PASSION

Lately, I've been giving some serious thought to this question, "What is your passion?"

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Being recently retired, I have heaps of time to devote to my "passion." I'm passionate about travel and I've managed to visit many countries over the past ten years. I've graduated from enjoying large cities to wanting to experience more remote locations. I've moved from the tried and true tourist spots to digging deeper and finding hidden gems; places that only the locals know about. We have been so far off the beaten track that we have never wanted to return to it. The deeper one goes, the greater the experience, we believe. It isn't necessary to travel great distances to find locations such as these. But it does require, to some degree, going where others fear to go. Taking the longer way, the way less traveled. As Robert Frost said, "And that has made all the difference."
I would say that along with travel is sport. I'm particularly
passionate about golf. If I had my way, we would be sitting pretty on on

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e of the countries' premeire golf courses and spending our days chasing that elusive perfect score. But, back to reality. My husband has introduced me to biking, and although I'm still struggling with the finer aspects of manuevering the darn thing, I have to acknowledge that it has taken me places that I never would have seen had I not been on the seat of a bike. (And the bottom of the lake does not count!)
One of my new passions is drawing great chuckl es and jokes from my two sons--crocheting and knitting. They somehow find the idea of their mother becoming crafty just too grandmotherly and are trying to shame me out of continuing. Too late, I'm hooked. (no pun intended).
Having a degree in Art is no guarantee that you'll be an artist, but now that the kids are grown, I'm retired, and money for supplies is not an object, I've begun to dabble in oils, watercolors, and sketching. My real passion has always been clay sculpture. So, I foresee a studio in my near future and a kiln to fire the objects that I'm working in my head and sketching at the moment. I'm also planning to invest in a potters' wheel for throwing bowls, cups, plates, and any other kind of vase or pot that strikes my fancy.
Being in Europe has opened a whole new opportunity for my creative juices. I see promise in following the culinary arts of some of the countries we've visited. I've already perfected the sopska salad we so enjoyed in Bulgaria, to my amazement. I'm anxious to join the e

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xpats in the German Cooking Challenge and give my hand at some of the interesting recipes posted each month. Then, I'm keen to try cake decorating and I'll be inquiring at the local community center for lessons in this skill.
Lets see, there is skiing, alpine walking, yoga, pilates, and cross country skiing. There is German Language lessons, book club, and theater. I could go on and on and that is the problem. Where does one find the time to follow every passion? While I'm going to try them all, I'm sure that some will strike my fancy more than others. But what a wonderful time in your life to try all that you've been wanting to try! I have to tell you, I am loving life!

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