I've neglected my blog, for which I'm sorry. I find it hard to allocate time to blogging but I don't want it to go untouched for months.
Currently I'm on vacation deep in the midwest, surrounded by vast tracts of corn, wide rivers, and ancient trees. For the first half of the trip I essentially set aside the computer completely, except for a twice daily check of email. I haven't surfed, I haven't blogged, I haven't written. It's been fantastic to unplug my brain for a few days to let myself breathe. I haven't stopped thinking about writing, but instead of feeling that urgent weight of all that I must do, instead I think of it with all the realm of possibility.
I've fired a host of guns with my Uncle, something I'd never actually done since I was 14. Shotgun and handgun and .22 rifle. I loaded a ammo clip, and I loaded the guns, and I found that all my theoretical knowledge was right.
I've swam in the pool, seen the Dark Knight Rises on an IMAX screen, and played with my daughter. I've also voraciously read books for 4 hrs a day, reveling in the time to read, to sit in quiet, to enjoy a little peace.
Probably the most interesting little tidbit I found on this trip was a Readers Digest, I picked it up, and skimmed through the headline stories. "Presidential Debate" and "How to tell if your child is Overweight", "End Affirmative Action", and "911 Please Hold". These are all such current pressing concerns... But the cover was a little faded, and the typeset looked dated. I looked a little closer.
It was dated November 1996. Sixteen years old, and yet so much is still the same. Strangely, I find that a little reassuring. So many people seem to be in a panic about the future, and how much change we might see based on politics or environment or policy, but the old adage seems to hold true. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I'm okay with change for the better, but I'm not in a rush. Things will happen as they do. I'm not going to worry.
