Fire in two minutes

Driving to Camp my attention was drawn to a podcast as I watched the road but something in my vision wasn't quite right. I wasn't totally aware of what it was, but once I realized it was the charred hillside, a few swears escaped and I had to pull over to take it all in. 

Granted, these mountains aren't green - ever - but to see them black was overwhelming. I knew there had been a fire, and I knew I would see the burn scar as I drove through the area, I just didn't realize how it would look and the physical effect (times up) would be, it was like the wind being knocked out of me. I'm not sure this pano-photo does it justice, but I would estimate what I captured is about a mile along the river plus it goes up and over the hill for who knows how far. People and animals all displaced for who knows how long as re-building, re-planting and re-growing, physically and spiritually happens.

Camping II

Hubs and daughter took the camper to Our Campground yesterday, I head up tomorrow - darn the luck of working weekends. Unfortunately our air quality SUCKS due to a massive wildfire. 

175,000 acres M A S S I V E (but that's another two minutes).

Things I want from my days at camp: walks - with or without hubs, into town with the new dog maybe getting a ride back to camp? Quiet time - (times up) as in, out on the lake on my paddle board, or even sitting by the beach alone with my coffee, wine, beer, whatever. To read - I'd like to spend some time reading. To disconnect - mama-mia do I need to disconnect. Leave the phone in the trailer the end. (I should check once a day to make sure my other kid doesn't need something.)

Garden II in two minutes

 I can grow stuff. This is a late planted garden because I realized I would have the time this summer. Cabbage, green and red onion, beets, lettuce, carrots, sage, parsley, basil, cosmos, and other stuff I cant think of right now. All in all doing well. But I planted things I don't know how to eat, and then I went to a swing shift so I don'

t cook and all these gorgeous herbs are going to waste (times up) so I decided to dry them and now I have dried thyme, basil, thai basil, rosemary, sage, dill, and a few others that I need to learn how to cook with.

It is beautiful to look at tho

cucumbers, jalapeno, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin and potatoes not mentioned/pictured

also blackberry bushes producing pounds and pounds of blackberries this year!

School in two minutes

I'm sad that my daughter won't be going back to school because I am selfish and I miss time alone in the house. 

I'm glad she will be doing online classes because she will wiz through things and feel successful. 

I'm sad my son didn't have the same opportunity but I'm not sure he would have succeeded. 

I'm glad I won't have two kids doing online school to manage. 

I'm excited to see what the school year will actually look like. Hopefully it will go well and we can run smoothly (home, school, work).

I miss my alone time. 

Camping in two minutes

 We were able to pull the trailer to "our campground" for a couple days. It was really nice. I miss the lake. I miss sitting at the beach getting baked, coming home tan, I miss visiting with the Residential Row occupants, I miss yoga from last year, I miss connecting, or not, I miss hanging all day with or without the kids, I miss the comings and goings of the regular campers, I miss check in day and check out day.

Times up

Garden in two minutes

 I started a garden like most of the world in the Spring. I had the time. New job, less hours, more time. And I had the resources and support of the fam - well, the help to build the garden box and I've done the rest; moved dirt, yards and yards of dirt, procured seeds and plants, all the weeding, arranging and managing. I got a late start though so things are just now starting to be edible. I picked tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and some herbs today. (Times up)

Two Minutes

I've come into contact with the book Atomic Habits twice in the past few days. I have yet to read it, but I will. The short and sweet of what I have heard about the book is, if you want to create new habits, start with two minutes of what ever it is you're trying to do. So, two minutes of writing. Here I am.

There are lots of things on my mind, but lets talk about my visit with a friend last night. 

Even though she is twenty years younger than me (how can someone who is 30 be twenty years younger than me???) we have gotten along really well since we met back when I trained her. Notable: she was the first trainee I brought home to meet the family. I don't know why but that was just how things worked out. (PS time's up). Anyway, when I left my job back in January she is one of the handful I have missed so we were finally able to get together last night, drink margaritas and talk about all the going-ons of the past six months. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to do something similar again.

This has happened with my old work-mates only a few times. A long walk last month with one of my girls, a random visit on the front porch a couple weeks ago, and a long near-emotional hug at the chiropractors office. I miss my peeps. That has been one of the hardest parts of starting a new job, nobody gets me -yet. Plus, I was a trainee, so I really didn't get to have a personality until I was on my own-ish. The fun side anyway, I didn't need to be a distraction or be distracted by myself, if that makes sense.

So I wonder what I can do two minutes a day to create connection?

How far we have come

We have come a long way. 
And not just the 2020 shit. 
In life. This kid: 

Newborn

Senior Picture

Walking into his future (another Senior Picture)
Senior Picture photo cred: me, I took them in Winthrop last summer.
This is the one I put on his announcements with the "walking into the future" caption.

It was tough to "celebrate" graduation for several reasons - I'm not good at celebrating, we are taking the quarantine pretty seriously due to family with health issues, my new job cut into my time off. I mean, I can throw a party, but celebrating? Maybe I think too much about it. Anyway, his graduation week came and went without too much fanfare, we sat in our recliners and watched the valedictorians give their speeches, the principal leaked a tear or two during his presentation (his son was in the graduating class), and then we waited through the alphabetical listing of graduates (we are V's, so it was a wait). But all told, it was less than 90 minutes and we didn't have to park, wait, sit on a bench, wait, exit the building and all that. And then I was like "here's some cheesecake, happy graduation." Sounds lame, but my son insisted it was fine. Maybe it was. 

A few days later though, my SIL was coming to town, I had a night off and we just decided to do it. We had the family over for a BBQ, celebrated dads and grads and a birthday. It was a really  nice evening (with plenty of social distancing) and I enjoyed hosting the family at our place.

So that's that. He graduated. It was a process. This kid is the student I was. Not interested, "too smart for his own good", procrastination king. I worried until the last day if he was actually graduating. So glad the school journey is over for him. For me! Fun fact; a cousin sent him a graduation gift and included a gift FOR ME! She totally gets it! And it made an impression, I will remember to send the parents a little something going forward. :)

There is so much to be said about the past few years. I will come back to it. To this space, its been on my mind a lot. Maybe I just need an outlet. Certainly I need an outlet.