What a year! Once again I was astounded how deep into the past I navigated, this time writing a 17,000 word story about growing up in Indiana, motivated by the 50th reunions taking place in Muncie and Fort Wayne in September, which went on without me. It was just stacking all the memorable experiences on top of each other rather than a coherent “story.” If you know me it might be interesting.
(Naturally, after I posted a couple stories on the reunion page I was put on permanent moderation and pretty much banned by the president of the senior class, who calls himself a writer but was intent on censoring my stories, which was just too much for his Hoosier sensibilities, in other words, what a weenie, right? I probably did blow some minds.)
The nosebleeds were a grand annoyance, especially having one in the middle of the night, though I did get hooked on some fun indie movies at 3am. The first six months I didn’t know how to stop them, after a year I went to the specialist, the ENT, and I suggested cautery but he didn’t want to do it, said it didn’t always work. I finally got it done by the nurse practitioner in his office in August, it was successful so far, and I’ve already forgotten all about it. (93 nosebleeds over 63 days this year, ugh, glad that’s over!
This time last year I was lamenting that I didn’t have the inspiration or energy to remove the bamboo forest I’d cluelessly planted years ago down by the river as camo, or replace the rotting deck off the house. This year the bamboo (as well as all the big scotch broom and other invasive species) came down and the new deck went up, albeit not smoothly.
The delays building the deck ended my hopes of going to Mexico in the spring and instead I spent the summer hiking in the park (176 walks averaging 67 minutes per), lost that famous twenty pounds, am in the unfortunate process of putting it back on as I’ve become semi-immobile with a bad hip, and plan to get the new one in February in Willits, which will once again most likely negate my plans for Mexico this coming year.
I had a burst of energy in November, thinking about my inevitable demise, organized both attics, one cabin, and am working on cleaning up another, the “yoga studio” down by the river. (And I already have a yoga teacher!)
I read my usual 40 good novels and have another fifty ready to go.
I stopped drinking my glass of wine every other night with dinner as an experiment to see if that would help deal with my intermittent insomnia. Two months later I’m sleeping straight through almost every night, and averaging 6.6 hours. (I plan to go three months off to see if that helps to elevate my platelet count. If the platelet count doesn’t go up to normal levels I’ll start drinking again, I think, to see if the alcohol really does affect the sleep. And if it does I’ll know pretty quickly and maybe quit for good—I WILL sacrifice drinking for a good nights sleep!
It was fun walking in the park editing my stories and I have a pile of corrections ready to transfer onto the computer.
It’s fun watching the champion Warriors and amazing 49ers play, and win.
It’s fun getting high (128 times this year) and dancing in the living room (125 times).
So that’s it,
Happy New Year!
(I’m listening to Lay Down by Melanie over and over now and wow!)
Hey Paul –
I remember your family’s big brick house on the hill in Fort Wayne. It was so cool. You were too, with your shaggy mane of hair and soulful eyes. Would love to read your memoir.