Revising my life as I revise my writing: listening for meaning, considering, honing. Tossing out what doesn't work, keeping and strengthening what does.
Susan I feel your pain as I also thought I would spend the rest of my life in my home with the blue gate..I still miss going thru that gate..May your health improve and you adore your new home and landscape
Dianne, I thought of you as I lovingly scraped and repainted the gate, repaired the latch and gave the hinges a boost so it doesn't sag. And the new owner is someone I think you would appreciate, another woman of experience who is interesting, creative and loves the house. Thanks for your gracious good wishes. May Bozeman be a blessing to you even if it isn't what you imagined for yourself.
Thank you, Courtney. I have lived with Lupus for more than four decades by adapting my life to manage the symptoms. Sometimes the changes I've made have been minor, sometimes large and difficult, as this one has been. But I am determined to live well with what I have, and that is what gives me resilience. And really, I am fortunate: I have a cabin by a river for now, and a home to move to eventually. That is more than so many have. Blessings to you.
Susan, How wonderful that you made this difficult decision to take care of your health by moving to a more suitable but still beautiful environment. You are a model for us all. I wish good neighbors for you and Arabella! Love, Carolyn
Dear Carolyn, Thank you for your kind and loving words. I know it's been a hard year for you, and I hope that the weight pressing you down lifts, and you find lightness returning to your days. I'm sending a warm hug your way.
Jeannie! Thanks for reading and commenting and for that lovely benediction. I am feeling better already, and that makes me realize how long I have gradually been losing energy and living with heart-fatigue. But wait, can't I rest in peace after I'm dead? (Hah!) Hugs to you!
Thank you, Nalini. I lived in Salida for almost 20 years, but now I have to live slightly lower because of my heart-lung issues from a life of adapting to Lupus. But to live in these landscapes at all is such a gift! Enjoy your mountain home. Blessings!
Susan, I am so glad you have landed safely and are already enjoying an improvement in how you feel. I resonant strongly with your comment about revising your life and the gratitude you feel for being alive and the chance to start anew. I am currently calling the recovery I must make after Helene a reset. I was lucky with only a large tree landing on my home. I am lucky that my adjustment is only to a home that is chaotic and a mess and damaged. It is a big inconvenience and stressful, and I am alive and in the end, I lost little. With all that, I can recover and I have the opportunity to reset and start anew. I am lucky and I am deeply deeply grateful. I am grateful you have found a new home and will find a new rhythm. Much love your way.
Dear Susan, Your resilience is an inspiration. To see the opportunity in having a tree fall on your home in Hurricane Helene is amazing and also inspiring. I know that this has been a grueling month for you, and I have a sense of how painful it must be not just to have your house be partly crushed, but to live in Swannanoa with the devastation there.... I am glad you have the opportunity to fix your place and that you can see it as a new start. Know that I'm thinking of you and sending love and strength as you coordinate repairs, sort through your stuff and shower at the temporary station in the Ingles parking lot. May the support continue to flow into your community and your life, and may the recovery-marathon bring you all the gift of a stronger, more resilient community. Hugs to you.
I’m a few years older than you and am also contemplating a move. So I appreciate your sharing of this experience. I’m familiar with Montrose from ski trips to Telluride when my son lived there. Including waking up one time after an overnight snowstorm, to whiteness under a bluebird sky. A glorious moment. I hope you love your new home!
Hi, Andy, I can highly recommend Montrose (and this is my second time here). It's still reasonably affordable and the community has really worked to provide walking trails, a clean river, and other outdoor amenities, plus the cultural scene and social amenities. The hospital, still non-profit, is highly regarded and has a slew of specialty clinics associated with it, so medical care is very good for a town of its size. Telluride is gorgeous, of course, but who can afford to live there? (Unless perhaps you happen to have a lot more money than most of us!) At any rate, I hope you make a good decision for you and whether you move or not, you thrive. Blessings.
Dear Amazing Cheryl, Thank you for taking the time to read and comment with avian metaphors! My wings are tired right now, but they still carry me. Much love to you. :)
So glad the bird has landed. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to start the physical moving part myself. And glad the Christmas cactus made it. Gives me hope for all of my plants. See you in the general vicinity soon. Enjoy and take deep breaths.
