Today, Wednesday, is my favourite day. It´s the writers´Circle and every week I really look forward to going to the meetings. I didn´t start writing before coming to Spain and I´ve often wondered why not.

The other day, I was on Skype and made contact with a former teaching colleague in Sweden. She´s a lot younger than I am and is right in the thick of her career. She´s where I was twenty-odd years ago.

And I understood why I never wrote before. I was so devoured by the job that I had nothing left for writing or anything else creative, for that matter. It all went into the classes I taught.

I´m so glad that now I have time to do things I never could before. I won´t ever be a Nobel literature laureate but I love the creative process, from idea to written word and though it would be very nice indeed to be published and read by lots of people, it´s also very nice going along to a group of pleasant, helpful, supportive people and sharing with them the words you´ve struggled with and finally got on paper.

Hooray for retirement in the sun! Here´s a poem describing how I feel:

Costa Blanca, shining bright,
How I love your coast at night!
Sitting at a seaside bar
With my friends I have a jar.

In the daytime toast both sides
Watch the flags for dangerous tides.
Eat paella, sip some wine,
Snooze until it´s time to dine.

How glad I am that I live here!
Crispy churros, cheapo beer!
There may be things that don´t work well
And perhaps your house is hard to sell.

But life down here is one big high
I don´t feel blue, I never sigh.
The only thing I wish I´d done
Is retired sooner to the sun.