So Maybe That’s What It’s All About

I was out for a walk along the coast when I stumbled upon a surreal sight: two luxury coaches wedged tight in a remote parking lot, and forty or so people clustered together, singing to a field of cows. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement.

I paused by a picnic bench to listen as they enthusiastically worked their way through a couple of tunes, until a voice called out that it was time to move on. As they filed past me toward the coaches, I caught the eye of a friendly-looking couple and asked a simple question: “Why are you in the middle of nowhere, singing to a herd of cows?”

They laughed, and the gentleman replied, “Why not? We’re a choir from New York, made up of retirees, singing our way around Ireland.” His friend jumped in—first to point out that he might be from New York, but she was definitely from New Jersey, and second, that if they couldn’t come to Ireland and sing to a field of cows, what was the point of being retired?

I wished them a good trip as they boarded. The coaches pulled away, and I waved goodbye, getting a flurry of happy hands in return. Quiet returned to the viewpoint. I sat there a while, alone with the cattle, turning her answer over in my mind. Fair point, I thought, maybe that’s a great way to think about retirement. Set the financial side on autopilot and get on with following your dreams: even if that happens to include flying across the Atlantic Ocean to serenade a herd of Irish bovines.

I shouldered my backpack and walked on—recently retired myself, following my own small dream of a coastal walk on a midweek morning.