A Time To Reassess
April 8, 2026 Hi & welcome! Those of you who’ve been following along know it’s been a rather disjointed 22-month period of wandering, first in my teardrop trailer and now in my Airstream, replete with 7 mailing address changes, and 3 primary residences. In short, it’s been an uncertain period of my life as I work to regain my equilibrium and maintain any sense of balance as fairly recently divorced (after 48 years) man of age. Well, after wintering a little more than 5 months in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I’ve moved back to my native Massachusetts where I’m at my primary residence in the woods of the western part of the state.
Me with Fern Man, on a back mountain road of Ocho Rios, Jamaica, a port on my recent cruise. The actor makes this costume daily as part of his ‘hustle,” a way of life for most islanders needing to sustain their families—minimum wage on the island is about $95 for 40 hours—yet the cost of living is among the highest in the Caribbean. The kicker: while Jamaica was given the right to elect its own government, the British royalty owns all the land in Jamaica, and gets all of its sizeable tax income. But get above the hotel line most tourists see, and you can see the poverty, and hear it from the people who tell. that the UK does nothing in return for all but an affluent few. Medical care is home and family remedy based because a doctor’s visit is prohibitively expensive.
And despite my best intentions, production of Zenecist Chronicles has faltered. It’s not that I don’t have lots of fodder for the mill, I do, including lots on my recent cruise. Rather It’s that I’ve been lacking the discipline and rigour it takes to do it right. And the will. (Then there’s the matter of my rather sketchy online talent. Oy.)
Zenecist Trading also needs a lot of work too. My products may be too eclectic but I wore one of our white 100% silk scarfs during 2 cruise ‘dressy-themed nights’ with a white linen J Crew suit and enjoyed how it made me feel.
But by far and away the biggest obstacle I’m facing is time itself. As in, what is it I want to do with my (remaining) time? All your life you hear about not wasting time, and that it’s your most precious commodity. But you never believe it. I mean, It’s free right?
Today, I believe it. And time is only free until it isn’t. Being taken out 6 days with the nasty flu reminded me.
To be sure, I’m not giving up. Not by any means. But my goals have changed.
So I’m going to drop back 10 and punt on the podcast until I get myself more situated. I’ll also be returning to my roots as an essayist, having been inspired by E. B. White, who to the mid-century 1900s was to America what Mark Twain was to the century prior, a fact of which I was ridiculously unaware until just 2 weeks ago.
You see, it’s my very nature to create. But as I discovered over my vacation, there are times when I actually do not have “more important things to do than read a book.”
My mission however is unfaltering. And it’s just to encourage anyone with whom I come in contact to keep trying. I once thought it was a mission of hope, because that’s what so many young people have said to me. But along with being preachy, hope is not mine to give.
No, Hope is the Divine’s greatest gift, and theirs alone. It’s what keeps us together. And I’m grateful to have been given some recently.
See you when I see you. Peace, T-