Not sure anybody has noticed but I haven’t been blogging lately for far too many reasons, with one excuse quickly spilling over unto another. The family health crisis, though far from over, has become an ongoing issue rather than an immediate crisis with all we can do is offer occasional help and wishes for the best.
Winter has almost set in and the weather makes it challenging to get out birding on a regular basis. It doesn’t help that there aren’t too many birds out there even when I do get out. Hopefully, the birds that overwinter in Puget Sound will begin to return in greater numbers when it gets colder up north. I am just now beginning to see the Horned Grebes in Port Orchard and have yet to see a single Goldeneye or Merganser.
Long term, I’ve shifted my personal focus from ideas and reading to immediate tasks like renovating the garden and remodeling the house. Lael and I spent most of the 2017 summer tearing out our backyard lawn, making raised beds, and rebuilding the fence. That renovating continues to today. I’m in the process of replacing the blind at the end of the deck. Gavin and I spent a recent weekend replacing the front deck.
I spent most this summer fixing up my woodworking shop in the garage so that I could build new bathroom cabinets to go with the Ikea medicine cabinets and track lighting that I installed at the beginning of the summer. I spent time learning some new tools like a Leigh Dovetail Jig and a Mortise and Tenon Jig. I replaced all the drawers and cabinet doors before hiring someone to replace the countertop and the sinks. That left me with the task of replacing faucets and the under-the-sink plumbing. Accomplishing those tasks reminded why you don’t see too many 76-year-olds still working as contractors.
One of the greatest dangers of remodeling is that once you discover how much you like your new ______ you see other things that could benefit from a quick refresh, things like a shelf between the Ikea medicine cabinets to match the new cabinets below. When it came to replacing the dingy shower — been there, done that— I decided it was time to call a contractor. Kohler will be putting in a new shower between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have to do some more research before deciding if I want to put in a new bathroom fan or have a contractor do it for me.
Once I finish the deck divider I’ve said I will build a new cabinet for the TV that matches the cabinets I built while living in Vancouver a lifetime or two ago. When I built those cabinets I couldn’t have imagined having a large-screen TV. Now it’s hard to imagine not having one. A new smart TV is a pretty good incentive to make sure I have the cabinet completed faster than might otherwise have been possible.
Many years ago I discovered that gardening and woodworking offered a respite from teaching high school English. The most frustrating part of teaching is that you hardly ever get to see the results of your work. It’s difficult to know if you are doing a good job or a bad job, and it never seems like you’re doing as good of a job as you want to do. Gardening and woodworking offer concrete proof of how successful you’ve been.
I’m no longer teaching, but maintaining this blog sometime feels a little like teaching or, worse yet, talking to myself. I never regretted teaching, though I left the field as soon as I could retire and have never looked back or considered substituting to supplement my retirement, and I don’t regret blogging. It has introduced me to some of the most interesting people in my life, people I share common interests with. I have no interest in or intent of giving it up, but writing has a lower priority right now, and it might take a while for me to rediscover the joy I once took in sharing my readings or my outdoor experiences.
