Month: March 2026

Regrouping

ruminator
On walkies with The Girl Sunday evening, we both were enjoying the lovely winter Sun and the mild temperature. I noticed this storefront and the light and geometry, so paused to make a capture. She kept pulling at me to go. I won. Captured with X-Pro3, 2026-02-15 16:31:56, 27mm, 1/680sec, f/8, ISO-640, in-camera Classic Chrome film simulation, SOOC.

An old friend sometimes says “Fall back, regroup, and prepare for the next assault.” He was an infantryman in a former life. Although the context is substantially different, as are the risks, this is something I do just about every time a project comes to an end.

The last three months have been a story of increasing pressure to complete such a project. I first thought I was brought in to look at one specific task, a hydraulic model. The scope expanded substantially when I noticed a number of irregularities in a drainage network design. I was sucked in to the vortex of this project. It is self-inflicted; I am a team player and the team needed me.

The result is that my workload blossomed to the point of almost unbearable. I think the effort peaked last week with delivery of the second report draft. There is a workshop tomorrow that I hope will be the last effort on this one. This is good because another is waiting for a similar push.

There are a couple more waiting in the wings for my attention. They all have deadlines. Therefore, I will be quite busy for the next couple of months, maybe three.

I must be more careful about saying “yes.” I must be aware that boundaries are necessary and healthy.

In the meantime, I began doing some of the things that feed my soul. I have a couple captures of the spring cherry blossoms from the landscaping in my neighborhood. I noticed that the desert peach is blooming when I hiked with The Girl yesterday. The sagelands smell lovely right now, with the bitterbrush in bloom as well.

I will put the Fujinon 60mm macro lens on the X-T5 this week and get some images before the flowers fade for the season. I love the look of the desert peach blossoms. They are lovely.

So is life. I love my life with The Girl. I have enough. I am grateful. Life is good.

RIP Chuck Norris

ruminator

I learned that Chuck Norris died a few days ago. He was 86-years old.

I recall seeing him first in a Bruce Lee movie as the antagonist. I then recall seeing him on the talk show circuit with his impossible-to-block punch. He was very fast.

Best I can tell, he was also a solid businessman, managing a number of training schools in Southern Callifornia.

I can say I watched a few episodes of “Walker,” but I was not a particular fan. It was light fare, but reasonably produced. Now, with him departed, I might decide to go back and revisit the series to see if I find it interesting.

His passing is a yet another reminder of the dynamic nature of life. Change is constant and an expectation of stability is unreasonable. We all come with an expiry date.

RIP Mr. Norris and Godspeed.