So Spring has entered the arena. Now comes the time when the incoming challenger starts duking it out with the current champ for who gets to reign over the next several months. Spring's opening gambit was strong but then the wily ol' north wind came back a blowin' and a snortin' to challenge the uppity interloper. Funny, I sit here writing like I have something to say, something to try and articulate out of the jumble of wispy thoughts. But you know, I really got nothin'. Fact is that it's a rainy day, too rainy and windy to do my daily walk and I just feel like writing. But when I go to the cupboard to see what ingredients I might blend together into a thoughtful blog, alas, they are empty. I am not "pregnant" with anything in particular. That certainly tends to make writing go slower and feel less enjoyable. Yet my reading says that to become a better writer you just have to write, pregnant or not... so I write on.

Today is somewhat notable in that it's two weeks after our second Covid shot and statistics say we are now relatively bullet proof. Death and hospitalization from the spiky ball enemy is off the table. Masking becomes a mere suggestion. I can go meet someone inside for a coffee. Dining-in becomes a new option.  It will take a bit to rest easy in the return of these types of freedoms. Nonetheless, I am so grateful for having stayed healthy and I go off into my immediate future with less constraint....damn the variants, full speed ahead!

I am talking with Jess on Signal in about an hour. They will be leaving England in one year and returning to Minnesota. I have little doubt that their five years abroad will pay dividends in the future. But for now, I think they will tend toward feeling overwhelmed at all the realities of uprooting and returning to nothing other than pure frontier on every level from employment, to social and cultural. I hope to be of assistance in the process. Only time and Jesus will illuminate my role more clearly. For now there is only excitement for having Jess and Mike back stateside and a definite heart intent to do what I can.

I am grateful for a group of men who Father has brought to me as partners in the sojourn of life to one extent or another.  Longer walks have been the predominant means of meeting throughout the last months. These are men who will risk being more transparent than what is normally to be found. An opportunity to be known and to know others, to share life observations, to be vulnerable, to speak truth as I am currently able to apprehend it, to participate in iron sharpening iron. I count it pure kingdom gift and the fruition of a bit of a vision given to me as I pondered the end of the house church season. Thank you Lord for what you have been providing in this area. Thank you for reciprocal levels of influencing others and being influenced in return. I sigh as I write this...it has been good, so welcome. Help me to lean into this with your wisdom and your care for those who you have brought me to.

Maybe a quick review of some recent Amazon purchases will give a fast overview of what have been my purchasing priorities.  There was the massage table, massage oil, electric blanket and sheets that was Sandi's birthday present from me. This has been a real hit and every Sabbath a 45 minute massage is part of our day of celebrating God's creation and all he has provided. A shiny, new, more modern kitchen faucet, and a Waterdrop drinking water filter with dedicated faucet were nice additions. Home Depot Dave, my master plumbing Yoda, got me through another tight spot and the install was a success. A brand new pair of Merrels to replace the worn out Vibram of the last pair that has 600+ miles on them. They now become the "yard" shoes. Then there are the miscellaneous items: new Ni/cad batteries for leaf blower and weed whip, Cafiza for getting a groady coffee thermos crystal clean again. And finally books, so many books. There is a book of poetry which is frontier for me. Also Wind in the Willows which I bought for a particular quote that personifies a river in such an exquisite way that I just had to have the book the two sentences appear in. And last but not least, six books by mystics including Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross andThomas Merton.  Such authors have been a very life giving group for this stretch of my sojourn. 

I have to say that a recent reading of a journal of mine that goes back some 14 years has reopened my eyes to the value of this sort of chronicling. Going back over things written a decade ago helps illuminate the experiences, the pain, the victories and the resolution of what appears as merely random, unrelated events as they occur. But as time passes and one looks back the myriad ways in which the Trinity has shepherded me through the twisty jungle paths of life comes more clearly into focus. Although this particular posting is a bit Seinfeld (a story about nothing), it provides a current snapshot  and will serve as a helpful footprint when I look at it years from now (if indeed my life should have a "years from now").

Being retired continues to be like a prize I won in a contest. After decades of earning a living, the pressures associated with performing in someone else's circus, the push to advance and gain respect in your little corner of the commerce world, it remains positively blissful to be released. I also am so grateful that God has provided, the funds are adequate and we have enough. Enough is too often underrated in the chronic quest for always more. As I mentioned to Jess, some sunny days when I set off on my daily walk, I feel the freedom that comes with not having to be somewhere else and I rejoice that no matter how much longer I have to enjoy it at least I have had the opportunity to enter that wide and open space I find myself in today!