Interesting Animals

 My kid is creating a list of interesting animals that he wants to learn about. What are some of your favorite interesting animals?

I think that bats are interesting. My favorite Wikipedia article is about [Bat Bombs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb). Definitely worth a read. And yes, I did write that in Markdown notation, and I do hope that it remains formatted that way. 

I'm writing this year because it is a thing that I can control. There are many things I dislike that are outside of my control. I feel powerless in regard to politics. I spend a lot of time and energy reading and worrying about politics. I have opinions. But largely I'm unable to affect that at all. I'm having a hard time doing anything about public health or anthropogenic climate change. So writing is my way of focusing myself on things that I can control. 

Two thoughts kicking around today. The first is that community is wildly important, and I have done very little over the last few years to cultivate community. I don't want my kids to grow up without seeing me try to build and generate community. I grew up in a great community. That community was built on rails-- as long as you went to school and went to church you really got it for free. My parents did do some cool stuff to build theirs though. They hosted some parties and visited with friends. It was something. Because I've been so sick, and because the consequences of me getting sick again are so severe, I've heavily isolated myself and my family. Leaving the church definitely cut off my primary mechanism for community gathering. So maybe 2026 will see some small efforts to build a community again. It's important. It would dramatically improve the quality of my life. How do I build community when I am immunocompromised and have incredibly low energy production inside my body? Fantastic question. We'll try some things. We'll see.

I have since forgotten the second thought that was kicking around. We got some family news today. A relative is sick. Kind of an unknown severity of sick. I am worried. It is a cause for reflection. Life is precious and short. Mine feels sorta long and more disappointing than precious, but here we are. There really are some beautiful parts of my life though. My kid showing curiosity and making a list of animals he wants to learn more about is definitely one of those. 

It is Sunday night. Work tomorrow. I'm excited. I've officially missed a deadline. I probably have one week of wiggle room on it. I'll have to hustle. I'm really enjoying it though. I do so much love writing code and fixing things. I'm nervous because I hate disappointing folks. But it should be alright. Fresh start here we go.