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Mid-January, Rain - January 13, 2012
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Saturday, Noonish, Sunny - November 05, 2011
October, White - October 31, 2011
October, 2011 - October 04, 2011


November 28, 2008

9:36 a.m.

A Quiet Morning in My Town

This has gotta be the most up and down year I've ever had, emotionally and otherwise! I'm going between the up and the down so often, it just has to be hormonal. Even for me, this is odd. In a way it's exciting because it means I'm getting ever nearer to menopause, which for some odd reason is pleasing. On the other hand, to have decided to make a swift shift in career at this time, with incredible financial instability looming and no real plan in place about it, has pulled the rug out from under me, emotionally speaking.

However, I've come up with a slogan to help get me through these times. Spoken in a Vivian Leigh voice, a la "Gone with the Wind:" "Ah am not a failyah! Ah am fiscally under-evolved."

********

We had a super time yesterday at Rose and Marc's. Miraculously, Dar was able to come down for a few hours, though he had a subsequent commitment at his sister's house back in Boston. He hadn't seen The Appleseed in the daylight (so named because of the gift basket I gave them on their anniversary, hee), and we all took various walks around the property. Marc had explained to me that it was like the shape of a flag, where the narrower bit going back from the house is the pole, but way back in the woods there was a whole section going off to the right that I hadn't seen. It's HUGE! Brambly, with little wet/dry stream beds and rock walls that used to define fields, but now all wooded -- it's a glorious homestead, full of potential and years of loving, backbreaking work. Actually they have a great new tractor now, and a rusty old trailer that I think Marc got on eBay for $20 or something but that will do for hauling things around the property... as soon as he makes a road. There's a ten foot easement at the very back that goes out to another street, and if he can find a way around the big rocks, he'll be able to make a road to what I call "the back 40" and this is the area that they will farm, eventually.

It was chilly and sunny as we made our way through the woods, stepping gently through the thorns and over mossy rocks and all the fallen leaves. He pointed out a large chunk of beautiful white quartz, as big as my head -- I said, "Wow, that'd look nice in a wall," and he agreed enthusiastically -- I knew he'd already thought of it. The whole area apparently was a glacial swath, so these odd quartz chunks were deposited here and there all over the woods. He's good at making rock walls. These are the kinds of things that excite him -- and what I love about him. He just sees stuff and wants to find ways to use it, whether it's wood or rocks or fencing or antiquated tools. And he can figure it out. My sister is lucky to have found him; what an interesting life they'll lead together.

And I get to participate in it, because I'm related! All the fun and very little of the responsibility!

********

The gluten free stuff, by the way, was quite adequate. Did not compare, really, to the stuffing cooked inside the bird, but mix it up with enough cranberry sauce and it tastes like Thanksgiving. Marc's best friend from Texas, Larry, came up to visit and it was the first time I'd met him. He's about 52, and when he was a child he had some kind of disease that softened his bones. He had trouble walking for a very long time, and a year and 1/2 ago had one of his hips replaced. Now he's running up to 5 miles, and when he learned that a nearby town had a Thanksgiving road race, he went and did it yesterday morning! He ran 5 miles on Thanksgiving morning, a year and a half after a hip replacement! I was so impressed. We were talking about it later and he said shoes were of the utmost importance. He had them specifically fitted at a place that looks at your stride and takes all sorts of measurements. They're expensive but he said there's no substitute for perfect running shoes. I wonder if this is one reason I had trouble with my knee last year. I kind of want to start running again. That may mean I have to reinstate my membership at the gym, which I was going to let lapse. I cannot run in freezing temperatures outdoors. I'll think on't.

Dar eventually had to move on, and the rest of us repaired to the little living room, where Marc and Larry took apart the pellet stove (again) to tweak it (again) in ways it hadn't been tweaked before. Burning corn is quite different, Marc has learned, from burning wood pellets. They were so cute together, these two big guys greasing and cleaning things and passing them back and forth and marking levels with soapstone and Larry saying, in his Texas drawl, "It's gonna work this time, I know it!" Rose knitted on a scarf in red Alpaca wool, and I dozed off on the sofa. I finally left around 5:30, although later I wondered why I hadn't just stayed and relaxed a while longer. There was no rush.

Anyway, I have a full list today. It's cloudy and grey, bare trees spread against the sky, just right for this time of year. I'll try to be productive.


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