“If you don’t know where you are going any road can take you there.”

The Chesire Cat … Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Ha!

I do not know where I am going, but I had such enlightenment after writing yesterday’s post and then responding to Margaret’s comment.

All of the “what to do, what to do” rolling around in my head has given way to looking forward, with EXCITEMENT, to what might lie ahead.

And also, to focusing on enjoying NOW … enjoying each moment in my current home, with Emmett, in this time of Spring and the renewal of life that Spring suggests.

From Margaret’s comment: “exciting times ahead … “

YES!!

I know that many approach change with trepidation and I am not entirely immune, but mostly I tend to embrace change with excitement … what might happen, what adventures might I have, what new things might I learn ???

Perspective is everything!

From my response to Margaret:

The good … actually GREAT news is that I likely have a lot of flexibility. Because of COVID and people transitioning to remote working and people WANTING to be rural-ish … property values in my area have skyrocketed. So, whether I sell or re-organize, I will be in good shape $$$-wise.

The trick, as always, is “what do I want?”

BUT, the other great news and exciting times ahead is that if I do sell, Emmett and I will board Wild Thing and explore. My thought is that if I sell and it IS a seller’s market in the Mountain West U.S. which is where I will stay … then we will live in Wild Thing and explore some other locations until the housing market cools a bit and then …. ????

I will post more on the blog, but my current situation is a consequence of my choices through the years. Through much life experience, I am somewhat prepared to deal with various uncertainties and enjoy each day :) i.e. “one day at a time” and enjoy “NOW” while in the midst of making decisions.

There you go. For me, the road home, is any road that takes me there … where “there” is, I do not know, but I am so looking forward to the trip!

My trip will be one day at a time, one moment at a time … enjoying each day whatever it might bring.

Once I changed my focus from needing to DECIDE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW, I was able to revert to taking one step at a time and understanding that I did NOT need to decide everything right now. I am gathering information, exploring options … all of the while realizing that there are many things I can do and really, they all sound very exciting to me!

Kind of crazy … for many, many years, I started my mornings with the day’s reading from Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest. After some time of NOT doing that, several days ago, somewhat in desperation, I opened my copy to the day’s reading which was captioned: “Gracious Uncertainty”. Good Grief!!

And from today’s reading:

The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. 

Oswald Chambers … My Utmost for HIs Highest

The road home.

When I bought my house … on the road home … almost 15 years ago (GASP!!), I planned to sell it when I was 65 and use the equity to partially fund my retirement.

I say “planned” VERY loosely. I have never been a great one to plan.

But, my 65th birthday fell during the pandemic AND property values were not what I had hoped and there was no real need so …

Now, though, as I approach 66, there is some need based on my original purchase decisions. And I must make some decisions.

Currently, I am working with financial folks as well as thinking about what I want to do.

It is not clear cut thinking at all!!

I have lived in this house, on this property, with beloved pets … for nearly 15 years. That is longer than I have lived in any house, on any property in my entire life!

Still.

It is a house and a piece of land and my prior experience is that although it was difficult to leave places that I loved and enjoyed, I have been fortunate that the next place has been wonderful and more enjoyable.

So.

I am entering a period of thinking about what to do. This kept me awake for the last several nights … NOT helpful.

But, last night, in the wakeful hours, I remembered something from somewhere: “Do the next right thing”. Right, then. That thought gave me peace and I slept.

Today, I put in motion some things that will give me the information that I need to do the next right thing.

The next right thing.

Really, that is all any of us can ever do!

Happy Friday to all!

Time flies … fun or not … and now it is May, 2021 !!

We did not have “April Showers” at all!

But the woods ignored the lack of showers and turned green, anyway.

Meanwhile …

Emmett is not particularly happy about this setup…

But it was for a good cause: painting the trim around the new front door.

Just the first coat. A 2nd coat is needed and then some touch up of the light gray, but I am happy with the progress.

I am also happy with progress in the yard. THAT, is the last load of the autumn/winter/spring yard cleanup … as of now.

Holy Cow!!! The neighbors did some cleanup and put several stumps in our path. Emmett and I both noticed :)

Inside … a new recipe: Olive Sourdough. A loaf with both Castlevetrano olives AND olive oil…

YUM! I have enjoyed this with tuna fish, tomato-cheese, toasted with a schmear of butter … a great bread!

It is May, 2021!

Since I began this blog, in June 2007, I have lost 2 dogs: Karl (cancer) and Bear (old age), and 2 cats: Bob (age and illness) and Auggie (to a cowardly, soul-less human in a truck).

