Living in the wild

The view from our kitchen window

I know, I know…! I don’t really live in the wild.

After all, we have electricity, running water, internet, and a whole community of friends surrounding us.

But the fact remains that ours is a rural community, which means there are critters EVERYWHERE. And, having grown up in the very civilized environs of the San Francisco Bay Area, this remains an ongoing challenge for me.

I’m actually pretty accustomed to seeing deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, hares, foxes, and even bears in the vicinity. What I can’t seem to get used to is when the critters are inside my home.

For example, we get frogs and lizards inside our house. All. The. Time. And they are really hard to catch.

I mean, really! A lizard in the bedroom?!? That’s just wrong!

But what inspired this rant is when I went to put a new stick of incense in the holder in the bathroom and discovered…this!

I mean — eww! My best guess is that it was a spider eating another spider. All well and good, but Not. In. My. House.

(And, no, I didn’t flush it or kill it, I managed to take it outside.)

On the mend

I was more “myself” today, though still nowhere near my usual energy levels.

I mean, accomplishing a “lot” right now looks like: juicing some lemons; (finally) sorting our vacation mail; and washing dishes.

What I’m particularly proud of is the way I sat on the patio for what felt like hours this afternoon… staring at the treetops, gazing at the occasional butterfly, hearing the birdsong, listening to the lizards rustling through the dried wisteria blossoms…

Aaaaahhhhhhh… I’m falling asleep just thinking about it.

Downshifting

Spent a fair amount of time today just sitting on the patio. Watching squirrels and lizards and birds and leaves blowing in the breeze.

And both Ramesha and I remarked on how we could feel ourselves slowing down. Literally downshifting.

Feels really good.