Like Superman, I need my Fortress of Solitude. I need a place where I can live life on my own (LOMO) for whatever time I have left on this earth. After four years of trying to create it, I think it is finally done.
Four years ago my fortress was the place where my wife of 36 years spent her last hospice days. After she died I decided to make the retirement community (RetCom) apartment my official home for my remaining years.
The apartment is an 800 sq ft one-bedroom on the second floor of a three story building. At first I was reluctant to move here as I thought I would always be depressed that I would sleep in exactly the place where she took her last breath. The twenty four hundred square foot 100 year-old farm house on three acres of ground where we lived was just too much for me to handle now. My wife needed “elbow room” but I have always felt that “cozy” was my optimum living style so that is what I chose.
Of course, the first thing I moved here was all my techie stuff which includes a 24 inch iMac, two MacBooks, and two iPads, and of course, all my camera stuff. I moved less than 10% of the furniture from our homestead and gave the rest to the young couple who bought the house.
Over the last four years, I have been filling my fortress with the things that make it cozy. During these years I caught the artsy bug bad! The pictures here are certainly evidence of that. The apartment had a 6ft x 6ft walk-in closet, but since my entire wardrobe takes up less than 3 feet that was a terrible waste of space. So, within a year that closet became my workshop.
Puzzling is another obsession with me. Due to my Neurodivergent traits my brain constantly runs at 100 mph. Sometimes I just need to slow it down. Working a 1,000 piece puzzle does that for me. So, my dining room table has permanently become a puzzle station for my 56 and growing puzzles. Behind that is my latest artsy endeavor that is about digital doodles. If you want to see what that is about click HERE.
I have been doing quite a few posts here at RJsCorner about living a satisfying retirement. To accomplish that I have read numerous books, blogs, and articles about how to build my fortress. One of the things found told me that I need to tend to living things. To that end I have a menagerie of plants in front of my patio door. I feed and nourish them and even talk to them. Since I am an “Elder Orphan” these are my kids. I enjoy watching them grow.
I have been making constant changes to my fortress for four years now and I think it is nearly complete, but I never know when I will find yet another “improvement.”
I love my fortress. I know that no one in a right mind would want to live in all this artful clutter, but who said I have a right mind.
I LOVE it.
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 
RJ, I really enjoyed seeing your abode! You’ve done a fantastic job of making it exactly what you want for your living space. Just one question—how do you exit through the glass doors to your outdoor area???
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Yeah, I enjoy it very much. I say it is done now, but I kinda think more “improvements” are still in the works. 😀
As to your question, the small plant stand on the left is on wheels so during the warm weather months it is easily rolled out to access the deck.
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I absolutely see RJ in every square inch of your fortress, and would find that space endlessly fascinating, as well.
You have done something most of us can’t, or won’t: made your space into a relection of your world.
Bob Lowry
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Thanks for the thoughts, Bob. It is now my “Happy” place that I have dreamed of for four years, and probably longer. I can be who I am when I am within these walls. No masks to put on to act like people expect of me. That alone has made my life satisfying.
Maybe you and Betty can use some of my ideas when you downsize to a RetCom. If you need some special help with that just let me know. 😆
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I love this… we could be twins.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it Jessica, or should I say sis 😁
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