Walking, Viewing, Reminiscing

Went on an evening walk this evening in that hour before sunset. The color on the surrounding mountains was beautiful and the emphasis from greens to blues to pinks and purples changed in succession. There was even a brilliant rainbow and as I sit here writing this, the thunder and lightning are right overhead. Sure glad I made it home before the storm!

The scenery reminded me of a portion of my childhood when my mom would throw a dishtowel over her shoulder and my sis and I would walk with her "around the hill". We saw many of the same mountains I saw today, only from a different locale. As a child, the houses on that hill were ones build in the early 1900's with other smaller homes sandwiched between in later years. The hill had a road that went around the perimeter, not traveled much except for the people who lived close by. So it was a nice walk with cool evening breezes, mom swatting at the knats and mosquitoes with her dish towel, my younger sis running ahead of us and me jabbering to mom or all of us just walking beside each other in silence.

I relished those walks, as it was a time I could have mom's attention, her walking was slow and easy after a hard day's work. Mom usually spent a good share of her summer days in the kitchen: canning, baking, making jams, jellies, pickles, chutneys and preserving whatever kind of fruit or vegetable was given us by our kind neighbors and friends. Many of them had orchards or truck gardens with extra produce. I loved to see the bushels (yes, bushels) of fresh cukes, tomatoes, green peppers, summer squash, as well as smell the nose tickling aroma of the pickles and chutneys, and see the gleaming globes of red, peach and plum colored jars of pure jelly. I always felt important in helping mom listen for the decided 'pop' of the jar lids as they cooled and sealed those jars of goodness. (Now, there was a mom who was inventive in keeping her girls busy!)

As I got older I helped with the canning process......(I hate canning to this day, but have done my share of it for my own family!) I remember the beauty of all those rows and rows of canned goods in our basement pantry. Dad was the handyman and turned the coal bin, after it's demise to natural gas heat, into a really well built pantry. Now that I think of it, I believe it doubly served as a fallout shelter during the cold war! Those glass jars of fruits and vegetables graced our table during dark, cold days of winter with apricot pies (with homemade crusts that melted in your mouth), thickened peaches on waffles (made from scratch), plum jam on toast (of homemade bread) and spaghetti sauce made from scratch using home canned tomatoes, just to name a few favorites. Usually, some of the meat we used was venison from dad's deer hunting in the fall. The meat was ground into burger, steaks, roasts, etc. I never have developed a liking for venison, by the way. Sometimes we had beef from local farmers. We had a huge freezer, and in the 60's froze lots of those earlier canned fruits and made fresh freezer jam...yum! Our pantry and freezer were our larder for winter.

Wow....I started out talking about our walks. I was nostalgically thinking of my mom's presence. I guess a lot of her presence was represented in the kitchen and with the good nutritional meals she prepared for us.

Okay, I got sidetracked. Those evening walks were good for mom to relax and cool off after spending those days in a hot kitchen with only fans to cool her. It was a time to bond and share my thoughts with her. I really don't remember any sage advice or particular content. It was just good to be together in a peaceful atmosphere.

I told you I'd have these moments of nostalgia. Just remind me not to repeat myself when we get together, okay?

Home Again

I'm so glad it's the weekend so I can let my head wrap around my new geographic abode, physical home and new job. I feel like I've been in a whirlwind since I arrived on July 28. My ACE spent time with me which I treasure, my Dad has been calling me constantly (I had to beg off going on a local road trip with him this weekend so he could get 'sand plums' to make jelly.) I just have to stay home and finish getting unpacked and the house cleaned. I haven't vacuumed really good since I got here and with family in and out and moving stuff in, it really needs it. Of course I might have done it in the week or two I didn't have company, but couldn't find an essential part of the vacuum....if it had been a snake... well, you know the rest. Good thing my ACE returned to tell me where it was!

When I get stressed my memory and problem solving skills just are not there...Beware my children, as I continue to age.

Age, yes. Sixty. S-I-X-T-Y! I can't believe I've lived that long. Parts of my mind are still young, the rest of me, well, slowly going down hill. I am so thankful for the good health I have at this moment!

I'm looking out my patio door (one of four in this place...there are no windows, only Four patio doors) and I see cute messy finger marks about 2 feet up. I don't know if I want to clean them off right now. It is a visible reminder of my little El as she walked in and out onto the balcony to play with the rocks, marbles and water in my fountain.

My condo is really spacious and I am getting used to the new color scheme. I am having trouble getting my new sofa moved in, but a couple of possibilities have popped up this week. I just need to follow them through. I have lots of 'left-over' room in cupboards in the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. The garage, too, is spacious and holds my preschool stuff, Christmas decor, garden things, and my car with room to spare.

