Farewell to My Life "Away"

 This week is one of the most exhausting and bittersweet weeks of my year.  This is the week we shut down our life at the farmhouse and prepare to fly south for the winter.  I have chronicled this week many times over the years, and one would think after so many years doing this process it would get easier or that my mental state would be more prepared for what lies ahead, but alas, I am a slow learner.  Add to the clean out the fridge, put everything away for the winter, pack up your suitcase, wash everything you can lay your eyes on frenzy that is on my "to do" list, we had to prepare for a hurricane!  I think it was a blessing and a curse.

Hurricane Lee hit Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI last weekend.  We all knew it was coming and hopefully everyone prepared as well as we did.  Hopefully no one needed all of their preparations either.  All last week I kept saying we were going to over prepare and hopefully it would all would work out.  Well.. it actually did!  The hurricane came and went and it was one of the more interesting and lovely hurricanes I have ever seen!  Go figure!

Absolute favorite part of any hurricane I have ever seen!
I watched this rainbow move across the horizon for about 30 minutes!

Just had to go down at high tide to see just how high it was.

Hurricane Lee came and went and left nothing but muddy yards and rain weary people in its wake.  The past week has been dreary and downright depressing!  September did not win me over this year.  After what can only be described as a rainy summer, September has been more of the same.  My brain works so much better in the sunshine!  Add to the rain the cooler than usual temperatures and the mass evacuation for the hurricane and we were left with each other and the dreary gray sky in our final week and try as I might to get motivated to pack, clean and ready the house for our departure, I just kept dragging my feet.  I did manage to get "some" stuff done and the hurricane prep helped get all the flying objects inside, but darn if the day before we leave...yet again...is like a friggin' marathon!

One of us got to power wash not one but 2 lawnmowers, run the 
gas out of them and put them away for the season.

The poor garden had to be cleaned up and we harvested most of the available produce.
Can I say how much I am going to miss eating super fresh, organic produce 
every day?!

Last but not least we had to empty all of the potted plants that
have provided us with so much joy as they 
adorned our various decks and porches.
This truly is one of the hardest things I have to do every time we leave.

This week has provided me with many opportunities to reflect on what I will miss and what I won't miss when we leave.  I will miss a lot for sure, but after spending a solitary week in the cool and gray I am very much looking forward to some sunshine.  Of course, one week back home and I will be begging to come back to the coolness up here.  Such a quandary...but alas, we must go home at some point.

Things I will miss...

-The garden!  The thought of eating vegetables from the supermarket and not minutes old from the backyard is daunting.  I swear every summer my body thanks me for eating organic vegetables.  The vegetable from our garden taste so much better than anything I can buy at the store, and we get very spoiled.  Meals are usually planned around what we just picked out of the garden.  I have this, this and this...search a recipe and that's what we have for dinner!  Easy.  Add to the garden the brilliant flowers that we have up here and I am all in!

-Having people around who are happy to drop by or be dropped in on at a moment's notice.  Until recently when everyone escaped the hurricane, there was any number of people who would drop by for dinner or invite us over for dinner.  Back home it's just the two of us...every night it seems.  There are no spontaneous gatherings.

-The light.  The light up here is different.  For some reason, maybe it is just my shore-colored goggles, but everything is more beautiful up here...especially when the sun is shining.  The air is clearer, the greens are greener, the blues are bluer, and the air is clearer!

-The ease of life up here.  There is no traffic.  There are many open spaces.  The population is sparse.  The pace of life is a lot slower than the one at home.  When I first arrive these are some of the things that drive me crazy, then after a couple of weeks, I have slipped into the easier pace of life up here and greatly appreciate it!

-No TV!  I have not sat down and watched television since I left home.  If I must confess, I really don't miss it 95% of the time.  Then college football starts...or baseball season gets serious...and I feel very left out.  Add to those things one...or two lonely, gray weeks and I find myself resorting to watching Seinfeld on my computer at night just to pass the time.  Desperate times require desperate measures.  I much prefer the nights when digital entertainment is the farthest thing from my mind!

