Buddy's War #44- The Siege- and the Year- End

    •    December 25, 1944

Got up at 8. Put the turkey on. Had dinner. We just talked. [Ruth and Fred were there and then left on 6.10 bus.] It is raining. It is awful lonesome.
Diary Entry, Beula Keller Lehman

75 Years ago

26 Dec- The siege of Bastogne, for purposes of historic record, may be considered ended at 1645 on 26 December when the 326th Airborne engineers reported contact with "three light tanks believed friendly." True, the breach in the German-held ring opened by the 4th Armored Division was narrow and precarious, but it would not be closed despite the most strenuous enemy efforts in coming days. The staunch defense of Bastogne had impeded the Fifth Panzer Army drive to the west,…



The human cost of the Bastogne battle, therefore, probably was not out of proportion to the military gains achieved.



The 101st Airborne Division suffered battle casualties numbering 105 officers and 1,536 men. CC B of the 10th Armored Division had approximately 25 officers and 478 men as battle casualties. There is no means of numbering the killed, wounded, and missing in the miscellany of unrecorded tankers, gunners, infantry, and others who shared in the defense of Bastogne. 

--From The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge by Hugh M. Cole



As Nichols reports in Impact:

26 Dec- The Tigers’ Christmas present, though a day later, was delivered. The iron ring of German panzers was pierced and the rescue was begun… [H]ard  fighting was still required of all units.  This was necessary in order to widen the corridor during the ensuing days. At 1630 the 4th Armored Divisions CC R entered Bastogne.

27 Dec- Wounded were evacuated and supply trains wheeled in. Along with the supplies came swarms of war correspondents and official observers. The sickening sight of gutted buildings, smashed tanks and vehicles, was mute testimony of the hell that Bastogne had been for eight long days.



    ✓    Company C Morning Report
    ✓    27 December 1944

0815 Departed Lintgen Luxembourg [sic]. Traveled 48 miles by motor convoy to Metz, France. Arrived 1415. Billeted troops. (MR)

Meanwhile, the rest of the 10th Armored, minus CC B, was kept busy on the southern end of the bulge. On 26 Dec at 2000 hours the 6th Armored Division was sent to replace the 10th Armored which then swung south and continued to press the enemy along that front. They had been “jabbing and sparring” just north of the Saar-Moselle Triangle to keep the Germans off balance. At the center of this was Combat Command A (CC A). Their part of General Patton’s great offensive against the Bulge was a success.

28 Dec- 10th Armored’s defensive positions secured. The 10th (minus CC B) was ordered to “hold present sector to include the Saarlautern bridgehead. On Army’s order, advance north to clear enemy from between Moselle and Saar Rivers.” Their part of the Battle of the bulge was finished. 


    •    December 29, 1944

Had a letter from Buddy and he sent me a dime for good luck.
Diary entry, Beula Keller Lehman

31 Dec- All of the remaining 10th Armored (minus CC B) moved south to Metz for rehabilitation and training, ending the most hotly contested battle in the Division’s brief but rugged operational history since its November baptism of fire at the swollen Moselle.

At Metz they were, for all intents and purposes, back where they had been two weeks earlier. They were now to get ready for the punch into the Saar-Moselle triangle that was Patton’s offensive plan  when the German offensive began and they headed into battle.

    •    December 31, 1944 

Well, this is the last day in 1944. Gee, I hope 1945 will be better.
Diary entry, Beula Keller Lehman

Buddy's War: Interlude

Over the past few months I have posted the first of the series following my dad in World War II. The next two years will be the remembrances of the 75th Anniversary of the big actions and winning of that war in 1944 and 1945. My dad was a medic in the 80th Armored Medical Battalion, an organic part of the famed 10th Armored Division. My goal up to this point was to catch up to the calendar dates to match the 75-year anniversary. I have given some background and some of the family history.

These will continue as I move forward. I also  hope to fill in some of the gaps in the earlier story. Since I have been following some of the entries in my  grandmother's diary, that left one whole year out, 1941- there was no diary. I am hopeful at finding some more information about his training and plans that year before Pearl Harbor. If nothing else I am digging into the training and activities. the Army was involved in.

I will also try to fill in some of the earlier information on the formation and training of the 10th Armored Division. It was officially activated in July of 1942 and my dad arrived with them in August. They had two full years of training until the fall of 1944 when they left for Europe. I will be filling in some of the background and activities during those two years as we move into the early part of this new year.

