The Rain's Return

And this evening the rain returned ....

It had been a while. 

We had enough rain in December for about three winters.

And then it suddenly stopped.

And didn't resume.

And I was beginning to wonder if it would ever rain again. 

And it felt great to feel it falling on my face tonight, even if it is 40 degrees outside.

Needed therapy and relief for icy windshields and stagnant air alerts. 

Driving Peeves

I feel like I'm a patient and mostly calm person but .....

Probably a good chunk (like an estimated 85%) of the things that piss me off these days occur after sunset while I'm driving my car .... like encountering the dickheads in black clothing, out and about, walking around at night and attempting to cross the street in random non-crosswalk places or standing on the edge of the curb/sidewalk appearing as if they are about to take a step into the lane that I happen to be driving in. 

Or the alternate dickheads who tailgate so closely, that you can't see their headlights in your rear-view mirror .... which generally results in me intentionally slowing down to piss off the tailgater.

.... and there seems to be more and more of these braindead freaks out there as I grow older.

The End of Days

Yesterday ....

A gathering together of old friends, to mourn the loss of one of us.

To honor a life.

People who mostly haven't been together for four or five years.

People who once shared a great camaraderie.

Afterwards, for five or ten minutes, you lose your sorrow for your lost friend and it's like it used to be. Like we'd never been apart, never had our connection severed. 

And then it ends. 

Everyone goes their own ways.

And you're standing there feeling more alone in the world than ever.

This is what I hate most about aging ..... not the physical changes experienced, that can be dealt with but the end of friendships.

And thinking that the next time we come together, it will be because we lost another of us.

Lost Connections

Ok I'll say it for probably the 26th time ..... there were years when I was younger where I'd attempt to look forward to the year 2000 and beyond and couldn't imagine making it to this point.

But here I am!!

And I don't know what to say beyond that.

A lot has stayed the same. But so much has changed. 

I think back about all the people that have been in my world for a year or two .... or five or ten ..... and occasionally will remember one that I haven't thought about for years.

And others where I'm not sure if we ever spent a moment or two together or if it just seems like we did?

And some who were very close and who just eventually fell away and I can't recall the reason why or the final encounter and why we never spoke or crossed paths again.

I'm pretty sure that with most, we were not aware that when "see you later' was uttered, that the connection had reached its end point.

I can't recall the timeframe in most .... I say ten years ago and it may have actually been fifteen or twenty.

Or longer!!

And there's three or four end of the connections that haunt me above the others.

To this very instant, I still ask: "Why? Why did it end?"

Why is it like a light switch was flipped and our history went dark?

Never to be switched back on.

First Notes for a New Year

 A few New Years notes .....

• I'd like to use all my available vacation time at work this year. 
• I'd like to continue in 2026 with the new directions and discoveries I made in 2025 in my music collecting ways. 
• I'd like to actually follow through with my 2025 bi-weekly resolutions of doing more home cooking.
• I'd like to read one book at a time and finish it instead of bouncing between six books and never finishing any.
• I'd like to NOT struggle with remembering to take my blood pressure meds on days off from work.
• I'd like to get to sleep earlier each evening, get out the door earlier in the morning, receive less insurance ads in the mail, smile more often at strangers, keep my basketball aired up, ride my street and stationary bikes occasionally, drive to the coast a few times, take even more photos ..... I think that covers it.
• I'd like vastly improved visual identification skills when it comes to distinguishing between and reaching down to the floor with fingers and picking up dark items like clothing lint, dust clumps or live and deceased bugs and spiders.

A clear sky and an afternoon moon from the last day of the year. May not see it again for a few days as the rain has returned for 2026.