As I look back on my career, it seems that I have been working somewhere since I turned sixteen. That amounts to sixty years. For the past forty years I have been working in a public service capacity. This involved answering questions from the public, teaching classes, solving problems, researching solutions and directing people to the best sources of information on their particular issue.

I will admit that stepping down from these nonstop activities has been a little difficult. Training myself to not get up at the break of dawn, reprogramming the dogs to sleep a little longer and scheduling my daily activities with those of my wife’s has presented a challenge, but so far so good. Fortunately, due to a delay in the arrival of my replacement, I was able to transition to retirement while still answering a few questions and keeping programs functioning until he arrived.

I am enjoying spending more time with the grandchildren. In fact, I am writing this while sitting with three great-grandchildren while their mom takes the fourth one to the doctor. My wife, Bobbie, is of course doing all the heavy lifting for this activity.

I am also enjoying the more leisurely pace of keeping the farm equipment and lawn mowers operational. Some of this farm equipment has been in the family since I was a kid. These lawnmowers have been in operation for twenty-five years. I just bought my wife a new mower and I am pretty sure it is the first one that I have ever purchased. At today’s prices it certainly made up for anything I may have saved by keeping the others running. I plan to spend more time at the activities of the grandchildren, writing a few more stories, and now instead of nodding off sitting in my chair at work, I can simply take a nap.

The bird feeders are full, there is plenty of grass to cut, and I just walked past a turkey that had little ones following, so all is well. I have plowed up an area to plant a garden that the deer will enjoy. I think I will raise some quail, what more could you ask for?

My wife and I are working on a list of things we want to do and see, but we have enough going on right now that we are not in any hurry to start. With the shape today’s economy is in, I am not sure we can afford the gas to get too far from home. When folks ask how retirement is going, I give them the standard answers, I am too busy to tell or everything is great. But with all the jobs I have had, retirement may be the hardest one to master. I am, however up for the challenge.

Frank Hancock has worked as a Farm Manager, Vocational Agriculture Teacher and Vice President at Snapper. He recently retired as the University of Georgia Agricultural Extension Agent in Henry County. He is a also a member of the Heritage Writers Group.