It is said that loss and death, like plane crashes, often arrive in triplicate. And so it was for me in 2014. At the end of 2015, celebrating New Year's Eve with Joel, Connie, and Curt, I raised my champagne glass for a toast: I made it all the way through the year without anyone dying. Connie looked horrified. No, that's a good thing, I said. And it was. A whole year with no death.
Another eight months passed and more changes. A goodbye to the business and support I had on Main Street. Goodbye Chilitos and Richard. Goodbye Cafe K and David at M Street. Hello house. Hello empty yet messy, filled-to-the-gills house. Getting organized. This project started virtually before the last one has ended. So little to do and so much time, as Willy Wonka stated, backwards. How does one strike that and reverse it, as Willy says afterwards? You got me.
While not tempted by self-help books (really doesn't that strike you as funny? If you could help yourself, why would you buy the book?), I seem to drift to memoirs lately and find some solace. Maybe this came as a result of the thought of writing my own. When that seems ponderable I think of structure. And, I think of the story. It's not pretty, so why do I want to tell it? And that, as Hamlet said, is the question.
So what about having fun? After all, time flies... as the title of this post declares. All of what was once fun for me has ground to a halt: salsa dancing; travel; cooking; even writing this blog (although I have written many posts over the past twenty-one months that I have not "published" here). People keep telling me I should go away; get away when the business closes escrow later this month. But I keep responding that I don't have the energy to think or plan a trip, much less pack for it. I want to sit for two weeks and stare into space. I want to spend time decompressing. Meanwhile, as my transition schedule at the business is not daily, I am catching up, cleaning up, playing the piano (yes, I know you didn't know this about me), and beginning a daily practice of meditation (again, + good luck with that). My official friend (we call each other that because we transitioned from dentist/patient after her retirement), Lynnette, has, with her vast generosity of spirit, invited me to join her and her family for two (TWO!) cruises. And I am very much thinking about one of them but it is not until next May. Lots of time to do what needs to be done before then.
So, loose ends to be tied. Or, fit to be tied? No matter which, time does fly. And whether you fly with it or let it blow on by; the days, the hours, the minutes are all we have to fill it and measure it by. My next post, already written, entitled Moving On addresses this in an entirely different way. So, stay tuned. I'll be back...
Another eight months passed and more changes. A goodbye to the business and support I had on Main Street. Goodbye Chilitos and Richard. Goodbye Cafe K and David at M Street. Hello house. Hello empty yet messy, filled-to-the-gills house. Getting organized. This project started virtually before the last one has ended. So little to do and so much time, as Willy Wonka stated, backwards. How does one strike that and reverse it, as Willy says afterwards? You got me.
While not tempted by self-help books (really doesn't that strike you as funny? If you could help yourself, why would you buy the book?), I seem to drift to memoirs lately and find some solace. Maybe this came as a result of the thought of writing my own. When that seems ponderable I think of structure. And, I think of the story. It's not pretty, so why do I want to tell it? And that, as Hamlet said, is the question.
So what about having fun? After all, time flies... as the title of this post declares. All of what was once fun for me has ground to a halt: salsa dancing; travel; cooking; even writing this blog (although I have written many posts over the past twenty-one months that I have not "published" here). People keep telling me I should go away; get away when the business closes escrow later this month. But I keep responding that I don't have the energy to think or plan a trip, much less pack for it. I want to sit for two weeks and stare into space. I want to spend time decompressing. Meanwhile, as my transition schedule at the business is not daily, I am catching up, cleaning up, playing the piano (yes, I know you didn't know this about me), and beginning a daily practice of meditation (again, + good luck with that). My official friend (we call each other that because we transitioned from dentist/patient after her retirement), Lynnette, has, with her vast generosity of spirit, invited me to join her and her family for two (TWO!) cruises. And I am very much thinking about one of them but it is not until next May. Lots of time to do what needs to be done before then.
So, loose ends to be tied. Or, fit to be tied? No matter which, time does fly. And whether you fly with it or let it blow on by; the days, the hours, the minutes are all we have to fill it and measure it by. My next post, already written, entitled Moving On addresses this in an entirely different way. So, stay tuned. I'll be back...
