Category Archives: Arts and Crafts

Have I Finally Found My “Big Hit”?

11 Sunday Oct 2026

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Since I started doing craft work, I’ve always been looking for that one item that would put me on the map, so to speak. You know, that one creation that people see and just have to have.

I would go to a craft fair convinced that I had finally found that special item. I just knew people would see it, fall in love with it, and reach for their wallets faster than I could say, “That’ll be $25!”

Unfortunately, things didn’t always work out that way. I would come home disappointed because the item didn’t sell nearly as well as I had hoped, or sometimes it wouldn’t sell at all. Apparently, what I thought was a sure thing and what the customers thought were two entirely different things!

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that every craft fair is a gamble. Different shows attract different people, and what sells like hotcakes at one show might sit on the table collecting dust at another. You have to learn what people want and be willing to adjust accordingly.

My philosophy is pretty simple. If an item doesn’t sell well at the majority of the shows I attend, it might be time to take it off the shelf and come up with something new. There’s no sense in continuing to make something that people aren’t interested in buying. After all, this is supposed to be a business, not a hobby where I fill my garage with things nobody wants!

But something interesting has happened over the last couple of weeks.

I may have finally stumbled upon one of those items I’ve been searching for all these years!

I started making Christmas lanterns, and right now, I can hardly keep up with the orders. People are ordering them faster than I can make them, and I’m certainly not complaining about that!

At the moment, I have two designs available. I ordered another template yesterday that will give customers a third design to choose from, and within the next couple of weeks, I plan to add a fourth design to my inventory.

It’s exciting to see people responding so positively to something I’ve created. After all those craft fairs where I came home wondering what I needed to do differently, it’s nice to have the opposite problem for a change.

Of course, there is one little downside to all this success.

I’m so busy filling orders that I’m not building up the inventory I need for my upcoming craft fairs!

You just can’t win sometimes, can you?

Tomorrow, I’ll spend much of the day delivering orders. Then, on Tuesday, I have an afternoon doctor’s appointment, which means Wednesday will probably be the first opportunity I have to get back to making more items.

Meanwhile, the orders keep coming in!

I suppose there are worse problems to have, and I’m thankful that people like what I’m making enough to place an order. I just wish I could figure out how to add a few more hours to each day. I’ve tried staying up later, but eventually, my body reminds me that I’m not twenty years old anymore!

Another challenge I face is my workspace, or should I say, my lack of one.

I long for the day when I can move from this house to somewhere with a shop already in place or enough land for me to build one. Right now, my shop is the great outdoors.

That sounds wonderful until you consider the weather. If it’s too hot, too cold, or raining, I can’t get much done. And if you’ve been following my blog, you know how much I dislike working in extreme heat or cold.

The recent heat has put me way behind schedule. I’ve already missed a couple of craft fairs because I simply didn’t have enough inventory to make it worthwhile.

To give you an idea of just how far behind I am, my first craft fair this year was actually my fourth craft fair at that same point last year. That’s a pretty good indication that my production schedule needs some serious attention!

Now I have just a few weeks to play catch-up and get back on the ball. I need to fill the orders coming in, build up my inventory, and get ready for the craft fairs ahead.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, I need to find time to work on those new lantern designs.

I’m certainly not going to complain about having customers. Quite the opposite! After years of searching for that special item that people would be excited to buy, I may finally have found something that fits the bill.

Now I just have to figure out how to make enough of them!

So, if you happen to see me outside working on lanterns, don’t be surprised if I look a little tired, have sawdust on my clothes, and am mumbling something about needing a bigger shop.

I’m not sure whether these Christmas lanterns will turn out to be the big hit I’ve been searching for all these years, but the early signs are encouraging.

And if the orders keep coming, I may need to start asking Santa for a workshop instead of presents this Christmas!

Craft Season is Here!

05 Monday Oct 2026

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Well, craft season has officially arrived.

Actually, I probably should have started working on my crafts long ago, but one small problem has kept me from doing so—the weather.

It has just been too darn hot.