Things I am looking forward to when I get home...

-My hair salon!  Vanity of vanities!  

-A nail salon...my poor neglected feet!  More vanity.

-Eating out...within a couple of miles from my house!

-My golf club which is only 2 miles from my house and where I have made some very good friends.

-My car.  We have one, very old truck, up here and two people living 20 miles away from the nearest golf club or grocery store with one truck is a challenge.  The truck has been in the shop twice this summer resulting in no car...or borrowing cars.  I miss my car, the one with the backup camera and the blind spot warning and the comfortable seats and the Bluetooth connection.  That 2003 truck is nice and all but it is not my car!  I miss my independence!

There is a short list of things I will miss and things I am looking forward to when I get home.  Today has been a marathon and still it isn't all done.  The leaving is a slow and painful tearing yourself away from the idyllic life we are privileged to live in the summer up here.  Yes, I might complain about the details, but for 3 months of living in what can only be described as stepping back in time to a kinder, simpler life it is all worth it!

Until next summer, farewell to my home away from home.  I sure wish I could channel you when I need you in my "real" life!

Summer in Four Part Harmony

It has been a challenge to write the last two months because I'm not sure how or even what to say.  I have thought about it, I have journaled about it and yet I still don't have the right words.  I have considered several short posts, but who am I kidding?  I don't write short posts anymore.  I have started and even titled a couple of posts only to leave them neglected...for weeks.  Labor Day, the unofficial end to what has been an interesting summer, is now behind us.  One I will remember forever, for many different reasons and forget much of for the same reasons.  Maybe it can be explained in four sections.

Part 1

After our return from Spain, we entered what I will refer to as the Roseanne Roseannadanna part of the summer, because "It just goes to show ya, it's always something!".  Either it was the lawnmower that we had to repair not once but at least 3 times this summer for one reason or another, or you discover one missing shingle on your roof can cause a major flooding event in your attic that leaks down to the second floor through the doorways. Or you walk into your kitchen and discover your very old, very lame dishwasher is flowing all over the floor.  So, like Roseanne Roseannadanna says, "It just goes to show ya, it's always something!".  Life at the farmhouse is not all sunny skies, beautiful flowers and sunsets.

Super fun times in the attic catching rain.

How to get saturated insulation out of the attic and to the ground,
use a tarp and some creativity!

Once we said goodbye to Roseanne, we said hello to a short visit from a few rays of sunshine in the form of our daughter and her son and some actual sunshine!  This may have been the beginning of the very short "real summer" when it was hot, humid and sunny.  With my brand-new dishwasher, patched roof and operating lawnmower it felt like the tide had turned.  There were beach days, grandson smiles, lots of playing and seeing life through the eyes of a sweet two-year-old.  Little did I know these days would become the calm before the storm.  

Sweet memories!

He was "all in" on the beach!

Part 2

The day before they left, I got a phone call.  It was that phone call we all knew was coming...someday... but never want to answer.  "Mom is dying."  A few phone calls later and one frantically packed bag in hand, I was on my way to Baton Rouge.  When I arrived, Mom was being made comfortable in a hospice care facility and nearing the end of her life.  My sister, my brother and I (My other 2 sisters had seen mom the previous weekend and said what they thought might be their goodbye then.) spent time with her holding her hand, talking to her, reading to her, praying, and just being with her for the next week until she finally passed on July 26, 2023.  It was a privilege to be there with her for her final days. 

Watching someone in their final days, especially your mother, is profound.  I will venture to say, you never really know...until it is your mom.  Many of you have lost your mothers, and I sympathized with you, but I never understood so deeply what that experience was like...until it was my mom.  Knowing that there was a person in my life who loved me unconditionally was subconsciously comforting, something I knew deep down and probably took for granted many times.  Being a mother myself, I know that unconditional love because I feel it for my own children.  It is a love like no other.  Knowing she is gone brings it to light and leaves me feeling a bit lost or empty at times. She lived a good life, not without its challenges.  She believed in God, the value of hard work, marriage, family, a well-coordinated wardrobe, and dessert.  She always saw the best in us, even when we were not our best.  Her face lit up when her family visited, especially in her later years.  She was sweet and ever appreciative of the good things in her life.  

