30 September 2014
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “This is the first day of the rest of your life.” Well, that’s how I feel today, September 30, 2014.
Today I’m retiring after 39 years in computer science, 24.5 at WQED — a little bit early, but I do look younger than I am.
I’ve been dreaming of this day since the moment 18 years ago when I paused on the Glacier Ridge Trail in Butler County and thought, “I want to retire now. How many more years must I work?” At that point I’d already worked 21 years and thought I had 22 to go. Groan! I wasn’t even halfway! Luckily my husband and I didn’t have to wait that long.
I say “retired” but I also view this as a career change from computers to birds. I’m not changing what I love to do I’m just doing more of it, including this blog. The best part is that I don’t have to find an employer for my new career. I’m my own boss.
So tomorrow I’m not going to sit at a desk. I’ll be off to see what’s new in the great outdoors.
Ya hoo!
p.s. Don’t worry that by leaving WQED I’m leaving this blog behind. No way! Outside My Window is my own copyright, I own it, it goes where I go.
(Thanks to Dave Hallewell (at WQED!) for the photo above. Click on his name to see his popular Flickr site that just hit 1 million views last week.)
What a wonderful opportunity, Kate. Your blog is the first thing I read each morning, and I look forward to keeping up with you as you find even more of the natural world to share with us. Congratulations on your retirement!
Congratulations Kate! You deserve it! I am so glad that you will continue with the blog. It is so much fun to read, not to mention being informative.
I love retirement, but still need more hours in a day. I am sure that you will have fun doing LOTS more birding now.
Hey, do you want to help out with the DuBois, PA Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 20? We have a great variety of habitat with many roads for accessibility. We need help!
Anyone wanting to help can be paired up with a local birder who knows the back roads.
If anyone else wants to help us count birds in the field, they can contact me at evergreenfarm15801@yahoo.com and put DuBois CBC in the subject line.
Congratulations, Kate!
Hope to see you in the field more now that you are a Lady of Leisure!
Sheree
Congratulations, Kate! You will enjoy being able to do WHAT you want to do WHEN you want to do it. I am happy that I will still be able to start each day reading your blog and learning something new from a great teacher.
Congratulations, Kate! I’m so glad you’re continuing your blog. I’ll be retiring on October 31st and look forward to learning more about the bird world that you’ve introduced me to. I have “Going to Pittsburgh for peregrine fledge watch” on my Anticipated Retirement Activities list. Hope to meet you there some day.
Congratulations, Kathy! Hope to see you next May/June.
A big congrats Kate! I was dreading that your blog at WQED would be over with, but so glad to hear that you’ll be keeping it going!!
Congrats Kate! All of my retired friends “recommend it highly”! So glad your blog will continue – can’t imagine starting each day without it. Enjoy each and every day.
Kate, Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement! More birding & blogging – what could be better? Enjoy!
Great news, Kate! Take it from a 20 + year retiree, this “playing for a living” is not
hard to take. I know you’ll make maximum usage of this new opportunity. Your vast
storehouse of natural lore is going to take a quantum leap upward. Turn on the
afterburners!!!!
Congratulations on your retirement!!!! I am sure there will be some great adventures for the blog…Dan retired and is busier than ever….guess mamas don’t retire, just get older and takes longer to get things done….if out this way, let me know…maybe we can have lunch or a cup of tea before you head home….Enjoy your new life….what do your cats say?
My cat has no idea… Yet…
I retired in March. Most days I’m busier than when I w*rked. But it’s at my own pace and on my own schedule. The most important thing is have fun!
Congratulations, Kate!
More time for you, but Oakland won’t be the same without you there…
Larisa, I will still come to Oakland several times a week. That’s where the peregrines are!
When not consumed by envy, I’m happy for you Kate. (really!)
Kate, I am totally thrilled for you. I have been “living the life” for two years and 3 months now, and I have loved every single second. I know that you will as well. I am over the moon that the blog will still be here every morning. So many, many of us start our day with you. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!
Fantastic! All my retired friends say it’s one of the few things in life that lives up to its hype. (Still about 2 years for me.) Plus the less time sitting and the more time outside means the longer and healthier your life. So glad you will continue the blog. Love the info, the pics and the environmental awareness. Thanks and have fun!
You will absolutely love retirement!! “Let the show begin!.” Thanks for your blog — so glad you will continue with it. — barbara
Congratulations, Kate!! Way to go–and get out there and explore more!! Come up to Crooked Creek Lake and surrounding area sometime where in winter you can watch quite a few eagles. There are places that follow the creek before it gets to the reservoir (Cochran’s Mill, Creek Road) and today one of the park rangers took a photo of a black bear cub running across the road right in the park. I’ve seen red fox (taken photos), gray fox, and lots of other goodies there.
Anyway, wherever you go we’ll all be anticipating your photos and articles.
Congratulations and it is so nice to hear that you are looking forward to your retirement. I do not post here often but please know that I read your blog every day and I have learned so much. I am glad to hear the blog will continue and look forward to reading about your future adventures.
Congratulations. I too am glad the blog will continue.
I enjoyed your blog when I was teaching, and I continue to read it every day now that I am retired. I am in my first fall of not being a professor. There is a spaciousness in my days that I never knew before. A Spanish friend taught me the Spanish word for retirement. It’s jubilación ! That says it all. Looking forward to following your adventures in nature. I learn a lot from you. Mary
Retirement is The Bomb! You will enjoy every minute, I know. Have fun!
Good wishes are with you as you move to this rewarding time of living. Thanks for educating us and sharing your observations. Thanks, too, for help when have we reached out and contacted you. You are a gem! Be well and enjoy your journey.
Oh the places you will go! Vicki and Chuck from Green Tree
You’ll never look back! Time flies when you are having fun and you’ll have lots of it in retirement. Sometimes I only know what day it is when I look at my pill container! Long live the blog!
It took me awhile to find what might be a way to contact you. Hope you are doing well and that your bird sighting list is still growing.
Congratulations on your retirement. Selfishly, I am glad you will keep writing this blog. I look forward to reading it every morning before I head off to work.
Congratulations from Atlanta, GA , Kate ! I have been a follower for some time now and always enjoy reading your blog. I have been to the Peregrine watch at Pitt a few times and to the Tarentum Bridge as well. I have learned so much from the blog and additional info posted. Thanks and good luck in your retirement pursuits !! Herm
Congratulations! Whew! so glad “outside my window” will continue. Have learned so much from it. I bet there will be joy in your blogs and even more information than before! thanks for so many great reads, photos and links!
Hey there Kate, congrats on joining the Leisure Class With Binoculars! So great that you are so into the birds… Best to Rick also.