Not Dead, Just Shy

Hi! It’s been a while. You’d think that this many years into working with WordPress that I’d be less shy about posting on my own blog. I do post on other blogs regularly — sometimes several times per week. Just not here. So, here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

• Last year when Covid struck, I had to urge my roommate out. I’d just had surgery and needed to be careful with healing. My kids were also heading out for college. Finding myself alone for long stretches in a home that fit my family and more was lonely. Knowing that a few of my neighbors wanted to declare war on liberals, and that many weren’t taking Covid restrictions seriously was also lonely. So I got rid of most of my stuff and downsized to a small condo in SLC.
• I’ve still been working at Automattic and enjoying it as much as ever. I hope I never leave this job. I hope I’ll continue to grow. I did apply for a position in Marketing, but didn’t make it. So I’m back to doing all I can, where I can.
• Church stuff has become significantly more difficult for me. Basically I can’t keep supporting a religion that teaches people they can’t have the same joy as all other members until they’re dead. It had been difficult since 2015 when they announced a now-redacted policy regarding the children for LGBTQ+ couples. Trumpism was another blow: how could my friends and neighbors elect someone who bragged about assaulting women? And it only got worse from there. Being a single woman in the pandemic was also painful, and brought up a lot of feelings from when my “EC” and I got divorced. By last summer, I told my kids I was on my way out, but I was still attending by zoom and still trying to make it work well through spring of this year. Then one church leader wrote an article quoting former AG Bill Barr. He called single moms and their families the wreckage the rest of society has to deal with, and said families that support LGBTQ+ members are influenced by Satan. A friend’s trans daughter died by suicide a few days later. I contacted my bishop and the church, and did not have my concerns addressed, so I left. I’m trying to sort out what’s left of my beliefs. All I know is that isn’t it.
• I’ve been hiking and adventuring as well as the pandemic and my asthma will allow this summer. Enjoy a pic from Rocky Mountain National Park on the way to Emerald Lake. I’ve also hiked Desolation Overlook, Donut Falls, The Living Room, The Trading Post Trail at Redrocks, and enjoyed a few miles worth of wandering trails near Garden of the Gods. More hiking to come before I go back in for surgery this fall. Hoping I can keep up.

And that’s life of late. What comes next? We’ll see.