Surrounded by her wardrobe and smiling at her cottage.

She loved living in Louisiana.

In her happy place!

When I returned to the shore, I was different.  I was in the same place, with the same people I am with every summer, doing the same things, but I was not quite all here.  I am sure this is a normal experience.  Grief or some form of it?  I felt slightly detached.  Maybe due to my own exclusion or to the fact that when someone dies, other people don't always know what to say around the ones who are grieving.  I felt the same, or at least longed to feel the same, but I'm not the same.  I just muddled through this part of the summer.  

Part 3

There was then the part of the summer that was busy, active, full of family and provided me with ways to focus on other things.  I tried my best to enjoy where I was.  I have trouble doing this because I always know there is something happening somewhere else that I am missing during this part of the summer.  Yes, I am still 16 years old in some ways.  I really need to accept that when at the shore, there is always something else happening somewhere and currently we are unable to be two places at once.  My mantra has been, "enjoy where you are."  The only problem is, I was never completely where I was.  A little bit of me was missing.  

Here is a video of this wonderful, full time at the shore!

Part 4

The shore has slowed down now to a much smaller and quieter group.  The families with children have gone home for school and work and the seasonal vacationers have gone back to their "real" lives.  The colorful potted plants have been retired for the summer and the decks along the lane look starkly naked, the toys in the yards and on the beach are stored away until next year, the number of beach chairs on the beach has dwindled and the pull to sit on the beach is weakening.  We are here for a few more weeks and I have mixed feelings about this time.  Part of me embraces this time because I get to do the things I want to do and have put aside all summer.  This time is a quiet, slower paced, and less scheduled.  The weather this summer has been less than perfect...seemingly all over the continent!  We were the ones who got the very wet, cooler than normal summer weather.  As a result, I am embracing every sunny and remotely warm day like it was a newborn baby.  

Hoping there are more days like this left in our summer.

And hope to watch this show on repeat a few times!

I am taking this time to let it all sink in, all of the challenges and anxiety at the beginning of summer, the sorrow in the middle, the love of family and friends that followed and the peace and solitude of the end summer.  Will I remember everything that happened this summer?  Nope.  Will I remember one thing and how it was a turning point, yes.  Everything will go back to July 26, 2023, the day I joined so many in the world who have said that permanent earthly goodbye to both of their parents.  Now I understand.

  

Right Place, Right Time

 We recently returned from our "escape the June gloom at the shore" trip.  Not surprisingly, we returned to the same gloomy conditions we left and are wondering why we didn't take a longer trip!  I could complain but then I look at the extreme heat wave back in Houston and think maybe another week of cool, wet weather isn't so bad after all!  But one more week in southern Spain would have been even better!  Aside from that first day when the rain in Spain fell mainly on us, things could not have been better!

Not the sunny escape we were expecting.

Maybe they are smiling because
they get to wear those fantastic hot pink vestments!

Ever since our oldest daughter did her semester abroad in the fall of 2000 and took a trip to Seville, it has been on my radar.  She told me she just knew it was a place I would love and as I did my research, I was convinced it indeed was a place we should visit.  So, when we planned our "escape the gloom" trip, Seville fit all of our requirements.  It was warm, traditionally sunny, relatively inexpensive and offered a great mix of history, amazing architecture, great food and wine and did I mention sunshine?!  Aside from day one, the weather was just what we were hoping for!  The trip was even more than we hoped for, if you ask me!

We experienced a few "coincidences", or God winks, along our way.  We took a tapas and history tour one evening in Seville, and all had to share private nods to each other, as our first stop was the very restaurant, we ate lunch earlier in the day.  A place famous for its orange wine in Seville.  On the same tour, our final stop was next door to the place we ate breakfast in and also had a nightcap the night before.  We were so surprised that the choices we had made, randomly, in a city with hundreds of interesting and delicious places to eat were so close to those featured in the tour.  The tapas tour was really great, our guide was one of the best I've ever had on a tour.  Well done!  Add to the interesting, witty and educational narrative delicious food and drinks and all of us were stuffed by the end of the tour.

