OK, so, it’s been four months and a couple of weeks since I last posted here on Terrastomper. I’d like to say that’s because I’ve been too busy actually stompin’ on the terra, but alas, that wouldn’t be honest. So what HAVE I been doing since I returned from Europe (since I obviously haven’t been writing)? Here’s a brief recap:

* Looked at a few sailboats here in the U.S. Seeing such boats before they got sold (as had some others I’d been watching) was the main reason I returned from Europe. And I even got into negotiations on one boat, which I bailed on in early December. But now with spring approaching (not that we’ve had any winter here in New England), I’ve resumed my search for a boat of my own.
* Attended the U.S. Sailboat Show and took a marine-weather course at the Annapolis School of Seamanship. I also spent three days learning how to kiteboard on the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
* Took an apartment in Newburyport, Massachusetts, five minutes from my folks and my family home on Plum Island.
* Spent a couple of weeks in the U.K. in late November and early December getting a Day Skipper certification from the Royal Yachting Association. In the process, I got to sail in the Solent, perhaps the yachting center of the world.
* Been playing a lot of hockey — skating at lunchtime in Newburyport and Friday evenings with some really good players in Exeter, N.H. — and hitting the local CrossFit gym in an effort to get my fat ass back into shape. I’ve even resumed running a bit.
* Tackling my biennial flight review. I am, once again, a legal pilot. Woohoo!
* NOT surfing or skiing. This has been the year of no — zero, zip, zilch — winter in New England. No winter means no storms, no storms means no waves and no snow, no waves and no snow means no surfing or skiing. I was actually looking forward to experiencing East Coast skiing for the first time after a lifetime of skiing out west but…no such luck.
* NOT writing. I’ve actually jotted down some notes from time to time, and generated an idea or two that I think doesn’t suck. But for some reason, I haven’t been able to sit my ass down and start putting words and sentences together. I am ashamed, to be honest, and brutally frustrated.

And it’s that shame and frustration that has me posting this title-less and pointless piece of “what I did on my summer vacation” homework. I hope that by doing so I’ll prime the pump, so to speak, and get back to doing what some very kind friends have exhorted me to do. Namely: write, write and write some more…and more properly prioritize those other things listed above. The first step has been taken.