Playing around at my art table on an overcast lazy Saturday where time seems to be on a slow crawl. A couple g-kids hanging out rocking their art. I mean that literally! They are creating their own version of rock art while I go between my art journal (catching up on a 30 day challenge) and writing. Yes that is my standby yoga mat that hangs in this space for random asanas and prayerful moments that they utilized for their art table. Make do with what you have! I'm good with that.
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Daily life probably provides more fodder for writing or blogging than I utilize and my time could be better managed. I have to say that part of the problem is the infrequent sunny days. Rain and cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms are more prevalent than clear skies and full sun. So when a full out sunny day occurs I am unable to force myself to work. Are you kidding? I am going to be forced to spend most of my time indoors before long. Sunny days are a commodity that I refuse to waste! I sit in the sun, wander through the garden watching honey bees and butterflies (the few that there are) and harvest green beans, tomatoes and strawberries. Truth be told, I graze as I go. I sit on the garden bench or front porch and watch people and traffic go by. During these moments I let my mind wander and thoughts flow. I made the decision to momentarily go with the flow of where I am. It might be this relaxed state that caused me to be influenced? pressured? into accepting a position I was sure I didn't want. I came away from that moment wondering "how the hell did that happen"?!
But here I am in the new position that instead of bitching and complaining about I will embrace and look at as more experience for a couple more $$ an hour. I will be honest here. It is a new experience that I will try and if it doesn't work I will quit with no regrets. It will go on the list of things I've tried that weren't right for me. I don't look at these as failures but as stepping stones towards the work that brings me joy and is for the greater good of others. Sounds a little self righteous I suppose but I know it is out there. These days I just can not see staying in a job that makes you miserable just for the money. There is more to life and I am really not afraid of being broke. I know my needs will be met and trust the journey. A little over a month ago I tried writing a piece about my trip out west to help my sister move. Reviewing it, all I could hear was a whiny rendition of "oh poor me"! Delete, delete, delete. What I realized a bit later was that synopsis of the trip was written in transition shortly after returning from an area that soothes my soul. A siren song always whispering in my ear. Wrenched from time with my sister that is a rare commodity to a place that though living here for 10 years I have never completely settled into. It was difficult to say the least. I found it impossible to pick up where I left with exception of falling back into the ease of personal life with my husband.
Man, talk about conversations with God! But let me not digress. Though the foremost reason for her flying me out was to help move there were moments of leisure. After a day of packing we hit a local roadside vegetable stand that had me buying and sending home the largest most fragrant bunch of garlic I had ever encountered. Moving on to a farmers market where we bought fresh artisan bread, salad dressing and beets. I even picked up some Tequila flavored pistachios. We thought we would cook together more than we did. But moving is more frenzied and chaotic than you realize! Another day we went to Johns Incredible Pizza Company. One of my nephews favorite venues. A damn good buffet with several themed areas to enjoy the bounty. Then off to the arcade area. Granted, not a typical place you would find me but I jumped into the moment. Played a couple inter-active video games with the boy as well as games with the sister. Was slightly weirded out by a little girl that after complimenting my jewelry (made and gifted by the boy) seemed to be stalking me. Took a minute to realize she was looking for someone to fund her games or give her tickets! Then we spent a few following days running for boxes and packing. After another morning of packing I was treated to the Food Trucks. OMG, we feasted on so much food we could barely move! So fattening but also beyond delicious! Next came Bravo Farms. A very cool place you can visit for free. I started snapping pictures and making notes thinking I would submit a travel article. Haven't done that yet but haven't given up the idea either. On to another smaller place that had an interesting World War 11 monument. But let me not forget to also mention the photo booth with the clown on top we slid into for a photo op. Moving day looms, sister stressed, we manage to get everything done. Moving day is a story for later! Ah, sweet Arizona, a love like no other! We arrive after a full day of travel from California. Help unload the truck into storage units and the temporary apartment. The apartment is smelly but for me the pool and potential forays into the desert and mountains offset that. Alas my sister did have to house hunt. Looking at houses was okay for a bit. We found simple things to do in between. We went downtown one day to the theater to watch Maleficent. Awesome. Wandered the square, found her favorite used bookstore she thought had closed and then hit the dreaded grocery store. Did I forget to mention we had to go grocery shopping more often than either of us liked?? She and I did finally get our girls day out despite all the set backs that reared their ugly heads. Book stores, wandering downtown, a hole in the wall taco place that had the most delicious cuisine and the casino where she won a little and I lost (I still think gambling is stupid). Brother-in-law took us into the Gila Mountains to see the petroglyphs which was cool. We were almost back down when my foot slid on shale and I fell. Stove my right thumb, wrist and shoulder not to mention the nasty looking bruise on the upper right thigh. Guess that is the price you pay when you take a small petrified piece of cactus and stone from the mountain. A double ear infection in my left ear kept me in Yuma a week longer. Luckily I had documentation from the Emergency Room because people back home were not buying it! I wasn't hating the delay entirely, although the pool was closed due to some kind of misbehavior by others most of those days. We didn't ponder that information too closely!! They found and bid on a house in the days just before I left and soon after arriving back home I received the news it was theirs. Cool, I know what their place looks like. Have a feel for it. My hope is I can travel there on a regular basis from here on out. Started my day early but maybe late because my husband woke me with a kiss to say good-bye as he left for work. Usually I rise with him in the early hours of morning but not today. When I did finally wake and begin my day I still had to wait several more hours to call my sister on the west coast to wish her a Happy Birthday. Got voice mail. Was expecting the first prompt in a thirty day writing challenge that never arrived and failed my way through yoga practice. Not an auspicious beginning to my day. Deciding not to let that set a sour tone for my day, I paid some bills, showered and set out on errands. With a little time to spare I decided to stop by and see a friend whom I hadn't seen for many months. Fortuitous for me she was home albeit involved with home improvement projects with her eldest daughter. Didn't matter, we hugged, talked, dug up flowers and did a quick catch up as well as lamenting over life happenings and passage of time that has kept she and I as well as others from gathering.
While clutching a print out of her story of a weird job adventure, promising to each other that we would indeed make time for a book/wine/catch up session with friends and putting the purple cone flowers in my trunk, it occurred to me that I have missed my friends. It is past time to gather together and bear witness to all of our everyday moments, hardships, celebrations and craziness. So my friends let us set the time, bring the wine and spend time catching up. And dance. Let us not forget to dance!!! |
AuthorHello, I'm Kim Hitzges. I am a writer, photographer, and mixed media artist who is following the magic that guides my life. Archives
June 2021
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