Lunch and orange wine

Tapas, a tour and orange wine.

In Seville, we heard many times about the huge processions during Holy Week where they carry large platforms or floats with various ornate sculptures mounted on them.  It seems there are many of these processions during Holy Week and the men who carry these large, heavy platforms train for weeks before the processions.  We had been told that the city would be celebrating First Communion that week and that was the reason the city was decorated with banners and flowers, plus, the Cathedral would be closed to the public for that time. We did try, several times, to tour the Cathedral but never got inside! One of our few wrong place, wrong time experiences on the trip. 

We walked past this earlier in the day and it was empty.
After dinner, it was hosting a free concert!

The artist Serafin Zubiri was performing with the National Orchestra.  The music was lovely, and the place was packed!  A summer evening experience we don't get back home.  

From Seville we drove down to Malaga which is on the coast.  It seemed much more modern and cosmopolitan compared to Seville.  I was really looking forward to seeing the blue water and the beach.  I was not disappointed!  The beach was calling our name as soon as we arrived.  Yes, I even went in the water, and it was beautiful.  Especially after the many miles we walked in Seville and the drive down to Malaga.  Nothing like bobbing in the waves for a while to make you really feel like you are on vacation.

Plenty of pedestrian streets with tons of shopping!

We opted for the beach!

Along with a few other people!

 The next morning we woke up early...for me...so we could hike to the top of the Alcazaba, an ancient palatial fortress that stands over the entire city.  It was a steep hike but the view at the top, as usual, was worth it!  It was Sunday morning, and I was having a bit of Catholic guilt because we were out hiking instead of going to Mass in the Cathedral next to our hotel.  We hiked back down the mountain and our path took us near the Cathedral where I stopped to look at a couple of birds on the fountain and TJ went to see why there was a uniformed band near the church.  It looked like a crowd was gathering and we went closer to check it out.  There were police gathering and the crowd was growing, so we stood there waiting to see what the commotion was all about.  We figured the band was going to play eventually.

Malaga from above.

The bullfighting ring.

This is what caught our attention.

As we waited for the band to play, the church doors opened, and people began to walk out.  I figured Mass was over but then the candle holders and cross bearer walked out, and the church bells began to clang and we waited.   We soon realized that today was the feast of Corpus Christi, and this was a huge procession celebrating the First Communion of all the children of the church.  The band played, the church bells clanged, and all the precious children dressed in white processed out of the church.  It was beautiful!  As a Catholic, it was so moving to see how celebrated these children were on this special day of initiation in the Catholic church.  There was a procession for over 30 minutes with the children first, then their families carrying banners and staffs, followed by one band and then the clergy and then the monstrance carrying the Blessed Sacrament on a huge platform of silver followed by yet another band.  I was brought to tears.  To witness such a beautiful tradition and see so many people celebrating these children was truly a blessing.  There was a level of pageantry we never get to see and while that alone does not indicate any level of faith, the mere fact that so many people came together to celebrate these children and their First Communion made my heart swell.  I felt the spirit in my heart.  If we had not gone for that hike so early in the morning and not taken that path back to our hotel, we would not have seen this celebration.  We were meant to be right where we were when we were.  We watched the entire thing.  

Some of the banners carried by the families.

They have got to be brother and sister...right?!

                                         This was the moment I teared up.  Turn your sound on.

The morning left me both physically and emotionally invigorated!  Mind, body and soul taken care of all in a matter of hours.  I had no expectations of Malaga other than the blue water and found myself wishing we were spending more time there.  It was the one place I made no plans for on our trip, no tours, no dinner reservations ahead of time, not much research on what to do or see, we just went because it was supposed to be beachy and beautiful.  It was so much more.  

