In honor of somebody who meant so much to me who passed away on October 29, I am having prime rib instead of the traditional turkey for Thanksgiving. Moreover, so many members of my family are not in town, I might as well do something non-traditional this year. I might even make this a tradition myself.
Because I have been grieving and will continue to do so for probably months if not years, posting here has been spotty. I haven't as late done much in the way of original, lengthy commentary. Much of the time I have posted rants and commentary on one of my YouTube channels, which is easier to do than typing similar commentary here.
I will have had this blog, and blogged regularly, for 19 years on around December 15 or so. There have been some 45,000 posts, not a lot of visits because I never promoted this blog much, only close to 1 million page views. I have enjoyed writing here. Writing has always been a passion of mine, and, when I am motivated, I am good at it.
I got out of writing long posts quite a bit, mostly doing a news roundup when I post, and I was one of the first bloggers to do so, when our friend Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote in 2016. I decided to distance myself a bit from politics because the Trump era depressed the hell out of me. Now that we are still in the COVID era, I am still depressed over the state of the world. I am not happy with how things are going with both political parties. I am old enough to remember when American politics wasn't gripped with widespread insanity as today. The GOP is overrun with fascists, and the Democratic Party is overrun with ratfuckers who push a degenerate agenda that only serves the other side. It is an extremely depressing state of affairs. Finally, what is happening with the environment and planet makes me want to avoid the news altogether.
Of course I have other interests. This is what is helping keep me alive. I have my dogs, and all my dogs have been lifesavers for me over the years. I also have work I enjoy, perhaps not utilizing my full range of skills, but the kids also keep me going. There is still a reason for me to live and do what I enjoy even when going through despair over the world at large and unremitting grief in my own life.
I went out this morning and participated in the Southern Oregon Runners annual Turkey Trot event at the Jackson County Expo. The organization did not hold it last year because of COVID. There was a big turnout for the three events: the 8-mile, the 5K, and the 2-mile. As I do each of the times I participate in it, I opted for the two-mile and held my own. I was only going to brisk walk it, but I ended up jogging the entire way. My knees held up fine. I have been running/jogging for forty years. It is unreal I have kept it up all this time. I have been a serious cyclist since around 1976. I have been a hiking fanatic since 2005, when I turned fifty. Next January I will be 67. Many people my age have died or their health has gone into a downturn. Outside of needed major dental work, I have held up pretty well by comparison.
So despite everything, there is still a lot to be thankful for.
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