It’s been a long time coming, but we are getting there. Our back yard was full of trees. We had some removed. The terrain was uneven. We had the ground leveled as best we could. There was no grass. After three weeks we got it to look like the picture at the bottom. I was going to hire a contractor to sod or seed my newly cleared back yard. Got two estimates: $3800.00 or $4100.00. DIY to the rescue. Several cubic feet of soil and many pounds of grass seed later there are signs of green grass life. I like green grass if you didn’t know…..When the world is way to anxious to share how challenging life can be, I’m thankful for the simple things to remind me how rewarding life actually is. Spring 2022 looks promising. Can’t wait for Summer.

Cassette tapes. Anybody remember these? Man it’s been a few days since my last post. Been a few months actually….Welcome back to “The Real Life Corner”.

Why did I post pictures of cassette tapes? Aaaaaah. If only my mind could talk. The tapes in these pictures contain an audio chronology of my life going back about forty years. FORTY YEARS! I had not touched these tapes in about ten years. TEN YEARS! Man, how much can happen in ten years, forty years? Alot, obviously.

Recently, I walked into a place of business and saw this qoute on an office wall: “The Turns You Take Lead To The Life You Make”. Wow! Your whole entire life in one single sentence. Made me reflect on the life I made.

I am old enough to have listened to music on several mediums: vinyl, reel to reel, eight track, cassette, VHS ADAT (look it up…), CD, Blue Ray, hard drive (MP3), etc. Audio recording has come a long way. As has the sound of music. So many changes.

And so it has been with life. As time moves people evolve. As we should. Listening to the “songs” was a reminder of that for me. Not only did they reveal how much I’ve changed, they showed how much I NEEDED to change from those respective times moving forward. I hope I’m ready for what the future holds.

Now, anybody got a grammaphone?

Last year our washing machine stopped working. It was about fifteen years old. Our dryer, about the same age, had it’s drive belt replaced but still worked. When my wife replaced the washing machine she decided to upgrade the dryer as well.

I was not happy about it. I like to keep things until they no longer work and so I was content with the old dryer even if it meant “mismatched appliances”. I let my wife AND the new dryer know how I felt about it too…….

The new dryer, for all intents and purposes, works great. But, I think it knows that I did not choose to buy it. How do I know this? You see, every now and then it will change its’ settings unbeknownst to me and my clothes won’t dry completely, causing me to have to dry them again. And sometimes it will not signal me when the cycle is done and I forget to get my clothes. Then my family yells at me for leaving my clothes when they go to use the dryer.

These things pale in comparison to what it did to me lately. It shrank my favorite sweater. Then it shrank my favorite pair of jeans. A few weeks back I put on my favorite sweater and it was much tighter than I remembered. Daggone dryer shrank it! Then last week I put on my most comfortable pair of jeans and, shockingly, could not button them! MAN THAT DRYER! So, I went and bought a sweater and jeans the same size as the ones that shrank. To my astonishment they did not fit either. Too small…. How could the dryer do this? My new clothes had never been in there. I sat down and gathered my thoughts. I began to wonder. Could it be? Am I really starting to “spread in the mid section”. The thought truly never crossed my mind. I have worn the same size clothes for thirty years. Now I realized why at my last doctor’s visit he and the nurse smirked and giggled when I asked, in all seriousness, if they could tell me why my medication was making my stomach feel “tight”.

I apologized to the dryer and now I accept my wife’s decision to upgrade and have a matched pair. I just wish it could stretch your clothes instead of shrinking them.

Rain.

I hear the rain.

Rain falling on the window pain.

Freezing rain. Again. After the snow.

Yes it snowed again.

So soon and yet so plain.

Snowblowers and shovels and shoulders.

And pain. And cold. Freezing cold.

So young into the new year.

Yet so old. And bold. But behold.

Candles and warmth and feelings and yearning.

And touching and senses and desires, burning.

Yesterday smiles and sweet copulation.

The need of flesh solely for fornication.

Leisurely hours of lazily breathing.

Sensuous sounds of the eve deceiving.

With the mind, body and spirit all believing

The snow, the night, the flesh, again leaving.

Sure to return as sure as it goes.

So goes the night, “The Night Of The Snow”.

Come on come on baby, I’m running out of choices

Come on come on come on you know I hear the voices

You know I hear

Come on come on baby, tell me what the choice is

Come on come on come on I know I hear your voices

You know I hear

Revelation and realization. I’m the happiest when I’m here. I’m the healthiest when I’m here. I need to spend more time (ALL OF MY TIME) here. Come on 2022. I really need you

I knew that I should have bought a snowblower instead of a motorcycle………

Three days into 2022 and here we go…….

No words needed……….

January 2, 2021. The first Sunday of 2022. 8:30 pm. Got behind my time this weekend so I didn’t get to do much of what I WANTED. No guitar practice today. No bass practice today. No riding today.

However, I did get to do much of what I NEEDED. Fixed a faulty light switch. Cleaned a car. Bought some “Thank You” gifts for deserving friends. Handled some personal business. But….

You know, people change over time. We the same fundamentally, but our wants, needs, priorities, fulfillment amd desires evolve over time. For me that means I HAVE to some private time on Sunday afternoon/evening to do EXACTLY what I want to do.

The year is early yet. Fifty one Sundays to go……

“HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022”