Next stop on the agenda was Granada.  Granada, full of history, interesting neighborhoods, the Alhambra and free tapas!  A few words about tapas.  Every city treats it differently.  Who knew?  In Seville, you pay for tapas.  Many items on the menu can be ordered as a meal or as tapas, which means a smaller portion of the same food.  We wanted to try a lot of different foods, so we chose to order 2 or 3 meal size portions at dinner and shared them all and if there was something someone wanted in particular, we ordered the tapas size in Seville.  Tapas did not seem to be a thing in Malaga.  In Granada, which claims to be where tapas all began, if you order a drink, they bring you tapas for free.  Order another drink, they bring more food and on and on.  We embraced the tapas!  

Our own little patio at
our favorite tapas stop in Granada.

If you go to Granada, go here!

The life in Granada is easy.  I really liked Granada.  Several different neighborhoods and vibes from upscale and busy, to easy and relaxed to traditional with flamenco and cave restaurants.  The Alhambra stands on a mountain above the city and beyond it are the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It is a beautiful city!  Our hotel was across the street from the Cathedral, seems we have a thing for Cathedrals.  It was a great location!  Our first day was spend just wandering, exploring and testing the tapas theory.  We also enjoyed paella!  Yes, maybe we ate and drank a lot on this trip...but we did do a lot of walking every day too.  One highlight from our first day was finding the Mirador San Nicholas.  The perfect spot to soak in a little local culture and see the Alhambra in all of its glory.

That is what I call a nice view!

They all endured my daily "team photos"!

When in Spain...try the paella!

The next day was ABC... Another Bloody Church, and the Alhambra.  The Alhambra was amazing!  After seeing two palatial fortresses, I wondered how special could a place be?  I wondered if we'd seen one...or two...have we seen them all?  Nope!  The Alhambra is special!  It is such a masterful mix of Islamic intricacy and detail merged with Christian influences.  Luckily, the Christians kept much of the unbelievable details from the original Moorish designs.  My mouth was agape.  No picture will show just how inspiring this place actually is in person.  The views from the fortress are expansive and the gardens are meticulous.  When everything I read said expect to spend 3 hours here, I thought to myself, no way!  We spent almost 3 hours and could have spent longer.  Go figure!  It was the perfect exclamation point at the end of our travels together.  

One of the views from the top.

I loved the tile work and colors inside! 

And the details!!!

Peaceful and beautiful

One ceiling...photos cannot do it justice.

For the outdoorsy types.

Needless to say, southern Spain was exactly the right place to go to escape June gloom.  There was nothing gloomy about Andalusia.  I am so glad we were able to see these beautiful and amazing places.  Every day was a feast for the senses.  It would have been hard to not fall in love with Spain...again! 
  

Fickle June

 The days leading up to our summer departure always find me with mixed emotions.  After spring in Texas, which is usually one of the nicer seasons with plenty of golf and socializing, I find myself feeling very at home in my life.  I am slow to change the status quo, just ask my husband, especially if I am enjoying the status quo.  So, when we decided to head north earlier than usual, I had some hesitations.  Why change if things are going well?  But the other of us was ready for the summer migration, so north we go.

I spent a week packing up my life and saying goodbye to the luxuries I take for granted in Texas.  Things like twice weekly garbage pickup, air conditioning, a grocery store less than 2 miles from my house, Oscar (our yard man), living my life on one floor instead of 3, my car, having my golf course less than 2 miles from the house, municipal (softened) water and sewage instead of a well and septic tank, fast reliable internet, television and being 5 hours away from my mom if needed.  This last one becomes more important as life goes on.   All of this runs through my head while I pack for the summer and wonder why we are going so early.  And then we get here, we make that drive down those old familiar roads, I see the water for the first time, I smell the air and hug people who have been in my life forever...and I know.  It does not hurt that we arrived on a day that looked like this...

Twice weekly trash pickup can't compare...beach for the win!!!

As if karma was slapping me in my hesitant face, we arrived for two of the most beautiful days of the summer with unseasonably warm temperatures and perfectly blue skies. On day three reality set in. We experienced that high you get when you arrive and everything is perfect and you question why you had any doubts.  I really got fooled!  On day 3 it all came back to me.  Early June at the shore is cold and wet.  Those two 80-degree days were merely a mirage. This is how I remember early June...cold and wet.  The good thing is that several trees fell down last year in a hurricane, and they are now firewood fueling our stove and keeping us cozy.  