Susan, What's your timeline? (Or do you have one yet?) I hope your house sells smoothly and well, and that the moving is as non-stressful as possible. I am just happy to be close to being settled, even if most of my stuff is in storage for the next month! I have only two houseplants, Arabella the 68-year-old Christmas cactus, and Pedro, a three-foot-tall columnar sacred cactus from Peru. I moved both of them in my truck, Pedro wrapped in a cardboard tube to protect his stems (and my hands), and they both made it through. I wish the same for your plants! And let me know when you are in the area, so we can meet IRL. :)
Nothing yet. Stressful with people going through the house. I’ve only had it listed about eight days. I thought we would rent for two or three months so we can explore and find what we like. What kind of a home did you find? I am looking for small with lots of windows and plenty of room for all my books. lol. My sister wants to live in grand junction so we won’t be living together. (She’s been up here with me for about four years helping me with dad and then all my surgeries ). I’m headed for one of the mountain towns. I will keep you informed. Stay well and get some rest.
Oh, the stress of lookers and keeping the place clean and tidy and all that--my sympathy! It's no fun at all. Renting for a couple of months is a good option. I don't think Montrose will be cheaper than Boise, but I don't know for sure. And there are plenty of smaller houses (depending on your definition of small, of course). I was looking for newish, not a project at all, in a quiet neighborhood, a shady front and back porch, and walking distance to the River Trail and my usual round of errands (Natural Grocers, Home Depot, etc). I got most of that, spent a little more than I was hoping for, but I'm pleased. When you get closer, if you want a recommendation of a real estate agent who I've worked with three times and like very much, let me know. (She covers Montrose, Delta, Hotchkiss and Paonia.) May a buyer surface soon!
Sounds like it went as smoothly as possible, yayy! I picked up on your little mention of waking up feeling good—what a marvelous gift, and I hope the land and the lower altitude keep on nourishing you. But that temporary housing + storage routine—I know how hard that one is! Wishing you patience and invigorating morning walks for the next month, and a smooth transition to your new home. Arabella looks terrific, thank goodness. Maybe she'll even bloom soon! <3
Priscilla, There were some serious bumps, mostly with the buyer's mortgage lender, but all resolved well. And the move itself really was quite smooth. Of course, there's the final move from the storage unit the house in a bit over a month, but that at least is only a few miles, not six and a half hours over mountain passes and winding down narrow canyons with a load that doesn't need lots of sharp curves! I am looking at the cabin stay as a working vacation, a time to breathe, and as you say, take invigorating (or even ambling) morning walks. Just to be here and appreciate my good fortune in waking up next to a river every day. As for Arabella, she already has buds. :) Hugs to you!
I am so glad to hear that you arrived at your new home safely. Having been through several moves in my lifetime I know well what it feels like to arrive home.
I have now lived in my current apartment for nine years. It is located two blocks from Puget Sound, with Mt. Baker, a stratovolcano, to the north. Occasionally whales can be seen and Orcas have passed by (I even saw them once from the fishing pier!) When I first came Lynda was with me, but she had to move to a homecare facility three years ago and now I am alone.
Last night I looked out to see if it was clear enough to see the aurora and met with three old friends- the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair - the summer triangle! I thought about starlit nights when I was alone under a dark sky in the spring when Orion dominated. The sweet smell of orange blossoms and as the spring came, the call of toads from the canals above Somerton, Arizona. Heralding the rising of the summer triangle and eventually the center of the galaxy in Scorpius and Sagittarius. Blissful nights! But not a very good place to live! Hot and humid and surrounded by the same orange groves that produced the intoxicating smell of late winter.
May you have blissful experiences in your new Colorado home!
Dave, Your sense of place comes through so strongly in these paragraphs. I can imagine your apartment there within smelling distance of the sound (not orange blossoms, but distinctive in itself), the view of whales and orcas, and Mt Baker in the distance. And the aurora and the stars of the Summer Triangle--what a gift to see them still in an urban area. Plus your memories of the intoxicating smell of the orange groves (heat and humidity aside), the sound of the toads calling and the stars in those very dark nights.... I hope you are writing this all down for the girls and their families to read someday. Blessings to you all.
Moving is always full of emotions and contradictions. Though it was your health that dictated the necessity of the move, your optimism for the change will carry you through the temporary disruption. And the ability to live in a place that speaks to your heart is indeed a gift. I definitely have Montrose on my radar as I consider return to an urban area.
Sue, Thanks for those wise words and for the support. I know from living with Lupus that I can't stay well unless I live in a place that speaks to my heart. That may cost me more financially, but it is so important to my overall health--physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. So it's worth the extra expense. As you consider where to go, know that I'll be happy to help with information and such. In the meantime, enjoy your place there! Blessings.
Thanks, Linda. That's been one of the big lessons of a life with Lupus. Tending my own condition means paying attention to what my heart and spirit need, because they are not separable from my body. Blessings!
