Sunrise, Etc.

Posted on by learning to live like water

We have been at my sisters for a couple of days, out on the island. We’re supposed to go every couple weeks to walk through for the insurance co, and had been planning to go. My sister called Monday morning, because a neighbor down here had called her to tell her that her pool heater was on and her back gate was open. He shut the pool heater off and secured the gate. We headed down yesterday morning to see what was up.

When we got there, it was apparent to us that someone had gotten into the yard, and been using the grill, the apartment, and the pool. We took pics and sent them to my sister. We talked to her and my brother-in-law and got instructions. We resecured everything, including hiding the keys to the apartment and house in new places there. Then we went off to my favorite restaurant for happy hour drinks and appetizers. It was a gorgeous afternoon.  This pic is from the restaurant.

Beach House

The bar at the beach

This morning we made it up for sunrise. What a gorgeous morning. The sun comes up about 7 here this time of year. It was cooler then, around 80° I guess. As we walked down the dock we were greeted by a large heron. Then we just made it to the end of the dock in time for the sun to peek over the horizon and paint the sky in dayglow oranges, yellows and pinks. I thought I’d share some of the pics I took. Love and light.

 

 

You know, That Moment With the Ice Water

Posted on by learning to live like water

Yesterday was a little rough, it seems, as I look at it in retrospective. Well, ok, not the day, but the evening.

I was tired. I have been sleeping, as I said previously, really well. But I’m still exhausted from the trip and the subsequent return and getting everything back in order. Not to mention that I have let go of so much in the last two weeks. I am tired, and looking forward to sitting around for a day practicing “the art of doing nothing.” LOL. I began last night.

I had a couple glasses of white wine, to finish off a bottle that was in Dan’s fridge. Then we decided to open a bottle of pinot noir for dinner and I had a couple more glasses. And I wrote, and vegged on the couch, and talked. Did nothing except a little cooking for dinner that was on the grill mostly.

However, yesterday, I got bit by the biting ants that are everywhere down here. Bit in the foot, I am guessing I must have stepped on the ant hill as I got out of my car. And man, do those bites itch. A kind of burning itch. Which gets worse as the day goes on. I had Benadryl gel on the bites, which helped a little but by the time I went to bed, the bites were making me crazy. I got up around 1 AM and tried vinegar. It worked real well for about a minute. When I got up so did Dan, and we were up watching TV for about an hour. He gave me another anti-itch spray to try, that didn’t work. I finally took a Benadryl capsule, which I should have done ages before. And finally around 2 AM I thought I could sleep.

So I went over to Dan, told him I was going back to bed. I had a glass of ice water in my hand to take with me. I had an itchy foot, and was really sleepy by now, and was a little unbalanced because of my arthritis, my sleepiness, and a few other random things. So here I am, trying to be all sweet and loving and I spilled ice water on Dan. Yep.

“I guess I should just get out of here and go to bed…..” I whispering sheepishly, as he laughed hysterically. I went to bed, he followed shortly, we fell asleep quickly. Finally, at 2 AM.

Just, you know that night when you are exhausted, sore, itchy, and you dump ice water on your man. Yeah, that. Not good.

I’m better this morning. The itch is better, though still there. I’m still tired, but I think I have my wits about me much better than I did at 2 AM last night. I hope.

Love and light.

SoCS Writing Prompt: I Guess

Posted on by learning to live like water

Guessing is not something that I’m good at. I can’t guess the lottery numbers, and I can’t guess what someone who is silent is thinking. I can’t guess how many marbles fill the jar, and I can’t guess how many spilled out.

I can’t guess what was on the mind of the white supremecists in Charlottesville today, and I can’t guess why some fool wanted to mow down the protesters with his car. But then again, can’t I?

I guess, uneducatedly, that if someone wants or attempted to mow down some protestors that he disagreed with them. I guess, that he comes from a place of fear of himself, of shame, and wants to mow down anyone who makes him look at himself for what he is. How dare anyone stand against his desire to blame all people but those who look like him for all the ills he’s brought on himself. His belief that his over-inflated white ego is worth more than anyone else’s?

Geezus. Maybe I’m better at guessing than I thought.

I guess that if someone does something like that, like drive into a crowd of people protesting the hate and violence espoused by the KKK, the Nazi’s, the White Supremecists, the David Dukes of the world, they probably align themselves with that hateful school of thought.

But I still guess that love conquers hate, that only light can dispel the darkness, and I will continue to try to overpower the hate, and fear, of these sad human beings (and I use the term loosely) with love. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too big a burden to bear.”

Remember this, when at the end of your day you want to hate these people. Hate what they do, but pray for them, that they can find a different path out of their darkness. A path different than mowing down innocent bystanders. A path different than separation from the rest of the human race.

I guess some will disagree with me. I guess I don’t care. Love is the only answer that really changes anything, and the only answer that lifts anything. So, I’ll stick with it, and at the end of the day, be at peace with it.

I guess.

socs-2016-badge

This post was written as part of the SoCS writing prompt of Linda G. Hill.  If you want to join the fun, please go to her page at https://lindaghill.com/2017/08/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-1217/  and get all the rules about this prompt!

Lottery Tickets

Posted on by learning to live like water

We got into this thing with the friends we stayed with in CT about lottery tickets. Powerball and Mega Millions were up there, around $300M each. Joe, the friend, and Dan bought some tickets for the last drawing, and agreed to split the winnings. Since there were no winners for Wednesday night’s drawing, and we were going to be gone for the next drawing, we agreed to buy $20 worth each and split the winnings.

