This day, not the landmark so many wish it will be, began with comfortable temps, and a beautiful fool moon on display as Frankie and I went out this morning:

On Tuesday I went to New Bern to get Pattie something she’s been wanting for some time now…

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Just heard an interview on Morning Edition with Nora McInerny, the host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking. I don’t yet know this podcast, but she’s certainly won me over. Perhaps this will be the biggest takeaway from the year past. Will listen to this today, will listen hard.

Hoping the final day of this calendar year brings something bright to your day.

The year ahead? It really is a huge question ma...

THE SHAPE OF THE SHORE, by Rana Awdish, an essay with important perspective, especially now as this virus is yet again surging at a frightening rate.

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Trying to find a way to bring positive thoughts to the fore. Thankful for much, of course; not the least of which is our health, and our ability to call on available resources to live comfortably. But also aware that each day doesn’t create the best of memories.

So I’ve brought some edible, aromatic memories to the forefront. Hoping, too, that sharing a catalyst to positive memory with others will help them.

Almost there. Just a few more days. The fool on the hill completely incapable of actions beyond his narcissistic instincts. And all other of his fools standing in line to kiss the arse he promises will be ever the king maker. Sickening.

The ups and downs of the days and nights are truly unsettling. Trying to focus, trying to stay anywhere near on-point is a very significant challenge. Perhaps no easier right now than in April.

Finding some clarity in giving myself a mini-teaching assignment, one that i’d like to offer to my students starting Jan 1 or so. Simply put, it’s just a daily communal writing period; a zoom session in which we each write for five minutes using a randomly generated idea, whether pitches, rhythms, colors, or something else...

Very cold here (20s at night, 30s daytime). Enjoyed a short ride yesterday (new overpants really work remarkably well), walks over the past few days with Pattie and Frankie. But over all, feelings of ennui which seem impossible to overcome. And watching/reading about what these people whom we’ve elected as political leaders are doing, the narcissist-scum-in-chief leading the way towards even further pain and catastrophe for so many in this country, backed by politicians who seem to stand for absolutely nothing beyond their own political survival; it’s all so much worse than disheartening.

And on top of all that, the evil that emerges in Nashville’s downtown. The depths to which mankind can stoop seem truly evermore unfathomable to me...

I haven’t yet read all of the essays recommended in this article, but those I have read are fabulous.

A beautiful, clear day, and not even so cold, really, for late December. The news of the week, though, makes it so difficult to feel safe and sound. Today’s reports of more waves of Covid-19, and more transmissible mutations, just makes this all ever more frightening.

The vaccine is certainly good news, but it will take many months before enough folks are immunized to make a significant difference in ‘normalizing’ day-to-day life. [If, in fact, that ever happens.]

Feelings of isolation continue, deepen, and darken. Perhaps for you, too. My bright spots come via the wonders of today’s techlife, thankfully:

We received a fabulous gift from Joe/Cristin last week–something I’d not known about before it came in the mail. This Dragon Touch digital picture frame allows selected/approved people to email pictures directly to the frame. You choose an email address for the frame, then send that address to people you want to have emailing ability; they send you a one-time email with a specific code, and you approve their email address. Then, pictures just start appearing in an ongoing slideshow whose specs you can adjust to your liking.

Joe/Cristin, of course, have been sending pix, as have Pattie and I from our own phones/archives. These pix of Jackson recently appeared on our frame, bringing lots of smiles:

Winter solstice has arrived. The longest night, of one of the longest years. Not so sure that things will only get better from here, but the days will have more hours of light, and that’ll be nice.

Pattie and I really needed to do something to change the routine. With Surf City out of commission for, likely, at least another month, we’re really feeling every bit as ‘locked in’ as everyone else. So Pattie found a new hotel down in Beaufort (on the water, near where we departed for a diving trip last June), with a restaurant that looked nice. We went down Saturday, just for a night.

We stopped in to Pattie’s brother’s, near Beaufort, in Morehead City...

The bright spots in the days, without question, come via NY. THis morning’s video call might require some narration…Jackson does give kisses, but also gets a kick out of the next best thing, “smelling noses.”