I can’t stop!

When I retired 10 years ago (for the fourth time), I promised myself (and swore to K) that I would desist from starting any new business ventures.

I did my best. Since then, I’ve started only about 10 – one per year. I secretly believe I should get a medal for my restraint. When you have never started a biz, it seems like a daunting task. But after you’ve started a few, all the fear is gone. You feel like making a business out of every cockamamie idea that springs into your head.

K and I renewed our vows on October 6. And in the 60-odd days that have passed since then, I haven’t started a single business. Not one.

I have, however, started a few projects. The most recent involves some of the amazing people that I know at Rancho Santana in Nicaragua.

One is a practicing nurse, real estate developer, teacher, author, entrepreneur, mother, grandmother, etc. She is, I think, 84.

Another is a former Nicaraguan debutante who fell in love with a US Marine who was guarding the embassy here 70-odd years ago, was sent to a convent to get her away from him, walked away from her wealth and status to marry him, raised three children, divorced him, started a dozen businesses, had all sorts of fascinating political and romantic entanglements, and recently took the old bastard back because he had no other place to go. She is 87.

The third is younger. At a mere 75 years old, he has spent his life as an itinerant artist, surfer, and sailor. He has traveled the world, and paid his way by selling his art for food, clothing, and lodging. He has sailed the seven seas, danced with beautiful natives in Bali, survived sea storms and shipwrecks, cancer, and gunplay, and is hard to get hold of because he’s always on to his next adventure.

So, I’m going to make a movie about them. It’s going to be called Triptych. I don’t expect to be able to sell too many copies of it, but I’m super-excited about the chance to record their amazing lives for prosperity.

Compared to starting a business, this is going to be a piece of cake. It should be doable in about a year. We’ll see if that’s realistic.