On this day I have 40th years of recovery. No mood-altering drugs or alcohol in 40 years. I added tobacco recovery five years later and went from 3 packs a day to clearer lungs and better circulation. What I have gained over these four decades was well beyond my wildest dreams at the beginning. I just wanted a normal life that did not fall apart every day. That was my bridge to far in addiction. Recovery has yielded to me far more than that. Recovery has made me a become a be

It has been six months since my last gratitude post; some may know that I posted a weekly gratitude Friday post for over five years. I ended it as a weekly thing after 268 consecutive posts at the close of 2025. Even though the truth of the matter is that I am a lottery winner of life (figuratively) I am not naturally grateful. I need to work at it as I have what I have termed an Eeyore Brain. When it is left to its one devices I fail to see the full cup but the empty space a

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” ― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul I have been writing these weekly posts for five years and two months. This end of year post seems like a good stopping point for now. I am going to take a break and no longer post weekly. It has been a rewarding process for me. I practiced writing and learned a great deal along the way. One gets better at anything they practice

Solstice - derived from the Latin sol ("sun") and sistere ("to stand still") We are in the darkest of days. We will pass through the Winter Solstice on Sunday, Dec 21, 2025, 10:03 AM EST. From here on out each day gets a little brighter until mid-June 2026. Those days will be bright indeed as there is travel for me on that horizon, but I digress. One of my favorite things this time of the year is seeing our home with all the warm glow of light on the mantles and front door