debt (I'm looking at you, student loan!) before I get there. What do I want retirement to look like? The following fanciful constellation of jobs has been compiled from positions I've actually seen advertised this spring.

I'll be living at the New Jersey shore, Cape May specifically. That's a given, because that is where my heart is and that is where I feel most at home. The Cape May Light is my icon for this part of the universe, and recently I saw that Cape May MAC, the organization that administers the property, was advertising for Lighthouse Keepers. A dream of mine! These keepers would not have to tend to the light to keep mariners safe because that is automated. These contemporary keepers would not have to lug heavy barrels of oil up the circular wrought iron steps, either. (Have you seen the 2019 movie, The Lighthouse? It wouldn't be like that, I don't think.) These new lighthouse keepers mainly corral the many visitors and tell stories and facts to keep them occupied. One of the previous keepers offered short, illustrated lectures in the Nature Center on weekends. I could do all of this and then go for a two-mile walk in my beloved Cape May Point State Park afterwards. I don't think there's a uniform, but I seem to recall a navy blue polo shirt with the keeper's name and "Lighthouse Keeper" embroidered underneath. I would also want an authentic, retro-looking lighthouse keeper hat.

On a different day of the week, I'd schedule myself to drive over to Wildwood in my black-and-fuschia lady pirate uniform in order to portray the enemy of the Dark Star Pirate Cruise ship. This job would require captaining a small motorized vessel, shooting a powerful but harmless water cannon in the general direction of the tourists, and creating a colorful (and humorous) lady-pirate-villain costume. A pirate hat would be required. From my landlubber desk where I currently write, non of these job requirements seem prohibitive, but in rare moments of introspection I suspect I might feel a twinge of imposter syndrome. I'll snap out of it. My name would be either Lighthouse Lil (combining my first two job personas), or Maritime Margie (to preserve my 'MM' initials). I imagine that on my days of portraying the villain, I would fly big, bright, black-lace-trimmed, fuschia bloomers from the mast instead of, or in addition to, the Lighthouse Lil flag and the skull and crossbones. I will be refreshing my pirate talk fluency. 

The Robert Shackleton Theater

When I'm not guiding tourists up and down the 199 lighthouse steps, or shooting water jets at unsuspecting pirate cruisers, I predict that I will be creating and sewing costumes for one of the classy theater groups in Cape May, Cape May Stage. (I've seen lots of their plays in their little church-turned theater.) They really are, as I write, looking for a Costumer. The job description included other required skills including working with the public and lifting fifty pounds. I can lift fifty pounds, but do I have to then carry it? I can sew. I've made costumes, mostly Halloween and Colonial. Once, whe I took a career aptitude test along with my students, my result was Costumer for Opera. That result seemed outrageously specific, but it has launched me into many a daydream. Have I missed my calling? There is still time.

I will need to generate income during my retirement, and I haven't yet crunched the numbers to see if this trio of gigs will sustain me. I imagine they won't if I want to still buy books and travel. I will have to supplement this income with royalties from my award-winning, best-selling author career which is about to take off with the publication of my collection of grown-up travel essays, Nerd Traveler (published by Read Furiously, July 2021). 

July 6 from Read Furiously!!!

I've been waiting a long time to bust out of the hum-drum, the quotidienne, the quietly anonymous. In retirement, I'll have the opportunity to be a character...or four.

A To-Do List has been created:

Walk with Me on the Red Trail (at Cape May Point State Park)

We didn't have much time yesterday, so we chose the half-mile Red Trail. We wanted to head home before the predicted snowstorm made travel tricky. It was the last full day of winter, so don't expect any Rose Mallow blooms or summer shorebirds, but there's plenty of cool stuff to look at. Keep in mind I'm no nature expert, so I can't always identify things. I just shoot at objects that look interesting and hope that someone will tell me what it is. First, the vegetation...

What IS that?

Is this what a cattail looks like when it is aged?

Male cardinals are easy to spot and easy to identify. We saw two; the second of whom was less shy about having his portrait taken...

Did you know Cape May Point is a mecca for birders? These trails are designed for birders of all levels, from me all the way up to the experts who write the books. There are structures throughout the park for people armed with cameras and binoculars...

Watch out for this bird: he might fly into you.

Okay, this is what a bird blind really is.

Expert birders don't get excited about mute swans because they are not native to these parts. Okay. But you can probably agree that they are beautiful in their snowy white feathers as they float on the water. I've witnessed swans flying overhead a few times, and it is breathtaking! Those birds move a lot of air and in so doing, they make some interesting sounds: whoooop, whoooop, whoooop! It's difficult to get a clear photo of a bird in flight, but here are some attempts:

Ducks are ducks, right? Well according to Roger Tory Peterson and his Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, there are many varieties of duck-like birds. I tried to match my photos up to the illustrations in this book where they are classified by family, and to the photographs in Stan Tekiela's Birds of New Jersey where they are classified by color. You may be tempted to call this duck a Mallard because of its green head, but there's another candidate called the Northern Shoveler. When the duck in the front stopped fishing long enough for me to see his back and tail, they matched the picture of the Northern Shoveler more than the Mallard. So I could be wrong, and I could just refer to it as a duck, but here it is:

Northern Shoveler?