My garage is still packed to the brim, which means I have to drag my woodworking equipment outside whenever I want to make anything. Unfortunately, the early morning sun sits directly on that side of the house, and it doesn’t take long before my little outdoor workshop starts feeling more like a convection oven.

There’s only so much woodworking you can do when you’re sweating before you even turn the tools on.

Thankfully, the temperatures have finally become tolerable over the last few days, so I’ve been able to get back to making things.

Right now, I’m working on some Christmas lanterns. I have two designs that I’m making, with more designs hopefully coming soon. The first is an angel and the second is a Christmas tree.

I decided to put a post on Facebook for family and friends just to see if there would be any interest in them.

Apparently, there was.

I had seven orders within the first hour after posting them.

I’m not going to lie—that got my attention.

Each lantern takes about 45 minutes to make, and that includes using my plunge router to cut the designs into the wood. I really like the way they are turning out, and it’s always nice when something you make yourself actually looks like something you would be willing to buy.

I’ve also been spending some time working on another project—a cargo trailer.

I bought the trailer primarily to store all my craft-show supplies. At the last couple of shows, I had my truck packed so full that I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have room for myself.

The back of the truck was full.

The back seat was full.

And, yes, I even had stuff in the front seat.

At that point, I was basically driving around in a mobile craft store with a steering wheel.

Loading and unloading everything after every show had also gotten old. So when a friend of mine offered me his cargo trailer, I decided it was time to make a change.

It’s actually an old Boy Scout trailer. He is no longer involved with Scouts and had no real use for it anymore. He knew I had been talking about buying a cargo trailer, so he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I did have to dip into my kayak money to buy it.

But that’s okay.

I had to remind myself that I needed a cargo trailer much more than I needed another kayak.

That doesn’t mean I won’t eventually get another kayak. It just means I have temporarily convinced myself that I made the responsible decision.

We’ll see how long that lasts.

The trailer needs a little work, especially the lights. I spent some time redoing the wiring and replacing a few bulbs. I still have a couple of lights to repair, but at least the brake lights work now.

That seems like a pretty important feature to have on a trailer.

The roof also needs a little loving care. The joints need resealing, and the roof needs another coat of paint. It isn’t leaking right now, but who knows how long that will last. I’d rather take care of it now than wait until I have a cargo trailer full of Christmas crafts and discover that I’ve accidentally purchased a very large indoor swimming pool.

Most of what I’ve made so far fits neatly into plastic tubs, which will make loading the trailer much easier. I also have several tables, a canopy, and a bunch of signs that will fit nicely inside.

Right now, all my creations are sitting in my garage taking up some much-needed space. Moving all those tubs into the cargo trailer will not only make getting ready for craft shows much easier, but it should also make my garage look a whole lot nicer.

And believe me, my garage could use all the help it can get.

The goal is to get everything organized in the trailer, load it up, and leave it there.

Then, when it’s time for a craft show, I won’t have to spend half a day playing Tetris with my truck.

I can just hook up the trailer and go.

There’s still plenty of work to do before the craft-show season really gets rolling, but at least I’m able to make things.

And honestly, after spending most of the summer trying not to melt in my own garage, it feels pretty good to be making sawdust again.

Now if I can just keep the weather cooperating, keep the orders coming, and keep myself from spending the trailer money on another kayak, I might actually be ready for craft season.

Christmas in June: The Garage Edition

17 Wednesday Jun 2026

Posted by in Arts and Crafts, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Retirement, Uncategorized, Weather

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There’s a tropical depression near Galveston, Texas, and it’s wreaking havoc on the weather forecasts in my area. Today marks the second day this week that rain was predicted, yet the sun has been shining nearly all day. That’s also two days this week that I could have gone fishing.

Instead, I spent most of my day in the garage.

I managed to clean off one of my workbenches and rearrange the battery chargers for my power tools. It may not sound like much, but in a garage-cleaning project, that qualifies as significant progress.

Then there was the plastic storage tub.

This particular tub is full of 32 years’ worth of items that came from my office when I retired in 2018. Apparently, when I retired, I decided that Future Tim would sort through it someday. Well, Future Tim finally showed up.

