Eleven months and two days since my last blog post. Where in the world have I been? Apparently life can get in the way of living. I guess that last post was so introspective it took me a while to regroup.

Since then, there are two new granddaughters in my world, the oil well was capped, the beaches cleaned, seafood pronounced "safe" to eat, and I've almost completed a year as President of the Pt. Clear Rotary club; 42 weekly meetings, 10 board meeting, and 2 successful fundraisers. I have visited Ecuador, assembled and distributed wheelchairs to destitute people who have never walked. I had some wonderful deer hunts this past season, not so good bird hunts, but enjoyed some wonderful fellowship and saw some new friendships blossom. I spent quality time with my brother, working the land and observing the wildlife.

I've had another wonderful year with a very special person, Kathy. Together we share our daily triumphs and travails, our aches and pains, our delights. And we laugh, mostly at ourselves. As I'm sitting here going over the year past, in my mind, the theme tune from the play Rent is playing in my head, "two hundred sixty five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure, measure a year?" And of course that reminds me of taking Kathy, Kara and Sybil to see the play in Atlanta. That was before Sybil became a wife and mother, and before Kara became a teacher. And yet, it was only, what, three years ago.

Stacey passed her teachers certification this past year and became a teacher and I was so happy for her. Then she and Michael purchased a home, as did Sybil the year before and Kara the year before that. I'm so proud of them all; what an accomplishment during some of the most difficult economic times in decades. I guess they learned the whole plan and persevere lesson pretty well. Good for them.

But how have I grown this past year? That is hard to say and will require some additional pondering. But I have come to recognize an essential truth of life. Most of the things I envisioned for my life have come to pass. It is very odd to wake up one day and realize many of your notions about how you wanted to live your life have actually happened, not through some design or plan, but moreover, you just one day realized that "it" had happened. If I had a chance to make any changes in my life, I guess it would have been to dream bigger. It is true what they say about not selling your dreams short.

Of course this isn't the end and there are so many "song lines" left to write, so it is time to go out and find them. I'll try to check in again before another year goes by.

"The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it, there's really nothing to it. Nobody knows how they got to the top of the hill. But now we're on the other side, we may as well enjoy the ride. It's such a lovely ride." James Taylor