Opinions

It seems these days that things are going faster and faster - it probably is because I’m getting a bit older and I’m not quite as quick as I used to be. When I was younger, we had a pop machine right outside the swimming pool gate, and every 10-minute break, my friends and I would go buy an entire can of pop and attempt to drink it before the 10 minutes was up.

I have a love/hate relationship with the “looking back” editions of the News every year. We do it in quite a few of our publications, it’s become a very popular thing to do during the holiday weeks, especially when there’s no snow to get a picture of a plow or a snowman or something.

I really appreciate all the checking up and checking in that everyone has been doing. Until you’re sitting in a chair staring at the same part of the ceiling for a number of hours a day, you don’t really appreciate the contact that people can make that makes a huge difference.

There are times when one gets really busy that it’s always been a trick to just stop and take a breath and decide what the next move might be. At my age, that often times leads to a “mid-life crisis” where you begin to second guess yourself, or perhaps wish for something you wanted, but chose something different, or just flat out up-end your life and do something differently.

It’s been a few weeks, months…since I’ve had a chance to communicate in my usual fashion with “Babbling Brook” and I figure I’ve owed everyone an explanation. It’s been an….

Julie and I are in the early months of what we like to call our “retirement.” Sure, it has been a while since we hit 65, or 67, or whatever age you can start getting Social Security -- but the process of getting retired and dealing with the various programs can be complicated. I understand now why seniors need to get financial advice and especially need advice on Medicare and/or Medicaid.

If you have noticed the absence of Babbling Brook recently, you are not alone. In the interest of keeping all valued readers and advertisers informed, we needed to let you know: Brook underwent some major surgery last week, relative to an internal infection.

I find myself slowing down a little in the past several months. I think they call that “retirement mode.” It has been an interesting ride.

A week ago, I couldn’t have imagined doing what I’m doing at this moment. But here we are.

Surprise! I’m back haunting the Albion News/Boone County Tribune offices this week, because publisher Brook Curtiss finds himself in the hospital this week with some medical issues. I don’t know if I was prepared to take this role as editor on again temporarily, and it is amazing how much I’ve forgotten in the past two months.