Rev. Candace McKibben| Guest columnist

Even with climate change warming the earth globally and the routine heat of Florida summers bearing down on us locally, I can feel a slight change in the season as September advances.

I had been lamenting with my husband that we did not make a trip to beautiful St. George Island this summer and thought aloud we might go on a recent Tuesday. But as often happens in our relatively new retirement life, other matters were calling and it rained anyway, so we enjoyed the day at home.

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That is until my husband suggested late in the day that we go to our little house near the Wakulla River and spend the night so that we could have a jump start on a trip to St. George Island on Wednesday.

It was one of those moments that happens in retirement when it dawns on me how deeply fortunate I am to be healthy, active, and able to make spur of the moment decisions about how I will spend my time.

Much of my life is still structured around my church, community commitments I have made, and the family I love, but I have the freedom to go to a place I find so enjoyable midweek and with little advance notice if I so choose. What an amazing gift!

The day could not have been more perfect. The water on the bay as we approached the island was smooth as glass, sparkling like diamonds in the ample sunshine. When we entered the state park, we asked the ranger about the sea turtle population this season.

She reported 61 sea turtle nests for the season thus far and a number of nests that had already matured, their youngsters scrambling over the soft sand out to sea. I felt gratitude.

The park was not crowded, and we parked as only the second car at the first pavilion. We carried our sea kayak to the waters edge and with little effort on the calm waters were a football fields length offshore in no time.

That is when I spotted her, floating atop the water, playing, it seemed. I saw first her flippers and then her head as she lifted it for a gulp of air before returning beneath the waters obscurity. I was thrilled! I wondered if she might be one of the mother sea turtles awaiting moonlight to lay her last clutch of eggs for the season, though it would be late.

Her presence was an omen of the delight we had in store. As we paddled first one way and then another, following the creatures who greeted us, we saw six dolphins, two sea turtles, a good number of Southern stingrays, even more moon jellyfish elegantly dancing by, and a nice red fish that any fisherman would have been proud to catch.

We enjoyed a walk on the beach where we saw marked sea turtle nests still awaiting delivery. The dunes were gorgeous and the sea oats healthy. The shore birds were few but as intriguing as always. Watching his short little legs marching swiftly and precisely along the waters edge as the sandpiper nabbed a late breakfast or early lunch with precision, was a delightful sight.

The sand was squeaky as it encountered our bare feet, and the shore was free of any wrack or dried seaweed lines. What a perfectly magical day.

The coming of fall is not the only seasonal change I have felt recently. My grandson entered high school in a town that is new to him after his recent move to Georgia.

Visiting him recently, I felt how different he had become in the few months since he left Tallahassee. My oldest granddaughter will be 20 this week, no longer a teenager.

And of the 15 siblings that my parents shared between them, the one remaining, my funny and loving Uncle John, is nearing death. The Afghan family with whom my husband and I feel deeply connected welcomed their first child, Nivan.

Saddened that she was born while we were out of town in Mississippi visiting my dear uncle, Nivans young father reminded me wisely in a sweet, profound text, This is life, one day we are a newborn baby and one day old, weak, and ready to leave this world. Life is very short.

Retirement, for those of us fortunate enough to experience it, affords us the freedom to respond to the lure of natural beauty and the calls of our heart to see those we love at pivotal moments.

It is about paying careful attention to yourself and being intentional about how you spend your remaining days. I hear that some people prefer not to retire. Work for them is meaningful and how they want to spend their time.

I also understand anecdotally that there are those who fail retirement and end up returning to the work force, not because it is what they want, but because it is what they know. It is certainly a transition that requires some attention, adjustment, and persistence. Retirement itself is a seasonal shift, but can be, as I am experiencing it, a profoundly rich season.

September is National Healthy Aging Month and focuses on the positive aspects of growing older. Targeting the nearly 70 million Baby Boomers and 65 million Generation Xers, the goal of the month-long focus is to encourage staying active and vital, both physically and mentally, as we age.

I am reminded of a funny remark I once heard from an elderly lady who said if she had known she was going to get so old, she would have taken better care of herself.

My sweet Uncle John is 91 years old and under hospice care at home. Just across the country road is his childhood home where he lived with six siblings before becoming a dashing young marine, as my mother described her younger brother. I was touched that he called me by name on my recent visit and seemed as pleased to see me as I was him.

Bedbound, he was quiet as his daughter rehearsed the many medical mountains he had overcome in the years since last we had seen each other.

Suddenly, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Uncle John sang in a weak voice that was almost undiscernible. Zip-a-dee-ay, I sang in glad response. And we continued the call and response pattern till the songs end. It felt like grace.

What a poignant reminder of the importance of focusing on the sunshine heading our way as we all seek to make the most of the time we have left to us, retired or not.

The Rev. Candace McKibben is an ordained minister and pastor of Tallahassee Fellowship.

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Paying attention to parade of life is one of the riches of retirement | Candace McKibben - Tallahassee Democrat