TriumphAnt

I know; I know. It’s been a hell of a gap between updates and for that I apologize most sincerely. If you read my last post, you’ll understand part of the reason why. Working through the death of a parent is, as many people my age have already discovered, an all-consuming combination of intensities both emotional and the more mundane but no less affective administrative.

When that process envelops the death of both parents within a matter of months, and is capped with a major life change that is taking me from a 36-year long status of working for someone else into retirement (I say “is” because that process is happening as I write this), then sitting down and writing has been the last thing on my mind since Dad died.

However, I have also found the process to be surprisingly cathartic whenever I do sit down at the keyboard (much to the chagrin of people to whom I have sent e-mails that started out with a simple “Hi, what’s new?” and wound up being book-length chapters of everything from reflection to ranting. Which kind of sounds like the reason I started “Baby Duck” in the first place all those years ago.)

All of which is to say I am going to turn to its cyber-pages again. In the weeks to come (if I can drag my web-designer daughter away from her video games), you’ll see a masthead change of name – I’m going to call it “Triumph-Ant”, to reflect both the great enjoyment I get from saddling up on my motorcycle and taking day trips out and about, but also to trumpet the simple joy of getting this far in life. (And in a self-deprecating note, my admittedly tiny blip in the universe. Or as someone lots wiser once described it: “You want to see what kind of impression you make? Fill a sink with water; plunge your hand in; remove it. See the impression you leave behind?”)

Other than that, the way I let you know there’s been an update will remain the same – I’ll send an e-mailed note to my legions of loyal readers. (Which you all must be; because even after huge gaps like this, I get no mail bouncebacks to indicate that anyone has gone away!)

What will also be the same is the content of the blog. It’ll be text-heavy; it’ll continue to be a mix of funny and angry – hopefully less angry and more funny, but Lord knows one never went broke underestimating the stupidity of people or organizations.

Finally, and this scares me a bit, I’ve enabled “Comments” on the blog. (Don’t look for a deeply philosophical reason for why it’s taken so long – I just found out that “Blogger” has this feature. Who knew? I don’t plan to embed any restrictions, so feel free to have at it. (That said, I reserve the right to censure and censor if things start to get ugly. And yes, I get to decide what’s “ugly”. My blog; my rules, as the saying goes.)

So while the fresh paint is drying on the walls and the front door is being re-modelled, you’re still welcome here anytime. I am astonished at the size of the archive – and the amount of sheer bullshit it contains. Feel free to click a random date as a reminder of what goes on here before deciding if you want to keep reading.

See you soon!

Mike