Bonus Years Lifestyles

Autumn is a time to share in the lessons of letting go

By Phil Burgess | November 21, 2021

Heart-warming are the changing seasons of life. When I was a youngster, life was about winter, spring, summer and fall – and each season had its highlights, beginning with Santa Claus in the winter. As I grew older, I came to see winter, spring, summer and fall more properly – i.e., as the seasons of…

Never adrift, an elder sailor still navigating at 89

By Phil Burgess | October 31, 2021

“Come for the sailing. Stay for the friendships.” If that sounds like the kind of invitation that might flourish on the Chesapeake Bay, it is. In fact, the “sailing and friendships” call-to-action is the moniker of Singles on Sailboats – known as SOS – a Chesapeake Bay organization that has thrived for more than 40…

Shared stories make lasting memories among the generations

By Phil Burgess | September 12, 2021

Are you familiar with the Paw Patrol? Perhaps not, especially if you’re in your bonus years. In that case, I’ll bet you remember Disney’s Popeye the Sailor Man or Steamboat Willy.  And who could forget Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner from Looney Toons?  All these guys, plus Minnie Mouse and Olive Oyl, “performed”…

Grudging compromises are part and parcel of our bonus years

By Phil Burgess | August 1, 2021

Nearly 100 years ago, Russian-born American sociologist Pitirim Sorokin coined the term “social mobility” to describe how an individual’s social status might change (improve or decline) over his or her own life – or from one generation to the next.  It was Sorokin’s work that gave rise to the term “upward mobility” – the idea…

July 4th gives voice to the ideas of America across generations

By Phil Burgess | July 4, 2021

Today, we celebrate the Fourth of July, one of our nation’s favorite holidays. Measured by holiday air and automobile travel statistics, travel for Independence Day is rivaled only by Thanksgiving and exceeded only by the Christmas-New Years’ holiday, a time that, in some years, overlaps with the eight-day Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, helping to boost…

Plant a tree, water a flower, trim a perennial and change the world

By Phil Burgess | April 11, 2021

Adm. William McRaven, a retired four-star and Navy SEAL – and retired Chancellor of the University of Texas System – used his commencement speech to the UT-Austin Class of 2014, to advise, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”  McRaven, who directed the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin…

Grandchildren have been the greatest joy among the disruptions of 2020

By Phil Burgess | December 13, 2020

As we approach the end of 2020, many I talk to are saying this year can’t end too soon.   And for good reason.  The year 2020 has been filled with a lot of noise and friction we would like to forget.  An ugly impeachment. A one-of-a-kind presidential election.  Unprecedented and deadly forest fires that erupted…

There’s no stopping the Showstoppers, not even the coronavirus

By Phil Burgess | December 6, 2020

Three years ago, I dropped in on the South County Senior Center in Edgewater just to see what was going on. Though I was familiar with the Wiley Bates senior center in Annapolis – an impressive place with many benefits, from history and art classes to hot lunches, for area seniors – the south county…

Storytelling is a great way to pass family legacies to grandkids

By Phil Burgess | November 29, 2020

This year’s Thanksgiving included just Mary Sue and me and a longtime friend who has spent Thanksgiving with our family for more than a decade.  Normally, Thanksgiving will include 14-18 family members and friends around the table beginning around 3:00 pm – and would include drop-in visits of other friends and neighbors, some singing around…

The American Thanksgiving is likely to be different this year

By Phil Burgess | November 22, 2020

Michael Lindell is a friend of mine.  I’m not talking about Minnesota’s Michael Lindell who is seen daily on TV promoting “My Pillow” – the one with the Giza cotton.  I’m talking about Michael Lindell, the Australian cartoonist, the one who signs his work “Mikko”. During the nearly four years I lived in Australia (2005-08),…