My main goal, though is to go through these next 22 months of World War II with my dad and his band of brothers.

I have set up a separate blog for Buddy's War, but will continue to cross-post all the entries here as well.

As has been the case before, here is what was happening 75 years ago this week in 1944 in World War II:

January 4: The United States launches operations behind Axis lines, delivering weapons and supplies to anti-Nazi partisans in France, Italy, and the Low Countries.

January 7: In preparation for the invasion of France, Allied planes drop airborne operatives into the occupied country to help train their partisans in guerrilla tactics to support regular troops.

January 9: Winston Churchill meets with Free French leader Charles de Gaulle to discuss the role the Free French will play in the Allied invasion of France.

Buddy's War: #13 New Year's Eve 1943

This is part of a series that over two years will follow the story of my father in World War II 75 years ago. I did this five years ago in the series Following the 10th Armored, but I have been doing more research and expanding the ideas. The beginning posts will set the stage for the events of 1944 and 1945 when he was in Europe as part of the 10th Armored Division's 80th Armored Medical Battalion.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

◆ December 31, 1943
New Year’s Eve
75 Years Ago Today…

Hitler delivered a New Year's message to the German people admitting… that 1944 "will make heavy demands on all Germans. This vast war will approach a crisis this year. We have every confidence that we will survive." British Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee broadcast a New Year's Eve message of his own to the people of the United Kingdom. Attlee declared that the "hour of reckoning has come" for the Nazis but urged the British people not to be complacent, stating: "We do know that in 1944 the war will blaze up into greater intensity than ever before, and that we must be prepared to face heavier casualties.

~~~~~~~~

I hope next year will bring peace for everybody. Hope we all stay well.
— Diary entry, Beula Keller Lehman

Spirituality as Resistance: Proclamation

Epiphany Sunday

January 7, 2018

Proclamation as Resistance

Preaching is effective as long as the preacher expects something to happen-

not because of the sermon, not even because of the preacher,

but because of God.

— John Hines

I come to the end of this Advent to Epiphany series of Spirituality as Resistance. There were the four weeks of Advent:

• Hope
• Love
• Joy
• Peace

Then the Christmas season:

• Humility
• Light in the darkness
• Sacrifice
• Sacrament

Yesterday, Epiphany was

• Revelation

As a result of all of that, these nine themes have been building on each other. They interweave

• who we are with
• who God is and then on to
• who God wants us to be.

We ask the final question of this series:

What good is all that hope and love, light and revelation if we don’t with humility and peace take the sacrifice and joy and

• Proclaim

It?

Easy for me to say. I am an independent, retired preacher who proclaims here, on a lonely blog that most days probably gets fewer readers than I ever had sitting in the pews when I was preaching. I am not dependent on you or any of my readers for my salary. I can say pretty much what I want, filtered through my own bias and spirituality. If you don’t agree with me you can leave a comment, or just not come back to see what else I have to say.

So I go ahead and proclaim my resistance. When I was still in the pulpit I would often temper what I was going to say so as not to offend those of different opinion. I might not speak out against the oppression or non-Christian stands of people in power or government. Not only did they pay my salary, they were also my friends. Therefore I had to find ways to say what I wanted to say that would not push friends away or even turn them into adversaries. What good would that do? It was a fine line and a tightrope down the center of a busy thoroughfare, to mix all kinds of metaphors.

Perhaps I didn’t always trust that God would work as fully as I wanted things to happen. Perhaps I wanted to make sure that I would be around to preach for longer than just that one sermon. But when not in the pulpit- hence when it could be a conversation and not just me speaking- we could have discussions on disagreements. I could find ways to proclaim what I felt- and feel- was and is the Good News when sitting face to face with these friends and agree to disagree while still respecting each other. Brene Brown in her latest book, Braving the Wilderness, talks about getting close to people as a way of overcoming division. She points out that most of us can name people who have very different opinions from ours with whom we can maintain friendships. Many of us know that all __________ are wrong, can’t be trusted and are not worth my time, except for _____________ who is my friend. (Fill in the blanks. It goes in all directions.)

The past year has severely tested those opportunities for many of us. Polarized opinions shut off debate as well as discussion. Proclamation becomes “my way or the highway.” I did some of the dialogue at times with mixed results. It was tiring, even spiritually draining. Even moderate statements could raise tensions on both sides. But it is in maintaining the possibility of discussion and dialogue that we may be proclaiming our views in the clearest way possible. When we say that we need to have a discussion and not a diatribe, we proclaim our personal values of acceptance of the others. We make a clear statement of who we are when we can embrace our friends with differing ideas even when they may be proclaiming something entirely difficult to hear.

There is always something about proclaiming love in what we do and who we are.

