Like Riding A Bike

Like Riding a Bike

Been away for awhile. 
Had some thinking to do, needed some time off from the blog that
sometimes serves as a soapbox, a forum of personal opinion, a recounting of the
day, even a journal. 

Ooh, did I type
that dreaded seven-letter word?  Yep.
Appears I did.  But no, there will be no
claims being made --or any high falutiní assertions-- about ìbeing a
journalistî to be found.  No, not in
this blog.

Yes, as the story sat, solo and not updated for the past six weeks on this space, clear
as day to anyone who visited this blog, a very
close friend of mine died.  Immediately
thereafter came news of major illness in my family.   Surgery, a long period of dealing with the unknown, and some
medical issues of my own to deal with, as well. 

Mortality and a host of associated issues went from the back
burner to a swirl of immediacy. 
Emotions and facts, responsibilities and feelings, attitudes and the big
picture, plus all those issues that seem unique to the individual, yet are
actually common and dealt with in every family, occupied a great deal of  my time.

Leave It To Blogger

Every family has issues, none of us are really the
Cleavers [1].  It is nice to know that
everynight at 9:30 one can watch (or Tivo!) the Cleavers [2] on TVLand [3].  The reality is that while each family has a
fair share of nuttiness, illness, strife, all those matters not necessarily so
openly discussed, one would never trade oneís own family problems for those of
another.  I recall a man who led a
support group saying that at his meeting, if all the participants could put
their problems in a hat, then pass the hat around, none of them would want to
trade circumstances with any of the others. 
Problems, sure; but their problems, the ones they know, the ones theyíve
been dealing with and living through.

I needed some time off to deal with issues.  I took that time.  Some things were shelved during this period, others delayed, and
yet others left on the vine.  Life got
in the way, as one friend put it. 
Priorities were subject to a revision in order.

Of late a bunch of good things have also begun to
fester.  Some business is developing, as
recently written about in these parts.  
More on that, perhaps,  in subsequent posts. 

Ebb and Flow

It felt as though the lows were lower than ever, and then
some highs emerged, higher than ever.  Fear,
dread, opportunity and good fortune were running apace.  Life in the extreme was the rule of the day,
the week, the month.  I found
myself  longing for the comfort of the
middle.                        

The longing for the middle also sparked a feeling of appreciation of some of those issues, such
as mortality, friendship, love, opportunity, and the warmth and support of
many.

Spring!

The weather began to change.  Daylight Savings time sprang
forward.  Spring is in the air, that very welcome smell.  As are, of course, those sneezing fits that
accompany Spring, as the allergens make their way to the fore. 

Baseball Season is here, always a cause for
celebration.  Former Yale Universiy Renaissance Professor, President of the university, and one time Commissioner of Baseball Bart Giamatti
declared in ìThe Green Fields of the Mind [4],î a piece he wrote for the Yale Univeristy Almuni Review, each Spring, each new
Baseball Season, brings with it a sense of opportunity, hope, joy, renewed
wishes and intent.

The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins
again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings . . .

I Begin Again  (Ö.to
blog herein)

Those who know me well have come to understand that Opening
Day is to me a religious observance. 
And so it came this year.  Well,
this year it was actually Opening Night.  The
first ever night opener at Yankee Stadium, also the first time two Perfect Game
pitchers [5] had ever opposed each other (in a season
opener, no less!).   It was a sight to
behold.  The Yankees won [6].  Life seemed to be righting itself.

Just Like Riding a Bike

And during the game I thought of things to blog about.  This has been the case, more and more often,
over the past few weeks.  Opening lines, headline, ways to phrase things . . .suddenly I had blogging on my mind.

Last week I attended the Freedom 2 Connect Conference [7].  It was wonderful, major kudos to David
Isenberg [8] and those who worked with him in producing and presenting this excellent meeting.  Spring seemed to arrive just as this
conference began.

In the twists and turns of life, attending F2C, tending to
some new and exciting business, and the arrival of the 2005 Baseball season
have invigorated my mind and spirit.

With this refreshing sense comes a desire to
blog.  Sitting at the keyboard, composing the  post, grabbing
the links --  it is just like riding a bike, it seems as natural
and easy as though I hadn't stopped at all.

Thanks to the many

A number of e-mails and phone calls came in during the
absence of the blog.  Thanks to those
who expressed concern.  For a short
period of time all I did online was send e-mail and occasionally post snarky comments on a
few blogs (mostly on Frankís [9] and Roxanneís [10]). 

One fellow blogger, also a friend, cut right to the
chase:  Where have you been?  Yeah, your friend died, but did you, die, too?

No, I did not die.  After
all, who would be posting to this blog if, indeed, I had died?

I dealt with death, issues associated with death and
mortality, and also took some time to review and ponder all sorts of things
that tend to come to mind during such periods of introspect.   The bottom line is that it is the same DeanLand [11],
same Dean [12] blogging.  I took some time
off. 

And now Iím back.