See, there's a couple different possibilities which would lead to my husband needing to move back to Ohio. There's always the fear that the recession will eat his job and he'll need a new one at a different company. And there are no jobs for his particular speciality down here. I'm not going to go in to it too deeply, but Memphis is a third-tier market with only a handful of his positions, and they don't open up very often, and they're not ideal for him anyway. Anyway, I've been coming to grips with the probability that we'll be packing up and moving away pretty soon.
Tuesday I got down about it. Felt very sorry for myself - why can't things work out like I think I want, I'm going to freeze to death next winter, I'm going to have to take another bar exam, I'll lose my friends and my beautiful southern countryside, blah blah blah. I sniveled for a while and went out and rode Champ. He's my emotional rock, whether he likes it or not.
We had a lovely ride. It was a very foggy grey day. The first big lake had a small flock of mallards, who took off and squawked away, and two Canada geese, who honked and swam in circles and completely captivated Cersei. We continued on, all the way back to the deer shooting field off the back corner of the property, and it looked otherworldly. Champ grazed happily on the green grass while I took some pictures.
The big cottonwoods by the creek are covered in kudzu vines, like shackled giants.
Fuzzy horizon.
Cersei snurfled around the kudzu at the edge of the creek. A minute after I took this, she turned up an armadillo. My very first live armadillo! It was completely unfazed by her - it took two steps and tumbled down the edge of the creek. She growled at it and sniffed where it had been and stared over the edge for a while, then we moved on.
We grazed our way to the end of the green grass, then I thought I'd canter Champ back to the tree line. As always, he had other ideas, and when I asked him to speed up he gaited back toward home. He lives to do the opposite of what I ask, sigh!
Back at the skeet shooting lake, Cersei started not one but TWO deer. I swear, I think deer know exactly how long hunting season is. Before the season, I'd see 2-3 a week, but during hunting season I was lucky to hear a deer a week. Now, two days after the season closed, I saw two big deer from 50 feet away!
By the time we got back, I felt a lot better. Accept the things I cannot change, most people never manage to move anywhere even when they want to, it'll be an adventure, etc. I still get a little overwhelmed thinking about the logistics of a possible move, but if it happens, I'll deal.
Yesterday was the big Ice Storm. Well, it, uh, didn't. I mean there was a little snow on the ground, so the schools were closed, but no real ice. Graham's car had a 4" icicle hanging off the bumper, but that was the biggest piece of ice I saw. It never got cold enough for the ground to freeze. The cats were furious about the snow - they spent all morning in the windows, glaring outside and twitching their tails. They'd look over at us occasionally, but I'm not sure if they wanted us to let them out to investigate or somehow magically make the snow disappear. We did neither.
I got a book from the library that's waaaay beyond my abilities, but I'm enjoying it anyway. Advanced Dressage, by Anthony Crossley. The review of the fundamentals (legs, seat, hands, etc) was helpful for me, and at least I'll know what yall are talking about when you discuss the fine differences between shoulders-in and leg yielding. I'm thinking about buying the previous book, Training the Young Horse.
One of the sadder things I have seen was a Canada goose mourning its mate that had been hit by a car on the highway. The poor thing was frantic, and very likely to be hit by a car itself. When David drove by the next day it was lying beside its dead companion at the side of the road. He pulled over to see whether it was injured and in need of help, but it evaded him.
ReplyDeleteI know that moving is hard, especially when it's not what you want. But take solace in the fact that you have each other, you have your health and that Graham is likely to have a job in these hard times. It could be better, but it could be much worse.
resti: the rest needed after getting testy
Wow dp, that is terrible.
ReplyDeleteNice pics funder!
Moving sucks, I know. If it makes you feel any better I am due to leave Hawaii in October but still don't know where I'm going next. How fun is that? Me, my husband, Klein mare, and all our crap have to travel not only across the pacific but we don't even know where yet.
Ohh, that is really sad, DP. The two in the pond were definitely a mated pair. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel better about the (potential) moving thing already. It'll be an adventure, which is one of my prime motivators in life. As long as I have my husband, mah dawg, my horse(s), and The Internet, anywhere is home.
Stacey - obviously you'll ship Klein and bring your dog, but what are yall going to do about your vehicles? Sell them on the island or ship them to the mainland? Graham's dad (Navy) was stationed out of Hawaii in the early 80s, and I think Graham said they bought a car on the island and sold it when they left. Of course, they weren't leaving behind a DSM - I still miss my Eclipse!