I spent some time going through the contents, throwing away things that clearly needed to be trashed and even a few things that I wanted to keep but realistically didn’t need anymore. Unfortunately, the tub is still just as full as when I started. It’s going to require a dedicated day of sorting, organizing, and deciding which memories deserve valuable storage space.

I didn’t want to spend that much time on it today because I’ve got plenty of other cleaning to do. The tub will still be there when I’m finished.

Actually, now that I think about it, that’s probably how we got into this mess in the first place.

Today was trash day, and the city came by and emptied our garbage can. I’m glad they did because I was officially out of room. Based on the rate I’m going, I’m fairly certain I’ll have it filled back up by tomorrow afternoon.

I’m slowly making progress. Nobody else may be able to see it yet, but I can.

I also found some storage bins that attach to a pegboard above one of my workbenches. I bought them quite a while back with the intention of organizing small hobby items like key rings, hooks, picture hangers, and other odds and ends.

There was just one problem.

The holes in my pegboard are too small.

So tomorrow’s project will involve a power drill and a drill bit as I enlarge every hole needed to mount those bins. Once they’re installed, they should free up a fair amount of space in my toolbox.

As if that weren’t enough excitement, I’ve also discovered that I apparently own enough sanding disks to open a small sanding-disk dealership. Much like my tape measures, they seem to be scattered throughout the garage in random locations.

To solve that problem, I found a file online and started printing a storage box with my 3D printer to organize them. The printer has come in handy several times for projects around the house, and this looks like another one of those occasions.

I’m also finding drill bits everywhere. Different sizes. Different styles. Some I remember buying. Others appear to have materialized out of thin air. For now, they’re all going into a temporary storage bin until I can sort through them properly.

So far, this garage-cleaning adventure has been surprisingly interesting. I keep finding things I bought years ago and never used. Some of them I had completely forgotten I owned.

At this point, cleaning the garage feels less like housework and more like a treasure hunt.

It’s kind of like Christmas in June—except all the gifts are things I bought myself and forgot about years ago.

Garage Cleanup Update

16 Tuesday Jun 2026

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I had a few distractions today that kept me from getting into the garage until after lunch.

First, there was the Tuesday morning Bible study. Then breakfast with Rick. After that, I headed home, looking forward to what I thought would be a much-needed nap. Unfortunately, my plans were interrupted by an alarm reminding me that I had a doctor’s appointment across town.

After making a cup of coffee, I headed to the doctor and returned home completely exhausted, in even greater need of a nap than before. Instead of giving in to temptation, I ate lunch and headed straight downstairs to continue the garage cleanup.

Today, I tried to focus on just one worktable. That turned out to be a project all by itself. The table was covered with tools of every description, parts from unfinished projects, wood glue, and enough paint and stain to open a small hardware store.

I gathered up all the paint and stain containers, but before I could put them away, I had to reorganize the paint cabinet. Apparently, I can’t clean one thing without first cleaning something else.

I found an empty box and started filling it with parts and pieces needed to finish various projects. Some of those projects had been sitting there long enough that I barely remembered starting them.

As I worked, I began uncovering tape measures. Every time I turned around, there was another one. I finally decided that whenever I found a tape measure, I would put it in a box. By the time I finished cleaning off that one table, I had collected seven tape measures.

Seven.

I have no idea how one person accumulates seven tape measures on a single workbench. I suspect they reproduce when the lights are off.

After a couple of hours of rearranging—and I can’t honestly call it cleaning because I’m mostly moving things from one location to another—I finally achieved a major milestone.

I can now see the bottom of ONE worktable.

I also found more wood screws that needed to be sorted into their proper trays. At this point, I think wood screws are breeding right alongside the tape measures.

Tomorrow’s mission is to empty one of the large plastic storage tubs and determine what can be thrown away. With any luck, I’ll end up with an empty tub that can be used to organize some of my power tools until I can clear enough space on another workbench.

In other words, I’m still robbing Peter to pay Paul.

It feels like I’m not making much progress because I’m constantly moving things from one pile to another. Still, I suppose some progress is better than no progress.

