Write, Post, Forget

Unschool’s in session

The temperature dropped fast last night, as if something had been knocked out from underneath it. Down through the 40′s, 30′s, 20′s, teens, single digits, and all the while a hard wind building from an indeterminate direction. North, I think, but everything so blustery, it’s hard saying. I was awakened in the predawn hours by the staccato whir of our windmill, and I lay there for a few minutes thinking about the animals, which I knew were just fine, but still. I could feel the cold stealing into the house, and not just through the window over Penny’s head, but through all the small cracks and gaps where the boards have dried and contracted over time. I know our house could be tighter, but I’ve never really liked the idea of a tight house, and I’ve always been a bit amused by those super efficient structures that depend on fancy air exchange systems just so the place doesn’t start rotting and its inhabitants don’t turn blue trying to breathe. Hey genius, maybe ya shouldn’t’ve built it quite so tight in the first place, eh?

Never mind. I’ve got my curmudgeon on, having sprung something in my back on Saturday, doing nothing more strenuous that picking up an empty feed bucket. It’s pretty bad, actually, and I’m not one to complain. Ok, so I am, but still… it’s pretty bad. I had it coming, to be honest. I know my back doesn’t do well when it’s not getting it’s accustomed haul-water-chop-wood regimen, which it hasn’t been, what with book deadlines and whatnot. Oh, sure, chores morning and evening, and then there were those dozen or so spruce I dropped and limbed, but still… it’s a greedy thing, my back. It wants more. I’m usually pretty good about feeding it crunches and stretches and so forth, but like most humans, I’m not above sabotaging myself from time-to-time, and have fallen off the wagon of late. So now I must sit with my self-recriminations, watching Penny scurry to compensate for my infirmity, promising myself that once it loosens, I’ll get back on the path to six-pack abs and a doctrine of daily stretching. (For the record, I already have six-pack abs. They’re just… protected)

Tarnation but there’s been some great comments on this site of late, and I sure do appreciate it. I don’t often reply to comments, even the ones that really strike me, mostly because I’m wary of this space commanding too much of my time and attention. My general policy is to write, post, and forget. Write, post, and forget. I do not wish to hold onto to anything I post here; most of it is based on passing thoughts, and is not premeditated. Only infrequently do I view it through the lens of hindsight. Once in a great while, I’ll re-read something I’ve posted, and change a word or two. Still, I think that’s happened maybe six or seven times out of what is approaching 300 posts. It’s not what I want for this space, and if I explain myself so poorly in my first draft efforts (which I know has happened more than once), so be it. You’ll forgive me. The world will forgive me. Hell, even I’ll forgive me.

Anyway. That’s a long way of saying thanks for all the great comments and for all the support in general. Just because I write, post, and forget doesn’t mean I don’t often think about what ya’ll have to say, so please keep saying it.