It's technically a 2nd anniversary post

Back from hiatus with some updates

Inertia is the whole continuum between can’t stop/won’t stop and can’t move/won’t move. - me

So, it’s seven months later. Those of you who have signed up for this newsletter during that period of time have probably noticed that, er, I might not have been providing the scintillating writing that you may have been expecting for, well, months. The same is likely true for those of you who have been reading my posts before this, aka H.A.T.T.E.R.s (How About This Terribly Enthusiastic Readers… well, I can’t call you my Constant Readers after all, King would probably sue me).

So yeah, I’ve been pretty quiet since mid January. Part of my absence was planned but it went on quite a bit longer for a few reasons:

1. Illness (myself and a family member) - in my case it was another bout of kidney stones and related complications.

2. Intense workload (both professional and some volunteer stuff)

3. Inertia

Reason 1 has pretty much resolved itself but it has taken awhile and I hope it doesn’t reoccur.

Reason 2… well, what can you do? Sometimes there’s a lot to do.

Reason 3… that’s why I’m writing today. I’ve been on the wrong end of the inertia continuum for too long.

Inertia: when you build momentum sometimes it’s easier to keep going. But when you stop, and when you stop for too long… it becomes easier to stay stopped.

I’m tired of staying stopped. I want to reestablish the writing habit and the only way to do it is to do it. And I’m sure there’s more to say.

One step at a time.

So 2024 has been kind of tough (when you hit your mid 50s things can be harder to bounce back from) but I’m in a decent place at the moment so enough is enough.

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Something that did bring me a lot of joy in 2024 was witnessing the solar eclipse in April. My home was on the path of totality so I got to witness more than 3 minutes of eclipse from my deck. Plenty of people have written about the experience and, yeah, it’s been a few months. But, to me, there were three key parts:

• The suddenness of the eclipse when the moon finally covered the sun. I remember the sunlight dimming gradually but it was a weird darkness, more like a pall of grey descending over the earth. And then BAM, the lights went out (mostly).

• The beauty of being able to see the sun’s corona ringed around the eclipsed sun, like a sight out of a 1970s science fiction TV show. It was alien, stark and gorgeous all at once.

• The equally swift return of sunlight, almost like someone flipped the lights back on in a dark room. The suddenness was breathtaking.

That experience was enough to redeem 2024. But man, I need to experience it again someday.

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That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, more to come.