AISLE SIX...

I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog. Perhaps by doing so it will rekindle my flagging interest in keeping it more current. Maybe...

My wife, of almost 28 years, knows me like a well read, dog-eared book. She recognizes, as do I, that I have a very addictive nature. When I decide to do something, I throw myself into it head over heels. Thus that explains partially the underlying reason why I have elected not to pursue my blog fanatically over the past 12 months; another long time passion caught my full attention in the interim, which I'll explain at greater length further along in this post.

One of the reasons I decided to back off from attempting to compose a post on at least a weekly basis is that my blog was becoming too political; not in a positive way, but to the point to where I found myself becoming more cynical and angrier with every passing day as I observed how our polarized Washington leadership continually seems intent on sinking our nation to the point of no return. Like Don Quixote, my blog had become a feeble attempt to joust at distant windmills to no avail. I had lost my perspective. I was ranting. I was generating a lot of heat, but very little light. I had to back away.

The question became, "What to put in the blog's place to keep my creative juices engaged?" I decided to return to the hobby I had happily pursued before I move to Florida 27 years ago: model railroading. When Judi and I were married we moved from the town house we first inhabited as a couple and bought a home that, to my delight, had a detached garage. "Hurray!!" thought I. "Now I could finally build the model railroad empire I had been planning in my head for years." Not to be... As often times occurs with married folks, I was soon thereafter greeted by Judi with the news (and it was thrilling), "I'm pregnant." This announcement prompted me to get busy with creating a nursery for the anticipated arrival of daughter Megan. That project lead to another remodeling project, which lead to another, and a third, then a forth, and so on. I spent, as time and money permitted, the next 24 years remodeling our 86 year old home. It isn't totally finished, but now that I have a lot more time (due to the fact that I haven't been able to secure full time employment since 2008), I don't possess sufficient funds to tackle any of the remaining projects I had previously envisioned. Such is life into which bushels of lemons sometimes fall.

So, I again decided to try my hand at some sub-category of model railroading. Not in my detached garage. That is full to the gills with stored possessions of my 25 year old daughter (who is now residing in Chicago) and my 90 year old mother-in-law (who is residing in a local nursing home). Bless my wonderful wife's heart, she allowed me to use our dinning room table to construct my first 1/8 scale diorama in over 30 years (as long as I promised to clean up my "mess" after each modeling session). I began the project in February of last year and finished it this month...just in time to enter it into the local model train show contest next month. I'm excited.

Finally, I decided that if I am to continue to pursue my blog on an even semi-regular basis that I needed a new direction, and perhaps a name change would be in order. I'm thinking about entitling it, "Aisle Six." Why, you may ask. Three reasons. First, because the phrase "That's All I'm Saying" has been declared hackneyed, trite, and over-exposed. The urban dictionary explains that the phrase is like a "fire escape at the end of a sentence," whereby it makes it possible to deliver a rude comment and have it discounted as merely being an opinion disguised as an objective opinion, but an opinion that the author apparently doesn't really support. "I'm just saying..."

Secondly, I have a good friend that paid me a genuine compliment for some volunteer work I had accomplished for my church. I discounted his praise, flattered nevertheless, but wishing to downplay the role I had played. He countered by saying, "Take the cookie." In other words, accept the compliment. I appreciated his wise counsel.

And finally thirdly, my favorite aisle in the local grocery store is "Aisle Six." That's where all the brands of cookies are displayed. I will literally run over you for a cookie. I LOVE cookies! Send me to the grocery store with instructions to buy milk and bread, and I'm going to also purchase some type of cookies on aisle six. Never fails.

So, dear friends, if I decide to continue to blog I will probably depart from my cynical ways and attempt instead to be a provider of far less inflammatory rhetoric, leaving each reader with the admonition to "Take the cookie." time will tell...