Using my bucket-of-sand analogy from yesterday, I think I’ve managed to remove about half a spoonful today. Between the distractions and the endless rearranging, that’s about all I can claim.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get started a little earlier tomorrow and maybe remove a whole spoonful.

The Spoonful of Sand Effect

15 Monday Jun 2026

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Imagine, if you will, a large container filled with sand. (Insert the Twilight Zone Music) You come along with a spoon and remove a single spoonful. You and I both know that you’ve removed that spoonful, but to everyone else, the container looks exactly the same.

That’s the same scenario I’m facing in my garage.

I spent all day today throwing things in the trash, moving items around in the shed so I could move other things into it, and generally trying to bring some order to the chaos. Somewhere along the way, I stepped on a few Sweetgum balls (For those that live in the South, you know what I’m talking about), rolled my ankle, and landed face-first on the ground. If there had been judges present, I doubt they would have scored the dismount very highly.

I knew when I started this project that it wasn’t going to be a one-day event. It’s going to take several days, if not weeks, to get this garage looking the way it should. Years of “I’ll put that there for now” have finally caught up with me.

I took the time to cut usable pieces from my scrap wood pile so I could minimize waste. I also found several containers filled with wood screws of various sizes. I sorted them into separate containers and even labeled them. That’s a small victory, but at least now I won’t have to dig through a coffee can full of random screws every time I need one or, God forbid, go purchase more.

This morning, I took some before pictures of the garage. In fact, I had even posted a few of them on yesterday’s blog. Later, I took them down because I was honestly a little ashamed that I had let the garage get into the condition it’s in. Maybe once everything is cleaned up and organized, I’ll share the before-and-after photos. If nothing else, they’ll serve as proof that all this effort actually accomplished something.

A lot of time and effort went into today’s work, with very little visible evidence to show for it. If someone walked into the garage tonight, they probably wouldn’t notice much difference, kind of like that missing spoonful of sand.

But progress was made. It may not be obvious to anyone else, but I know it’s there. The garage is a little better organized than it was this morning, and that’s enough for today.

Besides, the sore ankle and busted kneecap are all the proof I need that I was working.

My Garage Needs an Intervention

15 Monday Jun 2026

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I missed a perfectly good day to go fishing.

According to the weather forecast I saw last night, today was supposed to be cloudy with rain. As I sit here writing this, it’s cloudy all right, but there isn’t a drop of rain anywhere nearby. Apparently, the weather forecaster and I have different definitions of “rain.”

Since I can’t blame the weather anymore, I guess I’ll spend the day in my shop doing some cleaning.

The shop is in desperate need of organization. I try my best to keep it neat, but somehow it always ends up looking like the “before” picture on a home improvement show. If the folks from a hoarding television program ever drive down my road, I’m keeping the garage door closed.

My two-car garage hasn’t actually been a two-car garage since my daughters came home from college. Before they moved back in, I told my wife that the girls needed to rent a storage unit for all their furniture. I explained that once their furniture crossed the threshold of our garage, it would become a permanent resident.

I was absolutely right.

Years later, some of that furniture is still sitting there. At this point, I think it’s claimed squatters’ rights.

To be fair, I’m not completely innocent. The side of the garage where I used to park my truck has become home to my hobbies. When I bought a larger truck that wouldn’t fit in the garage, I suddenly had extra space—or at least that’s what I told myself.

That space is now occupied by a motorcycle, shelves full of Dutch ovens, camping gear, fishing equipment, ham radio supplies, woodworking tools, and a collection of items that I apparently purchased because I was convinced I would need them someday.

Someday has not yet arrived.

The side where my wife once parked is home to my daughters’ furniture, my CNC laser, a newly acquired 3D printer, and a worktable where I paint and assemble projects. Unfortunately, the worktable is currently so covered with stuff that I couldn’t work on it if I wanted to. In fact, I’m not entirely sure where the actual tabletop is anymore.

I know it’s under there somewhere.

The garage also houses my table saw, miter saw, drill press, nail guns, sanders, drills, rotary tools, clamps, and enough miscellaneous hardware to open a small branch of Home Depot.

Need a screw? I’ve got 10,000 of them.

Need the specific screw I’m looking for? Not a chance.