Today, when we got back from Dan’s house from mine, we found a voice mail from Joe saying he’d bought his 20 Powerball tickets for tonmineight’s drawing! Not $20 worth, but 20 tickets! $60 worth!!! OMG, wth.

First of all, we had forgotten to buy them at all, with all the packing, unpacking, lawn mowing, laundry, grocery shopping for 2 places that went on in the last couple days. But, we’d only planned to get $20 worth or about 7 tickets. Now we had to figure out what to do. I said, “Just tell him you’ve got the tickets but only $20 worth, you must have misunderstood.” Then we settled on saying “We’ve got our tickets.” Dan left to run to the store for the tickets, and I stayed and started dinner.

He came back in the door 10 minutes later. (The store is a half mile away.) He said, “I couldn’t do it.” I asked what he couldn’t do. He said, “Lie to the guy. I just can’t lie to the guy for $60.” I smiled and said, “That’s the guy I love. WTH, it’s $40. And he’s a good friend.” Dan replied, “I don’t think I could lie to a friend for a million.” And honestly, I’m sure he couldn’t. He’s like me in that, perhaps moreso.

Character. Some people just don’t have it in them to lie. I hope I’m one of them. I know he’s one of them.

It’s wonderful to have someone in my life who is basically incapable of lying, even over something as insignificant as lottery tickets. Pinch myself again. If we win nothing, I already won.

Love and light.

Home Again, Finnegan

Posted on by learning to live like water

I’m home.  I’m exhausted. I’m utterly relieved that I have tied up all the loose ends with my ex, and he can’t become my problem again.  I’m happy.  I miss my friends, and I miss that life up there.  I love my life here.

Talk about conflicted emotions!  But I know they will settle out over the next few days.  I know one thing, that having someone in your life you can count on to do the right thing, to treat you right, who has true honest care and concern and love for you, makes all the difference when you have a big job to do.  Having someone all your friends like, who wants to be part of your life, and wants you to be part of his, makes all the difference in the world.

I can say, I’m home now.  Even though I won’t make it to my house til tomorrow.  I’m home now.  I will work out all the mixed emotions over the next couple days.  It’s all good.  Right now?  There may be a hot tub in my future.

Love and light.

Heading Home

Posted on by learning to live like water

We’re heading home today. Glad to be going, but it’s been a good visit. I got done what needed to get done, with the help of Dan and my good friends. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to try to do this job if my friends had not given us the basement of their house and a car. I can’t imagine how I could have gone through all my ex’s stuff, which was mostly “our” stuff from an old life, if I hadn’t had Dan to lean on.

It felt good yesterday, when the conservator asked me for the VIN numbers of the 2 vehicles for which she has to get titles, and I was able to tell her to contact the landlord for them, or the insurance company. Or take a run over to his cottage and get them off the vehicles. I absolve myself of any further responsibility regarding his stuff. She’s getting paid to do it, so she can figure it out.

Last night we went to my bff’s house she’s renting on the shore, and I saw pretty much her whole family, who always embraced me as family. It was wonderful to see them all. We sat on the sand and had drinks and talked, on a beautiful New England evening watching the sunset. It felt like old times. We caught up on each other’s lives. I got to meet new girlfriends, hug the niece who is pregnant, and the daughter, now 20, that called herself my other child.

I’ll be so glad though, to get home. Two weeks away is a long time, and I’m sure it was a long time for my friends to have houseguests. I’m sure they are happy to have their house back to themselves. We did, however, all get along surprisingly well. I’m pretty sure they will be coming to FL to visit next winter, especially now that I have Dan in my life, because Dan and Joe, whose house we stayed at, get along so well.

Life really can be wonderful. Love and light.

 

All The Loose Ends Are Tied Up

Posted on by learning to live like water

Today I will finish up the unpleasant task of dealing with my ex’s mess. The Lincoln that was towed and we found will be junked. Dan and my friend went to the place storing it to determine the value of it and pay the storage fees. When my ex parked the car, he broke the ignition key off, deep inside it. Deep enough it wasn’t visible, but you couldn’t get another key into it.  It was obviously his plan to go then to the police station and behave crazily enough that they took him to the hospital.  Unbelieveable, but had to be true.  He was making it as hard as possible to benefit from his teeny assets.  Sick sick man.  Anyway, the storage fees were almost $1000, and the car couldn’t be started and it’s only worth $1000. The place where it is can keep it.

After they finished with the car they went to the cottage and picked up the last of the things there that needed to go to the storage unit. Then they went to the storage unit, and my friend dug around all the stuff that was way in the back of the unit, and found all my sons hockey jerseys, trophies, and pictures. I was so happy about this. I’d asked my ex for them a number of times, and he always had some reason why he couldn’t give them to my son. He was using them as a carrot to draw my son back in, and my son never bit. But he wanted the stuff, and now I have it and will send it all to him. That was his life as a child, from age 5 or 6 to 16. I’m so happy he will have it.

While they dealt with the storage unit and the last of the stuff at the cottage, I went to the place I used to work to see the people there, then went to lunch with my friend from there who retired a few months before me. It was fun, and I’m glad I went. I went out to dinner with a couple of friends from my old spiritual book club last night. Now I’m done visiting, and only have stuff left to pack up and ship to my son and myself in Florida.

By tonight, I’ll be done. For the last time. Next time I comeup here it will be for pleasure only. To see my friends and enjoy the cool New England summer. Yesterday it was chilly, like a high of about 65, maybe less. I was freezing all day. I kept saying it was like Florida in the winter. And not even that many winter days. It’s been lovely.

I’m so grateful to my friends who have put us up for 2 weeks. This whole task could have been so hard, but they made it so easy. It’s amazing, and I am eternally grateful.

Time to get going on finishing this up. Love and light.