IN A CABIN IN THE WOODS

Here are some photos of our new home and the surroundings. The first is of Yahoo trying to hide in the old oven we took out. The second is of a gorgeous Japanese maple tree midway up our driveway, and the third is of the Japanese maple we see from our living rooms. The last is the "cabin in a woods" photo.

We have been busy transporting things to the new house and from the apartment and storage units. In particular I have been busy picking out paint for the kitchen and living rooms. I think I have settled on a Ralph Lauren color called Mexican feather grass. Bob is finishing the new counter tops this weekend.

FWIB

It seems a small thing when you think about it, but today I got to sweep out the garage and deck and sidewalk and driveway at our new house. It was a big job, but it was just sweeping. We used to play a game at dinner called FWIB. F was for the most fun thing of the day, W was for the worst thing of the day, I was for the most interesting and B was for the best. Today the most fun was sweeping, the worst was having aching arms, the most interesting was seeing the toadstools off the edge of the deck in the forest and the best was seeing the sunset in the sky as I swept. It was a small thing, but what a great part of my day.

NEW HOUSE

Wow! I don't think I have ever done this in my life. Yesterday we signed papers on our new house and today we went to the appliance store and bought a new refrigerator, stove and dishwasher. I don't think that we have ever done that. Sticker shock (with tax) is still grating on our nerves, but I'm sure we will enjoy these modern conveniences for a long time. I will have crushed ice and filtered water to drink all the time. I love ice water and have just put up with tap water all of my life.

We walked out at the house today (we don't get keys until Tuesday) and looked at the variety of plants in our new property. It was so extremely quiet except for the sound of birds and the air felt clean and fresh because it is so purified by the trees in the area. I think it is going to be a good home and a great place for grandkids to grow up.

MORE FAVORITE THINGS

My sister Lorrie and I recently went on a trip to Montana. Long road trips tend to encourage a lot of nonsensical talk and soon we began reciting some of our favorite things. Fresh blacktop, dark trees against the fading sky, the haze on blueberries, and many other things came up.

For a long time now I have kept a list of favorite things. At first the list began because I wanted to a piece of calligraphy listing my favorite things. Eventually the list became so broad that it couldn't be kept to one work of art, so I just kept adding to the list. At this point it could actually be subdivided into groups such as garden, color, feelings, nature, people, events, etc.

I would encourage everyone to keep a list of favorite things. At some point in one's life that list will become a part of a legacy to leave behind oneself. We are defined by the things we love.

THE FIRST BIRD

High on my list of favorite things is the call of the first bird of the morning. One bird sings in the distance and then another a little closer and then the forest is a cacophany of song. It stirs the depths of my being like a prehistoric force answering to the first alarm clock - the bird. Usually I don't hear it because my body doesn't seem to subscribe to the prehistoric force; it likes to sleep later, but occasionally I arise early and hear that sweet first bird call and love every single note it sings.
We live in the last swath of old growth forest on the West Side of Portland, Oregon that is privately owned by individuals. If one were to look at a satellite view of our home you could see the shining green swath looking like a huge punctuation mark on the map. All of the other green spaces are owned by corporations or the city. These are the only homes left that have towering trees above them and small creeks running below. These are the homes untouched by massive developers that devoid the land of trees, those precious oxygen rich beings that keep us breathing. Most of us aren't even aware that it is the trees that give us most of our oxygen. Lawns: they just look pretty and contribute to global warming with big lawn mowers and exhaust, plus they contribute to pollution with chemicals to keep them looking glowing, as well as use up water resources. Trees: they survive on their own, give shade, and allow the ferns to grow beneath them. For fertilizer they drop their leaves every year and let the slugs and bugs grind them up to be used again in a never ending process. The birds like the setting. It is beautiful and it has been my most honored privilege to live here for the last twelve years. Keep on singing first bird...

MOVING BY THIRDS

When I write and can't think of anything to write I follow the Natalie Goldberg advice, "Keep the hand moving." When I don't want to exercise and I need to I follow my own advice, "The body dies unless it keeps moving." That is not the kind of moving I am talking about. We are physically moving from one city to another. Moving from a 3000 sq. ft. home on 1/3 of an acre adjoining many other acreages that are all unfenced and a bit of heaven to a 2 bedroom apartment a little bit over 900 sq. ft. We are being so drastic so that we can try to sell our Portland, Oregon home in a bad market. So the plan goes like this: 1/3 of the stuff goes to storage, 1/3 of the stuff goes to our apartment and 1/3 of the stuff stays here so our home is "staged", the modern term for making a house look like a model home from a magazine. None of the stuff of personality is supposed to stay. It all has to look like we are sparse interior decorators who just love to look at 19 foot ceilings with nothing in the way. The real intention is to not distract the potential buyers from actually seeing the house, as opposed to seeing the STUFF.
All of that stuff I mentioned...We have also thrown away or given away about 1/3 of it. It is amazing beyond comprehension how one can accumulate things and never notice that the nooks and crannies are filling up. It is a slow and devious process that begins to take over a home and pretty soon the corners are screaming to be seen again, but the stuff keeps them silent. Not any more! The stuff that is accompanying us to Seattle, Washington is the stuff we really want plus the stuff that we didn't have time to sort through. Little does it (the stuff) know that I now know how to be ruthless. My husband and I have called each other Ruth and Les. I'll ask, "what to you think?" and he'll reply, "Ruth!", so I throw it away. You know the flip question and answer, don't you.
Our movers come in three days and I'm awake at 4:30 in the morning with my head swimming with overload. What do I think about, you ask. One would suppose that worry would be flooding my mind with the impending due date on preparation. Nope! The beginnings of a way to put three different stories into one has pushed its way through the thoughts of stuff and is running rampant. I have tucked it away into my file of things to write about and now I'm attacking a corner of stuff that has been eluding me. I'll get you my dearies.....!

SUSPENDED ADVANCES

Having viewed my last entry I realized that I wasn't prepared for the 30 day trial period. Life is just too full of life challenging changes to encompass that kind of trial. So...I have gone back to the change that works; the one thing at a time concept. It works for me and I can handle one change at a time. When that is habit, I go on to the next change.

The concept of diet has always troubled me. It has the word DIE as part of it and I think that really explains why it usually fails. Something that we think of as temporary doesn't usually work. Something that is thought of as part of the rest of our lives does work. I refuse to say that my last plan didn't work, the plan was just suspended while I worked on other things in my life. I don't diet, I make changes.