I’ve decided that I’m not starting another project until I make significant progress organizing the garage. This is a bold statement considering that starting new projects is one of my favorite ways to avoid finishing old ones.

The problem is that I have no idea where to begin. Every time I move one item, I discover three more things that need to be moved first. It’s like playing a life-sized game of Tetris, except none of the pieces fit, and I can’t find the instruction manual.

To make matters worse, I have a storage building in the backyard that’s almost as crowded as the garage. Before I can organize the garage, I’ll probably need to organize the storage building.

Of course, organizing the storage building will require temporarily moving things into the garage, which seems suspiciously similar to the process that got me into this mess in the first place.

Maybe I should have gone fishing after all.

The Catfish Was Huge. My Fish? Participation Trophy Size.

14 Thursday May 2026

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I wasn’t expecting to make another post until the first of next week, but a few interesting things have transpired.

Yesterday, I went fishing with my fishing buddy Rick. The bite was extremely slow. So slow, in fact, that I honestly thought the day would end without me catching a single fish. I’ve seen funeral processions move faster than the fish were biting.

Rick decided to paddle straight to the first waterfall as soon as we launched. I stayed behind near the launch area and worked the lily pads for a while. After spending some time there without any luck, I finally decided to make my way toward the waterfall myself.

I wasn’t in any hurry, so along the way I stopped at several spots where I’d caught fish before. Nothing. Not even a courtesy nibble from a bluegill. At one point, I started wondering if the fish had all attended a secret meeting and agreed to ignore me personally.

When I finally reached the waterfall, I could see Rick already there, so I stayed along the banks to give him a little room. I was close enough to ask if he’d had any luck, and apparently he was having the same kind of miserable day I was.

Not long after I got there, I heard him paddling closer. Then I heard him call my name and say he had something to show me.

I asked if he’d caught something.

He sure had.

What he pulled out of the net surprised me. It was the biggest catfish I think I’ve ever seen in person. He asked me to weigh it since he didn’t have his scales with him. While he grabbed his phone for pictures, he handed me the fish.

That catfish weighed nearly 10 pounds.

Naturally, the only giant fish caught all day had to belong to Rick. If I had hooked that fish, people would still be hearing about it next Christmas.

Meanwhile, my luck still hadn’t changed much. I had several bites throughout the afternoon, but nothing would stay hooked. Eventually, I paddled back toward the launch area, slipped under the bridge, and fished one of the feeder creeks.

Right before it was time to head home, I finally caught one fish weighing about a pound and a half. By that point, I was so happy to catch something that I probably would’ve taken pictures with a goldfish cracker.

On the drive home, I decided to leave everything loaded in the truck and unload it the next morning.

That turned out to be a good decision.

While eating supper, I was informed that one of my daughters wants me to take her kayaking on Friday. I’m glad I didn’t unload everything. I did have to remove all the non-essential fishing gear because it won’t be needed this trip. I’ll still take my tackle box and rods because while my wife and daughter paddle around enjoying nature, I fully intend to conduct very important fishing research.

I really wasn’t planning on going back to the creek so soon. I was actually looking forward to spending some time working in my shop. But if my daughter wants to go kayaking, then I’m going kayaking. Those opportunities don’t last forever.

I haven’t told Rick I’m going back tomorrow. Otherwise, he’ll want to tag along. To me, this is more of a family outing, and I don’t want to be responsible for keeping up with my family and Rick, too.

Besides, Rick likes to stay all day. My daughter will probably be ready to head home after a few hours, especially if the weather gets hot or she runs out of snacks.

He may get a little upset that I didn’t invite him, but he’ll get over it.

And besides that… he already caught the big fish yesterday.

Screwed up Appointments, Making Sawdust, The Fish are Waiting, Meeting Boyfriends, 100 Miles of 1000 Bicycle Riders

12 Tuesday May 2026

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The title should say it all. It’s already been a busy week, and it’s just getting started. Read on if you want to know more.

My appointment with the dermatologist didn’t exactly go as planned.

Late Friday night, I received the automated reminder call about my surgery appointment at a completely different location. Naturally, that raised a few questions. So first thing Monday morning, I called the office to confirm everything.

