Where does the time go?

Hey. How’s it going? How have you been?

Well, it’s been a while. I feel like I’ve been very, very busy, but it’s more likely that I’ve spent too much time on social media, bathing in the controversy(-ies) du jour. That’s probably the best explanation for how and why time is flying in ways I’m not entirely comfortable with…

That said, it hasn’t all been bad.

I’m enjoying the Olympics, a lot, and learning a little bit about sports I know nothing about. That’s really fun, and cool.

Like surfing. Surfing is not something I’m interested in doing. I grew up on the west coast of the United States. The only beach I know reasonably well is the northern part of Oregon, which is very pretty, but between the cold water temperatures and dangerous rip tides, I’ve always been certain the ocean is actively looking for ways to kill me.

So, yeah, not my cuppa. But Tahiti is so beautiful, and it is fun to watch the surfers navigate the ocean. Much respect.

Equestrian… also wonderful, and also not a thing I would be good at or interested in pursuing. I love horses in the abstract — they’re beautiful, empathetic animals. Also expensive, time-consuming, and to treat them the way they deserve to be treated, requires a lot of training on the part of the horse and the rider. I’m just happy when I have the opportunity to slip one of them a snack… After watching some eventing, dressage, and jumping, featuring beautiful horses and amazingly skilled riders, I’ve learned about fly veils, hackamore bridles, jumping “barefoot”, and, thanks to The New York Times, that the horses have their own cooled stables with locally produced hay on the grounds of Versailles, where they are competing.

Gymnastics! Rugby! Soccer! Basketball! I’m telling you, I will root for any athlete, in any sport, from any nation. To be good enough — at anything — to get to the Olympics, and then to have the courage to step onto the world stage and compete with other people who are also the best of the best. It’s amazing.

Also, I’m enjoying the footage from Paris. In honor of the Olympics, I’m spending some of my Duolingo training time (usually spent on Italian) learning French. And at some point (when it’s not 100ºF here), I’ll bake off one of the croissants I have stashed in the freezer and enjoy it with some jam.

And also… school. Lot’s of school. Summer courses are condensed to 10 weeks (from the usual 15), and I’m in the thick of learning something new to me: MySQL. I’m enjoying it, even though after nine weeks, it is becoming more and more clear that, even though I know a lot more than I did nine weeks ago, it’s really… not much. Solid foundation, but I’ll need a lot more work and practice if I’m going to be able to use build databases and interact with them effectively.

Fall semester (starting August 22?) is going to be a banger, but after that, I’ll be about halfway through the program, and I’ll get about six weeks off from school, so that will be nice. We’re going to need to travel again soon — Covid kept us tethered for a couple of years (along with a sick dog for part of it), and then my school, and Dana’s work… I think we’re both kind of itching to go somewhere else for a minute, and that break will be a good opportunity.