This has certainly been a strange year. Winter moved quietly into Spring and Spring blended it's self into the early days of Summer. We've dealt with unusually high temperatures, little rain (for the Pacific Northwest), horrible fires and, of course, the pandemic. But today as I look out my window I see Fall.
This has been a year for the record books. As we try to deal with the pandemic, staying on top of all the finances. We're in the process of refinancing our house and now fires.
Last Monday we had heavy winds in Oregon. We had a rather large tree branch fall into our front pond - big enough to need to be cut before we could move it. There are branches and grapes all over our backyard.
And then there are the fires. Those heavy winds fuel existing wild fires and turned them into an almost apocalyptic scene.
I've been thinking a lot about getting older and being closer to the end of the journey than the beginning. My husband is 11 years older than me and I think about what he must be pondering. Time seems to have passed so quickly.
I just read an article on the Geo-Punk Project, What kind of ancestor do you want to become? I never considered that I will, someday, be someone's ancestor. Will they know who I am? What did I leave in my wake? What will my legacy be?
I have no children I birthed. I don't know if my step-children will consider me in their family legacy. I hope so. But what is it that I want to be remembered for?
I've spent some time thinking about this. I want to be remembered as someone who cared. My family and the people around me matter. I hope that throughout my life I've demonstrated that. But I also want to be someone who allows myself to have my own thoughts and values and doesn't allow others to devalue or shame those ideals. I want to set the example for my children and grand-children and great-grandchildren, that it's not only OK to stand up for yourself, it's sometimes necessary. But I also want to be the example of how to disagree with respect.
It's been awhile. I can't believe I haven't written anything for awhile. I'm still in captivity. My husband has serious respiratory problems and his doctor has said I need to stay sheltering in place. He's my world so I'm following directions to keep him safe.
I've spent the last few months trying to reclaim our yard. The previous owners planted ivy and bamboo, two incredibly invasive plants. Fast forward twenty years and our yard was nothing but bamboo and ivy. We have two ponds that were connected by a creek that was totally surrounded by bamboo and it leaked! It's time to go!
