You can go backwards and you can go forwards and still be making progress. Going backwards is simply looking back. Going forward is taking what you learned going backwards and putting it to good use.

The mathematical analogy is positive and negative numbers.

I have a long ways to go in my math lessons, before I get to calculus. I wish I could take four years and study math and Latin. I have far more discipline and self-knowledge than I did then. Then I privileged (without knowing it) what came easiest to me, which was narrative thinking.

The wind was a good thing in that it better minded me to practice (if this is the right word) single minded intensity of focus. I was at home, couldn’t do much outside, so I mainly worked on getting the email lists in order for the newsletter mailings.

I thought that after the second blast, there would be no more wind. I was wrong. The wind has sprung up again, the roar is not so loud, and the house is not so cold. But it’s still blowsy out there.

The horses are doing amazingly well – they are looking very healthy and are very energetic. Once the wind dies down, and there is more daylight, I am going to resume being a riding fool. I am also going to resume doing agility.

And now that I think of it, perhaps I should now focus on getting as much as I can get done on the project so that I have time to get out and play. I sure would like a writer’s retreat, one that would allow me time, two weeks, to make some headway on Shelf Life. Of course, I would like for someone to provide me with food. Cooking and cleaning up after myself would be time consuming. Plus, I don’t cook well for myself.

Ideally, I would also like to resume bicycle riding, sea kayaking, and cross country skiing. I have paid dearly for my involvement with the BLBP, but it is not too late to again seek that balance.

Good people are now helping out – and this trend is only going to continue. I just have to be careful and always be cheerful and complementary so that they will keep coming back.

Oh yes, late this afternoon I went to Swanson Elementary School, and I sat and watched a performance of Reader’s Theatre. Little children reading, a play they put together and then some jokes. This was fifteen minutes long. I could only think – all that time and energy on the part of the two teachers, one retired, for a mere fifteen minute performance. This indeed is dedication.

Then one of the teachers, at the very end, thanked the Bright Lights Book Project and the Bright Lights Book Project volunteer.

I thought, this particular individual (the one who made this announcement) had a lot of class. This sort of thing – it resonates, and no one is more aware of this than I am.

Next: December 17, 2025: Four Days until the Solstice