::Spronk!

The snow has whimpered and run off to the other side of the world, leaving behind mud and naked trees and the beginnings of things. When the world is warm and comforting like this, I can believe that $DEITY loves us and wants us to be happy.

It’s been a really good year, so far. I feel like I’m getting more from the universe than I’ve been putting into it, and I’m trying to figure out how to show some thanks. I’m torn, because I don’t really know what $DEITY wants from me. On the one hand, I could dedicate a sacred space in the house. On the other hand, I could dedicate a labor of some kind. Or I could sacrifice a valued possession or habit, or give something up.

I suppose this is where attending a regular, old church would give me some guidance. On the one hand, mainstream religion kind of removes the requirement to think. On the other hand, mainstream religion kind of removes the requirement to think.

Yeah. Maybe enough about that, for now.

Well, except that in the event you aren’t sure what I mean by “$DEITY”: Once upon a time, as a tot, I got interested in programming, and fiddled around a lot with BASIC. When you had a variable (called a ‘string’) in that language, its name was preceded with a $.

So, ‘$DEITY’ is the term I use to denote that I don’t know if $DEITY is a he, she, it, they, or nothing at all. It all seems like a fairly variable thing to me. I don’t just write “God” because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what I believe in, what I’m sure of, or what I want.

Anyway. Enough about my idiosyncrasies and lack of understanding.

Although I’m fighting off a case of the sniffles, life is otherwise outstanding. I have a kick-ass new job, with lots of opportunity to succeed and grow even more strong and powerful. Winter is over, and the weather is alluring and exciting. The trees are just starting to bud, and the songbirds are back – but it’s early enough that there aren’t bugs, yet.

And I get to actually EXPERIENCE spring. If I were still working nights at the airport, I’d be convinced it was still winter, because it would always be dark and 40 degrees whenever I was outside. Oh, and rainy. No, I do not miss that job – although I do miss the people I worked with. So, for five years and more, I’ve mostly missed out on spring, and gotten six more weeks of winter in exchange.

I’m thankful for all of this. I’m thankful for the five-digit tax return we just got (new homebuyers’ tax credit, hooray!). I’m thankful for being able to afford a new, absolutely incredible Alienware gaming rig which is due in town on Thursday (!), to replace my dead jury-built box. I’m thankful for my awesome home and my kick-ass wife, who aids and abets all my nerdy hobbies.

(I’m still deciding whether or not to be thankful for D&D 4th edition, which is what it appears this nerd and his posse will be trying out next.)

So, what do you do to show thanks to your version of $DEITY? (And yes, even if you’re atheist – you have a value of $DEITY. It’s just set to NULL.) I genuinely feel like the last 90 days or so have been a time of magic. EVERYTHING has gone my way, and I don’t know why. But I love it.