From perfection to this in one night. 
Oh June, how fickle you are!

This week we celebrated our 45th....45th!! anniversary.  Wow!  We have celebrated this day up here before, and still I remember that all those years ago this girl never would have imagined having the luxury of spending so much time up here.  I love this place now, but I may have even loved it more back then.  Back then I was an idealistic, romantic and summers at the shore were some of the most special and perfect times of my life.  There was something so special about coming of age in the summers at the shore.  I must say, there is also something special about growing older at the shore.  I am not spending time pining over some summer crush while listening to love songs on the radio, I am a lot more comfortable in my current relationship that has stood the test of time, several relocations and 4 wonderful children!  I can still listen to music and get sentimental...even on a cold, rainy day.  Cue up some Gordon Lightfoot and toast the last 45 years and summers at the shore!

One thing I love most about my 45-year partner is that once again we each gave in a little and will both be getting our way.  I reluctantly agreed to come up early this year, knowing how fickle June conditions are so he can plant the garden and do all the frontier man things he loves, and he agreed that we could leave for part of June and go somewhere warmer...and take a real vacation.  Because believe me, life at the farmhouse is June is not a vacation! 

Pretty sure we are not missing anything special here,
unless we grow feathers and start to quack!

Adios June gloom, please don't follow us!

 

Infinite Browsing

Every once in a while, things fall into your lap and while they are there, they slap you in the face and wake you up.  That happened to me today!  I headed out for my daily walk, which is a day overdue because of the horrendous weather we have been having and chose...for some reason, to listen to a podcast.  Usually, I listen to a book, but I just finished my book and I am in that "post great book mourning period", so I haven't chosen a new one yet.  I browsed the podcasts that came up on my Spotify app and landed on The Happiness Lab - You Only Live Once episode.  I put in my earbuds and headed out on my damp, humid walk.  My walk was not only just what I needed physically, but just what I needed mentally.  

At the risk of repeating the entire podcast and misinterpreting it, I'll just encourage you to listen.  There was so much there!  It addressed many things I struggle with in my life, confirmed many of my thoughts, challenged others and most of all opened my eyes.  It put into words things I am aware of, under the surface, but am not eloquent enough to express.  It shed such a great perspective on behaviors we all fall victim to in our lives.  If you have ever found yourself browsing the many choices on Netflix and still come up empty handed with what to watch or caught yourself running late because you were mindlessly scrolling through stupid reel after reel on Instagram or if you can't make a decision on what hotel, tour, restaurant, or just name anything you search on the internet, you might love this podcast.  

 After spending hours upon hours browsing through potential hotels, travel itineraries and tour options for an upcoming trip, this podcast made me stop in my steps and open my eyes.  I was having trouble committing to where to stay, what to do and where to go because there were just too many choices.  The fear of having "buyer's remorse" had me paralyzed.  Plus, every reservation I made, I made sure it had free cancellations because...there could just be a better option!  Failure to commit.  By not completely committing to a choice I may be inadvertently sabotaging my choice.  With so many choices right in front of me...how can I be sure I am making the right choice?  

Find out the answer to this and other questions and give it a listen.  Excuse me while I go confirm some reservations.

 

Checking In One Year Later

 Last year I was sitting on this same sofa, watching the same thing (The Masters) on tv under very different conditions.  Earlier that day, I had my ACL replacement surgery and spent the better part of the next 3 - 6 months rehabbing.  Today, I played golf, took a walk and feel thankfully very different than I did a year ago.   I just read this post from the day before my surgery and can say, yes, I am glad I did it, but it wasn't easy. 

April 6, 2022
Not having fun here....

April 6, 2023
So glad I can sit cross-legged again!

 Reading the updates following the surgery I am amazed by myself.  Many of us never stop and give ourselves time or permission to be amazed by the gift of our body's ability to heal.  I am truly thankful.  But honestly, when they told me it sometimes takes a whole year to recover, I was daunted and thought to myself, "a year seems like forever!".  It was, but it also flew by.  I look forward to this being but a distant memory!