That, after all, IS what we say God did in Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What next? I am regrouping for Lent at this point. It’s not that far away- just 38 days. Ash Wednesday is on Valentine’s Day this year. (What a great metaphor to begin the season of reflection!) Over the past six weeks I have been working through a couple of spiritual readings, Falling Upward by Richard Rohr and some of the writings of Thomas Merton. They highlight the inward journey I have found myself traveling in the past year or so. I may take Rohr’s book and do some riffing in good jazz style on what that means in this day and age, building on what I have been writing about since the Dark Night of the Soul posts last year. In any case, keep watch for what’s next. Let me know what you think. Have a wonderful month until Lent.

Spirituality as Resistance: Revelation

Epiphany

January 6, 2018

Revelation as Resistance

Unclench your fists

Hold out your hands.

Take mine.

Let us hold each other.

Thus is his Glory Manifest.

-Epiphany, Madeleine L’Engle

An epiphany is

• a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.
• an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking.
• an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.
  
  (Merriam-Webster)

• For the essential nature or meaning of something to be revealed is revolutionary and changes everything.
• To get an intuitive grasp of reality through some simple, yet striking event, pushes back against the status quo.
• To experience a truth that lights up our lives and the world empowers us to stand up and resist what needs to be challenged.

But what is it that is revealed on this day? What is so striking about today that it should make the state quo defenders tremble? What is the truth that empowers us to resist?

We answer this in the Christian year as the story of the day the Wise Men arrive. While popular culture has combined that with the Christmas Eve narrative, they stand far apart. Mary and Joseph have Jesus in a house now. The angels now bring warning to the travelers instead of tidings of joy. They participate in God’s conspiracy against the government of Herod- they sneak away by another route. That story is a clear instance of resistance and rebellion. It is not to turn Herod into a “believer” or make Judea or Rome a “Christian” place.

The days of Christmas have come to an end. It is Epiphany. All has been revealed, at least for now. Suddenly it is all clear- kind of.

And what is that we now know either more deeply or for a first time or in an entirely new way?

• The essential nature is not power, but humility and poverty and love.
• Reality is the birth of a baby being worshipped by the rich and powerful foreigners under the very nose of the King.
• The truth is that God’s ways are not our ways since none of this makes any sense in the work and ways of this world’s powers.

In such times and with such knowledge Madeleine L’Engel’s words prod and push us into a different understanding.

• The clenched fist of hatred and discrimination is not what God wants, unless it is seen in the helplessness of an infant reaching for love.
• The ways of God are not the actions of racism or greed but rather the open hand reaching to grab the fist of the powerless and downtrodden.
• The light of God illuminating us is knowing that none of us is a stranger to God who knows us more fully than we can ever begin to describe.
• The empowerment found in the revealing of God among us allows us to stand together, holding each other tight with hope.

In that is the glory of God made visible.

Watchword for 2018

In our Moravian tradition we choose a "watchword" for the year as the new year begins. There are a variety of ways that different congregations do it. In general they are pulled at random from a collection of scripture passages like those used in the daily devotional guide, The Daily Texts (Losungen in the German tradition). The Losungen tradition goes back to May 1728 (yes, 290 years!) as a daily "watchword" was chosen from an Old Testament passage. The Moravian Daily Texts book is still published and is translated into over 50 languages. LINK to more information on The Daily Texts.

Sometimes people can look at these chosen watchwords in some superstitious or "prophetic" way. The main idea is for it to be word that guide you through the day and year. Not being in a Moravian Church at this point, I still find it a great way to start the year. I first look at the watchword (OT) text for my birthday, and this year, as is often the case, it was right on target.

In [God's] hand is the life of every living thing.
-Job 12:10

I double-checked the full passage and, as usual, found more that adds to the power of the word. It is Job himself who's speaking. He is reacting to the attempted words of "comfort" from his three friends. They have been chastising Job for his challenging God and asking the creator for answers to why this was happening to him, a righteous man. (We know he is a righteous man. The story sets it up that way. Also, Job has to be one of my favorite books of the Bible raising very contemporary concerns and questions. But that's another post.)

They come up with all the standard answers but focused mainly on the punishing aspect of God. In other words, they tell him that he is in denial, he is not such a good person, he must have done something really awful for God to punish him this badly. "Repent, Job, and all will be okay," is their heartless message.

Job argues very simply that they are wrong. Period. Yes, everyone, in fact all of creation knows that God takes care of everything and that God is aware of everything. The difficulty is that we want to know what God is, or isn't, doing.

