After today, things around here will change.

I’m afraid it’s become critically essential for me to significantly curtail my blogging.

Why?

Simple.

Most importantly: The Kids.

I need to spend more time with them.  The new job has crippled my schedule to a degree I had not considered, yet it’s a consumer of less time than my last job.  Nevertheless, these five felines need more than I can give them at present.

You see, they have never let me down.  Not once have they forsaken me in a time of need.  When I was sick, they tended to me.  When I was distraught, they gave me unbridled compassion and love the likes of which few humans have the capacity to give.  They have never demanded without giving unconditionally in return, and even then their demands were not weighty or selfish.  They asked only for that which I was capable of giving without sacrificing my own happiness in return.  Never once have they wielded their gifts as though they represented control of some kind.  They just give and give, and in return they happily accept what I can provide them by way of shelter, nourishment, and companionship.

Their love is truly without limitations or restrictions.  I know only a handful of people capable of such total dedication to loved ones, at least by way of evidence I can measure and document.  I know a great many more who claim such things yet have proved that assertion false at every opportunity.

For those reasons and an infinite number I can’t name, more of my time needs to be spent with them.

Second on the short list of reasons is my writing.

I’ve already given up television in its entirety.  Cable is gone.  I’ve not watched programming of that nature for more than a month.  The only thing that has caused me to turn on the boob tube is the rare desire to put a movie in and enjoy some DVD entertainment.

Walks are now scarce compared to the daily ritual I once held.  I still take them when I can, but I don’t take them daily.

It boils down to needing more time to work on Dreamdarkers and, assuming nothing changes before then, End of the Warm Season.  It’s imperative—a critical piece of living—that I dedicate the appropriate time to completing the first novel and getting the second one (or second set of books) underway.

Having made tremendous progress on Dreamdarkers already, I now have the full taste and aroma of writing with me at all times.  An inherent satisfaction rests within the bounds of that activity.  I can’t let it sit idle or let it suffer a slow wilting at the hands of less important things.  It must be tended like a garden.

Because of these two vital aspects of my life, which seem a tad forsaken at the moment, I am doing what must be done.

Here’s what that means.

Vocabularium is dead.  Although I will leave the current entries and related pages intact, and although I may yet add an entry here and there, the daily task of putting them together ends now.  Today is the last day of that—at least for the foreseeable future.

If in time I find I’m able to return to a daily routine in that regard, I will do so.  Until then, however, I will consider that idea to be an infrequent topic here.  If something jumps out at me or I have a few extra minutes to do it, you’ll see one pop up now and again.  But only as time permits.

I will focus on posting only one photo-related item per day.  I suspect I’ll bounce between images of The Kids and everything else, from nature to whatever catches my eye.  Each of those posts usually means a little story to go along with it, a touch of explanation or whatever, so doing one per day will help limit the time needed.

Open threads will happen as they happen.  I’ll no longer watch for every little thing that can be included and that I feel is worth noting.  Instead, I’ll post them with a few things of importance.  They’ll show up daily, every few days, or at whatever interval works best.  Just don’t expect them to be as robust or frequent as they have been.

All of the other usual suspects will happen as they normally do: Random Thoughts each day, creative writing when I’m inspired and can put something together, miscellaneous stuff under the same guidelines, and so on.

Instead of five or seven or nine posts each day, what this means is that you’ll see three or four at most—on most days, although extra time here and there undoubtedly will mean you’ll be offered more than the new usual fare.

I trust everyone will understand the need here.  Blogging won’t go away; it’ll just take a backseat to more important endeavors and priorities.  I still journal and this is an important part of that.  It just needs to be a less important part than it has been.