I have been missing in action from this blog because I took on a project which actually paid me to write and I just didn't have time to write for two blogs at the same time. Time or juice.
It was fun for awhile. Instead of writing about family and home and dogs and such, I wrote mostly about life in the Shenandoah Valley - things to do, places to go... I threw in the Ump (although I referred to him by his given name - which was weird) and assorted family members when I could squeeze them in. My columns felt bland without them.
That experiment ended in July and in the meantime I have been experimenting with various social networks to get a feel for what that is all about. Facebook has been very interesting, though I admit I feel a bit like an intruder. Most of my friends who are on Facebook (including my stepdaughter) are in their mid to late-20s. They joined Facebook in college - it was the way they got to know more about each other.
I think MySpace is more the place for just everybody. I haven't gone there much except to look up sites that belong to particular music groups and things like that. I do not have a MySpace spot yet.
I am on Plaxo and LinkedIn and another professional networking site whose name escapes me right now. The interesting aspect of these services is that you kind find people you worked with in previous jobs. While I have been in the working world for more than 20 years, I have only worked for two companies, so this doesn't work as well for me as it does for job-hoppers who really move around. But I did manage to find a former co-worker from my first job and check in with her for the first time in 20 years.
All this social networking is a little more time-consuming than I realized and I barely have enough time to accomplish my routine life. The Ump thinks I spend way too much time on my computer. My comeback is that he spends way too much time watching sports. That argument usually ends in a draw because neither of us are willing to give up our indulgences.
Many things have happened this year which I have yet to write about. The biggest event was Olivia's wedding in September and the new addition to our family (not the son-in-lsaw) Bud the wacky weiner dog.
I am actually writing from Covington today. I came home to visit with my parents for a bit and to help Mom with her computer. So while I am at the keyboard, I decided to slip in a quick update.
For those of you who have been most encouraging, thanks for the pressure. Just kidding. I need to do this much more often than I do. I miss writing when I don't do it, but when you get out of the routine sometimes it is hard to climb back in the saddle.
I have a children's story percolating in my head right now. Hopefully, I will hope on that one before too long.
Anyway, it's good to be back and I will be seeing you soon.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
I am back
I apologize for being gone for so long from this blog site.
Hopefully, many of you followed me over to the Sager Realty site where I was actually receiving a stipend for writing. It seems I just didn't have the juice to write there and here too.
The difference between that blog and this is that the other blog was chiefly about the Valley and not so much about my personal life. Turns out that was a lot harder than I imagined. I guess I have been writing a personal column of some sort for 23 years. Maybe I am hard-wired to write that way.
A lot has happened in my life and in the life of the Rinker family in the passing months. We got a new dog. Olivia is now married. The streetscape downtown is nearly complete. I have lots of things to tell you.
This is not a full-fledged entry. Just consider it a notice.
I am back!
Hopefully, many of you followed me over to the Sager Realty site where I was actually receiving a stipend for writing. It seems I just didn't have the juice to write there and here too.
The difference between that blog and this is that the other blog was chiefly about the Valley and not so much about my personal life. Turns out that was a lot harder than I imagined. I guess I have been writing a personal column of some sort for 23 years. Maybe I am hard-wired to write that way.
A lot has happened in my life and in the life of the Rinker family in the passing months. We got a new dog. Olivia is now married. The streetscape downtown is nearly complete. I have lots of things to tell you.
This is not a full-fledged entry. Just consider it a notice.
I am back!
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Faux spring
Could it be spring?
My calendar says January (actually, December – I keep meaning to change it), but the air is warmish, inviting me to shed coat, gloves and scarf.
Squirrels are playing tag around the barren walnut tree on the east side of the house. The fastest squirrel turns from his perch on a low limb to scold the loser on the ground, his whipping tail an exclamation point to sassy chattering.
My watch correctly announces the date – 1.7.8.
It is January. It is also 60 degrees.
My dog is panting.
Fickle January often holds a secret spring up its sleeve. Up the other sleeve is a blizzard or ice storm or an assault of wintry wind.
