Monday Monday

Life is back to normal. My Facebook page is back to normal. All the political brouhaha is over, except in the Tampa Tribune opinion pages and, no doubt, on news commentary programs (which I don't watch). I'm enjoying walking my dog in this beautifully perfect Florida weather. I'm enjoying the open windows and doors in my house. I'm enjoying the quiet while I try to figure out the technical details of my class assignments. There's nothing like west central Florida in November.

A few weeks back, my Canadian sister-in-law posted photos of me and others in my family from long, long, long ago. I looked at those images of young me and wondered where did that girl go. I don't remember ever being young and pretty. It must have been because there are these color photos of me. I wonder about other baby boomer women and men that I know and wonder who they were when they were young, what did they look like, what did they dream about. If I live to be 85 and see photos of me now, will I remember who I was at the time and what was I dreaming about?

Life is a strange journey. It goes by so fast when you're older, like a train without brakes barrelling down a hillside. All of a sudden I find myself graduating from grad school in May. Where did all those studying-and-fretting years go? I wonder where I will be in May and after. There don't seem to be any entry-level librarian/archivist jobs in this part of the state. Will I wind up in Missoula, Montana or Good Grief, Idaho? I don't like the unease of not knowing. I'm not one for living on a rocking boat. Give me good ol' solid terra firma every time. But life sure doesn't work that way, and if you don't leave your comfort zone, how will you ever know what's on the next street?