I took a walk this morning. YES! I can walk about 2-3 blocks and be on a nice walking path that leads up toward a ritzy golf course community at the base of the mountain. The 'mansions' are spread thin and the natural red rock, high mountain desert beauty in the bright sunshine fills my soul. I do miss the moisture and beauty of the PNW, but this is comforting. Partly because I really need a place to walk regularly and partly because this is, after all, where I spent my childhood...the most impressionable portion of my life.

In fact, during the week when I am so busy with my 'nose to the grindstone', as it were, trying to find my way around the area as I drive and make sure I'm not missing appointments, etc., I look up and suck in a breath, realizing that right there, RIGHT THERE, is the mountain beauty that is a part of me. Mountains and Ocean. Nature to fill my soul, to ground me. Thank you God, for the beauty you bestow on us.

And to think He tells us this is NOTHING compared to what He has in store for us! Truly, Amazing Grace.

Today I plan to slowly unpack boxes, hunting for pictures I want to hang, knic-knacs to place around (artfully, I hope!) This place is so expansive, my little do-dads may not be very appropriate. We'll see. For now, I'm also interested in decorating with live plants. We'll see how far that goes! It seems to fill my longing for 'green'...as a transition from the PNW.

Lilo loves the front balcony as she can look down on all the goings on..which consists only of 3-5 elementary aged kids playing in the grass or riding bikes and a family with a little toddler (remarkable coincidences with El)who walk back and forth. A hummingbird comes often to sip from the feeder I put up and there are new species of birds in the trees next to us that she watches. This is a quiet cul de sac. I'm liking it more and more. Lilo also loves running at full speed from the back of the place to the front. She is so funny! She's still exploring all the nooks and crannies. She has hiding places that are so good, I can't find her sometimes. She is getting a bit more brave about going down the stairs when I go down. I have to watch that I don't let her into the garage, as I would Never find her in there! (As happened on the first night here!)

This place does have it's problems. Being on a hill, I am wondering how hard it will be to drive to town in the winter; the bathroom fans really need to be reconditioned, I found a little pile of wood sawdust on the back porch that I think is the result of termites or carpenter ants and the back porch lights and fan don't work (my fault, as I think I shorted out the light switch when I got a little carried away hosing everything clean. :} I'm still trying to find the electrical panel.

Andy fixed a LOT when he was here and I am SO GRATEFUL!!! What would I do without him? God has blessed me with outstanding children, spouses and grandchildren. What more could I want?!?!?!?!

Deja vu

Here I am in Colorado, in my new place, still trying to get totally unpacked, settled, going to work every day and trying not to miss any detail they tell me....they may only tell me once, yet expect me to remember it as a priority. It is like going to another county when you've only had a couple years of the language and generally know the layout, but all the details are overwhelming.

ACE have been staying with me since last Thursday and I have been blessed to have them here to take the shock out of the long move and all the changes. Yet, everywhere I go, there are these little deja vu instances.

For example, I may be driving along, concentrating on road signs and directions, then, look up a little and see the awe inspiring mountains in the background and think: "Oh, yeah, I'm in CO!" Or I'm at work and I overhear someone giving directions to a nearby place, using names and landmarks that I haven't heard about or thought of in years. I'll say to myself, "Wait, that sounds familiar!" Then, "Oh, yeah, I'm in CO!"

It's like: 'Where in the world is....Grandma?' or .....'Can you see/hear me now?'


My mind hasn't quite caught up with my physical self; so I still think about my little Oliver and how he tries to give me hugs and kisses through the computer or hand his train car into the computer screen so I can play with him. Okay, I'm tired and miss my little boy! I'm so glad Ella has been here to give me some precious little hugs and kisses! ACE is leaving tomorrow. I already have painful family withdrawal!

Delicious

There is a delicious hour or so here that slowly fades into twilight where the wind is calm, the air is cooler and people go out walking. I've found many trails that are wonderful for being just next to the wilds of the high mountain desert. Cacti, sagebrush, sandstone boulders, mourning doves, quail, crickets singing their nighttime songs; fading reds, oranges, pinks and yellows in the sky meld into violets and blues with the tree silhouettes in the foreground. Awe inspiring. As I write this, I sit on my front balcony, listening to the muted sound of water bubbling in my fountain and those crickets. Lilo has joined me, gazing out at the neighborhood between slats in the fence railing. A few muted voices of neighbors on their balconies.

Oh, how I wish summer could start now. I've begun to walk in the evenings (not far, of course considering my being out of shape and the high altitude,) but it's a beginning. I hope it will continue!The TV is OFF. So much better to fill my mind with the evening sounds God gave me instead of the cacophony of TV shows...even if its the news.

