August...

As I mentioned in the last post, it’s hard to believe it’s already August. School has already started in parts of the cities, though I think we’ve got another week before that happens in Burnsville. The true marker of fall, the state fair is also a week away. It’s been a good year overall, but the last few weeks have been rough for me.

There’s been a lot going over the summer. No one thing here is really to blame for my recent rough patch, but I’ve spent the last 2 1/2 days with a killer migraine the likes of which I don’t think I’ve had since high school, or maybe my 20’s… I’ve never really stopped getting them entirely, but for the most part they’ve been much more managable over the last 10-15 years.

This time around, I think it’s fair to say that stress is clearly a factor. While I don’t consider my life super stressful, things can pile up gradually if you’re not paying attention - the situation around Martin’s dad, two back-to-back cohorts at work, house work, my tennis-elbowed arm…

Then of course there is just the general state of the world, which I try to ignore as much as I can. However every now and the drama of it all touches home a little too closely. I just learned Sunday night that one of the recent shootings in the cities killed one of my close friend’s on/off partner of 10 years who was shot in a carjacking in NE. It’s funny how an event I wasn’t even aware of having happened, can suddenly become so painfully real.

Martin followed up on that last night, by telling me that there was an armed carjacking at the railroad crossing near our old house just before we moved. (Thankfully no one was actually shot, but their car was stolen.) This morning he followed up again by reminding me of the kittens in the anime we’ve been watching, “My Roommate is a Cat”, where the older sister leaves to get food for her little weaker siblings, only to return to find one missing and the other killed by crows. “You never know what will happen, and that’s the circle of life” he said… sigh… He’s not usually one to cheer you up by pointing out the bright-side of things. Still he’s not wrong, and that’s the sentiment behind “don’t go to bed mad” and the morning “goodbye kisses” before going to work. Doesn’t make it any easier to see a friend in pain dealing with such loss though.

Anyhow, that’s been my August so far. I’ve been trying to balance it all out with some cheerier things. Pizza and ice-cream with Christy, Snuffy’s with Dave, anime Friday nights with Martin, catching up with my reading and a little Stardew Valley game therapy. An alum also stopped by today to tell me, in person, about her awesome new job offer. That’s going to be my little bit of sunshine to keep me smiling throughout the day.