My progress writing on this blog stopped suddenly: not because I wasn’t writing, but because I was writing in different contexts. Every business day, it’s my job to write meaningful, productive sentences in English, PHP, and Javascript. With some regularity, I’m called upon to interact with a variety of digital systems in their native tongue. This is every day, it doesn’t stop; I love what I do for work, I’m glad this is what I do. But it leaves me with a strong need to write about something else, or do something other than writing.
This blog exists to fill my need to write 500-1000 word essays. I do other kinds of writing and it’s just not very helpful for that. I’ve been writing ritual twice a month for new and full moon observances, and while it’s writing, it’s not really blog material. I have longer format projects in the works that also have no business being in a blog: a couple of fiction pieces started, one of which I’ve slowly grated out for over 15 years; a handful of attempts to start another history of Christianity project (book? video? gameshow?).
Lately, I’ve been re-reading the book of Mark and discovered that everything means something different now. So I started taking notes and that’s taken on the form of… something else. Another book? A video? I don’t know. At this point, it’s as much a traveler’s journal as a theological study. Everything I thought I knew about Christianity as a young man has undergone a radical change and where I once looked at the Bible with curiosity and awe, I now see it with a sense of both understanding and general disgust. And I can’t wait to share what I’ve seen.
I’ve also been busy with things that aren’t specifically about writing. The pagan group at church has something three or four times a month, and I’m responsible for showing up, setting up tech, leading ritual, and representing for the group. I’ve loved having this project going on because it keeps me from withdrawing into my shell but doesn’t really ask a lot from me. Representing as pagan has become something of a life’s work: leading the pagan group is simply a convenient extention of something I do normally.
In my prior iterations with ‘pagan group associated with UU church’ activities, I didn’t gel as well with the main body of the church as I have here, where I’ve added my name to the membership. I’ve joined in with some of the interest groups, and have started helping with the production of the Sunday services. And most wonderfully, after only a year of activity, I’ve been blessed with a grand feeling of belonging, of being a part of a larger group for which I feel great pride.
This Spring, I became quite ill during the record-breaking grass pollen season here, with infections in my sinuses, eyes, and ears. I’m on my second round of anti-biotics now, and I really hope I’ve kicked all of this by the time these pills are done. It was the first time in years — since before Covid — that I had been ill for any reason, and I didn’t like it. I may start going back to wearing a mask all the time because getting sick is for the birds. It took a lot of energy away from creative projects, put me behind on a number of tasks, and made me miss events that I had been looking forward to.
A lot of time recently has been spent dealing with or directly supervising a small kitten who had broken his leg. We forked out the cash to get him patched up, and kept him with us while he recouperated. He seems to be doing lots better now and will go back to live with his kitty family next week. Kittens are so much fun to have around, but also so much work! After having this two pound cutie in my arms for a couple of days, hoisting my 12-pound sweetie seemed like a lot more of a chore. Our cats haven’t been getting the kind of attention they deserve, so that will be changing, too.
Gardening here has escalated significantly over last year’s four window trays. Earlier in the season we bought out a local store’s entire supply of window trays. We’ve bought a dozen bags of dirt and twenty or so pots, ceramic, terra-cotta, and plastic, all of various sizes. Early spring flowers and lettuce has given way to dahlias, petunias, and kolanchos. Herbs have quadrupled in variety and quantity. Watering and pruning is a nightly affair. Nothing — I say, Nothing! — gives me more hedonistic pleasure than setting up my work laptop on the patio surrounded by flowers on a beautiful, cool morning in the mountains.
A recent cash windfall from work enabled me to finally get a string-trimmer for the yard and clean up the mess on the west side of the house. It had been a source of stress and irritation for me so long, I had forgotten. When it was finally taken care of, it took me a while to fully experience relief about it. Taking care of this yard isn’t a huge challenge, but getting it cleaned up from years of neglect was more work than I had anticipated. There’s still a ton to do, but there’s no longer any great urgency. Ahhhh!
So, now at last the wheel has turned again to where I am able to write blog posts, at least today. I have a thought to turn the study on Mark into a series of blog posts, but I need to work with the material a bit more first. I’ll just sit here on the patio with the hummingbirds and the robins, and do what I do.
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