#129 - We do what we can

T minus 5 and counting…before we have liftoff!

In the meantime, we are doing all we can to be able to return home to a garden that is not full of 4 foot tall weeds.  That meant getting clever about how to suppress all the weeds in the pathways - the pathways that about 6 years ago, we have carved out and tamped down with decomposed granite.  They weren’t done exceptionally well, and well, grass and weeds have started to take over.  I mean, we did once upon a time have a grass backyard before we sheet mulched it into the garden (and pathways) it is today.

In any event, we came up with the best solution we could:  cardboard, layered with leaf mold (thank you for several years of that!), covered with wet newpaper, and followed up with about 1 inch of pathway mulch and another inch of cedar mulch.  It only cost about $100 and maybe 3 to 4 hours of our labor.  And that “deli” paper role I inherited from a friend came in handy when we ran out of spare old newspaper.  Now, we won’t come home to 4 foot tall weeds, except perhaps in some of the planting beds.  Hope to knock some of that out before we leave, and then perhaps we’ll come home to roses and flowers blooming.

It feels weird to not have tomatoes that I’ll buy from the Harvest garden sale this year.  Nor will I be planting anything edible until we return home.  At least there will be less to hand water by our wonderful housesitter this time.

Ok, back to it before the really hot weather hits.

#128 - Viewing differently

It's an interesting limbo to be in before a trip.  You're thinking about all the things you're going to do, and have to complete before you go. But as it gets closer, you start to think beyond the trip, to your return.  I've always called this phenomena travel projection - you project the trip before you go and then when your on the trip, you're projecting your return.

This trip, in particular, my goal is to be ever present in the moment. Not thinking about the before, or the what's to come, but being in the moment, that moment.  

Then there's the "advice" from others about what to bring, or not to bring. I'm working exceptionally hard on minimizing my travel items.  We are doing lots of movement and that means lots of schlepping.  I want to be able to be flexible and facile with handling my things (particularly that last stay where our place is up 3 flights of stairs).  And I want to feel good, and have energy and paint and enjoy my family and immerse myself in each location.

It's what I put on my vision board at the beginning of the year "the best way to visualize is to touch, hear and taste it."  Something to be cognizant of on our trip for sure.

#127 - Will it ever be Spring?

 So far, 2023 is all about the weather around here.  Or at least it was.  Rain every damn day in January, half of February and loads of March.  Finally, FINALLY, spring seems to be arriving.

I see it's been almost a month since my last post.  And shortly I'll be jetting across the pond for a long planned vacay and whirlwind tour around the UK and Italy.  Cannot wait.

When I return, writing will have to come center stage. I have to complete solid work by mid-next year.  It's not just a goal, it's a necessity or the thousands I've spent will go to waste.

Ok, if I could just get back into this daily writing habit.  Maybe I can target this as a travel journal?  Let's see how that one plays out.