At 1am the sky was filled with stars. The air was silent. Getting up just before dawn, I find the day may bring snow. The stars have been replaced by the dull grey of morning clouds moving quite rapidly from the west. My husband, perusing his kindle for the weather, announces that the winds could hit 40mph. The tall oak beside my window is swaying in the breeze. It takes some doing to make that oak sway. Our home thermometer reads in the teens. Winter has finally come.
I have not written much since I turned 60. I am not sure why that number seemed to change things for me but it did. I felt the same way about 30. I could no longer blame my follies, my indecisiveness, and my inexperience on my youth. It was a number that marked, for me, my entry into adulthood. I am not sure why turning 60 made me rethink things but it did. I began to question my priorities. What possibilities await me? It is said that change is harder as one grows older. For me, to move, to switch careers, is like breathing. And I haven’t done that in quite some time. I had children to raise, parents to care for, a career to nourish. Well, the kids are grown and at least one is soon to be married. Gary and I cared for and buried our parents many years ago. As for my career, I am still wrestling with that. But wrestling will keep me growing and expanding.
One thing that Gary and I knew for sure was that we would not stay in the house we called home for the last 12 years. As beautiful as it is, as gorgeous our yard is, it is too big, too costly, too much work. And so our quest began, like Frodo and Samwise, like Jason and his Argonauts, like the Joads in “The Grapes of Wrath”…well perhaps not like any of these but it was a journey that ended happily. I know this because I am already at the end of the home search journey as I sip my coffee, finally writing again. It feels good.
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