Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Long Goodbye


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For the past year, The Husband and I have been immersed in this life change. We began looking at houses in Bear Valley Springs last October, and since then I have experienced the many stages of moving—the good, the bad, and the ugly. This past week escrow closed on our little house in Los Angeles—a few days early—and one day each week for the last two weeks we drove down to get the last of the things from the yard that had been left there to make an empty house look as though someone still cared for it. In other words, potted plants along with lawn furniture and ornaments that said, “No, this one isn’t abandoned, nor is is bank-owned.”

The people who bought our house are lovely, and I wish them many long years of love and happiness there. Still, my last hours walking around the yard—taking what was truly finally, One Last Look—the feelings of relief from shedding one mortgage from our monthly burden were mixed with sadness—the sadness of leaving an old friend. It was fitting that week before last I saw this crystal clear view of the mountains to the north. We didn’t see that view on a regular basis—it was often hazy. But, I remember well that when we first looked at the property (a little over twenty years ago, now) that view was what I first fell in love with. On a clear day in January, as I hobbled along the sidewalk to the front door—on crutches at that point, I turned to see this view and I was in love. I knew that unless the house was uninhabitable, I wanted to live there and heal while looking at those mountains.

It was a good house and a wonderful home.
I won't forget it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

SoFoBoMo—in the Air Already


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Our brief distraction turned into four days of clean-up work in Los Angeles. Now that I'm back in Bear Valley, it's catch-up time here, again.

When I got back to my computer I found that the talk of SoFoBoMo 2009 is already heating up; and, coincidentally (?), I had an e-mail from Blurb informing me that they now offer an upgrade in paper. The e-mail was quite interesting to me, since I was greatly disappointed in the paper when I ordered a Blurb book, last year. Perhaps, I will give them another try now.

The heating up of the SoFoBoMo subject caught me a bit off guard—and it shouldn't have. After all, April is less than six months away. (Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well, frankly I have found that at this stage of my life, it always flies—with each month shorter than the last one, forget about years.) I have great ambitions to be much more prepared this round than I was last year.

I see that a number of people I met through SoFoBoMo 2008 plan to participate again, and I am pleased, because they taught me a great deal and inspired me with their work. Once again, I haven't a clue what I will do. However, I do know that, once again, I will feel lost and will revisit all those old familiar doubts and fears. I also know that I will plough through. I am not about to miss the party. When Paul Butzi gives us the start dates, I will take a deep breath and jump into the experience.