Monday, September 08, 2008

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!

11 comments:

Birdie said...

This post is filled with such potential. The mystery of what will be in spaces and places remains. There is also the positive tension of the unknown future. I have such great hopes for you, and while there will be times alone, you will never be lonely with the friends you have here.

Java said...

I love the apartment! What a lovely nest. The pink in the kitchen is, um, a bit intense. A pink pantry sounds about right, though. I like the green in the living room. Tho' I agree there is rather a lot of that green. Even if it doesn't get repainted, it will mellow with the addition of accessories. (I learned that on Trading Spaces)

Badum is an incredibly handsome fellow. I'm glad you have each other during this time of transition.

What a nifty quaint old headboard with that bed frame. We had one like that years ago. Good memories.

Welcome home, Gardener.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Well you have lots of room to move around in and by making it your own, it will help keep your mind off any negative thoughts. Try not to think about what the 'other' person says or does, alcohol does funny things to the brain.. but you already know that.

I have a feeling that garden is going to look ten times better next spring!

Cute kitty! :)

TigerYogiji said...

What a cozy little place! :)

dykewife said...

lovely new space. i really like the green walls, however, the pink would definitely have to exit quickly...all of it. a nice mellow yellow would be gorgeous, don't you think? :)

your entry sounds so much more relaxed somehow.

Patrick said...

This is all terribly exciting. The place looks so inviting and cozy already (yes, I'm keeping in mind the additional clutter since these photos were taken). I even like all the green, but of course maybe in person it does start to overwhelm. I like your idea of leaving just a touch of pink in the pantry. Also love the fact that you have a pantry. The New Yorker in me is salivating at all the SPACE, you have to understand, and the light, and the balcony and the bird feeders and yard and and and... okay, I'm calming down now. I am sad at the thought that you were unwilling or unable to journal for sometime, but am delighted that you let yourself celebrate the new space and autonomy in such a manner. Special pens, definitely. Birdie is right, you sound good, and like this is all so full of potential. You seem to be appreciating the adventure of it, as well as mourning the loss involved.
I think it's great that you're giving a whole room to the comic book collection. Enjoy it.

Greg said...

Birdie, the potential is delicious! And I don't mind a little alone time...it's good for the soul. At least now, I can enjoy it according to my own standards, and no one else's.

Java, it IS awfully pink. I think the pantry will be enough of that. Amusingly enough, as I sort through my initial ideas for each room, I find that overall I may end up using all the colors from the rainbow, appropriately enough!

Badum is quite a handsome boy, eh? And awfully good company, too. We're having a fun time in the new place.

Steven, I'm happy to say the negative thoughts are minimal, already...there are moments to be sure, but mostly, all that's right in front of me is, as Patrick says, terribly exciting.

Tigeryogiji, it's a great space...bigger than I had expected. Though of course, the traveling flea market that is My Stuff will make it a little smaller...but more like a home, too.

Dykewife, I'm actually thinking "brick red" or something in that range of the color wheel for the kitchen, which should give the pink pantry new context. I've got ideas for some yellow, though.

Ha ha...Patrick, you sound like you are as excited as I am! Even cluttered up with stuff it will be such a great place...and it has a history of healing previous tenants after experiences not unlike my own, so there's some great kharma coming out of the walls, too.

It's not without it's challenges, being up in the air, though--you should've seen Lenny and I sliding the armchair up an aluminum ladder to the balcony this morning! But at least now the cat has a place to sit... ; )

(Actually, they are special pens...a rainbow assortment, in fact!)

The back room will be comic books and playscripts and journals and assorted other books, too, I think. Perhaps we should call it the Library. ; )

Butch said...

I think your new apartment is super! I also look forward to seeing it evolve into another Midnight Garden Delight!

MartininBroda said...

“All the free floor space here filled with boxes or loose piles of books”.
The last time I’m moved, I had about 65 big boxes of books and I hate them all and I thought, why can’t I be a simple man with simply problems and not all that stuff in my head and around me, I really don‘t want sound arrogant, because in that moment I wasn’t, a short moment of weakness, I hope.
There are so much memories with these books and all these things from beloved friends who have gone, from times with greater expectations ... If we have got a talent gift we have to imagination a world and have to take care of it. I mean we must remain true to ourselves, like you.
Sorry that was not that typical supporting comment tonight, but you know me a bit, so all the best.

tornwordo said...

Oh my those colors! It just amazes me that people actually thought about and CHOSE them, lol. We finally just got rid of the peach and baby blue everywhere.

Congrats on your upcoming 8 weeks of smobriety!

Wonder Man said...

I also like the apartment, looks cozy