Retirement Diaries 2023: Purge and Pack…

My apologies for being so quiet on here.  My life has been completely absorbed with purging and packing.  My mom and I have been working hard everyday; going through every nook and cranny in her house.  Assessing every item to see if it makes the move to Minnesota, gets donated, recycled, shredded, or thrown away.  It’s exhausting for me and even more so for mom.  My friend Shelley (bless her!) has been coming on weekends and some evenings after work; she has been so much help and I so appreciate her!

The good news is that we have made so much progress!  The packers came again today and now the house is nearly naked; every exposed surface has been almost completely stripped of furniture and personal items.  The stager loves this naked look.  We have a few more days to clean up, and remove the last of the stuff before she comes to rearrange what’s left and add her own special touches.

Of course, we still have closets, drawers, the garage and the pole barn to purge after the home itself is staged, so we are not in the home stretch yet.  My brother did come up and take my father’s classic car, a 1968 Mercury Cougar, as well as some items that he wanted and mom wasn’t keeping.  Every little bit helps.

I’ve never lived in a house while it has been on the market.  It should be interesting…  By interesting, I mean I’m sure it will be awful.  So please bring all your warm thoughts and prayers for the house to sell quickly!

Not that I’ll have much time to enjoy it, but the weather in the Pacific Northwest has finally broken into a few days of sunshine!  It will be sunny through Saturday, with the rain returning Sunday, when mom and I will have a chance to slack off a little bit.  Figures…

I have had a couple of evenings out with friends, and that has been a respite for my weary body.  I am looking forward to having some time with friends tomorrow as well!  Friends are good for the soul…

Hopefully someday soon my life won’t be totally consumed with this project, and I’ll be able to write about something more interesting.  Some beach time!  That road trip I was planning!  But until then, you are stuck with this.  It is probably reminding you that you don’t want to move anytime soon…  I hope you are all doing well!

 

2023 Retirement Diaries: The Big Purge

I flew back to Washington on Saturday, so I’ve been here about 56 hours now.  In that 56 hours, I have done approximately 437 hours of purging and packing.  I swear!  Or maybe it just feels like that.  We are taking a short break right now, but will be back to it for a couple more hours this evening.

Mom and I have been pushing hard to go through her stuff and figure out what she wants to take to Minnesota and what gets left behind.  Packers are coming in on Thursday morning, so we are under a bit of a time constraint to go through and sort into what should get packed and what shouldn’t.  It’s tiring. 

I have already developed my 2024 New Year’s Resolution.  No one will move!  At least no one that I have to help with the process.  I have written on this blog before about how moving is the worst chore ever, and that doesn’t change if it’s someone else moving, if I’m helping.  Even if there are packers!  This job sucks.  But of course, it’s my mom, so I’ll be here doing it until it’s done, because she needs help, and she’s been helping me my entire life. 

There have been moments of joy and humor going through mom’s memories, and moments of sadness and frustration at those who should have been part of this process but aren’t here.  Perhaps a few curses have been thrown around.  We are trying to keep our eye on the prize, knowing that when this is all done mom’s stuff will be a lot lighter and she will have a much more manageable home and property much closer to me, where I can help her. 

The weather in Washington has been cold and mostly rainy since I’ve been home, which honestly is probably a good thing since we are cooped up in the house doing our work anyway.  Yesterday evening we were blessed with a break in the rain, and a gorgeous rainbow to lift our spirits.

Back at home, Cora is back to her usual self, with a hearty appetite and a cheerful, talkative demeanor.  She is back to demanding breakfast whenever anyone shows the slightest hint of stirring, and she is back to trying to cajole lunch out of whoever passes by.  It is such a relief! 

I’m hoping once we are ready for the packers, that will give me a bit more time to see some friends and do some things other than house stuff too!  Wish me luck over the next two days!

Happy Monday! 

2023 Retirement Diaries: The Thaw

Spring has arrived to Central Minnesota!  The snow piles are melting off quickly, and temperatures the last couple of days have been in the 70s!  I’ve been wearing shorts!  I’m probably blinding everyone who walks by me, but I’m happy to be able to peel off all the layers.

One of the unique features of spring in Minnesota is the uncovering of all the roadkill.  Yep.  Driving the roads over the few weeks has been an interesting foray into seeing all of the deer (and a couple of coyotes) that were felled by cars over the winter and buried by the snow.  That was something I wasn’t expecting.  Maybe some road crews will come by and pick them up; I’m not sure how that works.  The freshly revealed grass is all brown and dead still, but I’m sure it will start to turn green soon.

The spring thaw also brings newly presented roadside agates.  The snow plows have been scraping up the rocks on the side of the road for the last four months, so now the rocks are melting out of the remaining snow piles just waiting to be found!  My walks over the last few days have been lucrative.  I’m planning to get out and do some hunting along the riverbanks and gravel roads for even better pickings, but for now, my walks along my own street are satisfying.

The chickens have been venturing out into their outdoor coop.  Sometimes with some prodding, but hopefully they will start spending more time outside now!

