I'm six months behind schedule now, the one I set myself as a New Year's resolution (January 1, 2018). It's been an obstacle course, but i have passed enough of them (obstacles) that I am ready to tackle the files.

file noun: 1 he opened the file and began to read: folder, portfolio, binder, box, document case; filing cabinet. 2 we maintain files on all the major companies: dossier, document, record, report, case history, case study; (files) data, information, particulars, case notes, documentation, annals, archives 3 when saving a file the summary information menu may be displayed: batch of data, document, text; program.

Yup, all of the above, and then some: tear sheets clippings, notes, memos, quotations, reviews. I could go on and on, and I will, and it's going to take a long time, and I love it. I had the best time today. I worked outside in the morning, on my balcony, going through a huge basket full of file folders full of papers and I went through every single piece of paper, culling, sorting, making notes - and even tossing. Then I multi-tasked in the afternoon while the Blue Jays game was on, paying divided attention but it wasn't equally divided; the game got less. I made an interesting dinner using up food before I go away next week, and working until I paused to watch 2 shows on WNED (Masterpiece Theatre). I'm getting close to the bottom of the basket now, but oh, the work outside it begins. The good news is I have tonnes of ideas for new blogs. The bad news is I need more money to buy all the books I have discovered that I NEED.

I came across a realistic comment about that. I read a caution that I need time as well as money to read all the books I want. Well, I know that. Someone said to me a long time ago (he's dead now), that buying and owning the book makes you feel that you have read it - almost. You're halfway there. (He didn't have time to finish all the books he had bought.)

Yes, well, and apart from the book titles I have gathered to seek out, I came across a complete outline and pitch for a new book I wanted to write - in this case edit - a collection of reflections by women: REFLECTIONS: Canadian Women See Themselves, An Anthology of Contemporary Women's Life Writing.

I also found a pitch and outline and synopsis and some character monologues for a drama - not sure whether it's a stage play or a screen play.

Plus print-outs of a year's worth of my blogs. Plus a few quizzes and essays for lifestyle sections somewhere. Plus, as I said, lots of memos and comments and riffs for future blogs. Oh, and more words and comments about the state of contemporary grammar. Oh my!

I love it all. It's gong to take me a long time though, and I have two (finished) books to polish and another screenplay to tweak and rewrite. I am not daunted though. I'll just have to live a little longer.

My friend Richard's mother used to to give him advice when he was a) up, after winning a prize or something, OR b) down, after losing. She would tell him to get a pail and fill it with water and bring it to her. Then she would tell him to thrust his fist into the water and hold it there for a few minutes, and then to take it out and look into the water, and tell her what he saw.

Nothing. He saw nothing, just a pail full of water. That, she would tell him, was how much impression he made with his little successes or failures. That's all any of us do, except maybe Shakespeare (and look what they're doing to him these days).

When Richard first told me that, I was reminded of a verse from one of W.H.Auden's so-called light poems (he didn't really write "light" poems; they were all profound, to me). This is from "As I Walked Out One Evening" (1937):

[O} Plunge your hands in the water,

Plunge them in up to the wrist.

Stare, stare in the water, [basin]

And wonder what you've missed.

(Note: I missed two words ( O and basin).

I was reporting on the arrival of my second great grandchild and I didn't mean to crow. I was actually feeling pretty humble about it, and very grateful that I have lived long enough to see another generation carrying on, though I do wonder what they will encounter in the decades to come. But Marla, what do any of us leave for posterity?

legacy noun: 1 a legacy from a great aunt had paid for their house: bequest, inheritance, heritage, bequeathal, bestowal, benefaction, endowment, gift, patrimony, heirloom, settlement, birthright, provision; Law devise, hereditament. 2 the rancorous legacy of the Vietnam war | a legacy of the British Empire: consequence, effect, outcome, upshot, spin-off, repercussion, aftermath, footprint, by-product, product, result; residue, fruits.

posterity noun: 1 the names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a framed scroll: future generations, succeeding generations, those who come after us; the future. 2 archaic: God appeared to Abraham with a promise that his posterity should inhabit the land: descendants, heirs, successors, offspring, children, family, progeny, scions; Law issue; archaic seed.

AND THAT LEADS ME TO

posterior noun: humorous her plump posterior: buttocks, behind, backside, rear, rear end, rump, seat, haunches, hindquarters, cheeks; Brit. bottom; Frenchderrière; GermanSitzfleisch; informal sit-upon, stern, BTM, tochus; Brit. informal bum, botty, prat, jacksie; Scottish informal bahookie; N. Amer. informal butt, fanny, tush, tushie, tail, duff, buns, booty, caboose, heinie, patootie, keister, tuchis, bazoo, bippy; W. Indian informal batty; black English rass, rusty dusty; Brit. vulgar slang arse; N. Amer. vulgar slang ass; technical nates; humorous fundament; archaic breech. (SOME NICE ONES THERE.)

Hey, ... hey, what? The older I get, the less it matters. What matters is who you are today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Today. I remember a quote attributed to the late actress, Elizabeth Taylor. Someone said to her "You've got everything, haven't you?" and she sad, "No, I haven't had tomorrow." Me neither.

But, like most people, I live in hope. And yes, one of our hopes is in our offspring, if any, and if they survive. The world is a perilous place. Who knows? Some people think it's a crapshoot. Others think it's all part of a Divine Plan.

Wait and see. I'm older than you and I don't know. You should live so long.