since may. volume 1

I used to live here.

We had lots of room to roam.  

And roam we did.

Our closest neighbors were horses, Jane and Patrick, remember them?

There were also some sheep too.  I don't know their names.

No one could see you outside at this house.  So you could walk around in your underpants in the great outdoors.  

That's how God intended, right? 

 Underpants and rainboots.

There was a creek behind the house. (tho truthfully that may just have been a sewage drain... creek sounds more romantic.)

I had plans for this house.

There were chickens.  

The hound dogs could run until they couldn't run anymore.

Oh, and the front porch.  

The front porch! 

There was a fireplace in the dining room, with a rocking chair and an ottoman.

A perfect place for taking tea.  If you do things like that.

And I do.

And the main walls of this house are over 200 years old.  

This house has seen things.

This house was built with love.

And lived in, in love.

There were going to be goats, and horses, more chickens (you can never have enough chickens), gardens, greenhouses, llamas, tractors, ponds.

And babies.

Martha Stewart was going to come to me for advice.

Hell, she still might.

Oh, I should mention, this house has the most glorious sunsets.  

And at night the most fantastic show of stars you've ever seen.
Outside of Loose Creek.
I do love the stars at night, out in the country.
It feels kind of like a secret between you and God...all the hidden stars you can't see when you are near the light and activity and noise of the city.
Kind of like that quiet in prayer/meditation/whatever you personally choose to call it... where you hear or feel, or know.
But you have to get away from the noise first.

How things have changed.
Now I live here.



It's not nearly so grand.
But it contains the same love.
And the same dreams.
And sunflowers, an awesome neighbor, and a whole room just for yoga.
And it seems to be just everything we need right now.
(A whole room for yoga!)
Well maybe I won't have goats, and tractors, and ponds here.
It would probably get crowded with goats and chickens and dogs.
And the driveway isn't big enough for a tractor.
And you can certainly not go outside wearing only rainboots and underpants.
(I've only almost done that a few times.)
So I'll stick with the chickens and the dogs.
Who wouldn't keep those two?
Look at 'em.


Now the chickens on the other hand.

They died.
Hawks and dogs.
May their little chicken souls rest in peace.
I will get some more chickens.
They are just such lovely creatures.

Oh, and did you know, Salami has the most wonderful sunsets.
I didn't.
In Hawaii we were in perpetual search of that elusive Hawaiian sunset
Always too late, too early, in traffic, wrong side of the island, wrong side of the mountain, storm moving in.
Never found it.
First night in Salami- orange and purple and pink sunset.
Amazing.
I wish I had a picture of that.
Just close your eyes and imagine it.
You can do it.


You probably wonder why I moved from first place to the second place.
That first house is me, in house form.
Why would I leave?
Is it because Husband and I have nomadic spirits that cannot be tamed?
Perhaps.
Actually, we moved for him to start his own practice.
Staying in our house would have been one long commute.
And I support him in whatever it is he does.
I'd follow him wherever he wants to go.
Ends of the earth.
Literally.
Here's proof. 

(This is my second to last hike.
Also known as my first hike.)

writer's block, photo shoots, oblivious runners, hiking, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I have a fantastic amount of writer's block.... maybe my writer has been blocked for four months or so....since May maybe.  

I did not even know what to write about for this, my first post since my writer was unblocked. 

 But then, inspiration struck. 

 Like a ton of pool balls.  

So in May, Husband and I went to Hawaii.  

We went to do a little modeling photo shoot on the beach. 

 We do stuff like that.  

Craziest thing happened.

Right before we went to down to the water for our photo shoot our entire plan was foiled.

Apparently these two characters had the same idea.

I'm really glad the waves weren't any bigger.  

I would have hated if she had been knocked over.  

Especially while she wasn't looking.  

In the interest of full disclosure, I wasn't really going to do a photo shoot on the beach.  

That'd be silly.

That's also not the reason we went to Hawaii.

We went to see our friends A and A get married.

That's A and A.  

And their photographer.  

And an oblivious, sweaty, running man.  

Oh, I would be remiss if I did not mention the other reason we went to Hawaii.  

To do some scary hiking.  

If you know me, you know I detest love hiking. 

 And by love I mean it makes me want to vomit and also die.  

Also, it makes me cry.  

Like a baby.  

But that is only because I feel like dying. 

 And falling of the side of a mountain to my death is a scary thought.  

So while we were on this hike I was doing okay and only sort of feeling like dying.  

Then it started to rain.  

So I started to cry. 

 Because when it rains,  it gets muddy and then it gets slippery.  

And when it gets slippery its so much scarier, you know cause you can easily slip off the mountain and fall to your death.

This is after the rain.  

Also after the crying. 

 But before the after- hike drinks that were required to soothe the nerves.  

There must always be after- hike drinks.  

Cheers to my last hike!

(And by last I mean, the last one I shall ever do...unless you are speaking of a hike in terms of a slow walk along a wide meandering path...then I may consider the hike...but only if there is after-hike wine)

Unrelated to the great photos above.

Husband thinks you need a full update on what I've done (with pictures) the last 4 months.

Yes, no?