Cora got sick last weekend.  She ate something that didn’t agree with her, probably bacon, and over a few days stopped eating, had diarrhea and vomiting.  She was not in a good place.  We got her in to a new vet here, and after IV fluids, antibiotics, anti-nausea meds, and anti-diarrhea meds she is feeling a bit better.  She is still not eating her usual amount (but she is eating!) and still has a bit of diarrhea, so I continue to watch her.  Thankfully her blood work only showed mildly elevated kidney values, so the vet thinks it is a pancreatitis and she will recover fully.  Which is good, because I get so worried about my babies!  She is 10 now, so the resident teenager is definitely going to have to stop sneaking her table scraps; she isn’t as young as she used to be.

Today was the library book sale, and I learned another cool thing about Minnesota.  Library book sale prices in the Heartland are significantly lower than the West Coast!  $1 for hardbacks and $0.50 for paperbacks!  In Washington, the cheapest book sale books were $1 and more interesting finds could be $3 or $4 or even more.  Today I bought nine books for $5 and am very excited about my purchases.  I may or may not have room for them on my bookshelves, but I did donate six books to the library book sale a few weeks ago, so that can almost be counted as purging.  We won’t talk about the three books I got at the Little Library while we were out walking waiting for the vet to call with an update on Cora (it was the stress, I swear…).

And the biggest news.  I’m flying out to Washington to help my mom purge more and pack up her house to get it ready for the market.  She bought a house here in Minnesota and will be moving out soon!  I’m thrilled that she is going to be close by again.  We just have A LOT of work first to make it happen!

I’m a little sad to be missing the best part of spring in my first year here, but it will be worth it to have my mom’s move all done.

I’m hoping you are all having a wonderful week!

Book Review: Undaunted Courage

Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose

I’ve been wanting to read this book for awhile.  Several years ago, I visited what is thought to be the site of the winter camp in Oregon.  Then over five years ago, on my road trip, I visited Pompey’s Pillar, where Clark carved his name into the stone pillar in Montana.  It is the only known place where there is physical evidence remaining of the Corps of Discovery Expedition.

 

But back to the book.  This book is a comprehensive account of the Corps of Discovery expedition, where Lewis and Clark explored Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase.  They departed from St. Louis, Missouri, and traversed the United States all the way to the Oregon Coast.  Then they returned by mostly the same route. 

Stephen Ambrose has compiled many first hand accounts of the expedition, and compiled these sources into an engaging narrative about Captain Lewis and the expedition.  Both Lewis and Clark kept journals, and Lewis was a very prolific writer, when he wrote.  Unfortunately, there are large gaps in his journal, with less than half of the time period of the expedition captured in his writing.  Thankfully, Clark’s journal and some of the writings by the Sergeants of the expedition fill in some of the gaps.

Ambrose’s book follows the story from its beginning, detailing the story of Lewis’ childhood, to his becoming a secretary for Thomas Jefferson and becoming one of his most trusted employees.  Jefferson chooses Lewis to lead the expedition because he knows that Lewis is a capable military officer, and Jefferson connects Lewis to scientists and professors who teach him about the natural world.  He is trained in making observations, collecting and preserving specimens, and making astrological calculations in order to fix latitude and longitude of locations along the way.  Lewis takes to this training with vigor.

Lewis had great latitude in determining his needs in supplies and men, and he chooses Clark to be his co-Captain.  Along the way, they lead their men as equals, and are well respected by their men.  They faced dangers along the way, but the only loss of life was early in the trip when one man died of appendicitis. 

Along the way, Lewis made contact and attempted to form alliances with several of the Indian tribes, including a few who had never had contact with white men.  Although there was only one incidence of violence with tribal members, the book details the successes and failures with their attempt to create a route to the Coast and open trade with the tribes along the way. 

Ambrose quotes from several of the journals, as well as letters between Jefferson and Clark, and he weaves a believable account of what is not known about the trip, all while being honest about where information is missing.  I was engaged the entire time, in a subject that can be rather academic and dry.

Sadly, Lewis died young (most likely of suicide), and it provides a logical conclusion to the story.  His journals were not published until many years later, allowing the nation to largely forget about this monumental expedition.  Ambrose revives the story for new generations.

4 stars.

Retirement Diaries: Chores

Thank God I’m feeling MUCH BETTER after the cold I had last week.  I still have a lingering cough and my voice hasn’t yet recovered, but my energy level is back to normal, and I’m no longer coughing so hard that I’m throwing my back out.  Unfortunately, Corey has it now, and I feel sooo bad… We finally finished the 1500 piece puzzle we started before I got sick.

I’m now OFFICIALLY a Minnesota resident.  I switched over my driver’s license and my license plates on my car.  Minnesota makes drivers from other states retake the written test, so I sat in a room with a bunch of 16 year olds for the experience.  I missed 2, so I passed with a 95%.  And excellent news, my new license plate number has two J’s in it. That isn’t quite as good as the two Z’s I had on my Washington plate, but certainly nothing to scoff at.  Yes, I do indeed have strong opinions about what qualifies as a good license plate number.  What’s more, I even opened bank accounts at a local credit union, since I’ll have to switch my money over.

