After The Storm

It was probably around 8:30 that night when I finally got to the grocery store and the humidity of the approaching Hanna was lingering visibly in the air. The AC of the market was a delight and I lingered for a while, trying to sort out exactly what sorts of things I needed. So many things, and most of them I remembered. But not the plastic cutlery I'd need to cover having forgotten to grab any silverware to eat my Cobb Salad with...so another trip out was required a little later on.

It was great, after such a very long and wet day, to have a nice shower and settle in for some dinner and a bit of snuggle time with the cat, and outside the open windows (most of the rain, naturally, fell while I was actually moving...tho we had a few bands of the stuff come through in the night) we listened to the wind picking up, that exhilerating sound when the gust whistles just a little before dying off that tells you things are getting interesting. But after the day we'd had, "interesting" was a relative thing...and a little of nature's fury was a welcoming cleansing.

Amazingly, I wrote for HOURS once I'd eaten, not having journaled in years, either for fear of having to deal with what I might write, or that someone else might read them and react free of all properly context. After so many years, it was nice to let the words spill out the end of the new pens I bought just for the occasion. It was a fun night, actually, by the light of just one or two lamps, with candles to accent, in case the power should fail...which never happened.

There's not yet a mattress in the Gardener's Nest, and so Badum and I fashioned a nest of our own out of assorted sleeping bags, comforters, afghans and pillows on the living room floor, which is working out pretty nicely for us. We lounged around there together, listening to the radio and the storm. Once in a while, one or the other of us would wander off to explore or examine some new spot or other...the other eventually showing up to see what we were looking at.





We drifted off to sleep as the wind howled outside, rain battering against the roof, but the real fury of the wind came in the early morning hours, when we woke to watch as the treetops outside the windows swayed back and forth.

Still, we weren't troubled by it and relaxed for a little more radio, reading and writing as it came and went...and then, in much cooler, less humid air, the glorious sun returned and the world seemed new.

Not having the computer set up has been driving me a little crazy, but there've been other things to deal with, really...and no internet access at the Nest yet, anyway. So following are some un-retouched photos, snapshots in the real sense, of our new digs. Call these the Before shots.

Without being able to check email or read blogs or anything, I also spent some part of the evening almost entirely figuring out just what sort of decorating schemes might be just right for the place. For the sake of some feeble sense of mystery or suspense, I'll leave those details for another time.

Meanwhile, here's the living room and our current sleeping accomodations. Yes, there's LOTS of green, too much even for this Green-loving Gardener...but it's okay, I can work with it. (Of course, since Sunday I've moved MANY more things in, so to properly picture, imagine almost all the free floor space here filled with boxes or loose piles of books. I think I'll be donating seriously to the local library's ongoing book sale this winter.)

This is the smaller and L-shaped of the bedrooms, which I think will at some point house the comic book collection and probably plenty of the afore-mentioned books. Again, green...but please, take note of the fantastic natural light coming into every room. I keep thinking I've left lamps on, and then remember I hardly have any.

Next up is the master bedroom. Double bed frame, but no mattress or box-spring. I've a plan to acquire one, but that may still be a little ways off, while I concentrate on either things.

Still more green (but a slightly paler shade than the Elphaba Green of the other rooms) as we circle around to the dining room. Again, all the floor space now full.

From the dining room, one can go out onto the balcony through the screen door--we love the cross-breeze from that--or up a step to either the bathroom (below, right) or the kitchen (below, left). Both of those latter rooms, as you can see, are rather pink. This too, will change.

I have learned, from the previous tenants, though, that the rather intense pink of the kitchen is called Bed of Roses pink, so I will probably salvage some of that. I think it would be enough to leave the pantry area pink.

A pink pantry, how perfect.

And out the kitchen windows? Remember that fantastic pink rose hedge I showed you the other day? Ha ha...love this!

And then there's the balcony, which faces east. As our tenancy unfolds, I foresee many morning coffees in the days' golden sunbeams...and some container gardening, too.

Meanwhile, the yard is a beautiful green space, surrounded by many trees. There's an incredible array of bird feeders tended by the folks downstairs, the visitors to which are fascinating to both me and the kitty.

The move, at least things from within the house, is complete as of this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll return to pot up some friends from the garden, who'll accompany me on this new journey.

For those wondering, thanks to being able to adjust my schedule accordingly (and a particularly quiet week for events, thank goodness), the Person In Question and I have not laid eyes on one another in just over forty-eight hours, which I think is good for both of us. Time to let things mellow, again to let them be.

I have been getting in regular morning walks with my girl Emily, in between packing up truckloads of stuff. She enjoys hearing about the cat's adventures and is thrilled when I come in the back door...but we're both a bit sad when I have to leave. I hope we'll be able to work something out there, at least. I do enjoy our walks and such.

Meanwhile, to celebrate being in the new neighborhood, and a successful day's moving, I enjoyed a beautiful sunset at First Encounter Beach last evening. It was lovely to just stand there and enjoy the sound of the surf and the bay breeze in my ears as the sun settled in the west.

Ahhhh...

I've got some fresh flower photos to share with you from yesterday and today, but alas, Time has run short and I must ask you to wait a little longer.

For not the first time, I thank you all for your comments and emails. It surely is wonderful to know I've such love and support out there...you're all the Greatest, really you are!