“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's… ‘real life’. The truth is of course that what one calls interruptions are precisely one's ‘real life’, the life God is sending [to us]…” C.S. Lewis. The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis.
Dear Fellow Hikers,
Good morning to all! It feels good to be back at the keyboard. Our new fall season is upon us and it’s time to check back in. After a summer of surprises and circumstances that interrupted my writing routines, I was reminded of something I was told years ago about interruptions. There was a conversation going on about how life’s constant interruptions were getting in the way of doing our work. Someone then responded with “But our interruptions are our work.” It is a statement that carried so much truth in so many situations, that I’ve used it and shared it many times, just as I am today. I did some research to see if it should been attributed to anyone specific. The closest quote I found was the one above by C.S. Lewis. From a faith perspective I find that one very helpful too.
When we started the Life Hike Letters project in December 2024, I intended to post a letter every Friday morning, and was pretty faithful in doing so. After six months of Friday Morning Posts, I decided to change it up for the summer. I’d be less structured and casual with my summer routine, writing regularly, but without a schedule. The result… one letter in the past four months. Hmmm… and so my summer surprises and interruptions did become my work and my writing was set aside. It began with my Bum Wheel foot surgery, along with some additional medical side stories that occurred during that process. The other interruptions were not really surprises, just some work projects I’d been neglecting that snuck up on me. These interruptions all revolved around my need to figure out how and when to finish up my 45 year Law Enforcement Career Hike. The how is getting the attention it needs and is making good progress. The when is simply happening… now.
So, with that said, this fall season and possibly winter as well, Life Hike Letters is going to get retooled (an older guy’s word for rebooting) Again, my intentions are to continue with some occasional writing from time to time. Hopefully that will help keep these letters active, while giving me the opportunity to do some writing that I enjoy. Some good stories could come out of my Summer of ’25 adventures and I’d like to share some of them after I have the time and space to do them justice.
Thanks again for reading!
With Care and Gratitude, Dan.