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  This is the fourth post featuring interviews conducted with POS (people over 60) who have retired and started an Encore Performance.  These interviews were conducted last May.  

  For most of us, after a certain age, it is important to remain relevant and functional in an increasingly changing world.  As an example, it can be particularly difficult for POS to navigate the digital path set before us.  Nevertheless, most POS try to understand cell phones and computers, if for no other reason than to look good in the eyes of their grandchildren.  Some of us are more successful than others.    

  Like the previous interviews prior to Covid-19, this latest group of POS was consistent in attitude with their predecessors.  That is, they were upbeat, positive, and excited about their new significance.    

  Here are just three of this group's stories.

  Linda Luck is married to Ray Clark.  The two did not have children, but Ray had three sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.  He lost a son to cancer a few months ago.

  The couple is now retired.  

  Linda spent the majority of her later years with BB&T Bank.

  I worked in Human Resources, she laughed.  I started when it was called Personnel, but like so many things in the business world, that has changed.

  What kind of work was Ray involved with during his career?

  He was in plant science for over 30 years, she said.  He worked for the FDA.

  The business card you handed me says, Luck-y-Ray, Daylily Gardens.  What's that all about?

  We raise daylilies, Linda enthusiastically replied.   

  That sounds beautiful!

  It's extraordinary!  We have five and a half acres and some of that land is covered with over 850 varieties of daylilies, she said proudly.  

   You told me daylilies could have multiple seasons.  What does that mean?

   It means they could bloom in early spring, the middle of spring, or the end of the season, she informed me.  

  Is it true that daylilies come in three colors, red, orange, and yellow?

  Well, they really come in all colors, red, orange, yellow, salmon, pink, purple, you name it, she said.  Remember, there are thousands of varieties.  We only have a small portion.  

  Apparently, they live up to their name and bloom just one day?

  Typically, they last for one day, but each plant could have 40-45 buds and they bloom individually or in a group.  So, it could take weeks for the cycle for one plant.  

  And, you have how many?

  We've got about 850 varieties of daylily plants, she said.  You'll have to come out and see them.  They will peak around the second week in June and the picture is spectacular.  

  Our next Encore Performer is Mike Hartlage who retired 12 years ago as co-owner of a processing and screening plant. 

  Educate me about this whole thing, Mike.

  We built crushing and screening plants for rock quarries, he said. There's basically four kinds of stone crushers.  Every quarry has to have them.  

  So, the rock has to be crushed before hauling or moving it?

  Exactly. You have to reduce the size of the rock so you can process it in the next step, he replied.  You can't take a ton of rock and do anything with it, so you change the size by crushing it and then screening it.   We built the machinery and equipment to do that.

  Since retirement, how have you spent your time?

  I build furniture, he said proudly.  My wife, Debbie and I have 14 acres out in Shelby County (Kentucky).  We've got a son and daughter and I make furniture for them, their kids, and anybody else that needs something. 

  Give me an example.  Can you reproduce anything seen in a furniture store?

  I probably could, but pretty much beds, entertainment centers, all kinds and sizes of tables, he 

proclaimed.  

  What's your favorite kind of wood to work with?

  Oh, mahogany or cherry, no doubt, he knowingly replied.  With mahogany, it's very workable and you can get wider pieces which is perfect for furniture.  

  You must have a special place to do all this building.

  We've got a big barn on our property with pretty much every tool you can think of.  Mike went on to say, In fact, you probably couldn't come up with a furniture-making tool I don't own.  

  What are you putting together now?

  Well, I'm actually helping design a new kind of screen for my old company.  I've had some ideas and I wanted to see if it actually could work, he said.  

  Speaking of mahogany, cherry and any kind of wood, 93 year old Donald Wood retired back in 1987.

  I worked for the Courier-Journal (Louisville's newspaper) for 31 years, he said.  

  You must have been there for the change of ownership in '86.

  I was there. he replied.  Gannett bought us out in '86 and I stayed one more year.  I was in advertising sales.  

  But, you didn't stay retired very long.

  No, I couldn't sit still long enough to really retire, he reminisced.  I was only 69 and still wanted to do something, so I went to work for a suburban newspaper selling advertising and stayed there 11 years.  

  What about your private life?

  I've been a widow 15 years and I've got three kids, he said.  They've all got their lives to live, but I see a lot of them and of my grandchildren.   

  Are you physically active?  Do you play softball, run track?

  No, no, but I do go to the Y three days a week, he laughed.  That's saying something at my age.  But, you know what?  I've never been in a hospital in my life and I've never been sick beyond a cold in 93 years, never even broken a bone.  I'd say I've been pretty lucky.

  Coming up: find out what the alarm about microplastics is all about;  a hallmark is on the way; meet a very talented 12 year old, and; more Encore Performances .  

  Donald is 93 and never been sick or in a hospital!?!?  Well, as Rod Stewart said back in '84, Some Guys Have all the Luck.  We wish for him continued good health. 

  HUH?  What's up with that?