Wordless Wednesday

Monday Musings

 As California burns and I fret about my friends and family there, here in Colorado we are having our third snow since I moved here September 15th.  This one will be the biggest - 4 inches overnight, another 3 forecast for tonight.  Not a big deal for those who live in big snow areas, but for me this is a deal.  I can't get an appointment for snow tires until November 6th.  I wish I had thought about scheduling sooner, but I do have a daughter and son-in-law who will pick me up to run errands if need be.

It is pretty, though, yes?  I have a very efficient gas fireplace which keeps me toasty while watching television.  Lucy has a little sheepskin next to the fire that she curls up on.  I'm delighted that she is now going out in the white stuff to do her business -- she wasn't doing that during our first storm and I bought a box and litter to train her for indoor use.  So far she has no interest in it, which will be fine if she'll continue to go outdoors.  I finally found a good jacket with Velcro fasteners and she tolerates it.  I also bought little rubber (they look like balloons) foot coverings, though I've not tried them yet.  I'm intimidated by them, or rather by the distinct possibility of her hating them.

Two of my neighbors trudged through the snow yesterday to welcome me to the neighborhood with this lovely fruit plate.  So very thoughtful and kind.  A very auspicious start to my new community.

I'm still unpacking, naturally.  Now the question of how to get rid of all these boxes and all this paper.  There are a couple of websites where I think I can post "FREE MOVING BOXES AND WRAP" and that's one of my goals for later today: figure that one out and get it posted.

I was hoping to do a little furniture shopping this week, but the weather may keep me from it.  No matter, I have the essentials: one living room chair with side tables, an office desk and bookshelves, a queen sized bed.  Better than nothing, that's for sure.

So many details to be worked out.  I'm taking things one step at a time, and have adopted a very relaxed attitude when it comes to what to do when.  I prioritize:  medications first (got my RXs switched to new pharmacy); utilities (all hooked up); cable and internet (done!) and soon: snow tires.

I'm doing pretty damn well, actually.  Taking care of business, my health, my pup and my home.  My heart (emotionally and medically) is stable; my blood sugars are all over the map but I'm staying on top of it.

I'm not in California breathing all that deadly smoke or standing by for an evacuation alert.

It could be worse.

"If we threw all our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back." Anonymous

Happy Monday!

Wordless Wednesday

TGIF

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake in California.  I was living about 7 miles from the epicenter, having vacated my marital home two days earlier.  I left my husband and took our 20 month old daughter with me and moved in with friends for a few months while I figured out what to do next.

Jump thirty years into the future.  I left my second husband September 13 and moved to Colorado from the Sacramento area.  This time to join my daughter and her family, who had moved to Ft. Collins two years ago.  So, here, now, on this anniversary again, I have been out of my marital home for just over a month.  Strange how things work out, isn't it?  What is it about autumn?

The earthquake was quite a trauma, though leaving my husband at the time was not.  It was a big relief, even with the daunting task of being a single parent.  I was out of a bad situation that had been going on for years and wasn't going to resolve.  I'd had it up to my eyeballs and needed to get out of that relationship to save my sanity and my health.  Luckily, my daughter and her father had a good and consistent relationship after the divorce.  A few hiccups here and there, but still, on the whole it worked well and she's turned out to be a lovely human being who is very close to both of her parents.

My latest departure, well, it was much more fraught.  Sudden, unexpected, intolerable.  The only thing that propelled me forward was the knowledge I was going to be near my family, whom I love very much and am happy to report the feeling is mutual.

It is a bit odd being out of the only state of the union I've ever lived in.  I've been coming here for twenty years to visit friends, so am no stranger to the area, but still, actually living here is going to take some adjustments.  We've already had our first snow and trying to coax my five pound chihuahua to do her 'business' in the cold and wet was impossible.  She held herself for an entire day and night before going out when the temperatures rose and the snow began to melt.

I've got to buy snow tires soon.  Oy.  Never in my life....I'm counting on my son-in-law to steer me in the right direction.

I've got to buy furniture, since I left most of it with my husband in order to spare him the burden of doing that himself.

So many things to do...and the movers come next weekend to move me from the Boulder area to Ft. Collins, an hour's drive north.  I have been fortunate to be living with friends of thirty years, who have, once again, helped me navigate the early days of divorce.  They were there for me 30 years ago,   and every Wednesday night I went there to do laundry, have dinner and fellowship.  The babies played together, the mommies drank a little too much wine, and daddy busied himself in the kitchen whipping up simple but delicious food.  I think this ritual carried on for over a year.  They saved me.  They are saving me again.  The first couple of weeks especially, when I cried all day long, When no words would come out without being strangled in my throat, when I didn't bother putting on make-up because the tears would just make a mess of it.

I realized the other day: hey, I haven't cried today.  I was witnessing my coming to terms with my physical separation from my husband.  I marveled at that fact.

I still do.

Wordless Wednesday

Rocky Mt National Park October 2019