Posts Tagged ‘Relative Something’
Wayback Break2
This morning we woke up in a strange bed away from home. I’m letting the Wayback Machine determine what today’s blog post will be (from the Previous Somethings archive). Just click on the image! (One time, when I tested it, it popped me into an entire month from 2010 instead of just a single post. The powers of the Wayback Machine are mystically magical, indeed.)
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Wayback Break1
It’s February! In case you were somehow unaware. Today, Cyndie and I are heading out on a day-and-a-half adventure. After I take her to a physical therapy appointment, we are going away for an overnight at the home of friends and leaving horse care to sitters during our absence. In honor of this stepping away from the usual daily grind, I am also leaving Relative Something in the trusty control of the Wayback Machine. This way, you get to go on a couple of little adventures, too.
Just click the Wayback image to be automatically transported to a random post from any of the many years of Previous Somethings! What are the odds of it being a post about chickens?
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Had Enough
Have you had enough of the wayback machine by now? Since I am on vacation, all these wayback posts were formatted and scheduled before I left. At that time, I didn’t have a sense of whether they would be met with an appreciation or come across as a repeating annoyance.
It’s a random results generator. I’m guessing your response will have everything to do with which posts from the archive showed up for you.
I had thought about curating my own pick of ten old posts for the duration of my vacation but didn’t have the time it would take to scour the thousands of possibilities to come up with ones that seemed worthy. And worthy to whom? It’s a big world out there on the interweb where these blog posts can be found. Posts about chickens? Optimal health? Trekking the Himalayas? Words on images? Destigmatizing depression? All things love-related?
Okay, I suppose I could have found ten topics like those and horses and Portugal, and posted a gem for each, but remember that thing about not having time?
When the idea came to me for a random generator, I liked the thought that each reader would end up with a unique old re-post. Everyone would end up seeing something different.
When Julian successfully pulled off his manipulations of the coding in the span of one short phone conversation, I was giddy with delight. It was so much fun for me to use, I decided it didn’t matter if anyone else liked it.
I liked it.
Go ahead. Take another spin. You might find a gem.
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Wayback Anew
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Everything old is new again. Click the image to enjoy a new look at something old.
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Today I will be departing the bike tour early after riding to Wabasha. Cyndie will pick me up so we can drive north to Hayward, joining her family for a weekend of remembrance for her father who died a year ago on the 24th of June..
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More Waybacking
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It’s like birthdays and holidays all wrapped up in one big surprise click! What will you uncover today? It’s utter random madness!
(Cyndie thought the picture should be bigger to better see my cute little boy face.)
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Wayback Again
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What will you find this time? You’ll only discover it by clicking the image…
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Wayback Somethings
The calendar has arrived upon the week of my [abbreviated] Tour of Minnesota bike trip, this year combined with a long weekend Friswold family lake place gathering, during which time I will be taking a break from posting new content.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be something unexpected for you to find here each day. You know me better than that.
All you need to do is click the image below for an adventure with the Relative Something Random Wayback Machine, courtesy of creative technical support provided by our son, Julian.
Each day that I’m gone, a new invitation will appear, encouraging you to try your luck with a click on the Previous Somethings carrousel that is programmed to randomly load a post from my archive of over ten years of stories and pictures.
I offer no guarantee of high-value results, as there are plenty of clunkers mixed in with the sublime and the mundane that could pop up. If you believe in the possibility strongly enough, you might succeed in revisiting an old favorite, or maybe a specific message that you were meant to see on this particular day.
Take a chance! Click!
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Another Thought
Well, tomorrow brings another thought. And, yesterday’s tomorrow, is today’s today. I have another thought this morning about how I might respond to the milestone of completing ten years of daily blogging. What if I did it for ten more? That’s another way to look at this interesting opportunity.
It has definitely become a comfortable habit that continues to offer me multiple benefits, and occasionally, surprising rewards. Also, by writing about my life every day, I avoid accumulating a build up of some wild idea about someday writing an autobiography.
I should try an experiment where I choose a memory from my past which I have already chronicled here years ago, and write a fresh version to compare how different they might come out. Last night, Cyndie and I met our friends, Barb and Mike for a fine dinner out in Red Wing, MN. One of our conversations touched on the fact that memories get reshaped a little each time we recollect them.
