It is January 6th, and I’ve decided to adopt some New Year’s resolutions… No! No I’m not! This cultural phenomenon is ridiculous. It has been for decades, yet the loyal capitalists of the United States adopt ridiculous resolutions that end up failing after a few months, because it is work. I set goals that I would like to attain instead of resolutions. Most of my goals revolve around my hobbies. My hobbies include: Reading, Writing, Baseball, Geocaching, Listening to Music, Baseball, Woodworking or Carpentry of sorts, Biking, Traveling, and Baseball.

Goal #1: Read a minimum of 30 minutes an evening from my stack of books (There are somewhere between 16-20.) I have four books that I’m in process of reading: George Washington-Ron Chernow, Dave Matthews Band FAQ-Stephen Thomas Entwine, The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip-Josh Pahigan and Kevin O’Connell, and Disturbing the Bones-Andrew Davis and Jeffrey Biggers. I’ve been working on the Washington Biography off and on for eight years, and I am about 100 pages from the end. I am amazed and angry with our first president, not that it matters, but when I get a little miffed, I set it down and wait for it to pass. Chernow is an excellent writer and researcher. The DMBFAQ was purchased at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame when my wife and I visited. I’ve never read anything about the band, and this book covers everything. I read about 240 pages over my winter break from teaching. Still have a few chapters to go. The Baseball Roadtrip is just a light read here and there when I think about a stadium I wish to visit. I’ve skipped around in it. Disturbing the Bones is a thriller co-written by movie director Andrew Davis and his Southern Illinois expert Jeffrey Biggers. This started as a screen play, but developed into a full fledge novel over the pandemic year. I’m approaching the climax of the novel with a little more than 120 pages to read. My hardcover edition is signed by both authors. I was lucky to meet them at our local art cinema for the book signing and a viewing of the film The Package.

Goal #2 Writing: I wish to write three to four blogs a week. On what? Whatever motivates me from day to day, or infuriates me. I have various blogs in mind on Neoliberalism, Teacher shortage, Humanism as a practice, Biases of all sorts, and less controversial topics too. It all depends on how snarky I feel. I imagine the new presidential administration will give me plenty of fodder to dissent with.

Goal #3 Geocaching; This outdoor treasure hunting hobby became an obsession in 2018 and we have found over 7,400 caches as of this writing. The finds vary from micro-hides that only hold a log to sign to Large caches with enormous amount of swag (toys, pencils, trackables, and other tradable things.) There are also virtual, earth, multi-caches, letterboxes, webcam caches, reverse wherigos, and events. This is year 25 for the geocaching game and there are many community celebrations to honor this special anniversary. My wife and I are hosting a 25th anniversary celebration on May 31, in West Davenport, IA. My goal is to set a new yearly find record of 1,500 caches. I wish to hide 30-40 more geocaches in our area. I’m thinking some sort of Mastiff breed dog trail of sorts…Woof Woof…

Goal #4 Listening to Music: This happens all of the time. I like to listen to music while writing, puzzle caching, reading, or just about any activity that isn’t noisy. If I am working on a wood working project/carpentry the alexa in the garage is playing music. I let my helper (usually my youngest son) pick the music.

Goal #5 I want to start a wood sculpture. I have a walnut stump that has been drying for nearly five years. My goal is to start carving a Mastiff Head in the wood. I’m debating if I will use a head shot of our late English Mastiff Mia or another one of our dogs. I’m leaning towards Mia, but I will see how measurements go with the stump.

This is Mia about a week before she passed. She had thyroid cancer and it caused her to balloon in weight the last 18 months of her life. She passed weighing around 240 lbs. We still miss her presence.

Goal #6 Biking: Since getting electric assist bikes, my wife and I have enjoyed getting out and riding. The electrical assist comes in handy for the hills with arthritic joints. I want to hit the Illinois trails between Freeport and Rockford, Illinois this year, amongst other places. The trails we tend to ride all have lots of geocaches on them, so we will double dip on the goals a bit.

Goal #7 Traveling: We do a great deal of traveling within a three hour radius of our home to see family, geocache various areas, and to attend concerts, museums, and other artsy events. My wife plans our vacations as she is the deal finder. Our main goal this year is to get my wife to Dollywood. It has been a dream to see her favorite singer’s theme park. We will also geocache and tour various sites. We will add a ball park for our chase, The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. I also hope to get a weekend trip to Chicago to go to Rate Field, or as I prefer to call it: New Comiskey Park. I haven’t been there, yet I have been on the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology/Vandercook College of Music dozens of times and both are a short walk to the park.

Baseball Goal: This one is easy. I try to watch every Nationals broadcast on MLB-TV. I am able to get about 80-90 games a year. There are blackouts for the Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, and Royals. This eats 24 games from the schedule. Other commitments with family or friends take another 20-30 games. I occasionally take a Sunday Matinee off, so my wife and I can enjoy some biking or geocaching. Thankfully most games are at night with 6:20 p.m. start in the Central Time Zone. When the Nationals are on the West Coast I watch about three innings. I have to get up and go to work in the spring, summer, and fall. Yes, I have a summer job. I work at a golf course maintaining the grounds with a crew. It’s great therapy (green grass, sunshine, fresh air, duck, goose, occasional hawk.)

That’s a lot of goals, but I will accomplish a good deal if not more of them. Time management and routine are the key to achieving goals. I used to fill all of this time up with musical adventures like municipal band, community productions of broadway shows, college classes, etc. I’m all retired from that, and now my pursuits are less work and just as creative. Oh, there is one thing I plan on doing more of for the New Year. I plan on walking more. Not as a resolution, but as a necessity. My wife is student teaching, so she requires are one and only vehicle. I work eight blocks from my home. I will be walking home from work… Here is to a healthier me!!! May your New Year’s goals be fun and productive… Balance that time… That is the key to success routine and balance… At least that is what the clock says as it goes round and round…