Category Archives: Strange Days

Water

Posted by on May 24, 2021 Comments Off on Water
A view across the water with a paddle in the lower portion of the image.

Late May and the kayak is touching the water for the first time. The past few weekends were just a bit too cool. Funny how the same temperature in the fall won’t be nearly the same barrier that it is today. That’s the difference between warming up and cooling down.

It was quiet enough. A few people out fishing. More people just paddling or motoring around. Only electric motors are permitted in this body of water. The water was higher than last season which made passing under the bridge to get to the larger section of the reservoir a bit more treacherous for taller folks.

It was wonderful to glide across the water and get outside in general. For some reason, this past winter was very closed in and left a feeling of claustrophobia. Anything to stretch the arms or legs is welcome.

Warm

Posted by on May 21, 2021 Comments Off on Warm
The bent remains of an antenna.

There are artifacts everywhere. Bits and pieces of things that were. In this case, it’s a file on a hard drive that lives on a slowly failing computer. It opened accidentally when I launched an application and a project that is years old now is staring at me. I should finish it.

What is it? A series of essays that center around the guitar and the twists and turns of my life. I wasn’t always in a good place emotionally and the guitar has for years been an anchor or a lighthouse. Either holding me in place or at least showing me how not to crash on the rocks.

So the polishing of these sketches and essays will start. Maybe they’ll never see the light of day. But after flipping through my buddy Jeff’s book of poems this week, it seems like something I should do.

Amazing poems, buddy. Amazing.

Snow

Posted by on April 22, 2021 Comments Off on Snow
Snow. In April. Naturally.

It’s April. I need to remind myself of my childhood. This was common then. No one counted on snow being gone until late May. But here I was getting shorts out of the closet and getting ready for fishing. I guess I could still fish, but snow makes it a little less attractive.

It amazes me that we’ve already mowed the grass twice at this point.

Snow.

Spring

Posted by on April 13, 2021 Comments Off on Spring

It snowed. Winter landed. And I stopped writing on this blog. Winter was dark this year. Colder than I remembered. The holidays were good and we tried to keep the family sane as we moved through this half-lit world of pandemic. But somehow, some way, spring showed up.

Trees are green. The grass was mowed for the first time. Yard brush was chopped up. I had my first bike ride out with the boy. We have some garden plans and beds set up. There are bees everywhere (including our yard where they are burrowing into a patch back by what will soon be a flower garden). The world is warming again.

I’m looking forward to an afternoon in the hammock. Hikes in the green. Warm nights with windows open. And evenings on the patio enjoying the air.

And perhaps a few updates here and there.

Winter Morning

Posted by on December 9, 2020 Comments Off on Winter Morning
A tree against the morning sky.

The mornings are grey in an Ohio winter. Even on days that turn blue in the afternoon, the morning seems to creep in slowly and turns the lights up gradually. It helps ease into the day for sure now that every day starts in the same way.

If there’s something to remember from this global ordeal for someone who was privileged enough to be a brain in a jar it is the monotony. Every day is so very similar. It numbs the mind from time to time and it creates a feeling of being weary. Not tired. Tired can be fixed by a good night’s sleep or a quick nap. This is weary. There is no physical rest that restores.

So we go to the parks. We breathe the cold air of early winter. We read and write. We consider things at depth. Or we simply watch and let go. Just for a moment.