I've been so busy making my arms hurt again; chopping out grass, digging trenches in rocky soil, installing root barriers, leveling out ground, laying out landscape fabric and concrete blocks. If it works out, I'll be adding two berry patches to my ever growing garden for next year (it'll be for raspberries, blueberries, and the like). I've been really enjoying the sometimes literal fruits of my efforts this year. Radishes, spinach, red orach, bok choy, onions, strawberries, capsicum peppers, peas, asparagus, beans, garlic... and a lot more coming soon like tomatoes, cucumbers, baby cantaloupe, tomatillo, ground cherries, okra... okay you get the idea. This gardening thing has probably kept me sane over the last year.

Meanwhile, I somehow gotten back to writing, which I don't really bother to show off here. Slowly inching the second book of Sheshai the Purifier up to a length I am satisfied with... then it will be off to the third book to complete a trilogy. I sort of half-cheated on the second book by incorporating a short story I had written previously, but I believe I integrated it well enough. I've got some 3D modeling scene ideas to work on but that's a little lower on the priority list at the moment.

I hope to enjoy some more camping here and there, and maybe have some luck on the dating scene, though I'm less invested in that than I was earlier this year.

I met someone early in the year, and it went really well. It seemed we were a great match for each other and I was optimistic that I had found my new partner. Then she started to get less and less responsive and I started to get really anxious about where things were going. Then a few days ago she let me know she accepted a job offer out of state. So it's back to the misery of the dating pool, and now having to compare prospects to this one that got away.

Work is steady, tolerable, and pays the bills, so at least I have that security to rely on. The garden has also been keeping me busy. Hopefully I can get everything planted and the drip irrigation fully going by this weekend.

I haven't made much to post on this site in a while. I got occupied making some structural updates to my Sha Rephart Island, but nothing interesting enough to show off. I did a bit of writing here and there. One day I hope to have a novel trilogy but have no idea if I'll somehow publish them, and kinda expect all the work I put into them will amount to zero audience.

I'm trudging along, definitely been in worse places, but the loneliness and depression that's been hanging on me is hard to ignore. I wound up leaving all the Discord channels I was in; just did not feel connected in them like I used to. Feel like something new needs to start but for the time being things are just stalled out.

For me, 2024 was a year of significant loss, so I am hoping this new year brings new beginnings and opportunities. I'm also reflecting on what I have retained: My steady job where I'm appreciated, my home and garden, my continually developing art skills, and my family and friends. Trying to keep a positive outlook.

Today was my 15th anniversary. It was not celebrated, but observed. We performed a ceremonial burial of a decorated concrete block that commemorated the wedding day plus a few other items. It was a short event, and she left quickly as the emotions overwhelmed her.
I just want to remember only the many good times we shared, and the accomplishment of it lasting this long despite so much being stacked against us. I am also so ready to move on, even though it's a scary prospect.
All that remains is to get the final legal paperwork out of the way, sort out some shared accounts and money items, and finish moving out the remainder of her possessions.

Thus ends a major chapter of my life.