Too much to do!

Monday -- midday shelter work
Yesterday -- doctor's appointment.
Today -- early car appointment
Tomorrow -- morning shelter work

Whatever happened to my quiet, non-productive retired life?

Actually, the past couple of days have been decent days and I have managed to take advantage of the warm weather by getting a few things done around the house; nothing major, just a few things that needed to be done now are. 
There are plenty of things like that. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours tilling an area for spring planting. I may go over it again today and then once more before planting. Anyone that has tried tilling or plowing land in SWMO understands why there is no crop farming here. The ground is hard, mostly clay, and full of rocks. A couple of hours behind a tiller can beat you up. I'm a bit surprised that my hands and wrists aren't sore today.

Working outside in shorts and a t-shirt was nice for early January. We will have a couple more warm days before winter returns. I am looking forward to spring and planting my Christmas seeds -- pumpkins, sunflowers, and popcorn.
After working yesterday, I sat in the sun and enjoyed a cigar and a tequila and soda. I am looking forward to many similar days. I know that this simple life isn't for everyone, but I do enjoy it.

I hope you have a chance to enjoy whatever today holds for you. 
It's time for me to take a car to the shop.

John

Communication: Is it a lost art?

I think that people often communicate to deceive.
We have gotten so used to listening to people that try to control us by manipulative speech, that we have accepted that as normal and have maybe even started to communicate with others by trying to say what they want to hear while meaning something very different.

I doubt that most politicians or religious leaders (remember when those were very different kinds of people?) would agree with Quintilian. It seems that intentional ambiguity is the way of public speaking these days.

John

It's not spring -- but I'll take it!

A few January days in the mid 60s (17c or so) -- I'll take it!
I'm actually a little excited about it.

It is still just a bit above freezing, but I am looking forward to a much warmer than normal day today. Although I have plenty to do, I am pretty certain that there is a cigar waiting for me this afternoon. 

I ran across this list of challenges for the new year.

You can click it to big it.
Are there any here that you think might be beneficial for you?

I think the first one is good. Having to start over if you complain or gossip in the 21 days might make it an ongoing experiment that lasts the whole year.
Actually, they are all helpful in setting new habits and only as difficult as your current lifestyle differs from each challenge. The 75 day protocol would be the most difficult for me. The rest of them, not so much as I do a bit of them already.

I've never been a big New Year's Resolution person. If you need to change something, just change it. 
"Starting tomorrow..." would work just as well as waiting for January 1st to roll around. Having an artificially imposed starting day like Jan 1 doesn't do much for us procrastinators. 
Nonetheless, I think I'll get started early on my outside work today and make a little more time for that afternoon cigar.

Be well, my friends!

John

What are you reading?

It is highly unusual for me to have four books going at a time, but that is my current situation. Three books is rare, but not too weird. Two books (usually a fiction and non-fiction) is pretty normal. One book happens about as often as three books.

Of my current four, only one is fiction -- The Runes of Victory by John Broughton, an 8th century English tale of a small village and Viking invaders. I started it because I just needed a fiction book to read and it was in my Kindle library, no doubt a free download from a regular listing of free or cheap books somewhere. I'll probably finish it before I finish the others.

The main one open is Mel Robbins' bestseller, Let Them. I had some Amazon credits and decided to see what all the hype was. I've got to say, I think it's mostly hype.
The material is decent and I pretty much already use the philosophies I've read so far. I'm not a podcast listener and I can't imagine hyping this simple stress relief to the point of some viral sensation. One of the difficult things for me in working through the book is that I believe she is writing primarily to women. I only know her story from what I've read in the book and I may have that wrong, but I think that she probably writes like she talks on her podcast and that means she fills a lot of time with unnecessary words. 
I am almost to the halfway point and I will finish it, but it may take another week as I can only read the rambling monologue for so long before needing a break. If you have an over-stressed life and need a self-proclaimed expert to tell you to stop doing stupid stuff and caring about what meaningless people think about you -- well, this book is for you. 
That may be a little premature as I am not even halfway through it yet, but that would be my assessment to this point.

