Retirement Sabbatical Year of Discernment

Beginning a solo backpack trip last week     Today is the last day of our "Retirement Sabbatical Year of Discernment," and it feels a bit weird to realize we are closing this chapter and starting a new one, even though we continue in what we've been doing. It seems an appropriate time to reflect on why I called it "Sabbatical" and what we were "discerning." Several years ago a friend, also a United Methodist Pastor took a year off in a self-supported Sabbatical and I thought I'd sure like to do that, but knew our finances would probably not make it work. The definition of sabbatical is: "a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked." I loved my work as a pastor, but I also longed for an extended period of travel, rest from the every day responsibilities of my job, and time to learn and grow. For some, taking time off in a sabbatical or study...

This and the next picture are the only pictures taken while "working." Here we are driving up the hill in the gator from the lower campground. I call this "The most beautiful drive in the wilderness." This is the view across Emerald Bay that we see each time driving up the hill from the lower campground.     Eagle Point Campground at Emerald Bay opened on Thursday, June 10, with 80 reservations for the 97 campsites. The first couple of nights the campground was open the nights were pretty chilly so I think some folks opted not to use their reservations, and camp was sparsely occupied. The first two days the campground was open we worked together with David, the other camp host who has been here for the three previous years. Our assigned duties are pretty similar to the ones we had at Samuel P Taylor State Park, but we have two camp checks to do a day instead of one. We go around the campground after 8:00 in the morning just to see what campsites are actually occupie...