I can really feel my trip winding down here. A couple weeks ago, I actually made myself a calendar, so I could pay attention to what day it is, and fit everything in before I go. I felt like I had to do that because the truth is, I have reached a point in my trip where I go outside less, take less pictures, and have to admit to myself that I have started to take being here for granted. I've gotten used to every day being a day off, which seems to me to be a dangerous frame of mind!
What does it say about me that I think all these things mean that it's time for me to go? Even so, this place will be in the back of my mind, and a part of me will be scheming for ways to get back here and do this again. It's been such a good time for me, and I can't wait to get back, and see how it changes my perspective on my life in Seattle. I remember when we went to Europe when I was a teenager, how it suddenly seemed like everyone was so LOUD in the states (I know, I can be quite loud myself!). I'm hoping for things like that, little differences that sort-of surprise you, and give you that feeling of having stepped up to try and take a stair that isn't there. Tiny differences between what you've unwittingly come to expect, and the way things actually are.
One thing I haven't started taking for granted is the dogs. Before she left, Pam looked at Fenton's handsome mug and said "in two weeks, you are going to be sooo in love with him!" Remember what I said a while back about how I love people? How they are what creates interest in the world for me, even in their most mundane moments? Well, it's that way with these dogs too. I can start to take the hills behind the house or the golden light in the evening for granted, but the dogs really just get more interesting, the same way good people do. I'll admit that when I got here, I didn't think that Rose was the most lovable dog. Not that I ever thought she was a bad dog or anything, but she kind-of seemed like the grumpy old lady (remember the brown dog incident?) so I really didn't think I would end up playing with her, rubbing her ears, looking forward to her poking her head in my car when I get back from town, and laughing at the way she gets so happy and wags her old tail whenever I let her "sneak" into the house. But I think you all know how much I love Rose now. MaryEllen and Fenton were dogs I knew I'd love from the start.
And you have probably noticed how much the dogs have started to dominate this blog (Ali! Come back and post photos from your Seattle trip! Soon!) I suppose for most of you, this is sort-of like that obnoxious phase when a person has a new boyfriend and can't stop talking about him, how every little thing is soo CUTE! and don't you want to hear what he has to say about X, Y, or Z?
See, Pam was right? I am in love. Don't worry, though, this romance was kids at summer camp, no kissing on the lips, no tears, no talk of Commitment. Destined to be a sweet memory, but not destined to dominate this blog forever.
Anyway, it was better than a lot of talk about socks, wasn't it?
3 comments:
Get out of the blog! Get out of the blog! I am hijacking this blog! I am not ready for you to go back to the real world. I prefer Heather on retreat.
This has been a vicarious thrill for me - I've only been amazed at how accurately it all has matched my perfect fantasy of living on a ranch in Colorado with dogs. You couldn't have written a more perfect place. Perhaps I would have made Durango an hour closer, or allowed Whole Foods to deliver to your area. But other than that! Perfection! You can't go. I'm going to filibuster.
I especially have appreciated the timelessness of your ranch routine - given my jet lag factor, it is so nice to get a message from you at breakfast, before I start the school run. You're still up and I'm just getting up. It's great being half way around the world from a person who is not living in the real world.
You are right about how most people stop emailing on Fridays - and then you're stuck there in Colorado and you might as well have no electricity - there is a great news black out from the rest of the US - until people can get back to their jobs and start wasting company time! But I can count on you.
I also feel guilty that I didn't send you any real mail the whole time you were there. This would have been a great time for me to send you some Scottish cashmere and plain chocolate hob nob biscuits. But, I was never as good as your sister or Seattle friends at care packages. I must make up for that deficit in other ways.
And if you had been at work, you wouldn't have had nearly as much time as you have, to devote yourself to my peculiar dramas: what would this November have been without you?
I'm sure your Seattle life missed you while you were gone, but not as much as I, for one, will miss the Heather of the last two months, the rest of the year.
Lvoe± K
P.S. I am hoping that my adoring blog comment will earn me a pair of socks somewhere down the road. Nothing like a good pair of homemade socks to keep you warm these long cold dark damp English winters.
Oh, this might be my favorite comment ever. What size are your feet? XOXO H
yFair warning, Allison is also in love. She barely had her lips off of Joseph long enough to answer the burning question, "More wine?" He's one adorable little bobble head, so who could blame her? Dakota and Clay are the devoted uber-parents we all wish we had had, or the lucky few actually had. I won at Scrabble. I drove home in a blizzard. Enough said!
XOXO,
Mummy
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