The third book is more of a lesson book that is a part of my quest to learn to speak and understand Spanish. Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish is a way to help me increase my Spanish vocabulary and pick up whatever help I can as I try to pick up the language while living as a hermit in SWMO.

The fourth and final book is a book of meditations of the former Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. 
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a collection of his personal writings that were likely meant just for is own reflection. They were discovered and made public in the mid 1500s, The writings share his stoic philosophy and wisdom and will be something I use in my own meditative time rather than something that I simply read to get through.

Two of these books I read on Kindle and two are actual paper and ink books.

It's 2026.
What are you reading?

John

FOMO isn't a thing for me.

FOMO -- the fear of missing out

It was just a few minutes before midnight when I found out that yesterday (Jan 2) was World Introvert Day. 
I almost missed it!

On the other hand, I did observe it the way any solidly introverted person would -- I stayed home, potted a few plants, read a little bit, watched a movie on my Chromebook, and avoided contact with other people. It turned out to be a wonderfully fitting observance of the day.
I did have to make a quick run to get some food for the cat, but that was my only exposure to the outside world for the day. Although today is not World Introvert Day, I will carry on in much the same way as I do every day.

It looks like the nighttime temps may drop below the freezing point this weekend, so I may have to put in a night or two at the shelter. Daytime temps will be in the 60s (upper teens for you Celsius folk) for next week and I hope to get some of the outdoor work done that I mentioned in yesterday's post. It's also been a little while since I've been able to sit and enjoy a cigar so that will likely happen next week, too.

I have a pretty low expectations kind of life. It suits me quite well. 
I don't do drama.
I am happy to let people do their own thing and work out their own issues.
I am beginning to understand the Buddhist and Toltec beliefs that attachments (to people and things) cause suffering (Buddhist) and that we are addicted to suffering (Toltec).
Perhaps we could all use a little suffering intervention.

Ah well, life goes on.

If you are one of those that wants to learn something every day -- 
From my Word Nerd calendar:
Overmorrow is the day after tomorrow.
And for a bonus:
Ere-yesterday is the day before yesterday.

John

Is it spring yet?

Okay, so I know that spring is still more than two months away, but I think I am going to think spring in my head and begin planning my garden. 

I did ask for some specific seeds for Christmas and someone must have lied to Santa (or Hannah and Jason) about me being a good boy last year because I got them -- sunflowers, pumpkins, and popcorn! Those are all crops that need to be planted in the ground rather than started inside since their roots are sensitive to movement and they don't typically survive transplanting. 
The weather is supposed to be nice next week, so I may begin tilling an area for them. I am actually pretty excited about all three varieties.

If you are planning ahead and want some hostas, I will have plenty to share this year. Some gardeners recommend splitting them in winter, but I have found them to do well pretty much anytime and will wait until spring to thin mine. Just let me know if you have a shady spot that you want to fill.

I do want to get an early start to some cole crops this year -- cabbages, kale, broccoli, and maybe some collard greens. I also want to plant some spinach and lettuce, but those starts can wait a little longer. 
Planning a garden is almost as much fun as working it, so I will do what I can for the moment.

What are your spring plans?
Is it too soon to ask?

John

Stuff and Nonsense

Here are a few things that happened in the past year that you may not have known about:

The moon moved 3.8 cm away from the earth
The sun lost 174 trillion tons of its mass and the earth's orbit increased by 1.5 cm
150 billion stars formed in the visible universe
Andromeda Galaxy moved 3.5 billion km closer to us
and the Universe expanded by more than 60 trillion km

Closer to home and not nearly as significant:

I managed to read 40 books in 2025
I finished the year 15 pounds lighter than I started it
I learned a little bit more about smoking meats and enjoyed experimenting with the smoker

I expect that universal stuff will remain constant in 2026, while John stuff will remain chaotic.
All-in-all, I have a pretty good life.
I should probably work on being more social, but honestly doubt that I will. Maybe I'll just throw out an open invitation for anyone to join me on the deck for a drink and a cigar and see what happens.
Then again, maybe I won't.
Why take a chance on ruining a good thing?

