On "Meaningful Work"

I felt very eager to begin the first of my retirement projects, the "online coffee table book" on under-represented regions of Minnesota, and I was looking forward to a field trip to northwestern Minnesota, where I would see and photograph the headwaters of the Mississippi River for the first time. However, heavy snows across Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, precluded such a junket until later in the spring. Instead, after finishing the day's snow shoveling, I began to organize papers and online files, with a view to creating some order and sequencing projects.

I found myself longing for the predictability of a work routine, even as I enjoyed the freedom of being outdoors for several hours a day and the opportunity to capture some good shots of Minnesota wildlife right here in St. Paul and Minneapolis. One afternoon, I went with  Bob on a business call to Cretin Derham Hall High School, one of his customers. The familiar, reassuring ambience of a school made me long for some kind of job there. I learned that "they're always looking for staff in the media center". I'm not even sure what a media center is -- a library, perhaps?  However, it has to be full of devices (desktops, laptops, printers, audio-visual apparatus) that would be familiar to me.

I'm not going to rush to a part-tine job, but it was good to know that  I might find a few hours of "meaningful work" some time next fall.