You could almost call this time of year…the in-between. Meteorological winter is slowing down in our neck of the woods and spring has yet to arrive. The joy of Christmas is well passed and the summer plans are still in the planning stages. Snow and ice and plenteous pot-holes have been experienced. Many of the New Year Resolutions that were not easily accommodated by our habits and lifestyle have been forgotten. Yet happiness surrounds us and is there for the taking. A gathering of crows was engaged in crow-talk as I traversed the woods this morning. When they saw me coming they stepped up their dialogue. I was attempting to get close enough to get a photo of them…but they thought better of it.

Our church is soon to observe Lent…where we ponder our sins and shortcomings. A good cold weather activity. I had a mission to speak with the manager of Aldis this morning as it appeared that I had been charged twice for one grocery order. The two charges were different by one dime. I will get to the bottom of this travesty…I thought. The manager was very kind and went to his office for a detailed study of my concern. He returned to tell me that the day before yesterday I had made a purchase and that yesterday I made another…and that they differed by 10 cents. I thought that I could double down on my error and tell him that Aldis could be better… as a customer told me at SIUC many years ago. Instead, I thanked him with a humble grin and quickly withdrew from the field of battle.

I am reading the second of the two latest Cormac McCarthy books, Stella Maris, where the main character tells her psychiatrist that many people fail to accept that there is an unseen world. Now, this idea may seem simplistic to you but the reporters of bereaved loved ones who swear that they have seen and even spoken with their departed family and friends are difficult to ignore. Also, if you ascribe to a certainty in Heaven and you pray that there is no Hell…you believe in another unseen world.

MJ and I are looking forward to enjoying dinner with our dear friends Ryan and Elizabeth this afternoon. They are a bit like Dorian Gray as they do not age…while I continue to grow elderly. When I was preparing to retire from Southern Illinois University I was determined to leave quietly…just like I had entered the School over 32 years prior. My Director Phil Gatton kept asking me to agree to a retirement reception and I insisted that I preferred not to…until he explained that he did not know what he was going to tell Elizabeth who was asking him daily regarding it. I agreed and I am glad that I did.