Prior to blogging, but while in Montana, I lost another dog and cat: Zack (cancer) and Gus (probably mountain lion).

Each loss has had its own unique path of grief and … recovery. Recovery is not quite the right word. There is forever a “hole” in the heart for the lost one and forever a place of love and happy memory.

Auggie’s loss has been particularly brutal for me. Auggie was such a beautiful creature: beautiful in body and spirit … affectionate as well as an avid hunter and a unique personality.

No, I am not in deep depths of despair and most of my days are spent in joyous time with Emmett, in this house and woods that I love, doing work that I enjoy, baking, cooking, crafting … but there are times … there are times when I miss Auggie so very much and have to fight a raging anger over a person taking him as well as a heartbreaking sense of loss that he is not here with Emmett and me.

There is one of those statistics about cats that go outside … something along the line of average life span being 3 years.

Auggie was 7 years and 6 months old when he died. He beat the “odds”, but I cannot say that that is any consolation. I have said to myself, whenever I have had a cat … a cat that WANTS to be outside … that it is better that they live their desired life, even if shortened … and I do really believe that, but as a human caretaker and lover of my pets, it is not easy when the worst happens.

I have had a dog and a cat most of my time in Montana.

I don’t know.

Right now, I am mostly peaceful about my household being Emmett and me.

I have looked at the shelter cats and dogs and tried to imagine adding …

At the moment … No.

Emmett and I have been in the woods and on the state land as much as we can.

The walking is good on the game trails. Vegetation is low and we are taking advantage…

And last week, the weather was cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon … perfect for our out and about jaunts.

The green roof is actually my neighbor’s work shop. My house is obscured by trees and the end marker (red square). This top view looks very tree’d in, but in reality it is fairly open.

We have been taking advantage of the good walking and low vegetation because as the vegetation fills in, it becomes difficult to see things like, you know, bears. I always have bear spray and I keep a sharp eye out for movement of any sort. FWP (Fish Wildlife Parks) noted some weeks ago that bears were out and about.

Crazy enough, these bears were not out on the state land, but 40 feet from the “office end” of my house.

Sunday morning, about 6:50 a.m., the motion detector at the end of my driveway went off. I didn’t see a vehicle or hear the midway detector … but then, Emmett ran to the window and barked and … 2 of these three were “standing” against a tree just off the edge of the side yard.

After a little indecisive dance: watch/go get camera … I got camera and phone and thankfully got a few photos as well as called my neighbors. I know neighbor Mike walks out to get their newspaper in the morning and I wanted to let him know.

I do not have the makings of either a wildlife photographer OR a great eye witness :( … The three bears “seemed” like 3 adults and I even imagined Grizzly humps … RATS.

Not a great photo, but it is fairly easy to see that the front bear is Mama and the “cubs”, albeit LARGE cubs are smaller and they are “black bears”.

So much for my powers of observation. I am thankful that I did get a couple of photos that were recognizable and in thinking of the number of bad/blurry/too light/too dark bear photos over the years … I gave myself a head thump and instead of leaving my camera in Manual mode, am leaving it in Auto mode … so I can pick it up and shoot. It has only taken me 16 years to figure that out. I normally shoot in Manual, but that is when I have time to think.

So … hopefully … next wildlife opportunity, I might get better photos.

Just a few notes about bears … these, as well as any that I have ever encountered, want as little to do with up close to me as I do to them. These 3 took off when Emmett’s barking escalated … even though we were in the house with windows closed. The danger comes from surprising a bear or coming between Mama and cubs … generally. So, while I definitely keep watch for our safety and out of respect for the wildlife, I don’t fret (too much :) ). I will admit that after seeing these three, I have been EXTREMELY watchful, but the other thing … I do not have any food stuff around my house. Although, they are technically Omnivores, they tend to eat mostly fruit and vegetables … plus wasps, hornets, honey, i.e. humans and dogs and cats are not on their preferred meal list so the thought that they might be hunting us is not accurate. Even though I have seen a number of bears at this house, they are “pass through” bears. There is nothing to keep them here. They are moving higher/lower depending on the season.

So.

Emmett and I went out about 45 minutes after the bears left. I wanted to see what Emmett would do. He went immediately to where they had been and followed their scent.

I kept Emmett from going near the road and we didn’t follow off the property to our West, but it was very interesting to watch Emmett detect their path.

I could not see what they were interested in up the tree. My only guess is that maybe there was an old wasp nest that they could smell ???

Later…

Yes, it snowed! I wonder if the bears thought they maybe should have slept in a bit longer …

Into and out of … the woods!