One way I have been contemplating a recognition of ten years of Relative Something is to mine the archives for a variety of gems from years ago and repost them anew. I’ve also begun seeking possibilities for resurrecting a couple of my old “games.” One involved guessing images from an extreme closeup, and another required readers to conjure their own picture in their minds from a description I write. A day later, I provide the picture I was describing for comparison.
Meanwhile, there is no shortage of new stories worth telling happening every day around here. The flooding wasn’t catastrophic for us, but it still caused me more anguish than I care to experience. I think part of that came from the fact that Cyndie was dealing with it alone, while I was so far away at work during the days.
The days of rain have passed and the return of below freezing nights has eased the worst of flowing water for now, but there is still a ton of snow yet to melt, so who knows how long this will last.
The horses were absolutely heroic in allowing Cyndie to guide them out of the barn through the standing water without panicking over the scary reflections and sounds, of which they have had little exposure in their time with us. They’ve dealt with a lot of mud over the years, but rarely, if ever, been asked to traverse water over their ankles.
Oh, the horses.
Man, we are going to miss the horses.
There will be much to write about with the pending re-homing of our herd, but it’s hard for us to even think about, let alone put into words. Maybe that contributes to my pondering the idea of ceasing to write.
If you know me, that is a pretty unlikely result. Writing is how I best process my thoughts.
Here’s to the possibility of ten more years of somethings you might find relative.
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A Recap
How did we get to this point in the story? …Previously, on Something Relative:
John (that’s me) and his friend, Gary, were going on a trek in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal and wanted to share stories and photos of the trip with friends and family. Son, Julian, suggests I should use a blog for the purpose. I look to post something new everyday to keep the thing from becoming stale.
I write some poetry and take pictures. One day, my wife, Cyndie, tells me I should put my poems on my images. Words on Images becomes a regular, occasional feature.
I share stories and pictures from an annual bicycling tour and camping week that happens in June every year.
Cyndie and I go on a trip to Portugal to meet Ian Rowcliffe and his family and friends. Life altering trip inspires us to dream about creating a forest garden of our own and leads Cyndie on a path of discovery with horse communication.
When we decide to look into selling our suburban home of 25 years and shop for horse property, Cyndie gets recruited for a lucrative position with Boston Public Schools. Blog becomes filled with posts depicting me trying to cope with her absence while doing some minor remodeling in preparation of putting our house on the market.
Cyndie comes home after a year and we get our first offer on the house. We take a look at a few new properties in town before seeing the paradise that we chose in Wisconsin.
Blog becomes a chronicle of our transition to rural life while making property enhancements toward becoming first-time horse owners. Oh, we also got a Belgian Tervuren Shepherd dog named Delilah who has a knack for commanding all attention possible. Cat, Pequenita, is a sweetheart who demands less attention, but is no less loving and lovable.
I begin to figure out power tools and tractors. Cyndie and I trade off years staying home full-time to manage the property. We plot launching an equine-assisted training business. A relationship blossoms between our family and the Morales family in Guatemala, growing from a first meeting between Cyndie and Dunia at the Epona apprenticeship in which they were both enrolled. Trips back and forth to visit each other in our home countries ensue.
We decide to try building a chicken coop ourselves and make plans for a couple of years, fretting over how we would keep dog, Delilah, from killing them if we added a flock.
Neighbors (and our farrier), George and Anneliese temporarily move in with us while they are between homes in a plan to move closer to family back in Minnesota.
Somehow enough people overlook the crude and bullying, most times inappropriate, and occasionally vulgar statements and behaviors of a candidate with no previous governing experience to elect him as our 45th President in our national U.S. election.
Super moon arrives to the closest proximity in the last 69 years. It looks like a sunrise in my image.
I’m not quite sure what to expect next. Will we actually get chickens? Will we figure out how to grow our own hay and get it cut and baled? Will we launch the business? Will we ever get our dog appropriately trained? Will the climate continue on its trend of increasing warmth and extreme precipitation events? Will I continue to post something new every day? Will I find a way to get back to visit Ian in Portugal again? Will we get the significant projects under control enough that I can ride bike and play guitar more? When will I cut my hair again?
Stay tuned and keep following along. I’ll probably post about all the above and more, with photos!
Thanks for reading my “Relatively Something” take on things and experiences!
John W. Hays
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Relative Something 