Well today seems like it will be a pretty typical day.  I actually got up later than anticipated.  It was 4.25.  Hence the lateness of this post.  We go out early on Monday mornings.
But what awaits us for today is Merril studying.  She has to do a five-minute video on a topic she has been looking into.  Things have so changed since I studied.  Her course is all online which was not possible when I studied.  The use of video is done differently these days. 
I think I did get video recorded for assessment.  One result of seeing myself on video was to change my hair style.  How things have changed.  I had hair back then.  Anyway, I changed parted my hair.  These days it is parted in the middle and the part is getting wider and wider.
I must admit I admire the tenacity of some of the hangers on in the middle.  I imagine they are lonely.   Sometimes they must think they are waging a losing battle.  No sooner do they put their head up then they are mowed down at hair cut time.  So not only do they need to put up with that, they have only the memory of their friends. The memory of wind blowing in the hair.  Surrounded by friends all doing stuff together.  Them were the days.
Then friends disappearing.  Losing their grip.  Disappearing without so much as a goodbye.  Never hearing from them.  Being taken to the letterbox in a hope against hope that there will be some word. But there never is.  It is like they have disappeared forever.
But the hangers on continue to hang on until they don’t.  Their grip is tenuous at best.
I will not pine for what was.  The full head of hair of was a phase that is over.  It was over way early really.  Still I did not stand in the way of progress.  I use the term progress loosely.  How can regress be progress?  Still I will not get overly concerned.  I would like to hold on to what I have got.

Yesterday was an interesting day.  Both Merril and I knew what we had to do and did it.
It was Market day.  We set up three tables at our church and put stuff that has been donated on it.  Nothing over $2 and all monies go to the Pantry to help get food stuffs and sell at a really cheap rate.
People love to bring stuff that is good, and that fits on a table.  Mostly it is stuff gleaned from downsizing and we are doing everyone a favour.  For example, there was a bicycle helmet for sale for $2.  Someone I know says they used to sell those helmets made of carbon fibre for about $170.  It went for $2.  Not everything is so expensive, but everything is a bargain.
So Merril and I did what we had to do.  We made twice what we aim for each time.  Yet it is about more than that.  We have a great chance to talk to those that come along.  People have incredibly interesting stories.  A lady who was blown away by what she got at our market used to work in biology and is now a writer.  She was virtually in tears when she picked up an old working typewriter for a bargain.  She also bought some non-fiction books and a vase.  It is a good feeling seeing others getting something special at a price they can afford.
Someone donated toy people and cars.  I brought them home to sort (all scientific research of source – ops, maybe my nose just grew).  Anyway the toys will be there when we do it again.
Merril is giving the communion talk at church on Sunday, so she went off for a bit and did some preparation.  She continued that at home later that day.
While she did that, I was getting our library together.  We were thinking of doing the cards ourselves but saw online we could get what we wanted for not a lot.  We decided to do that and save ourselves hours of work.
Then we saw the Lions had won.  Ended a good day well really.

I read something this morning which I think is beautiful.  "Love was here." In the finer print, quietly, "Love still is."
The quote is about grief.  The grief of losing a loved one.  It is my thinking that for me grief is temporal while love is eternal.  To think otherwise concerning grief would be to fly in the face of my experience.  I know the tears of loss – the knowing that time together is at best on pause.  Time passing does not completely erase the now or the absence in the present.  Nor would I want it too really.  Memories not only bring sadness but gladness.
On the basis that the quote from Heidi Priebe (the quote was in a James Clear email) is for the here and now, I agree.  As someone said, “you only morn for what you love.” 
"As long as there is love, there will be grief. The grief of time passing, of life moving on half-finished, of empty spaces that were once bursting with the laughter and energy of people we loved.
As long as there is love there will be grief because grief is love's natural continuation. It shows up in the aisles of stores we once frequented, in the half-finished bottle of wine we pour out, in the whiff of cologne we get for years after they've been gone.
Grief is a giant neon sign, protruding through everything, pointing everywhere, broadcasting loudly, "Love was here." In the finer print, quietly, "Love still is."
What happens down the track is not for me to determine.  I do not know the full picture.  I just know the one who is painting the full picture, and I trust them.
In the meantime, dad, mum, my brother, a good friend, live on in my memory.  A poor substitute for presence, but one I gladly hold on to.