The end of 2021 has crept up on me. Another year gone. Not wasted, but certainly not optimized either. There are both external and internal reasons for that, and as usual I’m left holding the ball and wondering what the rules of the game are.
Such was my mood this morning on our walk. Something was up with Keely, too, who took a firm stand right about where I took this photo and decided we were not going to walk around the park today (the photo is nothing special, I just liked the vibe of the climbing-tree limb reaching for the water…):
Instead Keely pulled me off course and across Monroe St. to walk through the parking lot at Golden Corral and then up and around the Publix Plaza. She’s usually not that stubborn in deciding our walk, following my lead most of the time. NOT TODAY, boy-howdee, not today! Was she tracking the fox? Another dog? The moon?
One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of businesses are taking extended holiday breaks, from the 24th through the end of the month or even into the first week of January. Not the majority, and not large or franchised places, but a lot of local businesses are simply taking time off that they did not used to do. Opening up after xmas was pretty standard in the Before Times. I wonder if this reflects people putting higher priority on family and work/life balance?
I’m not on break, though. I feel honestly busy for the first time in years — not as in busy-work, which is my day!job, but busy in the sense of actually accomplishing things.
Speaking of, I updated my podcast with a new episode: Negativity is Bad, Actually.