For better or for worse, 2026 is underway.
My plan is to enjoy each day and to focus on keeping my little world a good place to be. 
Let's do this!

John

Happy Boxing Day!

While not celebrated in the US, I am happy to offer wonderful wishes to those commonwealth countries where it is celebrated in any fashion.

In fact, I think I am going to be better about celebrating in the coming year. 
Why not celebrate often?
I don't want to celebrate meaningless things, but rather I want to find special meaning in simple, everyday, ordinary things. 

If we can move from wealthier people giving post Christmas gifts to servants and working people to Black Friday like sales -- Why not?
Isn't that keeping with the idea of the rich (corporations) giving leftovers to the poorer parts of society?
Or maybe it's just another humbug thing.

Did you know...
Humbug is a word that identifies a scam or a method of separating people from their money?
Scrooge's "Bah, humbug!" was his way of saying that Christmas -- as it was being celebrated -- was just a way for people to get something (a day off work) from him. 
Hmmm...
he wasn't wrong, was he?

No matter.
Find a reason to celebrate today.
And if you can't find a reason to celebrate, maybe you can give someone else a reason to celebrate through an act of kindness.

John

Thinking Ahead

It's still 10 days until 2026 but I am thinking about what I might like to accomplish in the coming year.
I often say that I am among society's least productive citizens and my sole contribution to society is that of being a consumer. I am actually quite happy in that role and I don't think that I am ready to mess up that particular brand of happiness.

Currently I am thinking that rather than focusing on doing in 2026, I will focus on being.
Right now, I don't know what that is going to look like.
Maybe it will be that instead of doing something like reading 50 books, I will work on being a reader.
I don't really know.

I do know that there can be great satisfaction in doing and completing a task or accomplishing a goal, and if goal setting is your thing then that's what you should do. 
But if goals don't motivate you and deadlines cause you stress, then maybe just being someone (yourself) or something (teacher, learner, artist, etc.) is more your kind of gig and is who or what you need to be.

There probably isn't much benefit to the world around me if I end up just being myself, but I am already a non-productive member of society so that's not a loss. 
Does being a responsible member of society mean that I have to be doing something to make someone else's life better?
Or does it mean I should allow others to be free to find their own happiness without my interference?

I think that purposefully living in the moment and appreciating the holiness of life will be a good way to spend my time in 2026. 
Being present and being aware of the wonder of nature connects me to the world and to the people around me.

For 2026 -- 
What will you do?
Who will you be?

John

It's the little things...

I never really realized how much I miss the little things of summer.
Yesterday it was 60 (15c) degrees here. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for the second shortest day of the year.

I decided to take advantage of the warm December day and fired up the smoker for some burgers and good quarter pound Angus beef hot dogs. 
I sat in the sun with a bit of bourbon, a good cigar, and played an online game of Wordfeud with my son, Aaron while the burgers and dogs slowly cooked on the smoker.

That was it.
That's all I did yesterday.
And yet I felt like it was a really good day.
Sipping bourbon and smoking a cigar while sitting in the sun doesn't seem like it should be the highlight of any day, but when you live as simply as I do -- well, it sure felt good.

I know that the slow pace of our retired life in the Ozarks of SWMO isn't what most people would consider to be the good life, but it suits us quite nicely. 

     * * * * *

In just a few minutes the sun will reach its southern most point in the earth's annual orbit and we can turn this planet around and begin our journey back towards spring and summer. For those of us living in SWMO, yesterday had just 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 4 seconds of daylight. Today will have 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 3 seconds, while tomorrow will have 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 5 seconds of daylight.

I know.

I'm a nerd for knowing this shit, but I am also amazed by the order of our little corner of the cosmos.

Happy Solstice to anyone that observes the annual event.
Winter is here, but spring is on its way!

John