3-Minute Heydays

3-Minute Heydays is a collection of 120 essays on life after work by retired Orlando Sentinel journalist Ed Hayes--each of which can be read in 3 minutes. That last part's true because that's how long it takes Ed to read them on public radio each week. His radio and newspaper column fans know Ed as one of the most contented retirees you are likely to find. He charms them with his musings on the good old days, and each good new day, viewing the world from his perch as a happy recipient of Social Security. Ed wrote for newspapers for 32 years, 20 of those years for the highly respected Orlando Sentinel, where he became a much-admired icon of the central Florida area as sports editor, book editor, and finally, Heydays columnist. When he left the news room, he just couldn't stay away from his keyboard. By popular request, he continued writing the Heydays column on what his retired life is like and hasn't missed a week for 17 years. Here's a collection of his best--all of them would count, but not all of them would fit. Reader: Try a Heyday Just three minutes a day will chase the blues away. Here's a 30-second sample: Last week my wife and I went shopping for baby diapers. As I explained to the store cashier who sized me up with a conspicuously leery eye, we were buying the sizable package of diapers as a donation to our church's continuing agenda of helping out young, needy families. When I asked the clerk if perchance safety pins were included in the package she merely shook her head slightly and smiled--suspiciously. I took this response to mean that when it comes to "changing" babies nowadays, pins are passe. Hope I got that right.