July 4th weekend this year was in Reno and the high Sierras, with Aaron and his mom's family. It was *super fun*! I don't even remember what I did last year for the 4th, but I think this one will stick with me for a while. We did a four hour hike in the mountains yesterday, ending up at "Rock Lake" which was a beautiful mountain stream with a view of Washoe Valley. Then last night, Aaron's step-dad set up his 8-inch reflector telescope in the backyard (it has a full concrete base and mount poured into place, so the image was rock-solid!) and we got to peer at the rings and even the moons of Saturn. It was the most relaxing outdoor weekend I've had in years.I'm not sure if any of you are reading this anymore, since it's been more than a month since I last updated. But that's actually part of the relevant "update" for this post. Blogging really helped me communicate what was going on over the winter and spring, as I slowly dug out from my divorce. It was too hard (and emotionally draining) to keep everyone individually updated, so writing in "broadcast mode" to everyone at once helped a lot.
Now, though, I'm finding that I don't really need the crutch anymore. You are all basically my support network, and you know where I am right now — somewhere great. Aaron is a sweetheart, work is fantastic, and things have slowly fallen into place. The difficult winter feels behind me.
So, while not quite a "goodbye" post, you can expect far fewer updates on the Billy Show here. From now on you'll just have to ask me directly, which sounds like a great excuse for us to talk and catch up anyway.
I think I'll keep the blog and refocus it on complaining about Muni, a subject that never stops entertaining me.
Thanks for reading!
Billy