In short, this passage is a statement of trust. Way back in chapter 1, Job had proclaimed that the LORD has given and the LORD has taken away- blessed be the Name of the LORD! He is reiterating that here in response to the "comfort" of his friends.

In the end, at this point in Job's life, that may be all that can be said.

Trust in God. Radical trust in God.

No matter what.

Work therefore to feel the presence and the hand of God on me...

No matter what.

Talk about continuing the resistance to the ways of the world. A good watchword for 2018!

Spirituality as Resistance: Sacrament

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2018

Sacrament as Resistance

God is always coming to you in 

the Sacrament of the Present Moment.

Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.

— Evelyn Underhill

When I outlined these reflections for Advent to Epiphany I wasn’t sure what to say on New Year’s Day. Sure, I could ramble about new beginnings, learning from the past and moving on, working with a clean slate, making resolutions, keeping (!) resolutions, etc. None of it felt right so I kept it open until about 10 days ago when I came across the quote above from one of the great spiritual writers of the 20th Century, Evelyn Underhill. Suddenly the talk of past and future paled in comparison to the “Present Moment.” But it is not just any present moment, it is THIS Present Moment when we have the opportunity to welcome God into our lives- and our lives into God’s presence.

This is a sacrament:

• a visible sign of an inward grace,
• a visible symbol of the reality of God, as well as a means by which God enacts his grace,
• Sacraments signify God's grace in a way that is outwardly observable to the participant.

Jean Pierre de Caussade introduced the idea of the Sacrament of the Present Moment in the late 17th, early 18th Century. It is in abandonment to the Divine Providence that union with God becomes real. It is when grace grows within us. It wasn't published for many years after his death, but has come to be a classic of spiritual guidance.

Notice that grace is a common theme here! When God is present, so is God’s grace. The sacrament of the Present Moment opens that possibility no matter where we are.

Talk about rebellion and resistance to the ways of he world!

• Abandonment? Forget it. Unless you are talking about blindly obeying the words and dictates of the nation state, of course!

• Grace? A free, unearned gift? Not for me. I’m no freeloader- even on God. I’ll earn my way, thank you!

Today is not a day, then, to look back in pain or nostalgia. It is better a time to remember when God’s grace flowed into my life in the past year; or maybe the times that grace pushed me out of the door of my own self-imposed box and helped others find grace. It is also a time to inventory the times when I closed the door and windows of my spiritual house so that I wouldn’t be disturbed by the cries from those in pain or terror, need or healing. Then it becomes a time of confession and making amends.

Today is neither a time to look ahead in some dim sense of a nebulous hope, filled with resolutions of what I want to do in the next 12 months. Instead maybe it is a day to just welcome the presence of grace into my life; to abandon me soul into God’s presence and seek the power to live it- today- so that I can be stronger tomorrow.

All sacraments are rebellious; all sacraments challenge the powers that be. Even in my tradition of two sacraments, they cover the gamut of life with grace.

At baptism:

• Therefore live! Yet, not you, but Christ live in you. And the life you live, live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for you.

At the Eucharist:

• As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes!

Today:

• The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams but you will only enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. The more a soul loves, the more it longs, the more it hopes, the more it finds. The will of God is manifest in each moment, an immense ocean which the heart only fathoms in so far as it overflows with faith, trust, and love.
  -Jean Pierre de Caussade

That truly makes for a Happy New Year as well as the promise of each new day. Resist the nostalgia of “the good old days” and the promise of some time when all will be “great again.” It is today, as each day, that the grace of God is alive.

New Year's Day

Praise the Lord! 

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights!

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his host!

Praise him, sun and moon;

praise him, all you shining stars!

Praise him, you highest heavens, 

and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he commanded and they were created.

New Year's Eve

Be thou my vision,
O Lord of my heart,
Naught be all else but to me,
Save that thou art;
Be thou my best thought
In the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping,
Thy presence my light.

Time for Reflections

It is finally here- the end of 2016. This ranks among the most unusual years of my lifetime. These past 364 days have had some of the strangest events with the most profound impacts on me than most of the past nearly five decades of my adult life. Prior to this year the ones with the most impact would be:

• 1968- The year the world was turned upside down in many ways.
• Marriage (1972) and birth of daughter (1981)- Obvious!
• 1988- The year I got sober and my world was turned rightside up!

Reflecting then on 2016, not even counting the seemingly endless deaths of musicians and cultural icons, it was a year of up, then down, then uncertainty.

First half of year:

• Renewal and settling- the first time our two months in Alabama as snow birds was more than just getting away.
• Photography- lots of time with pictures in Alabama.
• Reconnecting with old friends- Friends from 50 years ago got in touch with us- and we saw them for the first time in 30+ years. 
