Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Day 2500 - Halfway There

When I started this blog, I wondered whether it was humanly possible to post something for 5000 consecutive days. I'm halfway there. I still wonder if I can complete this quixotic journey. It's not been easy to get this far. There have been numerous power outages to overcome. Computers have crashed. Sometimes I've been impossibly busy and other times there's been nothing to talk about. Internet service has been spotty at times, as has my own health. I can remember posting from airports on numerous occasions and one time I posted the same day I came out of surgery. So far, I have not missed a single day.

Doing something on this grand a scale changes your life. I'm not sure it changes things for the better however. I can recall business trips where everyone else had gone out to dinner while I was sitting alone in my hotel room trying to compose the day's journal entry. Any activity after dinner still reminds me of the Cinderella story where the coach turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. I've always got a deadline to meet. I'm not sure if any readers have stayed with me throughout this improbably journey. There were thousands of readers when blogging was popular, but that number has probably dwindled to a few dozen. Blogging isn't very popular now. One of these days I'll probably just be writing for myself.

It's an interesting exercise to track how how your opinions and priorities change over time. On any given day, it seems like each post is exactly like the one that preceded it. The changes that occur over time are subtle, but they are real. Occasionally, I'll read something I wrote five years ago, and I am surprised that quite a bit has changed already. It would be nice if this was always a story about growth and affirmation. I've certainly learned things along the way, but I've also lost things. That's the way life is.

If you're a new reader, you might think I'm in a downward spiral. Beloved pets are dying. A business is becoming irrelevant. A common theme is how tired I am. I hope you don't find this discouraging. Life always has its peaks and valleys and occasionally the valleys can last for years at a time. I learned a lot when I was a globe trotting advertising writer. I'm learning even more while I sit at home caring for a sick dog.

Today didn't provide many insights, but it did add to the ongoing narrative. I cleaned toilets today and removed hundreds of spiderwebs from the exterior windows and sides of the house. Removing the spiderwebs is an odious task that needs to be done several times a year. I take a broom and sweep the webs away, usually ruining the broom in the process. These webs are thick and sticky and are filled with dead insects and live spiders. I almost always end up with spiders in my hair when I am destroying the webs. I guess the spiders are better than snakes. I have friends who live in the country that have continual problems with snakes. We just have spiders and angry squirrels.

If you're interested, I'll be here tomorrow. I think that writing keeps the mind agile and I'm definitely curious to see where this journey leads. 5000 days is a long chunk of time. I worry at times that the Blogger platform may disappear before my journey is done. Google has a history of abandoning things. I may not make it either. At the end of 5000 days, I'm going to be pretty old. Maybe this blog will eventually become a curious resource for scholars. Maybe it is just a wasted effort. Only time will tell.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day