Ten years ago today

The beginning of the financial crisis

It was on this day a decade ago that Lehman Brothers collapsed. I remember it well: we had moved in the spring of 2008 to Bellingham, and I'd been retired for several months, with my retirement assets already converted into a monthly annuity income. Thank heavens for that! Although we lost hundreds of dollars of monthly income when everything was refigured in 2009, we still had so much more than those whose savings were wiped out.

Sometimes I wonder about what it would have been like for us if we'd retired a year later, in the midst of the financial crisis. We didn't have any idea of what was to come, nobody did (at least those of us not in the business), so we just hunkered down and rode it out. For one thing, I know that our assets would not have stretched nearly as far, since a third of our assets were in stocks. Today, we are back to the same monthly income of a decade ago, so it took a long time to recover, but we did. And although we don't have lots of money, we are able to pay our bills and not count pennies. I am more than a little grateful for our situation.

After having walked this morning with the ladies, Lily and I got home just in time to miss the rain.

Ornamental gourds for sale

We also admired these pretty fall gourds that were on display outside the grocery store. I think the ones in back, the large ones, are edible. I love this time of year, when pumpkins and squash become available once again. Hope you have a great weekend! Thinking of those in the Carolinas today, hoping they stay safe.
:-}