Free time

Yikes! Look at the time!

Not the clock. Days are time, as are weeks. At least I didn't let a month go by.

Those with long memories will know I've been away. Oh, I had my computer with me and I could have posted updates of my travels, like visiting with Lightening 36 (Thanks for lunch!) and highlights from the wedding I attended (my dead brother's middle daughter) and a host of things that came before and in between, but somehow the moment didn't arise, perhaps because I was in it.

A lot happened, so much so that it soon became apparent that were I to sit and document it all, length would become an issue of time for everyone, reader and writer alike. Even deciding what events to put out there would have required dedicating time that I may not have had. And believe me, some things are better left off of the page trail.

Suffice it to say I will be returning next September for a repeat performance.

No, I can't leave it at that.

At the mid-point of last May I wrote this:

Let's just say a friend who carries great influence in the world I play in is coming to town. Not to knight me but to choose among others those to be knighted. I have been asked to select some potential candidates, and again, if not for this appointment then perhaps for other opportunities she is prepared to offer. (This has not stopped me from preparing my own materials, just in case.)

While away, I had dinner at the home of said person and her husband. They run a small gallery, which I was able to visit as well, as it is on the same property. It is an important exhibition space despite its size. My work will hang there in eleven months. 

This could very well be considered the highlight of my trip.

If I were in a reflective mood today I might also speak to reconnecting with friends from forty years ago, even seeing my HS girlfriend and coming to the realization that I could have done much better. If I were in a reflective mood... Other meet-ups were much more positive. Touching.

And then I came home to more of the same. My college mentor and I went to a philosophy conference together. And I will tell you, being taught how to think is not the same as what to think. Thirty years away from the literature, I still held my own.

But this comes too close to reflection. We also spoke at length about fishing.

Finally, I will say that I thought to write here last night but then something made me opt for a few hands of poker. WTF? PS now offers play chips for a price? Perhaps $1.99 for 350K worth of chips is a bargain for some but I wonder what ever happened to the old-fashioned idea of working for one's virtual clay coinage. While proud to say I have no need for buttressing my roll, I am a little chagrined to think what I do have is worth no more than six dollars.

No wonder I more often than not choose to do other things these days.