Like a Bug on a Windshield

After struggling with this decision for awhile, I've finally come to a decision. Once again, I will suspend this blog indefinitely. I've been doing some juggling for awhile, but recent illnesses have made it harder to do. I have a novel in the works, the third in the Eaters series, which has spent far too much time on the back burner. I also have a new novel in the Adamanta series that I'm working on and have an April deadline for a completed draft. My other blog is very time consuming. First, it requires research, I must get my information straight and get up and do some gardening or cooking to write about. Next I must do the photography (which only occasionally comes first) and the photo editing. Finally, I write the post, set it aside for a day or two, come back and edit it, and then post. Besides the writing, having teenage boys around takes up plenty of time and adds to my time in the kitchen and out of house. Really, this blog takes more time, because I have to

Traditionally, this has been the time of year I head west, especially to the Northwest. Not every year, but when I do go it's always during the January lull in the weather. The middle of January always seems to have a week or so where the skies are blue, the roads are clear and the days are a little warmer. This year I've spent the first couple of weeks of the month as a caregiver to sick family members, I had a few hours this morning being taken care of, and now I'm doing another round of care-giving. It's been too cold for weaklings like me to do much outdoors. The wind cuts through the warmest coats. Most of the wildlife has been staying out of sight, save for the few little birds who seem to delight in this weather. It's only a couple of weeks from the start of garden preparations and then it's back to work. I plan to remain dormant just a little longer. Stephen P.

Hugh Mackay said: "Nothing is perfect. Life is messy." I've always liked that quote because it is one of the greatest truths of all time. It pretty much sums it all up. When someone asks where you've been, you can either tell them in varying degrees of detail or simply shrug, but the bottom line: life is messy. There's another quote: Man makes plans . . . and God laughs. It's been attributed to various people including Michael Chabon, but it may also be an old Yiddish proverb. I can relate to that on a minute-by-minute level. It doesn't matter what I plan, what I end up doing is completely different. Now part of that has to do with having a life partnership. I plan, Kathy has other plans. Right now I'm living in a situation that's complicated by having a grandson in an alternative high school situation. Another grandson has a serious illness. Sometimes the first grandson needs to get to school at the same time his brother needs to be at a c