Perhaps what is the most encouraging of this phase of 2024 is how absolutely ALIVE I feel. I don't know what lies ahead and I have little expectation thereof; I have no need. I'm happy. Of course, there's always this and that to checkmark off—that's a given, right? But the state of my mind? I'm delighted. Perhaps it's a good thing I stay off the news cycle like I did in 2020—what a delightful year that was for me!

2020 included the full length of Expeditions 13-16 and began another that went full Carnivore with The 17th. Incidentally, those were the Expeditions that had the bulk of the playlists.

I do look forward to a morning paper that is a set of AI-generated articles directly relevant to my life. Then again, as it has been sung:

I can gather all the news I need on the weather report
Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile

I was happy out in the country. Sure, I thought of Memphis; I thought of friends. But, there was a peace out there. There was a night sky to gaze ever so deep into the stars. I'm afraid much of Memphis is reflected into the suburbs.

But what of my subsequent return? I do miss people. The difference between 2024 and 2020 is that I thought there was spatial distance from the ones I loved. But, no, it became clear to me in 2021 that the physical gap is irrelevant. It's more complicated than that. People tend to lose their individuality; they become systems, sometimes a collective for assimilation on the Us vs. Them campaign, sometimes just a flavorless We. Someone who says, I'm Me, idiosyncrasies and all, is someone I can gravitate toward and smile. But, most folks are a copy-of-a-copy—two-dimensional housefronts to quickly pass by beneath the street light.

This morning had no 2:30 AM alarm to boot me up. But, it was of no consequence. The rain washed the snow and me away. I put in a Chest workout making sure I dropped the weight on movements that taxed this sore forearm's souvenir from last week. It only comes up when I move a weight away from my center of gravity, so hardly EVER! ...then there was those failed attempts at opening a jar of sauerkraut for the kiddos...but again, as it has been sung:

Now, I look in the mirror and what do I see:
A lone wolf there staring back at me
Long in the tooth but harmless as can be
Lord, I guess he's doin' all right.
And it's a great day to be alive...