a quiet rainy saturday

Hello everyone. It's approaching four thirty on this rainy Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, I had an excelent sleep last night. It can make all the difference. I certainly would have enjoyed getting together with friends but I've had a pretty pleasant time of it nonetheless. I puttered around the Internet most of the morning and then made a couple of egg and bacon english muffins for a very nice brunch.

The afternoon started with me listening to a repeat of Quirks and Quarks where they went through ten ways in which the world could end. After that, I went to For-The-People which is a chat community for blind people that I'm registered with. There was a pretty diverse bunch of us from places as distant as Trinidad and Norway. We passed quite a nice piece of time in wide-ranging meaningful chatter. I didn't come away with anything very profound but it does take the edge off that lonely disconnected feeling.

Just before I started this entry, I listened to the descriptive version of The Bucket List for the second time. It's certainly one of those movies which really ought to be watched and discussed with either close friends or someone special. However, like a lot of such pleasures, I can either enjoy them alone or not at all. There's a great deal of wisdom and wonderful dialogue in The Bucket List. For me, I would rather have my pivital experiences and moments of wonder while I'm still in good health and have the rest of a lifetime to reflect and act upon them. Presuming I'm lucky enough to find a woman to love, I would hope to spend my last days with her, my family and friends. I don't think I'd feel good about going off for one last grand adventure like Carter and Edward.

There are certainly some experiences I'd love to have during my life. I'd love to actually be able to finish Enchantment's Twilight and may indeed ultimately succeed in that. To enjoy my travel desires would require either close friends and/or a wife/girlfriend to experience them with. Presuming such people plus the funds were available, I'd love to go:
1. To somewhere along the shore of an ocean when it was warm enough to actually get in. I've always wondered what it would feel and sound like to hear it live rather than recorded. Ideally, there would also be a town or city there whose people I could get to know a little.

2. To the peek of a mountain. I'd love to hear what it's like all that way up there. However, I don't particularly feel the desire to climb up or down it. I Imagine it might sound quite vast and interesting presuming wind didn't completely override one's ability to hear the surroundings.

3. To England. British stories and culture are pretty well woven into my life and I would love to actually visit that country. Ideally, I'd like to go with another person who actually hasn't been there and done that already. It would be damned refreshing to discover a new place like that along with someone elase who was keen and eager.

4. To a tropical island. I've wanted to do that ever since I read Treasure Island over two decades ago. That desire has only strengthened while I've worked on and thought about Enchantment's Twilight. I'd like to have a proper sense of the lifestyle and atmosphere. Chances are also good that the history of whatever island I went to would also interest me.

I would most likely find a trip to pretty much anywhere interesting so long as I did it in the company of other people whose reactions and conversation about whatever they saw I could hear and participate in. That's really what it comes down to for me; Being with people who are keen to get the most out of the excursion. Whether I ultimately get to any of those places or not is of secondary importance to me when it comes to overall life satisfaction. When you get right down to brass tacks, I'd like to look back on a life where I've been able to make a positive contribution to peoples' lives. Preferably, I would appreciate it if I could do so in a community where I actually lived. Having my own place which I could sustainably afford is definitely important to me. However, being a part of a loving marriage where I could meaningfully contribute to a woman's happiness is even more to be desired. Even if our economic quality of life was worse than mine is now, I've experienced enough of love to know how much that relationship can make up for in terms of other hardships.

Not much of a bucket list, is it? Many of my friends might find it strange that I can be such a deep thinker but have such basic ultimate goles. But then, that's the sort of thing deep thinking leads one to realise. It's around ten after seven now. My parents have come back vrom babysitting Ava and Amia. They're pretty worn out as usual. Those two kids plus two kittens can be quite a happy handful. We've had our simple supper of left-over KFC and I'm back up here in my room again. New age music is playing tcourtesy of Sky FM's new age station. It doesn't seem to be raining outside at the moment. Wonder how long this interlude between downpours will last.

Tomorrow should be much better on the social front. There's church in the morning. I presume we're having a different guest preecher this week. I've little doubt he'll be as good as the last one was. Something new to think about at any rate. Tomorrow evening, I'll be joining my parents going over to a party our neighbours are having. That'll certainly be out of the ordinary. On tuesday, I'll be meeting with Nadia at the Bramilee City Centre. I keenly look forward to that. Wednesday, I have another lesson. If possible, I'll head out on monday or tuesday to test that section of route that I'm a bit concerned about. I just hope it dries off a little over the next day or two. Tramping through puddles isn't exactly a thrilling prospect but I'll take that over getting rained on. Dad and I may also go out and get a new TV for me which is capable of receiving audio description. If I'm to be stuck as a single person who is largely housebound for the next while, I'll at least be able to take advantage of audio descriptive service when it's offered. Yet another one of those things I could cheerfully do without if my social outlook and transportation options were better. Paradoxically, I'm glad I didn't arrange to go to Lake Jo. That would be one week of excellent social conditions with no transportations issues surrounded by weeks of still sapping solitude. I'll be better prepared to appreciate such a trip next year when the chance for a completely different future which has so recently left me won't be so keenly felt and missed. It's been a rought ride.