Habits

We've now been in Montana for just about a month. I realize that my blogging has been sparse in that time, and I'm sorry. Life here has been so upside down, unpacking and learning our way, and it just hasn't happened. Not that there hasn't been anything to blog-- far from it! Rather the reverse: so much has been going on here that I keep feeling I need hours to sit down and write about it. But that's time I just haven't had, with everything seeming to happen all at once.

Unfortunately, that's been true of so many of my routines. Daily set-aside time for prayer and study has turned into "catch as catch can," falling anywhere between sunrise and bedtime-- and sometimes, I am ashamed to admit, getting short shrift in the process. Morning walks have been nearly nonexistant. Days off have blended with work days, so one was indistinguishable from another. I

Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I am by preference a creature of habit. I can be flexible, certainly; but lists and schedules are my friends, part of my sanity preservation system. I tend to function better with at least a modicum of predictability in my life. And that modicum has been notably absent of late.

Fortunately, I'm beginning to see some daylight here. Unpacking is still ongoing, but more is done than not done. The basics of establishing a new residence-- new bank accounts, license plates, insurance transfers and myriad other details-- are largely complete. Faces and names are becoming connected, and my congregations and I are beginning the shift away from that "brand-new" feeling, and starting to build working relationships as priest and parish.

And some habits are becoming possible again. Morning prayer really can happen in the morning; work days can frequently contain events planned in advance; and balanced meals can happen without daily recourse to the local "Convenient But Pricey" grocery store. Likewise, I hope to be back here on a more regular basis, nattering on about Life, the Universe and Everything.