All blessings to you in your new home, Susan! I know you’re in an interim home for now, but that cabin looks quite lovely. So wonderful that you are feeling better and can take long walks, it sounds like the move is already good for your physical health.
I’ll miss knowing that you’re in our ecosystem here in Northern New Mexico, but I am happy for the way this move is supporting you. And I love that you named your Christmas cactus Arabella!
Thank you so much, Maia! The cabin is really a lovely spot, and I am thinking of this as a working vacation, a time to begin to develop a relationship (again) with the river, the community and the landscape, and to just be without having to tend a house and yard. That is a blessing in itself, much as I long to be settled again.
As for Arabella, she blooms from Thanksgiving until April with sparkling magenta flowers that look like twirling ballet dancers, so Arabella seemed like the perfect name. :) Blessings to you!
Susan, I loved this post. I can picture you there. Well, your pictures help. I'm excited for you, for this new Chapter Three adventure. And such a good night's, exhausted, sleep in your little cabin -- one where you woke up happy and walked the loop -- all of it sounds so wonderful, except for the actual pack it up part. You never fail to find the gratitude and the grace, in life. Cheers to a cozy cabin at the edge of winter; to low flying hawks, dipping a wing to say hello; to a river that will sing to you if you get close enough; to fresh, clean air to fill you heart, your lungs and your sweet, sweet soul. Biggest of hugs, my friend.
Thank you, Stephanie. I have to say that the grace in living with my belongings packed into boxes is that I don't have to think about them for a while, except to occasionally wonder if I could find a particular thing or item of clothing in the storage unit, and whether it would be worth looking anyway, since I'd just have to pack up anything I unpack before I settle in the new house! Thank you for that lyrical benediction, and big hugs back to you. :)
Susan I feel your pain as I also thought I would spend the rest of my life in my home with the blue gate..I still miss going thru that gate..May your health improve and you adore your new home and landscape
Dianne, I thought of you as I lovingly scraped and repainted the gate, repaired the latch and gave the hinges a boost so it doesn't sag. And the new owner is someone I think you would appreciate, another woman of experience who is interesting, creative and loves the house. Thanks for your gracious good wishes. May Bozeman be a blessing to you even if it isn't what you imagined for yourself.
I marvel at your resilience and the beautiful new home place you've chosen. I wish you all the best with the rest of your transition!
Thank you, Courtney. I have lived with Lupus for more than four decades by adapting my life to manage the symptoms. Sometimes the changes I've made have been minor, sometimes large and difficult, as this one has been. But I am determined to live well with what I have, and that is what gives me resilience. And really, I am fortunate: I have a cabin by a river for now, and a home to move to eventually. That is more than so many have. Blessings to you.
Susan, How wonderful that you made this difficult decision to take care of your health by moving to a more suitable but still beautiful environment. You are a model for us all. I wish good neighbors for you and Arabella! Love, Carolyn
Dear Carolyn, Thank you for your kind and loving words. I know it's been a hard year for you, and I hope that the weight pressing you down lifts, and you find lightness returning to your days. I'm sending a warm hug your way.
Susan, I was thinking of you yesterday sending lots of good thoughts that your move was going smoothly. Blessings! 🙏🌀
Morgan, Thank you so much for those good thoughts. I am sure they smoothed the way! Blessings and a hug to you. :)
I love this. Now you can rest in peace—while you’re alive. Blessings will continue to follow. ❤️
Jeannie! Thanks for reading and commenting and for that lovely benediction. I am feeling better already, and that makes me realize how long I have gradually been losing energy and living with heart-fatigue. But wait, can't I rest in peace after I'm dead? (Hah!) Hugs to you!
Beautifully written. I live in Colorado too up in thr mountains. And I’m grateful for the natural beauty
Thank you, Nalini. I lived in Salida for almost 20 years, but now I have to live slightly lower because of my heart-lung issues from a life of adapting to Lupus. But to live in these landscapes at all is such a gift! Enjoy your mountain home. Blessings!
Susan, I am so glad you have landed safely and are already enjoying an improvement in how you feel. I resonant strongly with your comment about revising your life and the gratitude you feel for being alive and the chance to start anew. I am currently calling the recovery I must make after Helene a reset. I was lucky with only a large tree landing on my home. I am lucky that my adjustment is only to a home that is chaotic and a mess and damaged. It is a big inconvenience and stressful, and I am alive and in the end, I lost little. With all that, I can recover and I have the opportunity to reset and start anew. I am lucky and I am deeply deeply grateful. I am grateful you have found a new home and will find a new rhythm. Much love your way.