The receptionist confidently informed me that my appointment was for a skin check and not surgery.

I questioned her ability to read the schedule correctly, only for her to double down and assure me that she was absolutely correct.

At that point, I had a feeling this was going to become one of those “well, this ought to be interesting” kind of days.

So, despite my suspicions, I drove the thirty minutes to the appointment. Once I got called back, I explained to the nurse that I thought there had been some kind of mistake. I told her I had previously rescheduled my surgery, and somehow the purpose of the visit had gotten mixed up.

She looked at my chart for about ten seconds before agreeing with me.

That was both satisfying and aggravating.

I told her that I had tried explaining that to the receptionist earlier, but apparently my medical degree from the University of Common Sense wasn’t enough to override the computer screen.

The nurse then informed me that if I wanted to reschedule surgery, I would have to speak with the surgery team.

That was the moment I realized surgery was definitely not happening that day.

Nothing brightens your morning quite like driving thirty minutes, burning expensive gas, and finding out you basically took a scenic tour of Alabama for no reason.

After I got home and cooled down a bit, I decided to spend some time in the workshop. I built another planter similar to the one I made for my mother. This one still needs a finish, but I’m thinking about just using shellac and letting the wood speak for itself.

Of course, now I’m already thinking about building a few more. Maybe some of the same size and a couple of larger ones, so I’ll have a little variety. I’ve also got plans for a few different planter designs I want to try.

That’s the problem with woodworking. One project turns into six more before the sawdust settles.

Tomorrow, however, is fishing day. 🐠 🎣

The kayak is loaded up and ready to go. I even modified my new measuring board by adding foam underneath it so it’ll float.

At least that’s the theory.

I also attached a cord to it because experience has taught me that “floating” and “recoverable” are two completely different things when something goes overboard in twelve feet of water.

The replacement part for my reel finally came in, so it’s fixed and ready to go, too. I’m looking forward to getting back on the water.

The rest of the week should be fairly uneventful… or at least I thought so until one of my daughters informed my wife and me that she wants us to meet her boyfriend.

That usually means things are getting serious.

For years, she was the daughter who always had a boyfriend, while my other daughter played the role of the “third wheel.” Now the tables have turned a bit since my other daughter seems to be heading toward engagement territory herself.

As a dad, it’s strange watching all this happen. One minute they’re asking for Happy Meals, and the next minute you’re evaluating boyfriends like you’re conducting job interviews.

And finally, Sunday is the annual Cheaha Challenge bicycle ride. Riders will be taking on routes exceeding 100 miles. I’ll be stationed at Rest Stop #2, handling communications via ham radio, coordinating assistance with bike repairs, and helping ensure riders can get back to the start line if necessary

There are already over 1,000 riders registered, so it’s going to be a long day. We’ll start around 7 a.m. and hopefully wrap up around 4 p.m.

Most years it’s fairly uneventful… but every now and then things can get exciting.

Let’s pray everyone stays safe and upright.

A Busy Mother’s Day Weekend

10 Sunday May 2026

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Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!!

After completing the CERT program last Tuesday, we had our first drill at the local fire station. We spent the day going over everything we had learned during the past nine weeks. Overall, I think everyone did pretty well. However, one of our team members managed to get “electrocuted” during the simulation and had to be carried out along with the other cardboard victims.

Before anyone panics, it was all simulated. Nobody actually got electrocuted.

He was properly embarrassed, though, which is probably the best kind of lesson because I doubt he’ll make that same mistake again anytime soon. I’m not sure when our next drill will be, but hopefully it won’t be too far off. We learned a lot over those nine weeks, and at my age, if you don’t use it, you start forgetting where you put it.

I made it home with just enough daylight left to finish my mom’s Mother’s Day gift. Thankfully, most of the hard work had already been done. All I had left was to nail everything together and add the flowers. By the time I finished, though, I was more than ready to introduce myself to the recliner and heating pad for the rest of the evening.

