Looking Back Before Moving Forward

This annual rollercoaster ride is just reaching its highest point before it goes into the last downward trek. Before it hits bottom, I thought it might be a good time to assess the highlights--and lowlights--of this year.

 

Earlier in the summer, I got back to working on that quilt that doesn't want to get finished. The month of August was so hot and humid, it stopped progress. Again. We'd have an official 3-day heat wave, then a day or two of relief followed by another heat wave. And that was pretty much the pattern for the month. You know you're not going to get much of anything done when your needle squeaks when you push it through three layers of fabric and batting. So far, the month of November has proven to be more productive and every stitch brings me closer to finishing the project.

 

I've dubbed the year of 2018  as belonging to the Electronics From Hell.  In May, I purchased a 50" flat screen TV and got to enjoy it for 4 months. It died leaving me to wonder what the red flashing light was for. My son informed me it was an error code, (which no one could figure out) So I called the manufacturer who agreed to send a replacement, and I was to ship mine back to them. The replacement lasted all of 10 minutes and has refused to work again. I'll have to ship this one back as well, but for a refund this time. It's no fun shipping TVs cross country.  In the meantime, I was looking forward to using the new portable DVD player, I'd purchased. Got the battery fully charged, installed a DVD and waited. Yay, the "Loading" window appeared... only to be replaced by a second window stating... No Disc. My laptop's battery is now fully drained, for the second time. Despite being plugged in, the battery never charged.

 

Electronics and craft work aside, my path has been obscured for months now, with no destination in sight. That's a hard thing to accept since everyone should have somewhere to go, something to accomplish. I can blame a feeling of being lost to lack of ambition, (or frustration) or just not knowing if I want to continue on this road or try another one. Sometimes you get to a point in your life where you want to make a change but to what, is the question.

 

One good thing that happened recently was eavesdropping on a conversation in the wee hours of one morning. That hasn't happened in almost three years. Maybe it's a sign that things are starting to look up. I certainly hope so. I think I'm about due for something good.

 

Elsa carefully approached the stranger on the hilltop. The first thing she noticed about him was his strange clothing It was all of one piece and an odd shade of green. The second thing she noticed was the way he stared up at the sky, as if he were looking for something.

 

"Where are the jets?" he asked, not so much as noting her presence. "There should be jets."

 

She contemplated his question for a moment then asked one of her own.  "What are jets?"