A Sad Year So Far

Maybe this isn't a topic for a blog entry but so far this has been a sad year. In January Pat's Mom passed away and then last week her Uncle Al also passed. Three times we have been to different funeral parlors when you also add in the neighbor who passed last month. Never in my life has this happened and it has shaken me in a cumulative way. When we were at the cemetery for Uncle Al's internment we walked over to Pat's Mom's gravesite and then I did something I haven't done in many years. I went to my father's. The day before Pat had said she wanted to visit her Mom's and asked if I wanted to see my father's but I gave her the response I always have. I always say that my father isn't there in that grave, so it doesn't serve any purpose to go there. But something moved me to go see it yesterday and I only assume it was because of how much I was moved by the military ceremony at Uncle Al's, and the cumulative effect of all this sadness this year.

I am not going to become introspective here or reveal my personal feelings except to say that I have done some serious reflection since yesterday.

And dear reader I apologize for the tone of this posting.

A couple things

It has been a while. I think I have said that before in a posting or two. Over the past week or two I have had things to write about but never sat down to put fingers to keyboard. Some of the topics I have considered are the following:

As the end of February approached the fact that there had been no major snowfall this winter gave me pause and I almost wrote an entry. Then two days later we got hit with a major snowfall. Cause and effect?

The snowfall brought up two more topics. First after I had finished clearing our driveway and sidewalk I moved on to the neighbor's driveway. It was then I began to hear an unsettling noise in the snowblower. I kept working but then noticed that the crank that turns to direct the chute had become disconnected somewhere inside the unit. So I had to stop. I came in took off my boots, gloves and coat and was looking forward to some soup that Pat was cooking. It was then I heard the plow. It came down the street and threw snow from the street covering the sidewalk and driveway apron. I cursed a bit. Well, maybe more than a bit and then went out with the shovel to reclear the snow.

There were other topics. On top of the cost I will have to pay when I pick up the snowblower at Sears this week I have to pay Toyota to install a new oxygen sensor. Yes, the day after it snowed the "check engine" light came on. One thing on top of another. Oh, and my bike is in the shop because there is something that is grinding in what I think is the rear hub. When it rains it pours.

Anything else? Of course. I could write about the work we are doing on Pat's Mom's house and preparing for an estate sale. I could write about my thoughts about Facebook and Twitter, but Kevin enlightened me concerning those topics so i am glad I didn't put it here before chatting with him.

So, I am posting this and more or less combining all the topics into one short posting. Maybe going forward I will simply sit and type in my thoughts as they come to me. Or maybe I will once again begin a posting with "It has been a while".