Knowing this, I enjoy the hand we’ve been dealt today by Mother Nature and wander around in the yard in shirtsleeves looking for a good excuse to be outside.
The Ump is on patrol, doing one of his favorite jobs – dog waste collection. It’s even a nice day to pick up poop.
In the teasing sunlight of this warm Sunday, 2008 doesn’t seem too intimidating.
Last year was bronco ride for the Rankers. We had some fabulous ups – O and W were engaged in August and plans began for their nuptials in September.
The worst part of 2007 occurred in October when my Mom suffered a stroke. I don’t know if I have ever been so scared – at least not recently. When I was fresh out of college and working away from home for the first time, my Dad was diagnosed with melanoma. That was bad too.
I am happy to say that Mom’s strength and left side mobility and dexterity are returning. It is too slow for a woman accustomed to doing her own thing and not having to depend on the kindness of others. But her progress has been fantastic and I remind her as often as I can.
I was hopeful that our family was starting to catch a break when I got the news yesterday that my brother had to be hospitalized to have an emergency appendectomy. He is out of the hospital now, but that makes three members of my family (Dad, too, briefly) who have spent time in the hospital in the last four months.
I certainly hope the fickle finger of fate is moving on to the next family.
…
In answer to my first sentence – it is not spring.
After the sun set today and while the air was still warm, I walked out to the trashcan to throw away a holiday poinsettia that had lost most of its leaves.
Even though the temperature remained unseasonably warm, the air was still winter air. It smelled of rotting leaves. The breeze was mild, but not embracing. If it had been spring, the air would have been laced with the enticing scents of growing things and my skin would tingle with delight from the fragrant zephyr hug.
The faux spring day was nice, though. It was filled with promise and coupled with the promise of the new year, I feel cautiously optimistic.
Happy New Year, everyone!
My calendar says January (actually, December – I keep meaning to change it), but the air is warmish, inviting me to shed coat, gloves and scarf.
Squirrels are playing tag around the barren walnut tree on the east side of the house. The fastest squirrel turns from his perch on a low limb to scold the loser on the ground, his whipping tail an exclamation point to sassy chattering.
My watch correctly announces the date – 1.7.8.
It is January. It is also 60 degrees.
My dog is panting.
Fickle January often holds a secret spring up its sleeve. Up the other sleeve is a blizzard or ice storm or an assault of wintry wind.
Knowing this, I enjoy the hand we’ve been dealt today by Mother Nature and wander around in the yard in shirtsleeves looking for a good excuse to be outside.
The Ump is on patrol, doing one of his favorite jobs – dog waste collection. It’s even a nice day to pick up poop.
In the teasing sunlight of this warm Sunday, 2008 doesn’t seem too intimidating.
Last year was bronco ride for the Rankers. We had some fabulous ups – O and W were engaged in August and plans began for their nuptials in September.
The worst part of 2007 occurred in October when my Mom suffered a stroke. I don’t know if I have ever been so scared – at least not recently. When I was fresh out of college and working away from home for the first time, my Dad was diagnosed with melanoma. That was bad too.
I am happy to say that Mom’s strength and left side mobility and dexterity are returning. It is too slow for a woman accustomed to doing her own thing and not having to depend on the kindness of others. But her progress has been fantastic and I remind her as often as I can.
I was hopeful that our family was starting to catch a break when I got the news yesterday that my brother had to be hospitalized to have an emergency appendectomy. He is out of the hospital now, but that makes three members of my family (Dad, too, briefly) who have spent time in the hospital in the last four months.
I certainly hope the fickle finger of fate is moving on to the next family.
…
In answer to my first sentence – it is not spring.
After the sun set today and while the air was still warm, I walked out to the trashcan to throw away a holiday poinsettia that had lost most of its leaves.
Even though the temperature remained unseasonably warm, the air was still winter air. It smelled of rotting leaves. The breeze was mild, but not embracing. If it had been spring, the air would have been laced with the enticing scents of growing things and my skin would tingle with delight from the fragrant zephyr hug.
The faux spring day was nice, though. It was filled with promise and coupled with the promise of the new year, I feel cautiously optimistic.
Happy New Year, everyone!
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