On what I have been up to

So I had excellent intentions of embarking on a blog challenge that started April 1, and suddenly here it is, practically the middle of June. I don’t normally ignore my blog for that long, and some of you have asked me privately if everything is all right, and I appreciate that. Jessica is fine—in fact, she is starting a new project, which is making gorgeous works of art in glass. She is significantly better at this than I am. I will tell you more about that story later.

You know how I’m always oh-my-stars-and-whiskers about Jessica, right? So it never occurred to me that I myself am not actually indestructible until I went to see my doctor about what I thought was acid reflux or possibly a tiny hernia from all those years of heavy lifting. Then the doc said, “Hmm. I think that’s a chest wall tumor.”

Now, not to worry. It isn’t cancer, it’s just a pain in the ass. Or, actually, a pain in the rib cage. I’m doing whatever there is to do about it, and like that. It just sort of knocked me off my stride for a minute, and I had one of those opportunities to look around and think, “If this really were the end game, how would I feel about it?”

And after I sorted through all of my dreams and aspirations and all of that, I thought, “I would feel like I hadn’t played enough.” That was sort of a surprise to me because I thought I would be sad about the milestones I had never reached—a New York Times bestseller, maybe. Something to strive for. I thought about what I meant by playing, and it turns out I mean doing things that are their own reward, like laughing with friends, or learning how to play a new game, or listening to Dar Williams in concert.

And I thought, “That is very possibly a lovely way to live a life, and I don’t even need to do anything first, like lose twenty pounds or save up a thousand dollars.” So that is what I have been up to. How about you?

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My collection of travel stories, Travels with Jessica, is now available! Kindle and paperback here; other ebook formats here. And I’ve published my essay “For Jessica” as a small book. Kindle and paperback here; other ebook formats here.

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