snow white awaits

I am having a two dwarf morning -- I am Sleepy and Grumpy.


It is an old joke.  And, for me, this morning, not entirely accurate.


Because Heigh-Ho/Heigh-Ho/It's off to work I go.


This is the first day of my six-month return to my old job.  My primary goal is to train my successor, and that should be a rather easy task.  He is intelligent and more than willing to speak truth to power -- something every good attorney (at least, those who take their role as counselor seriously) needs to do.


It will be interesting to see how many of my habits I acquired in Mexico will follow me north.


The first to die will be my siesta.  I will miss it.  But, in our environmentally-controlled building, I will not need to worry about the somnolent effect of the afternoon heat.  But the opportunity to recharge my brain in the afternoon will be a distinct handicap.


Then there is the issue of time. 


Some friends were trying to arrange a meeting with me about work last week.  I told them I would stop by sometime after I finished my blood tests.  They asked when will that be?  I said somewhere between 9 and noon, I guess.  That would be the range I would use at home in Mexico if I had a medical appointment.


That response did not elicit the type of nonchalant shrugs I receive from friends in Melaque.  My work colleagues asked if I could be a bit more specific.


The request initially struck me as being a bit obsessive -- until I remembered I am in the land of clocks, not my home: a country that has forgotten time.


I will probably adjust to that one quickly.  After all, my old life lived by the clock.


Adjusting is not going to be a problem.  The problem may be the cost of adjusting.


I saw my doctor last week for a catchup appointment.  The first thing he did was check my blood pressure.  It was perfect.  Admittedly, i am still on medication -- but a rather mild dosage.


I would hate to see it sky-rocket again.


One of the major factors I used to retire at 60, rather than 65, was health.  In one weekend, Tim Russert died, my brother had a medical incident, and a friend's father had a major heart attack.  I had also noted that the obituaries in our local bar bulletin contained the names of attorneys -- over half of whom were younger than I was at the time.


I did not need to understand Einstein's Theory of Relativity to know that it was time for me to retire -- while I was at the top of my profession and still breathing.


So, I return -- knowing that who I have become in Mexico will need to go on hold, but only for a limited time.


But the bottom line is I thoroughly enjoy the work I will be doing.  Like the dwarfs: 
"We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in a mine the whole day through/
To dig dig dig dig dig dig dig is what we like to do."