Dear Susan, Your resilience is an inspiration. To see the opportunity in having a tree fall on your home in Hurricane Helene is amazing and also inspiring. I know that this has been a grueling month for you, and I have a sense of how painful it must be not just to have your house be partly crushed, but to live in Swannanoa with the devastation there.... I am glad you have the opportunity to fix your place and that you can see it as a new start. Know that I'm thinking of you and sending love and strength as you coordinate repairs, sort through your stuff and shower at the temporary station in the Ingles parking lot. May the support continue to flow into your community and your life, and may the recovery-marathon bring you all the gift of a stronger, more resilient community. Hugs to you.
I’m a few years older than you and am also contemplating a move. So I appreciate your sharing of this experience. I’m familiar with Montrose from ski trips to Telluride when my son lived there. Including waking up one time after an overnight snowstorm, to whiteness under a bluebird sky. A glorious moment. I hope you love your new home!
Hi, Andy, I can highly recommend Montrose (and this is my second time here). It's still reasonably affordable and the community has really worked to provide walking trails, a clean river, and other outdoor amenities, plus the cultural scene and social amenities. The hospital, still non-profit, is highly regarded and has a slew of specialty clinics associated with it, so medical care is very good for a town of its size. Telluride is gorgeous, of course, but who can afford to live there? (Unless perhaps you happen to have a lot more money than most of us!) At any rate, I hope you make a good decision for you and whether you move or not, you thrive. Blessings.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’m hoping to ski in Telluride this winter (way too expensive for me also), so I’ll check out Montrose also.
Welcome home, friend. Gorgeous pics from your flight there. Those wings of yours are gorgeousl
Dear Amazing Cheryl, Thank you for taking the time to read and comment with avian metaphors! My wings are tired right now, but they still carry me. Much love to you. :)
So glad the bird has landed. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to start the physical moving part myself. And glad the Christmas cactus made it. Gives me hope for all of my plants. See you in the general vicinity soon. Enjoy and take deep breaths.
Susan, What's your timeline? (Or do you have one yet?) I hope your house sells smoothly and well, and that the moving is as non-stressful as possible. I am just happy to be close to being settled, even if most of my stuff is in storage for the next month! I have only two houseplants, Arabella the 68-year-old Christmas cactus, and Pedro, a three-foot-tall columnar sacred cactus from Peru. I moved both of them in my truck, Pedro wrapped in a cardboard tube to protect his stems (and my hands), and they both made it through. I wish the same for your plants! And let me know when you are in the area, so we can meet IRL. :)
Nothing yet. Stressful with people going through the house. I’ve only had it listed about eight days. I thought we would rent for two or three months so we can explore and find what we like. What kind of a home did you find? I am looking for small with lots of windows and plenty of room for all my books. lol. My sister wants to live in grand junction so we won’t be living together. (She’s been up here with me for about four years helping me with dad and then all my surgeries ). I’m headed for one of the mountain towns. I will keep you informed. Stay well and get some rest.
Oh, the stress of lookers and keeping the place clean and tidy and all that--my sympathy! It's no fun at all. Renting for a couple of months is a good option. I don't think Montrose will be cheaper than Boise, but I don't know for sure. And there are plenty of smaller houses (depending on your definition of small, of course). I was looking for newish, not a project at all, in a quiet neighborhood, a shady front and back porch, and walking distance to the River Trail and my usual round of errands (Natural Grocers, Home Depot, etc). I got most of that, spent a little more than I was hoping for, but I'm pleased. When you get closer, if you want a recommendation of a real estate agent who I've worked with three times and like very much, let me know. (She covers Montrose, Delta, Hotchkiss and Paonia.) May a buyer surface soon!
Thank you for this beautiful and uplifting writing. I felt like I was there with you.
Thank you, Laurie! What a lovely compliment. Blessings!
Sounds like it went as smoothly as possible, yayy! I picked up on your little mention of waking up feeling good—what a marvelous gift, and I hope the land and the lower altitude keep on nourishing you. But that temporary housing + storage routine—I know how hard that one is! Wishing you patience and invigorating morning walks for the next month, and a smooth transition to your new home. Arabella looks terrific, thank goodness. Maybe she'll even bloom soon! <3
Priscilla, There were some serious bumps, mostly with the buyer's mortgage lender, but all resolved well. And the move itself really was quite smooth. Of course, there's the final move from the storage unit the house in a bit over a month, but that at least is only a few miles, not six and a half hours over mountain passes and winding down narrow canyons with a load that doesn't need lots of sharp curves! I am looking at the cabin stay as a working vacation, a time to breathe, and as you say, take invigorating (or even ambling) morning walks. Just to be here and appreciate my good fortune in waking up next to a river every day. As for Arabella, she already has buds. :) Hugs to you!