The pain block seems to have helped a little. I think I may have overdone things yesterday and irritated my back again because I can definitely tell the difference between yesterday and today. Apparently, my back still believes I’m twenty years old right up until it sends me the bill the next morning.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be heading in to have another spot of skin cancer removed. This one is on my right side. The last time was on my left arm, so apparently, my skin believes in equal opportunity. I’m hoping they can get it all in one visit, so I won’t have to keep going back week after week to have more cut off.

Other than that, tomorrow is my only appointment, aside from Bible study on Tuesday morning. Depending on how well my back feels, how the procedure goes, and whether the weather cooperates, I may try to sneak away and go fishing one day next week.

At this point, sitting in a boat holding a fishing pole sounds a whole lot better than sitting in another doctor’s office waiting room.

Needles, Nerves, and Alabama Weather

08 Friday May 2026

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I had a pain block in my back late this afternoon. I’ve had several pain blocks for my sciatic nerve over the years, and thankfully, they’ve worked pretty well. The doctor says it can take a day or two before you really notice the full effect, but I can already tell there’s a little improvement. At this point, I’ll take “little improvement” over “walking like a ninety-year-old penguin” any day.

I’m scheduled to go back in two weeks for another block, but apparently, Medicare has decided that anesthesia is now considered some sort of luxury item instead of a necessity. Evidently, according to someone sitting comfortably behind a desk somewhere, getting needles stuck in your spine should be considered “part of the experience.”

I’ve had sciatic nerve blocks without anesthesia before, and let me tell you, “uncomfortable” is not a strong enough word. I survived it, but I also briefly considered updating my will during the procedure. Now they want to do the back without anesthesia, too. I may discover just how brave I really am because paying $225 every visit might send me into cardiac arrest before the back pain does.

After the next pain block, the doctor wants me to have something called RFA — Radio Frequency Ablation. From what I understand, it basically involves burning the nerve endings so they stop sending pain signals. Nothing says modern medicine quite like, “Good news! We’re just going to burn part of your nerves.” I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, but the wording alone sounds like something dreamed up in a medieval torture chamber.

Apparently, though, it works well for a lot of people, so I’m trying to stay optimistic.

Of course, the moment Rick — my fishing buddy — heard I was feeling a little better, he immediately sent me a text asking if we were going fishing in the morning. That man can sense improved mobility from three counties away.

I told him no. I’m taking a day of rest and trying to finish up a couple of projects, including my mom’s Mother’s Day gift. Besides, every fish in Alabama deserves at least one day each week when they don’t have to worry about seeing my kayak floating toward them.

My Kindle still hasn’t shown up either. I’m holding off ordering another one until after Sunday, just in case some honest person found it and turns it in. I still can’t figure out how it vanished between church and home last Sunday. I’m beginning to think it either sprouted legs or was taken by the same mysterious force that steals socks out of dryers.

Thankfully, the severe storms they were predicting never really materialized around here. I’m grateful for that because storms make me extremely anxious — especially tornadic weather. I’ve never liked it, and honestly, I probably never will.

What amazes me is how some meteorologists start the “doom and gloom” forecasts ten days in advance, like they’re auditioning for an apocalypse movie. Every social media platform suddenly turns into nonstop radar screenshots, dramatic music, and phrases like “potentially catastrophic event.”

Meanwhile, the weather changes fifteen times before the storm even gets here.

Now, the meteorologist I normally watch is different. He’s a straight shooter. He doesn’t try to scare everybody half to death just to rack up clicks and views online. Some of these other weather folks act like they’ve been sitting backstage all year waiting for severe weather season so they can finally get more airtime than the sports department.

Normally, the sports guys get all the glory with football, basketball, baseball, and everything else. The weather guy usually gets about ten minutes to point at a cold front and tell us there’s a thirty percent chance of rain. But let a tornado watch pop up somewhere, and suddenly they’re on television for six straight hours living their best life.

Unfortunately, all those dramatic weather posts somehow flood my social media feeds whether I want to see them or not. And once I start seeing tornado predictions, my anxiety kicks into overdrive, and I’m ready to crawl into a hole somewhere until it all passes.

Maybe that hole needs Wi-Fi, though… especially if my Kindle never comes home.