"It is probably about time [to reture] anyway, I'm just not sure how to go about it. If the health stays bad it won't matter much, I'll just sit in my recliner and stare at the TV and hurt. If the health improves enough to feel about half human I'll entertain myself someway, probably by driving D nuts. When I'm on my feed I am at least a little help in the yard and garden. It's not really my thing but it pleases D and she's the cook. I have be accused of being crazy from time to time but no one has ever accused me of being stupid and pissing off the cook is stupid. One of my responsibilities is to keep the rolling stock clean and serviced. I do that OK. There are also a few small domestic construction projects for me to watch over. I'm also wanting to start a small, one or two man, mapping business and will at least have a chance to see if I can or not.

Will I miss it? Of course. What will I miss most? The adventure. Adventure? Yes, Every project had it's own excitement, even the ones that turned out to be miserable. And all adventure doesn't have to revolve around exotic places. Oh, I've been to Benin City and attended the coronation of the Oba of Benin. I've been on clandestine visits to Cambodia and Burma by jumping the river separating them with Thailand with the gun runners and rebels. I've been the invited guest of Ambassadors and lived for a while in the house that used to belong to the Australian Ambassador to Thailand. You wouldn't even believe the stories that revolve around that house and the people that came and went while I was there. I attended the wedding of Lt. General Kraisorapong's youngest daughter as a member of the family. Yes, those were grand adventures and I'll miss them a great deal but one of the best adventures I ever had was the year plus that D and I spent in Redmond and Umatilla, Oregon. There were evenings there sitting together in the dark with nothing but a single, small candle for light sipping bourbon and coke that we hoped would never end. One would wonder how you could find pleasure sitting on the tailgate of a pickup truck in the middle of the Mojave Desert having an evening beer and watching the sunset with it at our back but we did. How will I ever forget the Desert Fox coming up to the tailgate and looking me in the eye before picking up my discarded chicken drumstick and trotting off into the night? And, those types of adventures remain just outside my door. There are few adventures that can compete with raising five kids and my five gave me plenty of that. I can relate stories of those adventures without end but as most of you have had those adventures yourselves you understand. Perhaps before I turn in my final report on this project called life I can at least partly relive some of those adventures through their children. I have hope. "