gobear, what excellent points, all!
(I do so admire you for speding all that time at all those National Parks! I hope to do that as well some day—to be an employee. I see people of all ages working at Yosemite.)
msmith, ah I see a little better what you’re getting at. It’s true, we’re all different and we all enjoy different things and have different things that are important to us. And I see that you misunderstood at least part of what I was getting at when I described my pottery and art activities.
But you’ve sort of implied a bleak outlook for your future. You’ll “find something to do” when you’re older (what a plan!). You’ve cried “Bullshit!” to those on this thread who claimed that their 40s and 50s were better for them. And as gobear points out, you are mistaken. And so I also have to ask, why do you point to 40-50 years old as some “cut off” point? As gobear pointed out, people of that age range (and beyond) are still very fit and very active.
Regarding the “doing it while you are independent” thing—there is more than one time in your life to do this stuff. One of my friends, who is in her 60s, is very happy travelling all around the globe, staying active in local cultural events and political causes. She’s a very cool woman who looks far younger than she is and is always fun to talk to.
She’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her. She’s had these interests forever. She’s just following through with the things that were always her passions, now that her kids are out of the house and she has more time. And yes, as a matter of fact, she has several cats as well. 
It’s none of my business what you plan for your future, but gleaning from your posts, it doesn’t sound like you’ve got a “plan,” other than to “find something to do.” And not that it’s any of my business, but maybe you should re-think that?
I learned to develop my own “plan” by looking at my parents, who were always active with something. (Interestingly enough, they never gave up on their dreams and interests, even though they had three squalling kids and home.) I learned from them that you must have these interests to look forward to in order to stay young. If you want to stay young in spirit and keep your mind sharp, you’ve gotta have something exciting to do, something engaging and challenging.
I also know people who are probably the kind of people you have been thinking about: these people sit around, go to work and come home, pay their bills, watch Jerry Springer, and as far as I know, don’t do much else. No reading, no cultural outings, no hobbies, no creative outlets, nothing. I daresay that a lot of these people “lived for the moment” when they were young (and there is nothing wrong with doing that sometimes) but they never thought ahead to anything else, never developed anything else in their lives. And now they are struggling to “find something to do,” but they are so stuck in a rut and their confidence is down and they can’t imagine breaking out of their self-imposed habits, and so they just do the same old boring things every day.
But, if they wanted to, they could get out of their ruts and learn something new at any time. But it becomes harder for some of them as the years progress, and they become the “I coulda” people: “I coulda done that if I’d started earlier.” “I coulda done that if I’d wanted to.” “I coulda, I coulda, I coulda.” Argh. (I’m not saying that any of us are exempt from saying “I coulda” occasionally, but when it is said frequently…well…that’s a waste and that’s sad)
