Goodbye, Country House

As of yesterday at 4:30pm I was no longer a tenant of "the country house," my cute little oasis with views of the Cimarron mountains and the horses across the field. But for some reason after 4:30pm I left the house and Montrose with little ritual. The house, I have to admit, became in the last week not the same little country house it had been. Yes, I was able to be up at 4:30am on October 8th to see the Lunar Eclipse perfectly from my front porch, but not because I set the alarm to see it, but rather I slept fitfully that night and 4:30 just happened to be a good time to get up and get a glass of water.

The last week of life in "the country house" stopped feeling safe. Ever since I moved in, I had felt safe in that little house. I met some neighbors and really, what bad things could happen on that stretch of HWY 90 besides the howling of coyotes or the ocassional deer that looked into my front window? The last week of being at that house, I had random people knocking on doors and looking through windows. My house ended up in some sort of Craig's List scam, where some woman named "Melanie" who was disabled and could not speak had this house she needed to rent out and so, sight unseen, just send a deposit of $350 and the house is yours...So, from time to time, people came knocking, "are you Melanie?" and one guy told me the whole story. Thankfully by the time he came around the house was off the property management website, which is where I think this fraudulent Melanie found the listing, because it has been rented out already.

Topping that off, and because I am a person to have my internal and external houses in order, the chaos of packing boxes and stacking them in various places made me feel very uneasy. The only two knowns that felt like anything comforting was my couch and TV, so I could watch my shows, and my bed. But the uneasiness crept into my sleeping mind and for the past week my sleep has been lacking the quality of what many would call, "A good night's."

But last night I pulled up into my hotel in Glenwood Springs around 7:30 after the movers came and went and my car was full of other worldly possessions. I was tired-I ate a late dinner, watched an episode of "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix, and crashed out. I woke up at 7:52am this morning without any guilt. I went to the hot springs and soaked and read for 2 hours. I slept again for a two hour nap. I just ate a remarkable meal at The Pullman and I will again, sleep until I wake, no alarm. Tomorrow I get to present about social work with older adults to a class at the DU satellite campus in Glenwood, hence the reason I am here. And then I will make my way down the mountain, back to my old bedroom with the new mattress, and as I told my mom, "Sleep for the entire week." Then I will get myself together and figure out the next steps.

I probably won't sleep for the entire week. I have a job interview on Tuesday with a caregiving company called Home Instead for a job as an intake coordinator. I have a hair appointment with Anna because I haven't had a good haircut since I last saw her. I will probably see friends and take walks and, if the job interview doesn't go well, send resumes. But I like the idea of just sleeping. Just sleeping. If only for a little while.

Western Slope Colors

Last weekend I met Mom and Dad in Glenwood Springs. We ate dinner on Friday night at one of our favorite places, Peppo Nino, although the patio was closed. Saturday we headed to the pool and spent a good two or so hours soaking up all the good minerals and wandering around in the big pool. We met this interesting man who is a personal chef in Aspen-he shared all sorts of stories of the rich and famous. He gave us some good ideas as to where to eat dinner and where to see the colors. After the pool, Mom and Dad went to Oktoberfest and I showered and got ready. We went over to the Glenwood Springs Art Guild show at the Ramada Inn which was a really big show. The rest of the afternoon we just hung out, Mom and Dad went to church and I met them for dinner at The Hotel Colorado. Maybe it was the combination of hot springs, walking around, and eating a wonderful dinner but we were all spent by the end of the day. Sunday it was raining, so Mom and Dad headed home and I drove to Aspen. The rain stopped outside of Glenwood but it was still cool and cloudy, the rain came back later.

The colors this fall have been wonderful to see. Perhaps it is because I am doing some of the things on my bucket list before I head back to the Big City. I hadn't been to Aspen since 2000; I hadn't been anywhere South of Carbondale on Hwy 82 actually since then. It was a quiet morning drive, partly because of the rain, partly because of it being early on a Sunday. I drove through El Jebel, Basalt, Snowmass Village and then into Aspen. The colors were very beautiful and it was a nice, peaceful drive.

Friday was my last day at work. I had so much to get done by 5pm before they turned my technical devices off. The past two weeks have been filled with what we call "termination" in social work speak. It is the part of the client relationships where we have to say goodbye and make sure they know they will get their needs met. It was difficult in some cases more than others. And then I had to say goodbye to my co-workers, which became more of a "see you soon." I was actually supposed to meet a few coworkers at Applefest in Cedaredge yesterday but I woke up feeling almost like I got hit by a Mack truck. I had no desire to be social, rather, I opted for another scenic drive. I drove up past the turnoff to Telluride to Norwood. It is a sweet little town with a lot of personality. I snapped some photos of the colors in that area too, and also by Ralph Lauren's Double RL ranch outside of Ridgway. I could think of a worse place as a "vacation getaway"! When I drove home and drove by that "Pumpkins by the Covered Bridge" sign...remember that sign I posted about last fall when I first moved here? Well, I decided to find these pumpkins and ended up in the cutest little pumpkin patch, full of people picking pumpkins and taking hay rides. All very, very close to my house. I will miss this little patch of country heaven, for sure.