Beginning of a beginning?

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted to this blog. Frankly, I’ve been far more upset and on edge about where we are as a nation than I was able to admit to myself.

Then, while watching the news, I cried.

I got chocked up when I first saw video of delivery people rolling boxes from their trucks into hospitals. These weren’t just any trucks. They were refrigerator trucks capable of keeping their contents at a temperature of -90 degrees Fahrenheit.

I admit, I didn’t understand why I was feeling verklempt at these images. What was this about?

The first tears began to fall as the vaccines arrived. They continued when I watched a doctor administer the vaccine into the arm of a healthcare worker. Once the tears started, it was difficult to turn the waterworks off. So, I let them flow. I felt ridiculous, especially when I really started blubbering and sniffling … a real ugly cry. Because of a vaccine.

Then later in the morning, I began to feel even better when the Electoral College votes started airing across the country. Despite the lunatic GOP attempts at shoving their “alternate” Electoral College representatives into state buildings and despite the threats of violence scattered across the states, the United States democratic process prevailed and the 306 votes President Biden and Vice President Harris had earned on Nov. 3, were officially stacked in their win columns.

I may have shed a few tears during the Electoral College process as well, the one we'd never really seen before because no other sitting president has ever forced us to go through this to prove to him that he lost. (Eye roll) Since I was home alone, teleworking for the gazillionth day since this nightmare began, and since it felt like the final thing needed to end this nightmare, I may have had some dust in my eyes.

Then last night, I had a long talk with my brother. It was just like our old talks. A rambling conversation, flitting from one topic to the next on subjects like books, TV, movies, politics, old friends, weird things in the news. It was the first such conversation we’d had in months and months and I didn’t realize how much I had missed them, until I hung up. The call ended just like they used to, with one of us begging off because we simply couldn't stay on the line any longer. (My back teeth were floating!)

Which brings me back to the main topic. I was so relieved. So very relieved that the initial steps back from the long, long road of the pandemic and the election and the protests and the upheavals had started.

It was all a sign that it was time to write a blog post. So, here it is.

BTW, I’m writing again. Not fiction. I have a ghost writing job that I’m really excited about and one that I hope will continue for some time. So far the working relationship has been great and I’m loving it. I won’t be talking about it much, but just know that I feel lucky and engaged and happy to be putting words on a page, even if they mostly are not my own.

Now, as we’re looking toward the end of this isolation, what have you done to keep yourself sane? I’ve been going crafting crazy. Knitting and crocheting like a mad woman. You?

P.S. I released the Master Sergeant Harper series in one box set. You can get all three mysteries plus some bonus content here.