I’ve Been Busy

My last post was November and I have lived through my first winter and spring in Maine. However, we did have a casualty.

My senior pup did not take well to such drastic changes and, to my deepest sorrow, we lost him in March. The physical move, the loss of his friends, and the impact of ice and snow on his regular routine had devastating consequences. I told my good friend in California that if I could have again looked into that magic ball at the future, I would have left him with her despite the pain it would have caused me. If that is shocking, then you can’t comprehend the guilt and regret that I carry.

Our evil prince, Kasper the cat, was transported separately to the east coast by a stranger and he was actually the one I was really worried about. He has settled in and seems to have maintained his singular temperament. He has some lingering PTSD whenever he sees my niece who fed him for a few days when he arrived, but that remains the only reminder from his journey. Now we give him the affection we have in abundance and he continues to carry on into old age.

We are now in the end of July and I’ve been busy.

I always felt when I bought a new home, I needed to stay for a year, finding the glitches, figuring out what works for each season. I am almost through that year. We moved in November and it is almost August. I have a feel for the home, have bonded enough to know what I need to heat it and cool it. Strategic curtains, fans, and closed off rooms are key.

I always thought when things settled down, I would again start to write. However, my to-do list continues to grow, not diminish as I had hoped. A lot is aesthetic but there is some installing and heavy lifting yet to complete to improve my life. My family continues to come through with a lot of help as this refugee from an HOA transitions back into the real world of mowing, weeding, painting, and other basic tasks one does on their own property.

The most drastic yet welcome change? The weather is glorious. It snowed big several times and it was something to tackle yet embrace. It rains…sometimes more than once a week. We get thunder and lightening, with the mugginess clearing most of the time. It all acts like, well, real weather. It wasn’t completely unexpected. I was looking forward to it. After all, I grew up in upstate New York. However, after thirty years in the Southern California sunshine, it renews my parched soul. Watching my SoCal born-and-raised daughter, however, running out to stand in rain and snow alike has been the entertaining part. I have to drag her in when lightening rolls through. And she’s an adult now.

As I sit in the darkened living room, enjoying yet another storm rolling through, I am feeling gratitude – for my family, for the move and lifestyle change, despite the guilt of loss. Bailey was certainly a casualty and I will keep him in my heart always.

I’m hoping to write more regularly now but for today, Kasper demands attention. Apparently, with the absence of a small white dog, he is now a lap cat. Who knew?