Well, the clock continues to tick forward, the calendar turns from month-to-month, year-to-year, and life marches on. I’m still around (which may relieve some of your worries about me after over five years of blog silence), though a LOT of life has happened over that span.
First things first: blogging has become hard for me. Due to my neurological illnesses, I cannot type as well as I used to, nor spend as much time on a computer without significant impact on my brain. I had to abandon blogging because I simply could not do so without great frustration and struggle, due to a weakening of my motor skills, making typing hard.
So I will be short-form blogging and maybe video blogging until further notice, though I’m not sure how often I can post. I use WordPress as my blog platform and every day it recommends a writing topic, so I might just write about whatever WordPress recommends. To be honest, that actually sounds exciting.
Here’s a quick life update from the last five years:
The lovely Mrs. Newton and I continue to live in Northwest Arkansas, where we own a home, maintain a vegetable garden, travel in our RV each year, and deal with the ever-increasing demands of our 17-year-old cat Stormy, who behaves more like a very judgmental great aunt than a content kitten. But we love her anyway.
But with the intervening years have come great sorrow, loss and struggle, mixed with joy, adventure and new things. Isn’t life usually a mix of those things? Like so many of you, we have lost family members. And we have had some of our own family dreams dashed, leaving us wondering what’s next.
As we cope with the unexpected turns of life, we have traveled a lot, first in our travel trailer RV and now in a 34-foot motorhome. We’re planning to spend more of 2025 in our motorhome — with Stormy — while Shannon works telehealth. One of the best parts traveling outside our (already-beautiful) area is the opportunity to change our backyard view based on our desires. Beach? Mountains? Desert? Check. Last fall we tested this lifestyle with a trip to the Gulf (of Mexico) Coast. It was fun, and Mrs. Newton and I have started a YouTube channel to chronicle our travel adventures. Search for “John & Shannon’s Great Adventure.”
In the past few years I have picked up a few new hobbies, including laser engraving and drone operation (sorry, New Jersey). I still dabble in woodworking when my body allows, though I had a scary accident in the shop back in 2023 that sidelined my woodworking for a year. Trauma wounds often take a long time to heal.
Like many of you, we have experienced a lot of transition while staying in one place.
My health has been poor and getting worse. I won’t elaborate, as if to bore you, but I have many neurological conditions that cause pain, disorientation, and communication issues, affect mobility and the ability to drive, and mess with my motor skills. I spend a lot of time home-bound — except the times when we travel — which drives a restless heart like mine absolutely crazy! There will be a few doctor appointments and medical tests during the rest of the winter.
So there is my life update. I’m sorry to be silent for the past five years. As I learn to live with disability, things in life are in constant flux. This includes my ability to write, edit and enjoy hobbies that I used to take for granted just 10 years ago.
I’ll try to be in touch as often as possible.
— John
J.C. Newton 