Dichroic Reflections

should I fly or should I row

I'm thinking of semi-retiring.

Not from work (well, I think about it,
but can't figure out how to actually do it) but from rowing. One thing most people
who read this (do enough people really read this for me to say "most" with a
straight face?) is that I really am a dilettante at heart. Oh, I know I've talked
about rowing a lot for the year I've been writing in here, but I've actually been
doing it for 12 years, on and off. That "and off" is what I'm talking about. I
never actually stopped rowing entirely, except for when we first moved here and
there was no water for the first three years, but there have been times when it
was de-emphasized, when I would have talked to you about rock climbing, or flying,
or mountain biking or ultimate frisbee. The only one of my hobbies that never gets
shelved for long is reading, and that's not exactly a hobby. More like the
foundation of everything else.

The reason I've been thinking about
cutting back is that I'd like to go ahead and get my IFR (Instrument Flight
Rating) and there's just not enough time to do it in my current schedule. I
figure I could cut back to rowing twice a week, drop the weight-lifting (er, not
literally) and fly once or twice before work during the week as well as on a
weekend day. That should keep me reasonably fit and able to get back into it for
the fall head-racing season, assuming I'm done by then.

There's no
question about whether instrument flying is something I want to do; it will make
me a better and safer pilot all around, and keep me in the air and building up
hours instead of staying on the ground as I mostly have for the last couple of
years. Also, I want to keep up with my husband (who got his rating, cleverly, just
before the lake here opened). It's always just been a question of when to do it. I
can afford to do it now, though I suppose that will cut into my savings a
bit.

On the other hand, this time around I've been training and
conditioning more intensely than I ever had before. I'm a better, faster, and
stronger rower than I've ever been, and I hate to let any of that slip after
working so hard on it. I don't know what to do.

One consolation is
that people row all their lives; there are 80-year-olds still racing. People fly
until they get old enough to start failing the EKG exams. Whichever activity I
choose to deemphasize, at least I've got the rest of my life to catch back up on
it.

Maybe I should go rock climbing instead.