Tag Archives: moving

The Saguaro Pipe Organ

24 Sunday Mar 2024

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

“…I hear waltzes in these hills…”

It was the late 1980s and I was in college on a choir tour somewhere in central Oregon – we toured every year for a week as recruiting for the university. Each year we’d go to different regions around the western US.   And it was wonderful.  We were on a rare, well-deserved break and out skiing in a smaller group when Anna (I think that was her name) exalted out those words above, with a happy smile and twirl.  

I laughed hard on the inside.  What the hell was she talking about?  Sounded like a Woodstock version of The Sound of Music.  So funny. 

So how do I relate that comment about snowy hills and evergreen trees on a ski trip with a desert landscape?  Let me try here.

I had SUCH the wrong impressions of what the desert southwest was like.  Coming from the land of evergreen trees, mountains, rain (and the moss, slugs, mold that comes with all that), a “desert” to me meant something like the Moon. Desolate, barren…and how could anything grow or thrive? 

Then I got immersed in it for real.  BAM – E took us on a life-changing trip to Tucson a few years ago.  And we went hiking on Mount Lemmon.  I was dumbfounded.  So many cacti, rolling hills, and…gasp…even a stream with water trickling at some point.  This is the DESERT?  Why yes, it is.  And we topped it off with an outdoor dinner (YES, OUTDOORS IN LATE OCTOBER??).  Something inside me shifted. Hard.  I could get used to this. Really and truly.

Fast forward a few years, and now it is for us – every day.  E and I made a big move from the Seattle area to the Phoenix area in late 2022.  1500 miles away and a whole new world.  That’s what I love.  People often ask, “But don’t you miss ‘fill in the blank’…”. Things like having water nearby.  Mountains with snow in the distance.  The greenery.  And isn’t it too hot there?   Answer – No!  We didn’t move to have everything exactly the same as where we were living before – that simply makes no sense!  Rather, we embrace the differences.  My goodness – being able to go outside so much more year ‘round is a game changer for me.   Who knew the northwest girl was really a “sunbird” at heart? 

I remember looking at a hillside dotted with cacti.  The majestic saguaros.  Breathtaking…and if you take some time to learn more about these magnificent creations and their age, their growth and the “accordion” way they flex in and out to hold water, it’s endlessly fascinating.  Each is so majestic in its size, its shape.  Sometimes a pair close together even look like they’re ready to embrace!  Awww. 

Then I heard the tones.  The music and some deep, baritone hums.  All different notes, harmonizing together.  Oh my goodness…my mind “hears” the saguaros as they sing out to each other.  I can’t “un hear” it any longer when I hike or drive by and see the saguaros in all their glory. 

Anna, after 36 years of on and off giggling about your comment, I get it, girl. 

Break on Through to the Other Side…

29 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

CC AptMy God, I did it.  Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s been months since my last post.  I did it…I really fucking DID IT.

I sold the townhouse and moved back into Seattle proper.  To a beautiful, eclectic neighborhood, and I can’t wait to share more about it with all of you.

Just wanted to sneak in one more post before our calendars flip to 2016.  Wow.  The last few months have been a whirlwind blur of fixit projects on turbo overloaded fast track.  Everything to get the townhouse ready to go on the market.  Real estate here in Seattle is still redhot and I wanted my share, not to mention make a long overdue move to get back to an urban lifestyle.

It happened.  I’ve been pinching myself lately as I still can’t believe it’s true.  But it is.  Check out my kitchen island and great room.  The room is now a glorious sea of boxes as I get unpacked and organized.  Downsizing is AWESOME, everyone….I highly recommend it.  I gaze around at this glorious new apartment and up at my 10 foot ceilings.  THIS is home for now.

And much more to follow.  Happy New Year, everyone!  Here’s to an even better 2016.

Turning the Page

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

It’s late Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting here reflecting back upon the amazing bookends of this weekend.  A Goodbye on Friday and a Welcome Back today.  Dear friends of mine going on or returning from odysseys.  So much to think about.

D’s pulling up stakes and moving to Austin, TX this week.  A few friends got together at Grand Cru, a wine bar in Bellevue, WA for happy hour, munchies and celebrating her new career chapter.  Every time I go – which is I think all of 2 or 3 times actually – the ambiance and vibe is very warm and relaxed, not pretentious.  LOVE that.  And Friday it was time to toast D and wish her well on her new job and move.  She’s been pursuing this position for quite some time, and the interview process has been exhaustive.  But every time she’d tell me how it was going I just knew.  I just knew she’d get it.  It just felt like and seemed like the Universe would make it happen.  And SHE would make it happen – both with hard work and with the unique combination of passion and effortlessness that it’s just going to happen as it’s supposed to.  Sometimes you just know.

I’ve only known D a few months now – we got acquainted last October in one of my more random weekend encounters in recent memory.  The story is here.  I know there are no accidents in life.  D’s been such a treasured friend – one of my newest – and it’s the type of friendship that while it’s new there is a deep, intuitive understanding of one another.  Sometimes you just resonate with certain people.  What a gift that is.  D’s been such a joy and inspiration.  Selfishly it’s hard to say goodbye as she gets ready to move halfway across the country.  But I couldn’t be happier for her.  She deserves every happiness.  She and Austin will get along amazingly.

And today I met up with P for a fantastic late lunch.  The kind where “all of a sudden” it’s 3:00 after enjoying great food and company.  We went to Desert Fire, a southwest-style restaurant in Redmond Town Center.  It’s funny how I hardly ever shop there (or eat out there, maybe once or twice a year at most, even though it’s not far from where I live or work).  And then I remember why…oh yeah…an ex-boyfriend worked in one of the stores there.  OK, that relationship’s been kaput for 5 years now, but I guess old habits prevail.   I savored the fish tacos and a few glasses of good old plain iced tea.

