(not necessarily in that order)
I drove a total of approximately three hours today — to Yuba City, then Auburn, back to Grass Valley, and finally home to Nevada City — leaving the house at 9:00 this morning and returning around 6:00.
The stops along the way included a consultation about hernia surgery; lunch with my Dad and my sister; a follow-up exam for my dental implant; getting the car washed (it really needed it); and grocery shopping.
Needless to say, I am done in and rather desperately hoping to get to bed early.
I don’t love how huge and all-pervasive Amazon is as a business, but tonight I’m feeling really grateful for their service.
I get so busy during the holiday season that I tend to forget little details like — “what the heck am I going to wear for the Christmas concert?!?”
It’s not like when I lived in San Francisco or Palo Alto or Los Angeles, with multiple options within minutes. I mean, we live in the boonies — thirty minutes outside of Nevada City!
Our “big” city is Grass Valley (where there’s JC Penny and a new — but very small — Target). Or we can drive an hour to Auburn (where there’s a big Target and a Ross Dress for Less). An hour and a half drive will get us to Roseville and big shopping malls, but I dislike shopping at malls in general and especially at Christmas time!
Besides, at this time of year I don’t have time to spend hours driving to stores, hoping they’ll have the style, color, and size I need. So, when I suddenly realized I had nothing to wear just over a week before the concert I turned to Amazon.
And as of today I have in hand three blouses and one black skirt, and I can relax knowing that at least one blouse is going to work well.
So, thanks, Amazon. I appreciate it.
It started out with a lovely early lunch with my dad and my sister.
Got my boots refurbished in time for next week’s rain.
Did some early Christmas shopping for family in Switzerland.
Paid a visit to Les Schwab to check my tires.
Spent time browsing Weiss Brothers nursery and bought both indoor and outdoor plants (after all, I have to indulge my green thumb a bit to make up for two months away!).
After a break for a decaf latte and a snack, I ended the day by picking up a prescription and doing a bit of grocery shopping.
Believe it or not, it was a deeply relaxing day of going with the flow and enjoying every location, every person, every moment.
But I think I’ll sleep very well tonight.
The coast will forever be my happy place.
We enjoyed a short but beautiful drive from Guerneville, then walked coastal paths near Fort Ross; had a delicious salad for lunch in Jenner (at a delightful cafe with views of the Russian River emptying into the ocean); and visited an adorable shopping area in Duncans Mills.
It was sunny and windy — the kind of invigorating coastal weather that I love the most!
I’ve been reflecting on how huge and exciting small things feel these days.
This morning I made it to Master’s Market at the tail end of “Healthy Senior Shopping” hours. This was the first time I actually browsed the aisles and shopped since we started self-isolating in mid-March!
Small but huge.
We’ve been out of our usual hand soap refill for some time. What made it worse is that the last time (I thought) I purchased it, instead of the gel I accidentally picked up the watery liquid soap for foaming dispensers. So, after not being able to find it anywhere for weeks, the other day it was in stock at Target, so I ordered it, and it arrived yesterday.
Small but huge.
A community resident did a Costco run today and was able to buy us a large container of spring mix — yay! And when I went to pick it up I was able to say hello (masked and from a distance, of course) to several friend/neighbors I hadn’t seen in almost six weeks.
Small but HUGE.
Thank you, God, for blessings small but huge.😄
Amen.💕