HARD TO BELIEVE!!!

LAST POSTING WAS 18 MONTHS AGO:  I was promising to get my life in order.  Evidently, it has taken  while.  I had underestimated the subtle power of grief to take the edge of life.

That posting had nice pics of Granddaughter Stephanie, who now 19 managed to secure a place in an excellent (read: 'expensive') College in Salt Lake City (SLC).  She is so beautiful and clever.  Presently in Columbia (the country) on a project her school has there.  Maybe she is doing what she hoped; an internship teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).  A week back, it looked as if she might.

Here is one of me taken at Soulful Cup Cafe by my good friend Claire, a skilled photographer, not long back

Ah, that new motor in my little Subaru Impreza. Funny thing about that:  One year to the day of the guarantee on the new motor, while at the garage, it mysteriously stopped running.  A loose timing belt.  My garage shop crew, headed by their Manager (the irresistible and formidable Rose) negotiated another new motor, installed at the supplier's expense.  So a new start for it and for me.  I do love that little Impreza!

Presently I am in Russia, for two weeks, catching up with friends made during their visits to Corning or acquired in other ways (such as an email pen-pal).  We have just transited the Summer Solstice so the daylight lasts a very long time, and the weather enjoyable.  By this time you will each have received brief bulletins, much of which content will be in the next posting.

That anticipated return of energy did not eventuate and, until now, well past the Spring of the next year, seems really to have returned.  I am in good health, now turned 82 years (something I find incredible).  The great thing about writing a Blog is that this acts as a species of diary (I am not a compulsive diarist), reminding me of moments and realizations otherwise forgotten.  I have just read my NEW DIRECTIONS posting and see that I thought myself about to 'take off'.  Apparently, such was not to be until about now!  Ah well, as the saying has it...Man proposes but 'God' disposes!

Enough of this navel-gazing.  I promise to return to more interesting postings, ones that report fulfillment of intentions (thank you, Amazon, for bringing this word back into use!).  I suppose this 'Russia' episode might be one such?

I have had a few medical interventions, beginning with that heart trouble and now including fixing up of cataracts (also emplacement of a very small stent in each eye to manage my glaucoma, apparently effective).  My Type2 Diabetes, for which I have no physical signs or symptoms, seems controlled by medications, and this seems to be the entire story.  And hooray for that!  While these help one along they also act as 'slowers down' intermittently.  Hopefully, I am past such necessaries.  We shall see.

I hope that you enjoy the next few posting, all 'From Russia with Love'.