574 you can't buy happiness



Guys, it's been a while since I've had the impulse to tell a story. There have been a few flashes of possibilities, but nothing has had that urgency to commit.


This has me concerned. Mostly, I've chalked it up to moving. More pressing concerns. Real world stuff needing to get done. 


There have been many great "moving" stories told. Grapes of Wrath, Stranger in a Strange Land, Desert Solitude. I suppose if I set my mind to it, I could come up with such a story about me, and this place.


There would be stories of the people we've met, mostly retired age skiers, and liberals hiding in plain sight. There would definitely be some material about what is like to live among hostile ideologues, loving Christians who support gun rights and freedom while fearing mass shootings and drag shows, who drive big pickups and eat empty calories, who hate entitlements while collecting social security. Who chase after you in those big pickup trucks because you crossed their property while walking your dogs. 


There would be lots of confusion about how to live your values in a small rural town. This is not suburbia, but it has some of the same issues, sometimes worse. Car dependency. Lack of resources. Lack of culture. No curbside recycling, no city composting.


It's not yet a story of learning radical independence and self-reliance. We're buying our vegetables at Safeway. We even gave Walmart a shot. (Holy shit, talk about empty calories.)


Well now that I'm writing, I guess I'm recognizing one issue: not writing. Maybe that's where the lack of story telling impulse is coming from. Not doing. 


And maybe that's ok. Maybe this is where I'm at. Looking about, learning, wondering what's up. What have we gotten into?


Maybe it's just March and where I'm used to spring and a heat wave or two, we're getting more snow. Maybe things take time. Maybe I've got more going on that I haven't talked about, because I'm not ready to, or I just don't want to share it. 


The struggle is real. Some days feel awesome, some days I've got my first cold in three years and spent the day haggling with my brother (the new single dad, but that's another story!) over one percentage point.


All the while, enjoying incredible abundance. Love. Support. Good health. Being thankful that while I'm being unproductive, watching reality TV in the morning, I can! 


Understanding that this is the winter, my very first *cold, snowy* winter in a long, long time. And the seasons require some respect. They have their own way of doing things. And winter, that's about hibernating. Resting. Taking it easy.


The busy long days of spring and summer, they're coming. They will find me, and fill my days with projects and to-do lists and getting out and seeing the world.


At which point I will look back wistfully and say, "Remember last winter, when all I had to do all day was watch The Great House Revival?"

(That's my brother above, with his son Nicolas, born via surrogacy. It's a new world.)

Thanks for stopping by.

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