Yesterday, the day after the election, I started to write a long post about the election. I couldn’t get it right. Like many Americans, I was feeling anxious, sad, resigned, and worn out. To some degree, I still am. Record numbers of people have turned out to vote, and the talking heads on TV are…
Indecision
Nobody told my cat about setting the clocks back. He usually likes to wake me up sometime between 4:30 and 5:30, which of course meant 3:30 and 4:30 today (he chose 3:30). I avoided getting up for as long as I could, but after he walked over me about a dozen times and gave me…
Cloudy with a Chance of Clouds
It’s dark right now. We’ll set the clocks back an hour this weekend (I just got sidetracked reading about daylight savings and standard time – fun fact: most of Arizona doesn’t observe it…). As the days have been getting shorter, there have been fewer hours of sunlight. Here in State College, sunlight is a term…
More News at 11….
I begin this post wanting to justify the long silences between blog posts. I feel guilty – partially to those of you who, with some regularity, read what I have to say, but mostly to myself. Life gets busy. That should be an acceptable enough excuse. But for the past year, I’ve been trying to…
Out of Practice, Out of Routine
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, and I’m not sure where to begin. There were several times this past week I had wanted to write about what it felt like to leave a city and people I had gotten attached to. I had wanted to write about what felt like another premature ending…
Walking Through O’hare
Today is my first real non-road trip COVID travel experience. I’m flying from State College, PA to Memphis, TN with a substantial layover in Chicago. I’m writing this from the Chili’s To Go in Chicago… and various other spots in the airport. I spent the last two days driving from Memphis to State College (with…
A Small Victory Against Time
It’s been a few days since I’ve written anything… I suspect I’ll have more, and possibly longer, breaks. A year ago, I struggled to build a consistent schedule. I was starting a new job, moving from Pennsylvania to Memphis, and just trying to adjust to starting over. I’ve read in a few places that it’s…
And Now For Something Completely Different
I started to write last night but fell asleep with the laptop in bed and the lights on. I really hadn’t written much other than “today was my first day in my new position as the Executive Director at the United Way of Blair County.” I like to begin blog posts with short-ish declarative statements….
Getting Some Affairs in Order
It’s cool and rainy here in Memphis. It’s the type of day that pairs well with soup or chili or cookies (or perhaps all three). When we had a similar day last week I channeled my inner Martha Stewart by making a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. I’ve been on a steady cookie diet for…
Housing and Eviction
Yesterday afternoon I made my way down Madison Ave. to head towards the river for a run. A woman sitting on concrete planter asked if I had any cash for some food – I didn’t. She wanted to know where I was from, I told her I live here in Memphis and she said ohh,…
Writer’s Block (Sorta)
I think I’ve run out of things to say/write. I can feel myself slipping out of practice (writing). The weather has been fantastic here in Memphis, and so I’ve been spending more time outside. I’ve also started prepping for my move back to Pennsylvania. Today I submitted my change of address form to the post…
Fighting Cynicism
After an amazingly pleasant day yesterday, I sat on my balcony and began writing my observations for the day. What made it pleasant was a combination of the weather and the simplicity of the day. I had a nice walk in the morning, exercised, sat outside a coffee shop and read, went to a bookstore…