We are now living in Bend in our new little cottage-style house. The house wasn't quite finished when we moved in. Kitchen drawers, a shower door, a bathroom mirror, cabinet glass were missing as well as some wall paint, closet inserts, closet drawers, light fixtures and all the landscaping and fencing. But in we moved because either we moved in or we headed to a hotel for our generous rental situation had come to a close.
In we moved while an army of contractors marched about the house, mostly finishing the unfinished details. While R and I experienced some excitement as we reacquainted ourselves with the belongings we'd sent to storage nine months before ("I remember that" at times one of us would exclaim as well as "Geez, I don't remember that. Did you buy that?"), the most exciting moving day event was the delivery of our new bed. As someone who has slept in a wide variety of beds over the year-- well 71 beds exactly if I don't count the bed on the ship in Baja or one in a Seal Beach hotel .....I know what constitutes a good bed. This new bed is excellent. It is dreamy, comfortable, gives and supports in just the right places, and is enormous. I've dressed it in new Egyptian cotton sheets, smooth, cool, soft, and luxurious and wrapped it all in a fluffy, allergen free comforter. I love the bed. It is ours and it is stationary.
Stationary? When did that benign word become so foul? The stationary part bothers me. I have fallen for a bed that doesn't travel and already doubt that this special new love is strong enough to hold me in place for now. Comfortable, dreamy new beds are no cure for itchy feet. Oh well.
Happily, the gap year continues, at least until June. Small adventures await -- a road trip to Tucson for Spring cycling, a family celebration in Palm Springs. Then bigger adventures follow -- a transatlantic cruise with stops in Spain, France, and Italy and land travels in Italy including a cycling tour in Puglia and another possibly in France.
What a year. Most of it far better, more interesting, more enlivening, more engaging then I'd ever imagined. Some of it, like the almost daily scrambling for a place to stay in July as we traveled during summer's high season was unpredictably challenging. We made it. It was a transition. Biggest lesson from the year is that all of life is a transition, if you are lucky. Because that means you are moving forward. That also means you'll have lots of new experiences that in many ways mirror the first day of kindergarten -- new place, possibly scary new people, many of whom are way taller than you, unclear expectations, mysterious rules for performing. And figuring out, in that delicate, intuitive manner most of us employ who might make a good friend. Luckily, this time, however, you'll have lots of previous life experiences to guide you.
Has life as a 24/7 couple been......challenging? You bet. I imagine that R had no idea the length of time I can be annoying. I never knew he could sit quietly for such long stretches working on financial analysis. He never knew that I need a far amount of silence each day in order to settle my mind. While we knew we were prone to power struggles, who knew every request for directions (and we've managed lots and lots of directions over the year) potentially could dissolve into a battle of who knows-the-best-way-to-go. We've learned to name the struggle and attempt to collaborate around directions. All this is amusing since I'm directionally challenged and R is easily disorganized. We've both confirmed that while cities are wonderful places to visit, nothing beats nature for calming the soul and putting one's place in the world in perspective. And we've both learned to bite our tongues during certain times. That is good relationship advice.
We are both extremely grateful for the past nine months and feel blessed to have had these experiences -- together.
Now on to 2015. We have some planning to do and today there is a cross-country ski lesson with my name on it waiting for me at Mt. Bachelor.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for a Healthy New Year. Life is Short. Get Moving!
