Saturday, April 11, 2009

I'm Going On Hiatus

Well, dear friends, I suppose you knew it would eventually come, and now it has. The time when I need to pull back a little -- and I hope I get back to it -- and take a breather.

I've been writing this blog faithfully for some years now. Really, it's been a joy. Didn't we rock and roll!? We sure did! LOL, I'm thinking back over some of the gettin'-down here. It's been a blast. A few of you pitched in, and that was good.

And we've grown. I know I've grown. Before I was so shy I really couldn't warm up to any of you. You came around, signed up for my newsletter, then I heard from several of you, letters of encouragement, interesting stuff. There was a couple of real life meetings that went from guarded to awkward; let's not do that anymore. Keep it at the newsletter level -- or just the faithful reader level. I believe I kept it real.

The big problem with real life meetings is ... well, there's lots of problems. My life as seen through the squeezed lens of short blog posts seems thick and rich with excitement and wonder. But when you get to the humdrum of day to day, minute to minute activities, it's not really that great. And the people I met, while they meant well, weren't much better at carrying on a relationship beyond the initial excitement of our meeting. We do a lot of sitting and a lot of personal scratching in these parts and that doesn't translate in company.

But I don't want anyone to think I'm disappointed in you. I'm not. I'd just rather keep things, like I said, at the newsletter level. And now, to be brutal about it, not even that. I need a break and I'm taking one.

Maybe Grandma and I will do some traveling. Maybe we'll take in a few shows. It's her golden years, and I'm getting a little silver myself around the temples. We need to take our time while we have it. Because you know there's another hiatus out there waiting for us all! I mean death. That's the big one. So what you're going to do, you need to do quickly. Time is not waiting. And I can prove it. I made coffee today and it took about seven minutes. Had to rinse the pot, grind the beans, heat the water, mix and stir, then wait and pour. I thought, Wow! Seven minutes of my life is now expended on that very simple task! And I'm expected to go pour my guts out on my blog as well? Which will take me around 20 minutes, plus maybe another 10 minutes editing? Then work on my newsletter? Then decline a few real life meeting requests?

So you can see it's all weighing on me. It's like the weight of the world. And on top of that, it's time to take my dog out. And I have to wait around for her to pee and do her other thing. All this time my life is wasting away. Of course I need a hiatus! The biggest tragedy is that I've waited this long to claim what I need; because I've known it for some time. I knew it weeks ago.

Anyway. This is a tough moment for me. But I want to make a clean break. I'll tell you like I'm telling myself, I'll be back. Let me get some R & R. And you do the same. Don't depend on me to live your life for you. OK? Step out. Live! Have some excitement of your own! You can do it! Promise me. And I'll promise you something, that I'll be thinking of you and all you mean to me. Each one of you is precious. And no one can take that away.

So, farewell. Grandma Slump blog, over and out. ... I'll just let it trail off like that.

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