Breathe

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It's official. We've agreed to stay in Ashland through September, which makes our stay about two weeks longer than we'd planned. Make plans, and plan to change them, right? We can't help being responsible and conscientious. It would be easier to be selfish slackers. As it is now, we'll blast out of here on October first, and get to Taos as fast as our little wheels will carry us. We have business to take care of, a house to sell, and maybe most important of all, friends to see. After a year away, I notice how much I miss our friends. We know so many people in Taos, and while only a handful -- ok, a large handful -- are actual close friends, there are so many lovely people to enjoy bumping into in town, or chatting with at parties. It's occurred to me that what I miss as much as my friends, is just knowing people. I miss knowing people in my town, and being recognized when I walk down the street or into the grocery store. We are invisible here, and it's making me sad.

I know it takes time to gather a group of friends and friendlies, and the fact that we're living out here in the park doesn't help. We haven't given up though. We have Mitzi & Ron and Serena. We have Sandra, who knew me through my beads and contacted me. Wonderful of her to do that. And now we've met Laurel and Eric because of my blog, and are going to have dinner with them this week. There is hope! If we come back here, which we will if Rick gets a permanent job with the county, we'll make the effort to get ourselves out there more and make some friends. I'm a little nervous because we never managed to do that in Seattle, even after 8 years of being very much out there running our pizza shop. Aside from a few very good friends made over time, Seattle was really hard to bust into. I hope Ashland isn't the same way, or we'll be tempted to go back to Taos.

Well, we are going back. The question is, for how long? When I'm not hyperventilating, I'm really entertained by all the little mysteries that are forming our life right now. Just have to keep smiling, keep trusting, and keep a paper bag handy. No matter what, remember to breathe.

(Thank you Health.com)

Comments

  1. LaurelAugust 24, 2010 at 4:14 PM

    When I first moved here I thought...Wow, how great! I can go to the credit union, swing by the post office, pick up groceries for dinner from the co-op, grab a movie from the video store, and be home in 20 minutes. No more! It now takes at least 2 hours to do the same errands because I run into so many people who are either friends or friendly acquaintances. It will soon be the same for you and Rick. This is one of the warmest, friendliest, most welcoming communities I've ever encountered.
    We hope you'll decided to come back here to live.
    See you Thursday night for dinner! :)

    ReplyDelete

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