I started my new job today. I think I'm going to be ultra busy, but starting within parameters that are more familiar. It's all for the kids. I have to remember that. Keep the kids as #One Priority, everything else, secondary.

Speaking of kids, I SO miss my Oliver. I think he thinks I've abandoned him. Oh, how I miss the little sweet boy! If only I could have a good job and my grandkids close by, as well!

Time to go in. Sigh. Happy sigh. Good night, all.

Sunday morning

Getting up late after a good night's sleep.
Perfect weather.
Functionally moved in.
Watching CBS Sunday morning.
Hummingbirds coming to feeder.
Lilo playfully running through house.
Deliciously lazy feeling.
Able to enjoy it...at least for a few hours!
All Priceless.

Hitting the Wall; or, Is This 60?

That's today. I think all the stress and tiredness just hit me big time. I have a pounding headache, could sleep all day and my bank account is dry, dry, dry. New sofa will have to wait.

I'm partially settled, still boxes lying about half unpacked. The carpet really needs a good vacuuming (thank heaven for my Rainbow vac!). The kitchen and bathrooms are fairly done, I'm working on the bedrooms and the living room is still in disarray. I've rented my cousin Keith's condo. It has its ups and downs (stairs, literally!) My dear, dear son moved me from WW to here and was superman in dealing with the packing, loading, driving, unloading, and doing a LOT of fixing up when we arrived.

I hope to be more permanently settled in before Monday, as 'new teacher orientation' begins then. Regular teacher inservice starts Wednesday and then the students return the next Monday.

Yesterday was a marathon of errands: driver's' license, duplicate keys, fingerprinting, taking paperwork back to district office. Because my dad was with me we also had to stop at his bank, a thrift store, and have a 'birthday lunch', as I turned the big 6-0 yesterday. I attempted to get new tags for my car, but did not have the proper paperwork, duh. All of this at an 83 year-old's speed. Then, at 5 p.m., I had a meeting with the school district to sign my contract, learn about all the benefits (not so good as OR, WA). I found out that my fingerprints were suppposed to be sent somewhere else and were probably done on the wrong form, so I may have to do those again (the dist. will pay, thankfully) and the paperwork never seems to be finished. But I'm here and I must try this out before I decide if it is good or bad.

I'm just worn out today, so I will take it easy putting things away and just trying to make the place look more organized! Being tired colors everything a little negatively!

My story would take a book sized blog, but suffice it to say I'm here, safe, and mostly of sane mind!

Lookin' for that Rocky Mtn. High

I can't begin to describe all that's happened since I finally arrived at my CO destination. My skin is finally adjusting to the dryness, Lilo the cat is still exploring, but with energy and fun. I've finally figured out how to get to my place in 15 min. from the Mall. :D

Our actual trip was long and full of blessings and ordeals. I locked my keys in my car as we were getting ready to leave the motel on our 2nd day (1 hour delay from driving forward!), then on the same day, at the rest stop, a tire pressure check resulted in the discovery of a ripped out side wall (FLAT) of the inner passenger-side dual tire in the back. We thanked God we were safe, at a rest stop (with a building that provided some shade)and the Budget people came to change out both those tires in about 1 1/2 hours (more delay in traveling!). But we got on our way finally. Took us 3 days to arrive, what will all our delays in leaving and problems on the road.

We arrived about 5 pm Tuesday night and unloaded the truck into the garage so we could take the Budget truck back the next day. We put my car and all my belongings in the garage! This place is wonderfully spacious. We slept on air mattresses on the floor. On Thursday Andy's family arrived and we were late picking them up from the airport because we got lost...oh, well. Andy worked himself to the bone fixing things up. Recaulking around tubs and sinks and on some tiles that had worked loose. He replaced the kitchen faucet, the shower heads in both baths, put in a new garbage disposal and helped me hook up wireless. He carried all my boxes up 14 steps and manuevered large items up the steps and around the corner at the top. I thought he would have a heart attack and multiple hernias. He did multiple other little things for me. He missed his family and were thrilled when they arrived. It is such a deep sense of gratitude and thing of beauty for me to watch him love his wife and little girl.

I was shocked at the color scheme of my new place. Not my colors at all, but I am adjusting and putting my spin on them. I'm trying not to buy a lot of stuff and fill the place to capacity just because it is so spacious!!!

I'm going to the school today to give them my ID. Tomorrow evening I have a short meeting to sign my contract and look at benefits available.

I start working on Monday with new teacher orientation and on Wednesday with teacher inservice. The students begin the next week.

Andy and family are popping back through sometime the end of next week, I think. They were blessed to buy a Honda Odyssey in River City and will drive it back home to TN. I really hope they can relax at some point. They haven't yet!

That's it in a nutshell.

I may do individual blogs on settling into my condo and one about school.