Untitled... Absense...

 I've been absent. It has been years since I did this. There have been so many things that have happened. I now have two granchildren. They are my life. My wife passed away. So many things have changed. New friends, old friends, it's been a roller coaster of emotions. It would be easy to write about how hard it's been but that doesn't benefit anything. So... Here's to new beginnings.

My values haven't changed. I still wake up in the mornings and marvel at the goodness and wonder of God's creation. The green grass looks greener. As we move into fall the sharpness of nature seems to be intensifying. The edges of everything seem sharper. I noticed the leaves on the trees are not changing drastically yet. My Catalpa tree has a lot of leaves that are falling so I know the change is coming. As much as I dislike cold I realize the seasons are necessary. I am trying clove tea for the first time. Simple Man is playing on you tube. Nice easy Saturday morning.

We went to Northern New Mexico a few weeeks ago. My daughter and I met my uncle in Red River and rented a condo. My uncle and I spent many yearsds coming out here with my grandparents so this was really a trip down memory lane. The places have changed but the memories haven't. We went to the old campground in Questa for a drivethrough. They had eliminated the firepit we all used to gather around in the evenings but not much else had changed. We missed the old restaurant across from the road to Red River, it had closed years ago. We went to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge west of Taos since my daughter hadn't seen it before. We went fly fishing in Valle Vidal. Had dinner with a great friend from my junior high and high school days. I'm not inclined to post people's names anymore so he'll remain nameless in this post but we had such a nice visit we vowed to be more proficient at staying in touch going forward. It was nice to talk about all the skateboarding and bicycle adventures we went on back then. Both of us have suffered terrible losses and while I wouldn't chang any part of what I've been through just knowing we know how each other feels about it makes a bond different. Thank's brother, I wish only the best for you. 

While in Red River my youngest caught her first trout on a fly rod. She picked it up really quickly and within an hour landed her first rainbow. That really makes a dad happy, especially when you see the excitement and the smile it brought. It was even better because she is 20+ and developing an amazing career. The three of us ventured around Red River and had a great time, spent too much money but won't ever forget it.

I had learned about Tenkara fly fishing for a few years but never tried it. I found a Tenkara rod on sale so I thought why not. I showed the rod to some folks when I got home and the comment was made "it looks like a glorified cane pole". That brought up some very old memories and a good laugh. I'm not going to describe it here but if you are reading this you also spend time on the internet so do some research. I can say it's very simple, extremely effective, and just plain fun. If you live close get in touch with me and I'll let you try it with my equipment. Panfish fight hard and it'll be fun I promise.

Reread all of my old posts over the last few days. I need to do some editing for grammar and some of the sentences make no sense or are too long. Hopefully this one is much better. I could use an editor. May have to use Grammarly. Sometimes it feels like I’m swimming in water that is so deep you have to tip toe to breath and once in a while a wave comes through momentarily taking my breath away. I hope blogging again along with journaling gets my head above water and renews some of the wells of thought that brought a lot of peace and joy to my life. It's been a rough year physically which has not helped. I had a meniscus tear in my right knee that required surgery in February along with a bit of time for recovery then slipped in the mud in May. That slip caused me to fall which tore my rotator cuff, a deep bicep tear and some other repairs in my left shoulder. That was in May, Surgery for that was in September and I am now in Physical Therapy for all of that. It will end up being a year of very limited activity and a great amount of pain. I am looking forward to no pain and getting back to the activities and chores.

That's my update. God is still good. Be blessed and enjoy your weekend!