Catching up and Catching your breath

I'm not a very good blogger, I guess. And my house isn't very clean. There is always something else to do! I just re-read The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham -- we were talking at Christmas with our young adult children about inspiration, guidance we found along the way, books about philosophy that weren't textbooks or non-fiction whatis-es. Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance is next: another re-read. Will it mean the same now to me, as a person, as an illumination on my soul, as it did when I was twenty? Probably not, but what will it mean to me now at age 50? I know that with time running out faster and faster, I probably shouldn't waste any on re-runs. But "aging" and how it alters my perspective on life is continually fascinating to me. I was deeply affected by The Clam Lake Papers and other books of that ilk. Then, I was seeking myself. Now, I have honed the ability to look at myself like a science project, a third-person objective view (on good days, I believe I have accomplished "humility"), though I am admittedly too-often shocked at that lady in the mirror! It is part of my science project to re-read a few books. I hope I kept Castenada's books --

My days are busy with five different classes, and I'm taking an on-line course for re-cert credits. I just watched a video of Tom Friedman explaining the origins and premise of his book "The World is Flat." The new world is here, and I am looking backward, still trying to figure out where I came from! Oh, my children, I fear that I have not prepared you adequately. And yet, as TF explained the "confluence" of fiber-optics and Smartphones, that contributed to our ability to act horizontally as manufacturers, and consumers, and inventory planners, on a global scale, I realize that the techie stuff he is talking about is not at all foreign to my children. They seem to choose, wisely and with confidence, what bits of tech they want to embrace: one child has an Iphone after months of research and surveying her friends, while the other two just upgraded to a keypad on their phones, or to internet access and those fees. It is I -- and my fellow elders -- who scramble just to know what the words mean!

That's today's musings. The weekend included a realization that the empty nest is not something to fear and that I intend to fill my time with plants and students and books, and that, oh yes: where does Hubby fit in? He missed out on a boat saleo on Ebay and drove 30 miles to a disappointing boat show. He must turn his back on the snow-covered river.... I'm hoping he'll turn toward the kitchen on a semi-permanent and regular basis....