So it goes...

I've had a run of successes lately with my poetry and nonfiction publications. I take them for what they are - a writer mucking about trying to make his mark on the world - even if only at a micro scale. It is absolutely the best part of my creative life at the moment, as I suck at art and can't carry a tune or play an instrument. My writing is my favorite getaway after a day of dealing with technical issues at my day job. It is a perfect compliment actually. On top of the hardcopy and online publications, I have been doing some virtual Zoom readings here and there as well. Last week I read my second place winning poem, Wordnapped, from the Jade Ring Contest for the Wisconsin Writers Association. It was a nice recognition of the contest winners. This one provided a $100 award, so I always joke that sometimes poetry does pay. Ha! I've been noodling around with what I think is my next book. After kicking around some ideas, I realized that I have years of cabin stories to draw...

 I'm not supposed to be here, blogging as I am. No. Today Donna and I were slated to fly from Chicago to London where we would spend a few days, and then continue on to Scotland.  Of course with 2020 being what it is, the trip didn't happen. We anguished over whether we should sit on the tickets in March when the COVID-19 bottom fell out, in hopes that things would get better. The option was to go for the refund voucher good for a year. We opted for the latter, thankfully, so are not out any money, just denied the guilty pleasure of a European vacation. I realize this is a first world problem. Few have the opportunity to travel abroad. People should have such problems, I guess. At the same time, I am grateful we got there in 2018 when we spent 10 days in London. The trip spoiled both of us by exposing us to how much is really out there to be discovered. So much beauty and history and culture to be seen, learned and experienced. It's also incredibly ironic that on the day we...

 These past six months have been like groundhog's day around here, and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that. The work from home order has been lifted to an extent - I am working from home 3 days a week, and in the office 2 days. I am a person of numerous fixed habits and with the ability to go anywhere freely, the habits are all one has, really. So I am evidently stuck at perfecting them because, well, there's nothing else to do around here. Fortunately the pandemic came on the lead-end of summer when people could get outdoors and do socially distant outdoor activities. It has saved me. My bike, my walks and my kayak have kept me out of the mentally unstable ward at the local hospital. You throw a highly charged political race, unprecedented runaway wildfires, a hundred protests and riots and, well the outdoors is all a person has some days.  The problem with all of it is...winter is coming. Sure you can go outside, but it's not the same. I'm going into it with...

In case you haven't noticed, this blog has been on a pandemic holiday. I quit posting for the past 6 months, partly out of blog-fatigue and partly to work on other things, primarily getting my latest manuscript in shape for submitting to publishers. I'd been blogging twice a week for the past 10 years and had reached a point where I just needed to step away. It has been refreshing and I am coming back with renewed energy and looking forward to starting "So it goes..." back up again.  For those who follow it, I will be posting once a week on Wednesday evenings. My topics will follow the whim of my week, much like my last blog. Topics will vary and reflect the world as I see it. I hope you like where it goes and will let me know if you do. So, what has happened in the world since I last posted in March?  Only kidding. I never signed up for a revolution/pandemic/apocalypse, but here we are. So much unrest. The last time I saw anything like this was the late 60's and ...