• Trumpet improvement- I am amazed at what has been happening with my musicality. Don't let anyone tell you old dogs can't learn new tricks.

Mid-year:

• New directions- I began to feel like retirement was falling into place, or as I have calling it, Career Three.
• Publishing and writing expanded- I published a book for the trumpet camp and then another of my Christmas stories. It has pushed my writing to new directions.
• Another old friend connection- Another boyhood friend stopped by to see us! Wonderful times.
• Music continues

Fall:

• Election campaign and growing uncertainty- even this old Political Science major began to get overloaded with the election because I was...
• Absolutely appalled by the campaign. To say this campaign was awful would be to give it too good a review. It may not be the worst in American history- yet- but it was the most awful in my 68 years!
• Maintained Music- the one thing that kept me going!

Post-Election:

• Grief and fear followed by the feeling that I was
• Slogging through quicksand in everything for the last two months leading to great
• Difficulty maintaining focus in all things.
• Christmastime in Bethlehem, PA, back at our spiritual roots and great times with friends gave a bit of positive uplift. It was only temporary, however. Things are just too wobbly, uncertain and downright scary- at best.

General:

• Awareness of aging and its impacts physically and emotionally began to sink in at a couple different times during the past year. It is the inevitable process of aging, but it doesn't have to mean giving up. It means maintaining the soul and the spirit. That I have been able to do thanks to ...
• The wonders of music... my own and that which I have been privileged to see and hear in person. Music is so essential to my life. Amazing! But so was...
• The joy of writing. With more to come in 2017.

As the wise teacher of Ecclesiastes might say, 2016 was just another example of the simple fact that time moves on, things change, and times are what they are. With some of what has happened in 2016 I have no idea why they have happened and what the outcome will be. That's where my uncertainty and fear come in. I have to finally admit that I have no choice but to continue to live within the cycles and seasons, while finding the ways to be proactive and supporting that which is important to me. In 2017, I will look for those opportunities as things continue to move on. With thanks to Ecclesiastes and Pete Seeger then, important words for uncertain times...

New Year's Day 2016

New Year's Eve 2015

To All My Jewish Friends

Twelve Days ~ Day 8 - A Clean Start

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 8: 1 January: A Clean Start

New Year's Day

# 5700

Sure, I get a little OCD about milestones along the way. So here's one as we end 2014. This is post # 5,700 in this experiment in blogging pilgrimage that started in 2003. Every time I pass one of these (admittedly) invented landmarks, I see that I am still having fun. I guess that's a good thing. Will see you all on the other side of midnight as 2015 gets off to a start.

This is the 74th post this month. I was really creative or something. That equals the record set for # of posts in July 2008. For what it's worth. (Yeah, about that much.)

A 70-Year Memory: Homefront at the End of the Year

While my dad was in Europe, his mother at home kept her own silent vigil. The pages of her diary said very little. She was clearly just trying to maintain whatever semblance of normal she could have. Once in a while a comment would be made about getting gas ration stamps, but overall she cooked, cleaned, visited friends, sat alone as her husband worked on the railroad, her daughter lived 140 miles away and her oldest son passed through weekly.

One amazing bit of information is how often she got letters from my dad, who she usually referred to as "Buddy." I wish I had all those letters. They would certainly add something to what I've been reading and writing about the 10th Armored 70 years ago. I am sure he didn't say anything that would give anything away. All letters were censored, of course. But they might give the same bits and pieces I get from grandma. Like this one note in her diary on December 29, 1944:

Had a letter from Buddy and he sent me a dime for good luck

Beyond Dad thinking of her like that, there's not much else until later at the end of the war when he sent postcards which I still have. But that's a few months off.

Dad, Grandma 6/1944

The last entry in the diary summed up her roller coaster of a year. It had been a year when her youngest and oldest children, the two boys, both got married and her younger son went to war at age 38. She said nothing about the Battle of the Bulge anywhere in these last days of the year. She simply put a few words down, saying volumes of fear and hope:

12/31 – This is the last day in 1944. Gee, I hope 1945 will be better

It Was a Very Good Year

The year is gone- and a new one has begun. It is difficult to summarize a year, of course. Here are some numbers from my 2013.

Reading and movies are a big part of my life. They take me to many places and open my world in more ways than I can begin to count. But here are 77 of them:

59 = Number of books read
18 = Number of movies seen

But life is more than sitting and having my world opened. I had to get up and move around, too. These numbers sure helped make my life even better.

    49 = Number of days biking outside
  116 = Number of days biking indoors (165 days!)
1,534 = Total number of biking miles (indoor and out)

Partly as a result of the above, but also because of I needed to do so by watching what I ate and how I ate, this is the number I am proudest of:

30 = pounds lost

THIS is one non-number that makes me excited for 2014.

Semi-retirement = best personal action of the year

``` ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ```

 And, yes, I have some goals for 2014 that include:

   15 = additional pounds to lose
 250 = number of days biking (outdoors and in)
    2 = Books started and at least partly written
    2 = Fitness instructor/trainer certifications earned
    1 = MLB All-Star game activities at Target Field
365 = Days to be surprised at what is in store

Time Keeps Turning

Happy

New

Year

2014

2013 - Last Call

We come to the end of a year. 

For some reason, probably the new Coen Brothers movie, Inside Llewyn Davis, I was led to these words of one of the few songs that Dave Van Ronk wrote himself. 

Seems fitting for the end of the year, one "last call" for 2013.

And so we've had another night

of poetry and poses,

and each man knows he'll be alone

when the sacred gin mill closes.

And so we'll drink the final glass

each to his joy and sorrow

and hope the numbing drink will last

til opening tomorrow.

And when we stumble back again

like paralytic dancers

each knows the question he must ask

and each man knows the answer.

And so we'll drink the final drink

that cuts the brain in sections

where answers do not signify

and there aren't any questions.

I broke my heart the other day.

It will mend again tomorrow.

If I'd been drunk when I was born

I'd be ignorant of sorrow.

And so we'll drink the final toast

that never can be spoken:

Here's to the heart that is wise enough

to know when it's better off broken.

--Dave Van Ronk

Seeing Signs and Portents?

My local coffee shops have these big chalkboards (blackboards) where they ask people to write something. Thursday evening at one of the shops the question was "What's your New Year's Resolution?" I don't normally make resolutions but I felt led to put one there: "Write a book."

Yesterday I walked into another one of the shops and their question was "What is something different you would like to do in the new year?" I didn't write anything on this one. But there was something there that stood out to me as a sign or omen or portent. "Time travel!" was highlighted by someone.

I had to laugh. That does connect with the "write a book" I put on the other chalkboard. You see I have been playing around with a story idea for about a year now. It's not enough to be a book, but it is something I would really like to write and finish this next year.

It's a time travel story. Which is all I will say about it right now. However, I have a hunch I have just found one of the things I am going to be working on over the next couple months and see how it goes.

After all, one of the reasons I have moved to the part-time, semi-retirement approach to my life over the next months prior to actual retirement is that I have wanted to really concentrate on writing. I don't think I have the makings of a novel anywhere right now, but a short story or three? Why not?

Which will also give me the discipline to be working on a memoir and doing some non-fiction essay writing. Sure, I hope to get published, and I am working on some of the ways and places to do that. For the time being, though, I am just going to start writing.

As to the semi-retirement, I have been at it for over three weeks now. So far- so good. No new insights yet. I am still playing with the idea and emotion of "retirement." It is clear that this way of planning and leading into it was a good way of working it. I still have enough connections with the job I have been doing that I don't feel "out in the cold." I will be working a little more than half-time in January, but never having to get up early and go into work first thing in the morning.

Onward I go.