Focus Not Required?

I see all these people who have interests in their lives, and they share them with ease. I see things like sports and the outdoors. Outdoors and book reading seems to be the most popular ones. My subjects tend to wander a bit.

I am not a sporty person generally, but I do enjoy hiking. The Japanese enjoy the outdoors tremendously so there is a plethora of trails to hike. I think it is possible to never hike the same trail twice if one does not wish to. My problem with writing of that is my English. Unlike those who are native English speakers, I find it difficult to find words to describe my experience.

Other people write of books they have read. These people pique my interest in a book being described but I can rarely find the time to read them. Being a teacher drives my time to other things. I do have some of the books just waiting for time to be read though. That must count for something. Right?

It is not that I do not read. I actually read very voraciously. It is the rare person though, that wishes to read my impression of what I have read. Be honest. How many of you wish to read books such as “Quantum Supremacy” or “Superintelligence”, both of which are about quantum computing? I also read titles such as “Unmasking AI” and “AI 2041.” “Designing Machine Learning Systems” is a real cliff hanger. All of these books are of interest to those in the computer sciences. To those that are not, not so much.

Cooking I know but not in some super-culinary way. Gordon Ramsay or Rachel Ray I am not. I am just a wife and mother doing her best to feed her family good food. I do post recipes, usually soup (you know, to go with the page theme). I can assure people that all of the recipes I have personally prepared, and my family has enjoyed. The enjoyed part is the prime qualifier to be posted. Why would I post something that was rejected by my family? I am also a proponent of the idea that a recipe is only a suggested starting place. Prepare it once by the recipe. If you enjoyed it, prepare it a second time but experiment with the ingredients to discover a flavor you prefer better.

I write of my children and the never boring life they inflict on me. Chao lei is at the age he is discovering more adult things. His questions have become not as easy as when he was younger. He is becoming resistant to hugs and kisses in front of his friends. I still get them, but they are usually accompanied by “Aw, Mom!” He has begun to grow almost faster than I can get new clothes home for him from the NEx.

Then there is June. The sweetest little girl while at the same time, a firecracker ready to explode at any time. Sometimes the things she says leave me wondering where she heard such a thing. “Mom, is it illegal to ride sharks?” She has yet to learn tact.  Being asked “Mom, why is there hair under your nose?” while in a group of other ladies makes your greatest desire to fade into the walls. I have sprayed many a sip of tea because of something she has said. I try to write them down, but they seem to come so quickly, I forget the earliest ones before I can.

The closest I can come to writing of Jared is to acknowledge he exists in the Navy or PCS activities. Much beyond that is governed by OPSEC. I speak so little of what he does, I have been questioned if he exists at all. I am beyond proud of him for his career choice but it is sometimes frustrating that I cannot brag about him and what he does now and then as civilian wives do.

I suppose I will just keep writing what I write as it strikes me to write it. After all, I write because I enjoy it. It is not my job but it helps me think things through.