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       Stardate: 20201028.2128 
       Location: Kitchen table
       Input Device: AlphaSmart dana.wireless
       Audio: Water boiling, airplane passing overhead
       Visual: Kitchen stuff
       Emotional State: Okay
       
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       I just wanted to check in since I haven't in awhile.  I am still here 
       and still alive.  It is already the last week of October and I have 
       only phosted once this month.  The reason for my absence here and in 
       my usual haunts is that I basically switched gears and took a back 
       seat for everything in my life as it was and now is a perfect time 
       for it.
       
       As some of you know, I lost my job of 17 years this past September.  
       It was as expected, as much as COVID-19 was expected, as much as 9/11
       was expected, which I was also laid off from.  So yeah, totally 
       unexpected.  Yeah, it sucked and it still sucks, but my family and I 
       are surviving...actually, probably even thriving during this time.  
       Not financially, rather, relationally.  Our ties are stronger than 
       ever!  I have been spending more quality time with my kids and my 
       wife, more meaningful conversations with family and friends, and over 
       the past 2+ weeks, I flew to Cleveland to spend time with my parents.
       
       It has been over 5 years since I went back to Cleveland.  My parents 
       are getting older and they are not able to do as much as they used 
       to, so I figured that this is the best time to go since I didn't not 
       have work tying me down anymore.
       
       I could not have chosen a better time to go back (aside from COVID 
       times.)  Tickets were dirt cheap and I was able to experience many 
       things I miss.  Here is a list of highlights:
       
       The fight between summer and autumn was at its peak.
       Walking around in the woods with the change of the leaves in the 
          sunshine
       Bob Evan's Restaurant
       Walking around in the woods with the change of the leaves in the 
          rain.
       National Pierogi Day!
       Several meals of pierogies, saurkraut, latkas, stuffed cabbage, 
          sausage, etc.
       Fresh picked apples!
       The orchestra of wildlife in the evenings.
       Lotsa deer!
       Mr. Hero's Romanburger and Hot-buttered Cheese Steak
       The smell of autumn.
       The change of the air.
       Being awoken by a loud thunderstorm and falling back asleep to the 
          sound of rain hitting the roof.
       Quality sleep!
       Dan*Dee Cheese Corn Twistees with melt-away flavor! (I ate 3 bags, 
          oops)
       Candy corn.
       Going to church with my folks.
       Driving my folks around the MetroParks in the fall foliage after 
          church.
       Real clam bake with lobster tail, mussels, chicken, and all the 
          fixin's.
       Mapleside Farm apple donuts with coffee!
       Driving through Amish Country in the autumn with my parents.
       Seeing Amish horse and buggy going down the street where the speed
          limit is 55mph.
       Social distanced meetings with old friends and catching up.
       Experiencing weather!
       Getting cold!
       Driving in the rain during autumn.
       Minimal intarwebz!
       Gas < $2US a gallon! (I think the cheapest I paid was $1.86/gal.
       Tons of yard work and not getting poison ivy!
       Chopping down trees with an ax.
       Cracker Barrel breakfast + apple butter in my grits!
       Lunch at Pine Tree Barn in Wooster with my folks.
       Cleaning out the basement.
       My old LP's.
       Audio cassettes of my college radio shows.
       Visiting friends who have passed.
       Chatting with the homeless in Public Square.
       Real corned beef sandwich, piled real high where you can only eat 
          half, with horseradish and stadium mustard.
       Really good buttery pastries and baked goods
       Eating Geppetto's ribs in the rain in the woods under shelter 
          getting messy (man, that BBQ sauce!)
       Yeah, I like food, so what?
       
       Yeah, there's so much more and I could go on and on, but I'll spare 
       you.  The trip was just so good and I definitely needed all this 
       for my soul.  While I was over there, I made it a point to dismiss 
       any thoughts of work or life stress over here and be completely 
       present in Cleveland.  It took quite a bit of effort, but I think I 
       was present a majority of the time.
       
       Since I have been back, I am still not in a mad rush to get a job or 
       get all stressed out again.  We have savings and will manage.  I 
       think that what I want to do now is to do more life things, more 
       quality things, more things that I want to deliberately do rather 
       than things that just happens to me in my life.  Nothing too crazy
       but I think my trip and these times have definitely got me changing
       my focus.
       
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