The Old and the New and other Stuff

Apparently I’m not very good at this chronicling my life stuff any more. Not much interest in writing in this blog any more. Guess over time your interests and priorities change. But I was sitting here this morning, on a beautiful day, thinking about life. I have just finished doing my morning devotionals. It usually consists of reading three or so devotions and their associated scripture, which gets me to thinking. I wrote last August about how things have changed where I live. That change has finally become reality as earth moving equipment has shown up on one of the properties that is being developed. I think that will be the last straw that motivates me to finally try to find somewhere else to live. Somewhere where I can live the rest of my life in peace and quiet. Not sure if such a place exists anymore but I’m going to try and find it.

A lot of the things I used to spend a lot of time on when I was younger have lost their lure. They have been replaced with other things. That is normal I know, people change as they grow older. I still love to read, but my reading interests have changed. I will always love photography, that will never change. And my love of science and technology has not diminished although the focus has changed. I am still very active in church and have recently started volunteering at the city animal shelter walking the dogs, cleaning the kennels, and doing whatever I can to make their lives better. It is sad to see the plight of these beautiful creatures. I don’t know their stories, how they got there, but I do pray that their stories will have a happy ending.

Old age is definitely catching up to me. It is hard to adapt life to a body that no longer wants to cooperate with you. Things I would love to do I can no longer do, or are much more difficult to enjoy to the same degree I used to enjoy. Hiking, camping, swimming, and just running have all had to be dramatically curtailed. I used to scuba dive, but due to health issues I had to give that up. I am applying for a new passport as my old one is no longer valid. I hope to travel soon before it becomes more problematic about traveling with my health issues.

But hope springs eternal. I try to stay optimistic. There is no value in feeling sorry for one’s self. I am blessed in so many ways. I have my family, friends, and Church. And God. With God there is always hope.

OBTW, I am writing this on my new laptop. It is a Microsoft Surface laptop. Much nicer than my old one. My old laptop was a beast. This one is much smaller and lighter and easier to use. That’s it for my ramblings this morning. Time to get out and go somewhere and do something. I hope you are going to do the same.

May Day

It is a rainy May Day here in Chesapeake. Don’t know what I will do with the day yet other than go to the gym. I have a couple of good books to read, one being Holy Fire by R.T. Kendall. I have been pretty busy at Church. Yesterday I went out with our Board Chairperson and her husband to buy a new TV for the Sunday School/Nursery. We ended up with a 42″ Sharp LED model. It was on sale for $399 which was a good deal. We also bought a new blu-ray DVD player to go with it. The equipment we currently have is very old and outdated. Hopefully the kids will enjoy it. The DVD player even allows streaming media so that is a bonus.

Our planned family picnic was cancelled due to lack of interest. Everyone seemed to have something else to do. I was very disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing my son. We had planned on going to a Norfolk Tides ballgame but the weather put a stop to that. He has told me he will find something soon for us to do together.

The rioting in Baltimore has been very disturbing. Baltimore is not all that far from where we live. There has even been concern of possible protests/rioting in Portsmouth, a stones throw from us, over the recent killings of two black men by the Portsmouth police. Hopefully it will all be resolved peacefully.

I am writing this post on my new laptop, which is turning out to be a nice machine. I am also using it at Church for our PowerPoint presentations as well as my Bible Study class. Now back to my devotions and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of this rainy but beautiful day. I hope everyone has a nice, peaceful, May Day.

God Bless


Garden

 

Fall is Here

Well it is starting to look like I am only going to post here once every season. My last entry was in the summer, where I promised to post more often. Didn’t seem to happen did it? Anyway, there is a lot to write about. My health continues to improve and  for that I am grateful to God and my doctors. My 65th birthday is fast approaching so I don’t expect to feel like any 18 year old any  more. Aches and pains will be the norm for the rest of my time here on earth.  Now  if I could just get used to that.

On the news front I guess front and center is that  I have started taking piano lessons. I have always wanted to play a musical instrument and the last time I attempted that was when I was sixteen with a guitar. Never got very far with that. But now I am taking lessons from our church pianist/organist. She is very good as an instructor and I am making good progress. In fact I am amazed with myself for once in my life. Seems even at 65 learning how to play and instrument  is not beyond me. I don’t have any plans for playing Carnegie Hall but I am enjoying myself. I can read music fairly well and am learning some chords. I have about six or seven tunes in my repertoire that  I can play pretty well. Nothing complicated or fancy but better than chopsticks.

As usual on the technology front I have been busy.  I have a new Nexus 4 smartphone and just changed my data plan from T-Mobile, who  has lousy network coverage in this area to AT&T via  Straight Talk. Seems  AT&T has much better coverage in SE  Virginia. I also bought a used laptop from Cowboom  auction for  only $150. It is going to be delivered by UPS tomorrow. Hope it is not a piece of junk but I think I got a really good deal. We shall see.

Also been reading a lot. Philosophy, history, and religion  along with the usual science fiction. Being retired I have a lot of time to do the things I want. I go out to lunch with my older brother Skip and a friend of ours a couple of times a month and  I enjoy that. I even took in my first 3D  movie, Gravity, at the new theater in the mall. It was really a great movie especially with the 3D effects. Oh, I almost forgot, I was  very fortunate to find a used Wurlitzer digital piano with full 88 weighted keys. It helps me  to practice where otherwise I would have to go to church to practice there.

So  that is about it for now. As usual, keep God first in everything you do. Peace out.

             HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Pumpkin Art