[Dailydrool] Dying Daily Drool

[Elizabeth]

I am one of those who used to be quite active on the Drool but then turned into a lurker three years ago. Sudden job loss for my husband, home loss, displacement, our Elsinore succumbing to old age and one or more of several different cancers, regrouping, new job for my husband, learning how to do the long-distance marriage thing, house hunting and buying in two cities, attempting to find my way around a new city, trying to figure out that new city’s resources . . . A year and a half here and I’m *still* looking for dog care I feel comfortable entrusting young Charlie Basset to.

Three years of scrambling, trying to keep up with and react to each new development in our lives, and I didn’t have time or emotional energy left over for anything else but trying to get us all sorted out and back on an even keel again. To be honest, I wasn’t even doing a good job of lurking half that time. I threw out over a year’s worth of accumulated unread Drools, a terrible thing to do because it meant I missed out on the joys and sorrows of fellow Droolers I once felt close to and also missed out on getting to know newer members. And then there was last year’s election, which focused my attention on politics in a way I’ve never been focused before. I channeled it into reading news sources and writing letters to my elected representatives instead of reading the Drool and writing posts.

Even though I didn’t write an annual Christmas form letter this year, I still spent some time reflecting on this past year, and I realized I am unhappy with the way my priorities have shifted. When the first thing I choose to read online while eating breakfast is The Washington Post or Time articles and not the Daily Drool, yet while still claiming to value the Drool more than those, well, something is not right in my life. I need to regain the balance my life once had.

So my New Year’s resolution has been to read all Drool digests first of all, before I read anything else in my inbox, and to not end a day with any left unread. Unless I have company in the house. Then I give myself a pass but make sure I catch up as soon as my guest has gone. The next thing I need to do is start actively participating again, and Bill’s post perhaps has been the jumpstart I’ve needed for that. 

As for the Facebook version of the Drool, I do like being able to see photos of everyone’s hounds, but I don’t intentionally go to the FB page except maybe to post birthday photos. It just feels like so much extra effort to duplicate on the Drool FB page what I’ve posted on my own about Charlie and our long-term non-basset foster, Molly. (I also like to keep my FB Friends to those I've personally met or whose outside correspondence with me makes me feel as if I’ve good as met them in real life. Otherwise, my Friend list feels overwhelming.) In the past, when I responded to Droolers in private e-mails, we often exchanged photos of our hounds, and I think that approach still works better for me than doing it through FB. I get to have furry faces to put to the names, and I don’t get tempted into losing half my day exploring FB rabbit holes.

Okay. I’m going to try to be better about sharing the responsibility for keeping the Drool discussion group alive. It is too important to lose. 

Elizabeth
linktolindsey at gmail.com