When you're close to retirement you find yourself ready to explore another side of your brain. For me it is trying my hand at writing. Now that I have much more free time I have run out of excuses for not taking on the challenge, so I began by writing a few one act plays. I was inspired by a program in the Berkshires which is held every winter. It's called ten by ten. Ten plays with each being ten minutes long. From the plays I moved on to children's books and figured out how to publish them.   People always say you've got to keep your mind active.