Likewise, I could call these guys "ducks" or "pointing ducks," or I could attempt a better ID with the help of my reference books. My best guess is American Wigeon. These are in the area in the winter, and the feather and beak colors look like a match,

In this same little lake, we spotted a small brown swimming animal. It was definitely not a bird because it was diving, staying under for up to a minute, and swimming in a straight line. We saw the tail, and it was too small to be a beaver. Could it be an otter? Do they live in New Jersey? What else could it be??

I've blogged before about how I can't resist shooting the Cape May Lighthouse with all sorts of natural frames and backgrounds. (Here, here, and here, among others.) I did that yesterday, and my favorite is this one with the pretty grasses in front. I had to sit on the trail to get the grasses just right.

Sneaking up on the Cape May Light

 
I never get tired of shooting the Cape May Light. Even when I'm supposed to be enjoying the Cape May Point State Park Nature Trails, I find myself sneaking photos of the light through the cat tails and mallow blossoms. I'm supposed to be searching the skies and branches for unusual birds to photograph so that I can later compare my photos with the pictures in my bird books. But then an unexpected view of my favorite beacon. So here are some samples from a hot and hazy August day on the Yellow Nature Trail; it seems like months ago, but it was merely a few weeks.

These are the mallows I mentioned above

I see you, lighthouse!

Nature Walking at Cape May Point State Park

I followed the yellow trail

 So here's what happened to me yesterday: I spent the afternoon at the Cape May Point State Park Beach. I ate my Basil Hummus sandwich and read a pretty big chunk of Moby Dick. After about three hours, I thought I'd pop over to the Nature Walk to grab some quick photos to illustrate a post about the park. I was wearing my bathing suit and flip-flops, and I only had my iPhone. The glorious beauty of the walk drew me in further and further, and so with sandy feet in flip-flops, I hiked the 1.3333-mile yellow trail.

This is an interesting walk. The trail is partially tricked-out with Trex boardwalks, partially sand, and partially gravel. There are not many yellow signs to follow, but the trail is more-or-less obvious. If there's any doubt, the lighthouse stands by to offer guidance. You can't really get lost with this beacon watching over you: 

The CMP Light on a hazy summer day

The walk winds through forest,

Flip-flop-friendly Trex walk through the forest

through the meadow,

We switch to a dirt trail at the meadow.

 

 

and through the marshy spots.

Some days this look-out looks out on water, but yesterday is was almost dry.

The yellow trail takes us through a mallow wonderland.

Have you noticed the white flowers in these photos so far? Those are Rose Mallows. Marsh Mallows! They were out in full bloom yesterday. They love this hot humid weather. You may see them in white or pink (both are seen at Cape May Point) and you can be sure they are Rose Mallows because they have red centers. There are other similar flowers that have yellow middles: not Mallows (H. palustris). The ancient Egyptians were the first to use the Mallow (the root, I think) for a sore throat remedy. The French created a meringue candy which is similar to our modern mass-produced s'more ingredient. Our modern marshmallows don't contain any part of the actual plant.

As I walked the yellow trail, I saw hundreds of butterflies: yellow, black, purple, Monarch. The bugs did not show interest in me, but I knew they were there. Their chirps and whistles all around me mingled nicely with the mindworm playing in my head, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #5. I noticed a lot of bees, and thanks to an informative sign I learned that these bees are non-aggressive Rose Mallow Bees! They burrow in the ground and mate in the Rose Mallow flower.

Rose Mallow Bee nests in the hard-packed ground

That little round island is covered with terns.

 The birds were staying away from the trail as far as I could tell. They were near the water.  I am not a great birder. My method of birding goes like this: I notice a bird that looks different somehow, and I grab a photo. Then I go home and compare my photo to photographs and drawings in my library of birding books, being careful to consider what birds are likely to be where I shot the photo. Or, I go on bird walks or boat tours with professionals who can tell me what I am looking at. I'm getting better with the shore birds likely to be seen in Cape May, and yesterday I correctly identified the many terns hanging out near the little lake. (I got verification from a group of birders set up on the trail with their scopes and binoculars.)

Cape May Point is internationally famous as a birding spot. This is because of its unique position on the coast, about halfway between where some birds winter and summer. They stop off here and let us photograph them, count them, and talk about them. Think about the amenities Cape May offers: salt water, fresh water (Lily Lake), seafood, and sanctuaries. Some birds nest here. I've written about the Ospreys and Laughing Gulls a few weeks ago here: http://margaretmontet.blogspot.com/2012/07/chicks-and-pics-yesterday-on-skimmer.html and a couple of months ago here: http://margaretmontet.blogspot.com/2012/06/getting-to-know-birds-who-live-in-marsh.html. But yesterday I was prevented from a yellow trail side trip by this sign:

Black Skimmers, Least Terns, and Piping Plovers are back there in the dunes enlarging their families. This is a state park after all, and we want to encourage them to nest here.

What a glorious day for a nature walk! My flip-flops did fine on the yellow trail (in case you were wondering) and I think my iPhone photos give you a good idea of the Yellow Nature Trail's summer beauty. I'll go back soon to explore the red and blue trails!