“Now, meanwhile, the
clock, it just ticked on
As clocks are known to do
For time’s their only purpose
Their only point of view”
So, one of my favorite lines from one of my all-time favorite albums, Beethoven’s Last Night, created by the amazing musical group “Trans-Siberian Orchestra”; a reminder that I haven’t written anything in this humble blog for many months and I’m past due.
Yesterday Winnie and I were up in Pine Bush, New York, for a bittersweet family gathering. We attended a memorial service for my mom who passed away March 1 at…
I wrote this story back in 2009 but wasn’t willing to post it then for fear it would open old wounds among any of my family who read it, particularly…
So I’m back to school again, this time for a long-term adventure. My first semester of a Graduate Program in “Instructional Design and Technology” at our local George Mason University starts Tuesday January 22. This will be a big leap for me.
So we’re having our first snow for Winter 2018 – 2019. Not too much; the snow just lightly blankets the grass and covers the roofs. But schools are all closed, roads are snarled, and normally-bustling offices are half-empty. All for a little snow.
And now, just like that, the snow stopped. Life goes on.
So the other day a ceiling fell on me. It wasn’t much of a ceiling, as ceilings go. Only about a four-foot by five foot section of wet drywall and sixty year-old very wet rock-wool insulation. And the ceiling didn’t fall very far before it hit me as I was already standing on a chair, using both hands to hold it up while desperately looking for something else for support instead of me on a chair. But it did fall on me and now I understand “sky-is-falling” from a very personal experience.
It gave me a different perspective on life in general though. I discovered than once you’ve had a ceiling fall on you, the rest of the week is a lot better.
Winnie and I have worked home improvement projects since we moved to our home in Northern Virginia. At this point, over the eleven-plus years we’ve lived here we’ve remodeled every room in the house except for the bonus room over the garage, which we’re presently working. Although we’ve already remodeled all three baths the one thing we didn’t do was replace toilets, on the basis that the toilets were mostly doing what they were designed to do so leave them alone.
This changed on Saturday.
So today the wind is blowing hard. Hard enough to shut down governments and schools and force people inside their homes. Power lines are tumbling and trees are dropping. The airports are closed and railroad trains are stopped. All because of wind. Strong winds changed the daily life-plans of millions of people. Maybe strong enough winds blowing long enough can change the direction of history?
Happy New year of 2018 everyone! We all survived the horrors of 2017, with a promise that 2018 will be a better year for everyone. So, to ring in the new year properly we need a bit of holiday music.
After a long writing hiatus, I’m back in action. Time flies when you’re having fun, time flies when you’re not having fun, time flies when you’re busy, and time flies when you’re not looking. So why can’t we ever catch time and stash it away for a rainy day?
This Christmas I decided it’s time to catch up my loyal readers with all the news fit to print (and more) on the Virginia edition of the Charest family. This has been a good year, and a busy year, for both Winnie and me.