One of those long catch-up posts.

The weather is decidedly spring-like. The first warm days in early March had me longing for nice weather more severely than I ever have before. Our location in Chelmsford center lends itself quite nicely to walking from place to place and we take advantage of this almost every day.

Last week we cooked up a portable dinner and headed to the little park near the library for a picnic:

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In anticipation of an open mic at a friend's birthday party next month, I started practicing, essentially for the first time since moving into our apartment last fall. I set up my bass, amp, and music stand as discreetly as possible in the living room, since I found myself unmotivated to cloister away in the spare bedroom to practice. The compromise is working very well. I've picked it up at least once a day since setting it up (I even practiced modal scales this morning!). I hope to have a couple of short parts of Bach's Cello Suite 1 polished up as one piece, and I've been thinking of reviving the first movement of Henry Eccles' Sonata in G Minor. Otherwise, if you're planning on attending and would like a bass accompanist, I'm open.

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I realized that I haven't once mentioned my recent health woes in this blog. It wasn't intentional; I guess I just hadn't been struck with any one related event that felt like recording, though the cumulative experience has affected me pretty significantly. It can all be summed up succinctly: in December I started to feel very slightly short of breath when working out. I thought I must have some budding autoimmune problem, since such things are so prevalent in my family.

In January it started getting worse. As 2008 went along, the shortness of breath was bad, and it was joined by fatigue, dizziness, and several other smaller but annoying and persistent symptoms. After a long series of doctors and tests, it can be determined (not beyond a shadow of a doubt, of course) that I don't have asthma, allergies, a heart problem, or any visible obstructions in my chest. The latest of my doctors suspects sarcoidosis, a generally well-manageable... (drum roll) ...autoimmune disease. The tests are still out, and those tests might give me some clues one way or another (not beyond a shadow of a doubt, of course).

I've had ups and downs through the experience (right now I'm having a major up - I feel quite good) and it has very measurably affected my running performance, but I'm confident that a) I'll have an answer and relief sometime down the road and b) God has some plan for me that is perpetually hazy for me and clear for him, and this problem is profoundly low on things that are hard for Him to overcome.

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My office is closing at the end of the year. I have the chance to possibly follow the work to southern California. It's a great chance to go on a life-changing adventure with my wife, who is more than supportive, and would be a wise step forward in my career. That being said, I have formed deep bonds of friendship in New England, and have a great affinity for the area. Tier one of the decision is to work out the details related to the job. Once that's all okay, tier two is making the decision for our life. God has not given me a sign in one direction or the other up until now. Everything is rather up in the air at this point.