Silence

My blog community seems especially quiet lately, myself included. I wonder if this is an indication that the act of blogging is losing its appeal for us or if we are just going through a phase. I’ve missed the company, but haven’t been particularly inspired to break the silence. The weather is beginning to turn gloomy, and while I’m enjoying the cooler temperatures I’m also feeling a bit more downbeat and uninspired in general. I’m still reading books and the paper and such, just not having thoughts that seem worth sharing. Well tonight I’ve decided to kick myself into gear, even if it’s just for a night. Thoughts:

I’d really like to see everyone finish their character retirement stories on The Goblin. I miss the game, but have enjoyed reading what’s there. I want more.

I’ve been a camp counselor and like to tromp through the woods and such and am able to recognize poison ivy at a glance. Last Sunday I was trimming trees along the culvert that borders our property and started hacking away at some leafless vines that were growing all over them. Now I know what poison oak looks like, too. It’s been a hard-learned lesson, which I’m still in the grips of.

EDIT: I did a bit of research, and it was poison ivy, not oak. I've only ever encountered the individual plants growing up out of the ground before. The fat, hairy vines were new to me, but are indeed poison ivy.

Before the poison oak showed up, I spent last Monday and Tuesday in bed with what I assume was the flu. My stomach was fine, but I was weak and achy all over. I was back to work on Wednesday, but felt a bit less than normal all week.

For some reason I’m not particularly excited about returning to my Youth Services position (on November 13). I thought I would be. I think it is in part due to the fact that I have things I need to finish in my present position before I can leave, so I’m busy trying to do that. It’s also hard to do work for the YS position from a distance, but I’ve been trying to do that some. And maybe some of it is a defense mechanism so that I don’t have any expectations that might be disappointed. I know it will be a bit awkward at first and I’ll have to go through a readjustment period before I’m back in the swing of things, both with the work and with the staff. Although my reading of YS materials, particularly YA fantasy, has increased lately and I’m excited to be returning to kids literature. I really enjoy it.

I really love following football, both college and professional.