Relighting New/Old Traditions

This blogging thing is kinda hard to "regrove", if you know what I mean.  I started the blog back in 2004, I think, when I separated from my x-wife.  I think it was mainly because I had so much time on my hands, and was kinda lonely, and it seemed like a way to communicate with people and share my thoughts.  I was surprised that anyone would take the time to read my thoughts, but blogging became a real outlet to share my life with friends I found on the internet.

Its also become an invaluable journal.  A lot has happened in the 5 or so years since I began blogging.  I went back a couple of weeks ago and read some of the older entries, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't remember doing the things I wrote about until I reread the blogs. Talk about weird.  It was like reading about someone else's life, which was cool in a way because it was all new to me again, but also weird because it was about ME and I didn't recall it that clearly..... it was just.... weird.

Long about May 2007 I just lost interest in blogging.  My writing flow had dried up, and I really don't know why.  I think it was because I was just too lonely and bored with life to come up with anything I thought was interesting to write about.  I mean, I'm not that interesting, ya know?  I tried to restart the blog thing in September 2008 with a short lived new journal, when I began an ill fated experiment and moved to Pollock Pines, CA to be closer to my kids and their mom.  Good intentions all around from the start, just really poor execution and planning (the move, not the blog, although the blog suffered too... anyway...).  The blog was supposed to be about my adventures as a city kid living in the mountains.  I can summarize that experience in one word: don't.

That blog stops on December 22, 2008, and there's a pretty good reason for that.  Along about that time my lady love Alene and I began to get serious about each other.  She and I had been friends at church for over 3 years, often going out to dinner or some events together, but not dating! It was just friends going out and doing things together.  The week prior to my last blog entry on the Pollock Pines journal, Alene and I had held hands for the first time (well, for the first time with meaning behind it) after going to see the Christmas lights on Dove Court, in Orangevale.  After walking the street in the freezing cold, we got back in the car, and she said her hands were cold, so I put my hand around hers, and uh, just didn't let go.  And she didn't mind.  In fact, I got the distinct and direct feeling she welcomed it.  And the Christmas season just got better from there..... 

So, that journal stopped right after that.  My free time (with which I would have blogged) suddenly seemed to be occupied, which was good! And, let's face it, blogging about dating and getting to know a woman, especially in the early stages of really dating and courting, is probably not smart.  Later, as the relationship develops, and it becomes clear what subjects are OK to write about, and what is verboten, it gets a little easier to write about life.  The editing process is a little simpler.

And that's sort of where I am now.  Alene and I have settled into a nice life routine, and we've gotten to know each other very well.  I think I know where my editorial limits are, and I will of course be careful not to cross them.  But on the other hand, there's a lot of things going on in my life, and I am again feeling the urge to write about them.

Having gone back and read those early blogs, about taking my dad out to lunch, or going someplace with my girls, or camping trips and whatnot, brought back wonderful memories.  I want to be able to look back 5 years from now, and have those same feelings about this wonderful, warm, and charming time in my life.  Alene has brought a joy into my life that had been missing for some time, and I like to think I've done the same for her.  I'd like these journals to be something both of us, and you (if you want to come along for the ride) can enjoy for a long time.

To that end, we're going to the Old Fair Oaks Christmas tree lighting later tonight.  It's a 1st Anniversary of sorts.  Last year Alene and I went to the lighting together because her daughter, Elizabeth, was off at college and Alene had no one else to go with.  This year, we're going together because, well, we want to be together. We want to share it and reflect on this year that has past, and in which SO much has happened.

It's a 1st Anniversary of a new tradition, shall we say.

Here's to a lot more of those.  And a lot more of this blogging....writing stuff... thing.... whatever you want to call it.

Oooooooo and she's making chili for dinner!!!! Yum!