Eric’s Blog

I keep trying to come up with ideas for a book. I’ve wanted to write a book for a long time now, but it seems that all the best ideas are already taken. I have absolutely no idea what to write about, but that doesn’t stop me from writing. As they say, practice makes perfect. So I continue to write on my blog and in my journal almost every day.

I’ll admit I’ve fallen off the amount I was writing for this blog in the beginning. The more I look at social media, the more I want to escape from the computer and all the negativity that is in your face every day. I used to joke that I wanted to be a hermit when I grew up, that idea hasn’t completely gone away for me. With Coronavirus, being a hermit is easier than ever before. I can’t go anywhere, I can’t do anything, so I just hang out at my house all the time which is great for me. I spent the vast majority of my career leaving my family behind so staying in is a positive thing for me. As an added bonus, I love my house; I don’t want to live anywhere else, so I don’t mind being there. This makes interesting relationship dynamics for our family. I like to stay in and be comfortable, the family likes to go out and do things, so we constantly have to balance out staying in or going out.

As I look around the house, I notice that it is well-lived-in. There is evidence of a busy, loving, family-life all around. The pile of dog toys in the corner, the Halloween decorations that lie about waiting to be put up, the knick-knacks and mementos all around from a life well-lived. The china hutches brimming with glassware from all over the world, the kitchen, always in a stage of meal preparation or clean up from the last meal, the fish tank, the beer steins, the record player, the typewriters, the art desk, and musical instruments, the family photos, and heirlooms; it’s a wonderful place. There are piles of projects all around in various stages of completion. Files that need to be sorted through and put away, hobbies that are picked up then set down for a time waiting to be picked back up again, coats on the backs of chairs, shoes by the front or back doors; our house is a very, very, very fine house. We’re very fortunate to have such a lovely place to live in and doubly so that we’ve been able to stay here for the last ten years. Few military families are able to say that they’ve lived in one place for so long a time.

Sometimes I get upset that the house isn’t clean the way I think it ought to be. Then I remember, this is a house for living, not for showing off. We used to show it off quite a bit when we could have people over; many friends and family members have commented on what a beautiful place we have. We do what we can to keep things clean, especially when we are expecting company, but our house has always felt like more of a place of comfort than the clinically sanitized feeling you get with some places. We have lived here and it is a wonderful life. It’s not perfect; there are flaws. Some things only I would notice. Other things that could be noticed by a visitor and the mere thought of makes me blush with embarrassment. All-in-all, it is our place and I’m very grateful to live here.

Why bring this up? Why write about this today? We’ve lived here ten years to the month. That’s 1/3rd of the mortgage paid off. We’ve lived here longer than anywhere else. Also, I was looking around at all the piles of projects that we have laying about and it made me remember something that I heard a long time ago. Life is short. I want to see it all and I want to do even more.

My life turned out much differently than I ever expected it to. I never thought I would have a woodshop in my garage where I could go and make lovely things for people I care about. I never thought I’d have a garden in the back where I could grow my own fruits and vegetables, then preserve those in jars for my family. In short, I never expected life could turn out so good. Life is good. I love my life and I wouldn’t trade one moment of it for anything in the world. I get depressed sometimes when I think about all the bad things in the world. I was listening to the news today and they were talking about riots over Columbus Day. It occurred to me that they weren’t going to talk about all the non-riots that were happening. That would make for a rather boring news report. They have to report all the violent, horrible, negative, nasty things to get the ratings. What they don’t say is that for every negative thing they report, there’s probably at least two positive things they’re not reporting.

Why do I have this blog, to be able to write and put my ideas out in the world without just copying something that someone else created. Being creative is a wonderful thing. All I have is a white screen and a blinking cursor, I can turn it into anything I like from that point. Take a break from the news, social media, and commercials. All they’ll remind you of is how horrible your life is. Take a look around you and realize how wonderful your life is. It really is a wonderful life.