As I sit on my deck and stare at this screen, I think back to when I redesigned this website two years ago, and posted And so it begins. That was supposed to be the start of something new, but it’s the only post I made. I had good intentions, but other things happened that drew my focus away.

It’s been a difficult few years for many of us, and this last one was especially hard for most of us. It was for me.

But now it’s spring, and things seem poised to improve. Maybe, hopefully, things will change for the better.

It’s really all about change, and right now, there’s a lot of change in my life. I haven’t written a word in the past year. For many months I didn’t even feel the desire, and then, when the desire returned, I found that I still couldn’t manage to put words on a page. That’s not to say I didn’t do any work – I’ve done editing and revisions, and I’ve put a lot of thought into projects I want to work on, when the time is right.

As things begin to go back to “normal” – whatever that means – I’ve come to realize that there was a lot of “normal” that I didn’t especially care for, and that I don’t want to go back to; I never cared for crowds, and handshakes will remain in the past. Instead, I want to spend more time outside, and continue to build things with my own hands, and to engage with nature.

For the first time in ten years, my day job won’t be with a nonprofit. And it won’t involve IT support directly with users. I no longer have to keep up with announcements from Microsoft, the latest Windows bugs, or worry about Office365 vulnerabilities. I’ll have new tasks and new challenges, in a wholly new environment. A pivot into something else, something that is hopefully more interesting and fulfilling.

It’s all frightening and exciting, in the way that only change can be.

I want to write more, and have people read what I write, and find ways to engage over it. I love talking about writing, and stories, and have done so little of it since leaving college. So expect to see more posts here. I can’t promise that they’ll be consistent, or “on topic” – let’s face it, given the range of my interests, in any given month I might write about natural science, woodworking, kayaking, technology, computers, photography, storytelling, good books I’ve read, bad books I’ve read, or whatever happens to pop into my mind at any given moment.

If any of that interests you, check back from time to time. Leave comments. Help me figure out how to talk on Twitter. Let me know that someone (other than my mother) is reading this.