One year post surgery and while I still don't (never did) walk very fast, 
I am faster than I was a year ago. 

I played golf today and... well...my current handicap index is 20.0 and it was 17.5 a year ago before I went on the injured reserve list.  Some things take longer to come back than others, I guess.  I am making it my mission to get back below 20.  Even if I "have" to play golf three times a week.  

In other good news, next week we are going to finally take the second part of that trip we had to cancel last year.  Our plan was to go to The Netherlands and tiptoe through the tulips before we walked the Portugues Camino de Santiago.  We did the Camino last October, but there are no tulips in October.  To say I am looking forward to this trip would be an understatement. Bring on the tulips and the canals of Amsterdam!  

And HAPPY EASTER!

These are the kind of photos that set us up for disappointment.
But then again, "maybe not" said the eternal optimist!

The Box

 There is a black box that has been sitting on my coffee table for a couple few months staring at me and mocking me every night as I do my best to avoid making eye contact with it while I avert my eyes to my computer or the television.  I know the contents of the box but then again, I don't know them.  The box has my name on it, and it contains the photos from my mother's house that my sisters, who tackled the huge task of emptying the house for sale, thought would hold a special place in my heart.  We each got a special box of memories from thousands of photos in our parent's house when it was sold.  I am not sure why I haven't looked in "the box" yet except that I knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to give it its due diligence.  Finally, last week, I faced the past.

My past lies inside.

"The box" had photos of my parents, as babies, as children, as a young couple, as young parents, as grandparents and as great-grandparents.  That is a lot for one box!  There were photos of my dad's parents and some of their siblings together when they were the younger and at the shore.  It is so interesting to see people, who were always "old" in my mind, when they were probably younger than I am now.  Maybe that is why it took so long to open "the box", having to face the reality of time passing.  

The people we can thank for making "the shore"
such a large part of our lives!
My grandparents are the two on the right side.
My grandmother's sisters are the other women.

Among the photos in the "the box" were some I haven't seen in forever!  In my mind, I remember what I looked like when I was in high school, but is that memory anywhere near what I really looked like?  The reality upon seeing the photos is that maybe I looked better than I remember, which I am taking as a good thing.  It is also a telling thing about the tricks our minds play on us.  One of my sisters always says, enjoy where you are now because it is better than you think, and you will never be this young again!  We never think we look good in photos, or is that just me?  When in truth, we usually look better than we think.  Must remember to embrace the "now".

Another thought about the walk down memory lane is that after finishing Daisy Jones and the Six, the 70's have been on my mind.  The fashion and trends were epic!  I started watching the mini-series and find myself fondly reliving that time and the music.  The '70's had the best music, if I do say so myself!  

18-year-old Lisa.  She was so cute.
 I wish she would have known.
I loved that blouse!
I am sitting just like this as I write...a hundred years later.

Who remembers sitting next to the telephone waiting for a certain someone to call?  I am sure that is what I am doing here!  So many hours spent on the phone!!!  I am not a fan of talking on the phone now...go figure.  

I enjoyed the walk down memory lane in "the box". The photos were less than great quality, but they were of the time.  There were even a few letters, remember them?  Letters I wrote to my parents.  I used to write letters!  Now we just send a random email or a text message.  Both of which will disappear soon enough, unless we are running for office and have something to hide. My mom saved everything!  This was probably not seen as a positive thing when my sisters had to go through everything and get rid of most of it last year, but there are some things I am very glad she held on to and that my sisters thought well enough to save for me.  Namely, my youth and my parents' youth.  My house is full of photo albums, some of which may provide the same pleasure for my kids one day.  It is also full of a lot of stuff that will provide them with frustration one day.  And so, it goes.  

Like I said, "the box" took a certain frame of mind to delve into and maybe this blog takes the same frame of mind.  Cue the "70's music...

Me and my first best friend!
What fashion icons...leggings and crop pants!