Last week, during the mingling portion of the Canadian Forest Service 125th anniversary get-together, many of the old-timers asked, and responded to, a common question: "So what keeps you busy in retirement?"

For my part, I talked mostly about what I was doing—blogging, exercising, cooking, spending time with family and friends, volunteering—but very little about why I was doing it. I wish I had had the foresight to respond with this simple and truthful answer: "I help people."

I'm reminded of the parable of the three bricklayers who are asked, in turn, "What are you doing?" The first says he is a bricklayer, working hard to feed his family. The second says he is a builder, constructing a wall that will protect the people who will use the building. The third says he is a cathedral builder, erecting a structure where people will be able to gather.

Tonight, Chris and I returned to the Nostalgia music festival to volunteer. If I were asked what I do at the festival, I would likely answer that I check volunteers in for their shifts. But I could just as easily say, "I help people." I greet them with a smile, offering a little human warmth on a cold, rainy day. I answer their questions and try to give them what they need to be successful in their roles. And I support my colleagues by reliably and courteously completing the tasks asked of me and that I can see need to be done.

The desire to help others motivates me to volunteer. It also runs through much of what I choose to do in retirement. Brick by brick, person by person, I strive to make life a little better for the people I encounter.