We had a “blizzard” here over the last two days. It delivered approximately 1/4 inch of snow, and some high winds, and the roads were a little icy first thing in the morning, but overall it was a very unimpressive blizzard.  The forecast shows a day of 74 degrees next week before I fly to Washington!  If it happens, I’m definitely pulling out my lawn chair to do some reading with a gin and tonic or strawberry daiquiri.  Priorities…

Tonight will be my second evening going to trivia night.  I had fun last time, and met a few new friends, so I’m excited to do it again!  Friends are hard to meet in a new place when you don’t have a job that you go to everyday.  One of the ways in which being a kid is way better.

I hope you all are having a great week!

 

 

Capitol Reef National Park History

Capitol Reef is one of the Utah National Parks, known in tourist circles as the Mighty 5, because there are five National Parks in Utah.

It was established as a National Park on December 18, 1971 by President Richard Nixon, after having been a monument since 1937.  It is one of the smaller national parks, being 60 miles long but only 6 miles wide on average.  It preserves the majority of the Waterpocket Fold, a 100 mile long up-thrust formation that extends from Lake Powell to Thousand Lake Mountain.  This warp in the earth’s crust is about 65 million years old.

Capitol Reef gets its name from the Navajo Sandstone cliffs with dome formations.  They reminded early white travelers of the domes on capitol buildings.  A “reef” is a rock barrier to land travel, much the same way an ocean reef impedes ships.

Native Americans from the Fremont Culture lived near the Fremont River in what is now the northern part of the park, around the year 1000.  They did not have the same massive building tradition as other nearby settlements, but they did build stone granaries, which are still present today.  They abandoned these settlements in the 13th century, likely due to a prolonged drought.

Mormon missionaries moved into the area beginning in 1866, and three settlements were established in the 1880s.  Of these three, Junction, which is now named Fruita, is the only one that prospered.  Fruita still exists within the National Park and contains historic buildings, a horse barn, and a small shop known for its delicious pies, made from the fruit trees planted by the settlers.  In addition to farming, lime was produced from the local limestone and in the early 1900s, uranium mining began.

Even though the park was designated as a monument in 1937, funding was almost non-existent due to the Great Depression, and there were no park rangers or infrastructure there for years.  The area remained remote until Highway 24 was completed in 1962, replacing an old wagon road that had regularly washed out and was only suitable for foot traffic for several years.  Visitation to the monument increased dramatically at that point.

Today visitors can drive the scenic drive, hike or backpack, camp, and canyoneering is also popular at the park.  It is a harsh climate though, so visitors should be aware of the weather and be prepared for flash flooding during the rainy season.  You can also visit the historic Fruita district, see the historic buildings, and hopefully score a pie!  More on my visit to Capitol Reef in an upcoming post!

 

 

Book Review: Extreme Prey

Extreme Prey, by John Sandford

This action novel is in the Lucas Davenport series, by John Sandford.  It was my dad’s book, and I picked it up when I was last at my mom’s house in February.

Lucas Davenport is unemployed, semi-retired, when he is approached by a colleague about working on the campaign of a candidate for Iowa Governor.  There has been a threat against her, and her campaign folks are relieved to have the assistance of someone with years of experience with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Pretty soon Davenport is gathering information, and realizing the threat is probably credible.  The only problem is that he has no idea who is behind it.  He has a long list of members of a group known to have a grudge against the government, and a general description of a suspect, but not much else to go on.  Will he be able to find the suspects before they carry out their threat?

This was a fast paced thriller that kept my interest.  Not my usual genre, it I enjoyed the twists and turns.

3 stars.

Retirement Diaries 2023: No Foolin’

Because having the stomach flu a few weeks ago wasn’t enough, now I have a cold.  I coughed a lot for the first two days and then the sneezing and congestion arrived.  To add insult to injury, I still have the cough along with the runny nose!  My back and chest hurt from all the coughing, and I’m tired.  Soooo, sooo, tired.  After not having been sick for so long, being sick twice in a short period of time is really unfair!

In other news, I booked a one-way ticket to Washington to help my mom purge and downsize.  She’s finally ready to be done with the big house and the big yard.  There are a lot of memories there, after 15 years in that house with my dad, but it is too much to maintain on your own.  It isn’t really my idea of a good time, purging and packing and getting ready to sell another house, but my mom has done a lot for me over the years, so I’m happy that I have the time to help out.  Of course, this means I will have to postpone my road trip for a bit, but it is for a good cause. 

The last few nights Yellow has really been wanting to snuggle with Cora at night.  She gets into her puff on the bed, and then he slowly, and ever so carefully, crawls in with her.  Usually his first attempt is thwarted, with her biting him and hissing a little bit until he gets out.  But…  Only a few minutes later, he tries again, and the second time, she will get up and make room for him.  It’s very sweet to watch…

Hopefully I’ll be feeling better in the next few days and I can get back to my usual schedule!  Until then, happy April Fool’s Day!  I hope all your pranks are happy ones!