There is another way but its really long.
I can’t make it in time.
Its a good metaphor. On days with more time, I might have gone around. I don’t know what is on the other side, though. It might be blocked also.
A sudden change of plan.
Since arriving in New England this is how its been going. Not because there is a police car with flashing lights blocking the road.
Other complications abound. No forward movement. Energetic road blocks seems to be popping up often.
G, ready to finish the outdoor shower we had plumbed last year, arrives home with materials. Its the one thing he is fairly certain will be agreed to.
A hose with a crack in it is coiled loosely where the shower floor is. The broken hose was not there last year, apparently it was in the shed because it was broken, but has been relocated quite recently.
Several conversations about fixing this hose were not that interesting, so it wasn’t until recently that I put the two together.
To G’s surprise, keeping the hose where it now is, is not negotiable, or at least, wasn’t, until he came up with an idea to get a hose holder.
He says he has never had luck with fixing hoses. (I didn’t know this, when was he fixing hoses?) She insists her late husband did it all the time. (I’m picturing an old hose getting smaller and smaller with a new end being added every time it gets a new hole). I watch the conversation like a tennis match.
It seems like a problem that might have been solved days ago. New hose, a hose hanger, shower finished. I don’t know about these things, so best not to comment.
Its been several days. The hose hasn’t budged. This is only one of the many big and small roadblocks.
I manage to dodge most of them, but the home energy is challenging. Often I understand the many sides, but am powerless to change any of it. So. I listen. I try to understand. I give them space and hope time will help work things out.
The event in town will be over soon. I know the police car will turn off the flashing lights and drive away. Another class will start. Another day will come along.
This year I thought I was prepared for contradictions and logic that I wouldn’t understand. I’m not leveled by it, but still sometimes surprised.
Is it really so bad to slow things down or even stop now and then? The hose and shower issue will resolve. Roads need to be blocked at times. Its okay. There are always other ways to go or new plans to be made.
…weeks later…
New hoses have been purchased. A compnay was hired to put down seed, watering has become the focus. Hoses are strewn out 175 feet in a few directions, across the driveway, around the back, two old school sprinklers are on a timer which miraculously comes on twice a day. The grass looks healthy and tall, seed is still germinating
Between all the rain and watering, grass HAS HAD to grow. The grubs of past years seem to have disappeared.
Meanwhile, life marches on and on.
Situations come up and resolve.
Months later…
Grass grew. Was cut and grew again. Watering is still an ongoing discussion.
The warm months are here now and all neighboring grass is looking dry and brownish in spots. Ours, on it’s rigorous watering schedule, is lush and green.
I watched this grow as a priority. Grass.
Meanwhile, I have made my own.
Priorities.
I am back in my attic studio painting every day. 5:30 am until the heat chases me out or yoga. Its been a a learning curve of adjustment, but I might have found something that works. At least for now, I feel some forward movement. I am suddenly surrounded by paintings of octopuses.
Obviously I am the crazy one with the silliest of priorities,
Obviously.
Well, what can I say?
Forward motion is nice.
Peace Kit 