The only reason I’m writing today is because it’s Tuesday. Tuesday is my day to create a new blog. I didn’t sit down to the keyboard with anything in particular in mind, so I’m just gonna do a stream-of-consciousness kinda thing.
My day started with my writing checks for the various charities I wanted to support this year. My goal was to make sure that the checks made it to the post office before 4:30 this afternoon, the last pickup of the day. I had enough money set aside to send a small gift to some 20 organizations, so I felt as though I were helping out a little.
My next commitment was a 9:30 appointment with my dermatologist (on the way, I mailed the checks, so they were at the post office in more than ample time). I have already had three cancerous growths removed from my body since 2012, the third and latest being this year. Dr. Bright, a truly personable young woman, likes to keep tabs on me to make sure nothing else is going to pop up. I’m glad she’s so conscientious because I asked her to take a look at a very tiny growth on the hairless part of my scalp and when she did, she determined that it’s somewhere between pre-cancerous and cancerous. So she “froze” the sucker. I go back to see her in six weeks.
After returning home I helped wife Evelyn prepare to entertain a church friend of hers whom she had invited over for lunch, and a scrumptious lunch it was! In fact, I left them by themselves to come here and chat with you all for a moment. They’re having a great time sharing stories.
In about an hour I will have to leave to officiate at a wedding. Yes, on a Tuesday afternoon at 3:00. But then, again, it’s not a big wedding: a few neighbors and one relative that I know of. Evelyn is going to be one of the witnesses. The couple live across the street from us and asked me to conduct the ceremony in their home, so I’ll be able to walk there about the same time as they should be getting ready to start.
And then, of course, it’s New Year’s Eve Day. After the wedding festivities, we’ll return home where I should be able to get some cartooning done before it will be time for our family’s traditional cheese steak sandwiches and cole slaw for supper (legend has it that if you have cabbage at New Year’s, you’ll have money all year. We don’t see any reason to take chances. And, so far, it’s worked)!
So, those are my ramblings as we bid farewell to 2019 and greet 2020 with open arms. I pray that 2020 doesn’t take advantage of us with our arms open wide. I know it’s an election year, and I’m sufficiently aware of how things are unfolding as we approach November, which is also sufficient reason to be concerned. I’m truly glad that I’ve lived as long as I have so far, but I’m also glad that I’ll probably not have to worry about seeing the long-term consequences of the utterly complicated, intertwined, mind-boggling forces at work right now. My only reliable consolation is knowing for a fact that God is in control. Armed with that truth, I have nothing to fear.
Happy New Year.