Only 28 Days Until Spring!

I know it's been a tragically long time since I've written anything here - nearly a month exactly - and it was nearly a month exactly before I wrote then. There are, of course, the usual explanations, excuses and reasons for why I have not written. And some of them are actually pretty good, if I say so myself.

First of all, I've been busy. That's absolutely true. I got a promotion at work (hold the applause, please) and am now the AV director at the Raleigh Marriott City Center hotel. And while it's great news that I even have a job right now (and don't think that I take that for granted!), it comes with a very steep price; namely, I lost a lot of free time, both at home and at work. My free time is very precious to me and I was very sad to see it go. On the other hand, free time is now more valuable than ever, so I am less inclined to spend an hour or two each week discussing my life.

But of course that isn't all of the story, because if it were important to me, I would find time. The second reason for my lack of punctuality here is that not much has happened. Really! I'm sure you would love to hear from Bronwen and me each and every day, but the truth is that we live pretty boring lives here in Raleigh. We work, then we walk the dogs, then we watch Jeopardy, then we eat dinner and then we watch a movie, a TV show or play a video game. And then we go to bed and do everything all over again. That isn't to say that we are bored. We get quite a lot of pleasure from this routine and look forward to our various TV shows or Netflix arrivals or next levels on BioShock and Eternal Sonata. But that just isn't much to write home about. There are weekends, of course, but until recently, they just haven't been much more eventful. We visit one restaurant or antique mall or museum, but there really isn't much else to do.

Which brings me to my third point: Winter sucks! Yes, it's great fun to wear jackets, sweaters and gloves in the lead-up to Christmas, but after that, it just becomes kind of a drag. I've said it before and I'm sure you'll hear me say it again, but humans are hardwired for a four-season year. One thing I never knew I never knew was how instinctive a season is. By the time I start to get tired of a season, the next one is just around the corner! So although North Carolina hardly suffers bitter winters, it is legitimately cold at times. Leaves do indeed fall from the trees when they are supposed to and they grow back (presumably) when they are supposed to. So a whole bunch of things suddenly make more sense to me. I see the value of Spring cleaning, for example - after months of being shut indoors by muddy, chilly and unpleasant weather, throwing open the doors and windows sounds like a luxury!

For my part, I can't wait until the weather warms up and green starts to creep back into the landscape. We have hiking trails aplenty here, and we are dying to visit them. We are also really looking forward to swimming in lakes again - Summer is still months away, and that's fine. Springtime will be beautiful, I am sure. Trails we hiked in November will be unrecognizable in April, and the JC Raulston Arboretum in bloom is a mouth-watering prospect. Believe me, there will be pictures!

Things are starting to warm up. A few weeks back the temperature was in the 70s and we wore tee-shirts and jeans - no jackets! yay! - and took Lux to the dog park to run around. We hiked up to the dam around the corner and took the dogs. It was beautiful, like a free sample of what Spring will be like.

So things will improve here on NXNC. More things will happen to write about and my time-management will improve. I really want to get on a more regular schedule here. I will commit - here and now - to writing a new post every Saturday. I'm even putting it on my calendar! I may write more throughout the week - this post was particularly enjoyable to write - but I don't want to promise to more than I can reasonably deliver.

A quick explanation of the pictures you see on this post: (because I don't know how to make captons) We visited the grounds of the NC Museum of Art which is dotted with large-scale art projects in a natural setting. There is a wind machine, giant cement sculptures, Stargate-looking rings and a camera obscura (the Hobbit-hole looking building) which we were, sadly, unable to enjoy to the full extent because of cloud cover. Look for a revisit to these things in the future.

Thanks for tuning in and have a good weekend!