Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Guilt Free

The Ice Storm interrupted my normal blogging routine. We were fortunate at only being without power for 34 hours. But we were not feeling so lucky after two & a half days without the Internet, Phone, or Cable TV. We could turn on lights, but we were still not fully engaged with the World. It was about half time of the Pats/Raiders game that Cable back gushing back, bringing with it the phone line and the Internet. Life was now indeed back on track. Over the two & a half days without that fix from the WWW. I was sure I would fall quivering into some corner shaking, sweating, and clutching my belly. But I suffered through with the help of too much going on to pay it much attention.

Which brings me to this post this AM. This will be a short post. More of a public announcement I guess.

If my presence around the blogoshere diminishes some in the immediate future, it is not because I lack interest or enthusiasm, it will be because of the pressures from the Real World. I have a yard that if cleaned up right now means I won't have to watch it all get buried under the inevitable snow that must be out there someplace with a tag on it that says deliver to Acton, Maine. If I take care of the storm damaged trees and shrubs now, it's done and I can come back to the Internet guilt free.

I figure I ought to try to understand what it is to be guilt free. I hear it's nice. Makes you feel good. But I must be careful and not let guilt free take over completely. I will hold onto some of my old guilt as a sort of counter weight to keep any tendency to self righteousness from taking over.

I'll be around when I can, if I can. I will post or visit blogs when I can squeeze in some time. Like now.

It's odd this concept of guilt free is somehow now central in this post. I did not consider the guilt I will have as a result of addressing Yard Guilt in it's stead. Not living up to the "regular Poster" image can eat at a guy. I guess I will have no worry about something to feel guilty about. Guilt free about one thing always leaves in it's wake guilt for something else as a counter balance. Now there's a weight off my mind.

PS - About the picture at the top. I took that while on the move out West in one of the many deserts that spring up out that way. It is one of the slides I crudely copied with my digital camera and a slide viewer. There is something wrong with this picture. Took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. Anyone want to guess?

Keep it 'Tween the Ditches.....................

13 comments:

Demeur said...

Would it be that the picture is backwards?

Guilt? From my departed relative:

"Work promised for today will be ready tomorrow ...
maybe! "

(procrastinators pledge I guess)

Randal Graves said...

Guilt free is nice. I used to strive to post every day, now I figure if I don't, big deal. Just make sure you don't throw out your back or accidentally chainsaw the town in half during the cleanup. We'd hate it if you had to post from jail.

BBC said...

My best guess is mirror reflection, maybe because the picture was taken with the window up.

Quilt? What is that? I'm not feeling guilty for putting something off long enough that it will have to wait for spring. If I die before then I won't have to deal with it at all.

But we don't have snow on the ground all winter here, what is here now will go away soon.

And I've never felt guilty about going camping when I could be doing other things that should be done.

Besides, there is no woman here to put quilt trips on me.

Gary ("Old Dude") said...

I think BBC above is on the right track, appears you took a pick from inside looking out and took a pic of the rearview side mirror. I myself am not without some guilt about not posting regularly, but am kinda busy tearing apart my old world, in preparation of starting a new life, cept havn't quite figured out just where or when that will be----its kinda like being lost on the road, and holed up in a motel six looking for a map.

NorthCountryLiberal said...

Was the exposed across two frames?

I feel your (back) pain MRMACRUM, We got it in '91' and '98' but dodged this one. I'm looking at the downward bent tree limbs that survived them as I write.

Don't lose a toe.

Anonymous said...

Guilt. Where would we be without it. Well, for starters, everyone around here would be skinny from not eating, and the house would be full of dust and mice, and my butt would be shaped like the couch.

Dawn Fortune said...

rearview mirror is in the middle of the frame.

As a recovering Catholic, guilt doesn't work as well on me as it once did. I still get it, and it still bugs me, but it doesn't make decisions for me any more. Good luck with the yard. Yick.

Bull said...

Dawn is much further along in her Catholicism/guilt recovery than I. I beat myself up about a lot of stuff.

Do what you gotta do, man. I'll keep checking here for your words.

Middle Ditch said...

I enjoyed reading your last post. Mice and toad alright now?

We were once without power for five days. I did have an open fire then and cooked potatoes in the ashes and boiled soup above it. I remember it with fondness. All we missed was the TV, no internet then.

And no guilt either

lol

robin andrea said...

We take time off from the blog quite often. It's good to be free of the guilt, and it's enlightening to be away from the screen from time to time.

Enjoy the snow and the yard work.

El Cerdo Ignatius said...

My guess is you were in the passing lane on the Interstate, and took the photo looking at the reflection in the passenger's side mirror. But then the photo was inverted (left to right), and it came out looking like you were in the right lane and took the photo out the driver's side window.

You don't want to hear anything from me on the topic of guilt. We Catholics, along with our Jewish brothers and sisters, have the majority stake of the market.

BBC said...

Appears that there is more hard weather headed your way. A short update in a comment box from you once in a while would be nice.

Just so we know that you are still hanging on.

1138 said...

Well I found an Island for sale just off Vinalhaven right where I would have wanted it a few years back, the right size, the right place and just a bit too pricey in this economy but it would have put be back in the land of the ancestors.
Problem aside from $$$?
Age - I ain't getting any younger and most no make that allmost all the relatives have been forced out of that area by the loss of traditional industry and stupid high prices caused by the summer people.
But more than anything else those mean Maine winters. They wipe out the weak and leave the strong, but that doesn't make the strong a happy or even a healthy lot, just the survivors.