P’s just returned from an incredible 3-week journey to Alaska… traveling both by the Alaska Marine Highway (a ferry system) and driving with her two beloved dogs.  This trip was not only to visit family, but to experience the incredible beauty and ruggedness of Alaska for herself.  And take a well-deserved vacation.

Tangent time:  P and I worked together very briefly about 5 years ago.  And “worked together” is probably a bit of a stretch.  We were at the same company, in somewhat similar roles but in very different business units which did not have a lot of overlap.  My entire business unit got downsized within a year of me coming on board; P meanwhile remains a seasoned veteran.  I remember as a newbie there scratching my head and wondering how to connect with others in the company who had a similar job title as I.  I scrubbed the company directory and just started emailing people, introducing myself.  And so that was how I met P.  P is one of those rare types where we’ve stayed in contact far longer than anytime we were at the same company together.  And I’m so glad to have her as a friend. 

So back on track here…P’s blog documents much of this trip in both her stories and her photography.  [It’s a great resource for travel planning and preparation too, by the way and for many travel destinations beyond Alaska].   And the additional stories she shared today at lunch reflecting upon the trip and how she feels reflecting back upon the whole experience, well, I just listened joyously, wide-eyed and soaked it all in.  It’s a privilege to know P, to be her friend and her confidante as she thinks about her own journey ahead and shares her dreams, struggles, hopes and passions.  What’s next, where to live, career, successes, joys and ups and down.  LIFE, really.  It’s such an honor when someone opens up about so much to you, don’t you think?  Really, it’s a gift to be cherished.

So here are two great friends of mine, turning two very big (and different) pages in their lives.  What does it mean?  What’s going to happen?  The answers to these questions are unknown, but I DO know everything will unfold in their favor.

I feel so blessed today…to have the friendship of such incredible women in my life.  The gift of time together with great friends, great food and great conversation…THIS is the trio of joys that strums my strings. 

And I’m so happy to have experienced this TWICE in one weekend.  Cheers!

Exciting Changes

29 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I felt compelled to put my (likely) last Blogspot post over here on fivenineteen.org too.  Continuity and all I guess.   Here it is!  (Ummm, OK so the date shows this was posted on Jan 29th but it is Jan 28th right now so we did a leap into the future looks like.  Actually that was my bad; I had the wrong time zone selected on the back end here.  Learning, learning.  All other posts should have an accurate date stamp!)

Know that feeling when you’re right on the brink of pulling the trigger on something new?  You may or may not have it all planned out but you probably have an idea of how you want things to look whenever “it” is done?

I’m not quite there yet, but I’m on my way.  And (but) the train is rolling, so no turning back.

What’s going on here?  Well, Dearest Followers and Readers, I’ve purchased a tiny piece of the Internet.  Fivenineteen.org.  Nope, no hyphens (yay!).

What this means is that this is likely one of the last new posts I will do on Blogspot.  I’ll continue weekly postings here on fivenineteen.org. 

Whew!  I’ve ported over all of my posts here from Day One over to the new site as well – thankfully much easier than I thought.  Please, please, check out my new work in progress here on fivenineteen.org!  And please pardon the dust as well, as I am learning the ropes on how to lay out this new site, choose graphics and get everything looking the way I want it.  The post pictures are kind of jacked up right now (all squooshed to the side), but I’ll get it straightened out eventually. 

Want to know a little secret?  One of my favorite parts of the Blogspot site is the side bar showing where hits come from.  It’s absolutely fascinating to me!  From countless places around the States to the UK, China, Australia, Maldives, Malta, Romania and Brazil – and so many other countries too.  I just love it.  And I hope I can replicate something similar here too – stay tuned. 

Right now I am debating whether to add my Twitter feed here, but I’m not sure I want it there.  And don’t laugh, because in adding Twitter I realized just how seldom I tweet.  So that might change too.  Follow me @five19 and see what happens.  Huge thanks to my dear friend P, who shared a bunch of great tips on site layout, adding pictures and replicating what I have here over on fivenineteen.org.  I’ve got a great to-do list for sure thanks to her.

And in other Change News, I’ve got yet another list – thanks to my guy BFF L – of a whole bunch of home improvement projects he is going to help me with.  First things first, a run (or two?) to the Dump.  This all starts tomorrow, which is why I’m blogging today on a Saturday instead of my usual Sunday (yes, I know it says Sunday; wrong time zone issue which is now fixed).  I have no idea how crazy tomorrow is going to be but I know once we get started I’m going to be really excited and on a roll.  It’s always that first step that’s the hardest, don’t you think?  Having great friends willing to help and provide ideas is the grease in my gears.  Sometimes my lists get so long I lose the prioritizing skill and PLOP.  Nothing gets done.  I get wiggy and overwhelmed.  And I’ve forewarned L I likely will along the way.  He has great ideas, and (but) he and I have very different tastes in decorating.  So this is going to be amusing and interesting.  But he knows whose name is on the title to the townhouse here, so we’re all good there.  (Meaning, mine).

So the Man Help is on the way tomorrow, and meanwhile I’ve got a ton to do to prepare today, plus get stuff for the tacos we’re going to make.  And I have a super late hockey game tomorrow night too.  Can I get a second or third wind to skate hard?

Lots more to come – and probably pictures too – as the home projects get underway.  Remember, check out fivenineteen.org here for more posts.  And if you follow me at Blogspot, why not follow me on my new site here too?  I’d be most grateful.  Yeah, I don’t care for self-promotion but there ya go – I said it outloud and most humbly.