So Glad that Arabella approves!! I wish for the walks you take ,as I live in a city. But local parks do as well.
I am so glad to hear that you arrived at your new home safely. Having been through several moves in my lifetime I know well what it feels like to arrive home.
I have now lived in my current apartment for nine years. It is located two blocks from Puget Sound, with Mt. Baker, a stratovolcano, to the north. Occasionally whales can be seen and Orcas have passed by (I even saw them once from the fishing pier!) When I first came Lynda was with me, but she had to move to a homecare facility three years ago and now I am alone.
Last night I looked out to see if it was clear enough to see the aurora and met with three old friends- the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair - the summer triangle! I thought about starlit nights when I was alone under a dark sky in the spring when Orion dominated. The sweet smell of orange blossoms and as the spring came, the call of toads from the canals above Somerton, Arizona. Heralding the rising of the summer triangle and eventually the center of the galaxy in Scorpius and Sagittarius. Blissful nights! But not a very good place to live! Hot and humid and surrounded by the same orange groves that produced the intoxicating smell of late winter.
May you have blissful experiences in your new Colorado home!
Dave, Your sense of place comes through so strongly in these paragraphs. I can imagine your apartment there within smelling distance of the sound (not orange blossoms, but distinctive in itself), the view of whales and orcas, and Mt Baker in the distance. And the aurora and the stars of the Summer Triangle--what a gift to see them still in an urban area. Plus your memories of the intoxicating smell of the orange groves (heat and humidity aside), the sound of the toads calling and the stars in those very dark nights.... I hope you are writing this all down for the girls and their families to read someday. Blessings to you all.
Susan,
Moving is always full of emotions and contradictions. Though it was your health that dictated the necessity of the move, your optimism for the change will carry you through the temporary disruption. And the ability to live in a place that speaks to your heart is indeed a gift. I definitely have Montrose on my radar as I consider return to an urban area.
Sue, Thanks for those wise words and for the support. I know from living with Lupus that I can't stay well unless I live in a place that speaks to my heart. That may cost me more financially, but it is so important to my overall health--physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. So it's worth the extra expense. As you consider where to go, know that I'll be happy to help with information and such. In the meantime, enjoy your place there! Blessings.
I love your comment, "I can't stay well unless I live in a place that speaks to my heart".
Thanks, Linda. That's been one of the big lessons of a life with Lupus. Tending my own condition means paying attention to what my heart and spirit need, because they are not separable from my body. Blessings!
All blessings to you in your new home, Susan! I know you’re in an interim home for now, but that cabin looks quite lovely. So wonderful that you are feeling better and can take long walks, it sounds like the move is already good for your physical health.
I’ll miss knowing that you’re in our ecosystem here in Northern New Mexico, but I am happy for the way this move is supporting you. And I love that you named your Christmas cactus Arabella!
Thank you so much, Maia! The cabin is really a lovely spot, and I am thinking of this as a working vacation, a time to begin to develop a relationship (again) with the river, the community and the landscape, and to just be without having to tend a house and yard. That is a blessing in itself, much as I long to be settled again.
As for Arabella, she blooms from Thanksgiving until April with sparkling magenta flowers that look like twirling ballet dancers, so Arabella seemed like the perfect name. :) Blessings to you!
Susan, I loved this post. I can picture you there. Well, your pictures help. I'm excited for you, for this new Chapter Three adventure. And such a good night's, exhausted, sleep in your little cabin -- one where you woke up happy and walked the loop -- all of it sounds so wonderful, except for the actual pack it up part. You never fail to find the gratitude and the grace, in life. Cheers to a cozy cabin at the edge of winter; to low flying hawks, dipping a wing to say hello; to a river that will sing to you if you get close enough; to fresh, clean air to fill you heart, your lungs and your sweet, sweet soul. Biggest of hugs, my friend.
Thank you, Stephanie. I have to say that the grace in living with my belongings packed into boxes is that I don't have to think about them for a while, except to occasionally wonder if I could find a particular thing or item of clothing in the storage unit, and whether it would be worth looking anyway, since I'd just have to pack up anything I unpack before I settle in the new house! Thank you for that lyrical benediction, and big hugs back to you. :)