Spring Sobriety

This was the view at sunrise yesterday morning. I'm going to miss it. I'm going to miss Polson. I'll only be 40 miles north, but in Montana you learn quickly that you're a long way from anywhere. That's why we like it.

I was up early to meet Brent in Lakeside and paint a couple of the rooms in the house where I'm moving. It's one of those houses where you don't realize how much needs to be done until you start doing it. We painted the bedroom and laundry room and Sunday we're painting the kitchen. There's a new piece of carpet coming in and new linoleum in the kitchen and laundry. Still, it's kinda old and kinda funky, and I think I'm going to love it.

The little side yard actually gets sun almost all day. I already have my veggie, edible flower and herb list to purchase seeds so I can get them planted as soon as I'm moved in. Brent is going to make some planter boxes and there are tons of containers already at the place. The yard is really sloped so planting directly into the soil would be difficult. I am so looking forward to growing some of my own food! I've never grown much besides a few herbs, flowers and plants so it's going to be a new adventure. I'm even trying to talk Brent into some laying hens so we can have fresh organic eggs. If he goes for that, a goat for goat's milk is next.

I want to tell ya'll a funny story. Brent and I were taking a break from painting yesterday and we saw a woman, a rather middle-aged, rather frumpy plump lass walking down the sidewalk with a stack of neatly folded towels in her arms. She was working at another hotel in town and Brent said, "Oh, look honey, there you are." referring to my new position which will indeed include laundering, folding and delivering towels. Immediately my comforting visions of myself as the inn-keeper, the gracious hostess, the person who really makes a place special, the organic gardener, came crashing down around my head. Dripping sarcasm, I said, "Thanks, Brent. I was trying to color that a little differently." We met eyes for a moment and both started laughing out loud. The second thoughts I'd been having all morning, thoughts about the conditon of the place, how much really needs to be done in the house, the work, the learning curve (I don't make a perfect bed!) - just poof, disappeared. Suddenly it didn't matter that I've never run an inn, or cleaned professionally, or worked in a hotel because I know I'm going in with very few, if any, illusions. I'm up for it. I think I'm really up for it. I'm also marking this post so I can return to it in the middle of July when I haven't had a break for god knows when and I want to drop in a heap, so I can remind myself that I was really, really up for it!


Sobriety makes the whole world possible.