Author: dpeter19

Realizing that each day is a singular event or part of the connections from birth to death. How do we connect with each other? How do we connect to our past, both individual and collective? And the sharing of our stories - the connective fiber - brings us to a closer connection. These are my stories. They connect my days.

Knowing it’s time

How do you manage screen time for yourself?

Sometimes, the best thing I can do comma is simply turn things off. It’s so easy to lose track of time. Reading posts, writing updates, and seeking connection when there is no connection available.

If I’m looking for answers and nothing comes to mind, it’s time to turn things off. If I’m posting on social media and no one responds, it’s time to find conversation elsewhere. If my first reaction to a post that may be unsettling, is to post something stronger, and personal, it’s time to step back.

Managing my screen time will always be an important thing. Sometimes I manage the time, and other times the interaction manages me.

Reviving Old Shed Doors: My Journey

The author reflects on their old shed doors, which became bowed and detached over time. Initially sturdy, the doors were eventually replaced after nearly 25 years. They ponder what to do with the heavy, worn doors, describing them as both cumbersome and a nostalgic reminder of the past.

It’s just something that I stop and think about. These are the doors that were on my shed. Heavy and solid. Over time, they started to bow. They pulled away from the screws that held the hinges to the shed. They were not working as well as they did in the past. My best guess is that the shed was built in 2000. So, it has been up for almost a quarter of a century. And with the weather here in Western Indiana, it has fared well. I did replace them with new-er constructed doors.

What do you do with the older doors? I can’t use them; they are heavier than I can safely maneuver. Two six foot doors. Worn blue gray paint. Heavy hinges. A portal to the past. Looking for two doors?

Freedom

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?

Border between East and West Germany 1985

Thirty-five years ago, the “WALL” started to come down, dividing West Germany and the DDR. People were given the opportunity to be “free” for the first time since the WALL went up in 1961. East Berlin looked oppressive and foreboding … dark and dreary. There was little on the shelves of the markets, and what was there was extremely expensive (as memory serves). Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion were new ideas for a generation.

Today some have an alternative truth of freedom. When I took this long ago, having the freedom of speech, of assembly, of religion were so interwoven in me that I cherished them. Protecting them from those who would debase them was a duty. Allowing them to be destroyed or withheld for sectarian motives was not part of life.

Now it has slithered into this present time.

Where is the watchman on the wall? How do we value the freedoms?