Summer 2024: Days 31-39

Returning after a little gap in my summer blogging ...

My first week back after vacation found me struggling a little to get back into a work groove. The week went too fast and too slow at the same time, and now that I feel like I'm catching up, a short week because of the holiday will give me one less day. It's not ideal, but at least I'll get a day off Thursday.

The heat in Salt Lake City has been off-and-on oppressive, though it finally broke today. I've run four times and want to get out again in the morning ... but I've been sleeping later than usual, which hasn't helped. Hopefully I'll fall asleep quickly tonight and take advantage of the cooler morning. 

The week hasn't been totally boring. The weekend was a bit uneventful, but it was so hot that I can deal with that. Benji and I figured out how to play Twilight Inscription, and I did lounge in the swelter for a couple hours (which I don't mind so much if I can also cool off). Lori and I took Michael and his girlfriend out for dinner Friday night. I completed a new jigsaw puzzle last week. Saw my doctor for a physical and came away feeling better about my heart health.

Still, politically, it's not been a good week. I avoided the debate and reading about the Supreme Court's bizarre presidential immunity decision today, but I'm finding it difficult not to feel a sense of existential dread. Right before the pandemic hit full swing in March 2020, we were at the state swim meet for Ben, and I was driving on my own to pick up food or to the store or something, and I remember thinking it would be one of the last normal moments before everything went crazy. A few days later, that's what happened, and everything changed. I'm feeling the same way right now, except the craziness is months away instead of days. I spent an entire dog walk stressing about the future -- the future for my sons. That can't be good for my mental health ...

There isn't much I can do except maybe try avoiding the bad news and enjoying summer as much as possible. That's not a great plan, but it's the best I can come up with right now.

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