I have not written a blog in a while. Somehow the last week before I went away on my time off just seemed uninspiring. And during the three weeks that I was off, I decided to take a blogging sabbath. But as of today, I am back in the saddle again.
This year, instead of jetting off to an exotic locale for my holidays, like I have been fortunate to do during the past few years, I stayed close to home. COVID meant that we could not travel far. So we travelled to sites close to home. I visited Drumheller for the first time in 20 years and marvelled at the hoodoos and the badlands. I went to Fort MacLeod and Waterton for the first time in almost 30 years. The rest of the time I stayed around here and enjoyed the summer temperatures and just quieter times. It was nice to do that. I didn't have an agenda that I had to follow. We could decide in the morning that we might go walk some nature trails or enjoy a day of reading or watching our bumper crops of tomatoes grow. It was nice to have time just to be.
In our time off, we also managed to cut our news watching back a little. Oh sure we heard the big headlines. We heard about Kamala Harris being chosen to be Biden's running mate for instance. But it was nice to only tune in sporadically to the headlines about scandals, riots, COVID, Trump, etc. Sadly, those headlines have not changed. Still it was nice we could take a few days just to be concerned about our well being. The news would take care of itself.
Now I am back into the real world. My appointment calendar has a few things on it. There are services to plan. There will be sermons to construct. It seems important to once more get back in touch with the headlines of the day. I come back to this strange year of 2020 rested, but also wondering what new challenges the year might present. I know the months coming will be challenging, but I am still hopeful that together we will see ourselves through whatever might come. Blessings.
