Chaos

I'm going to bury the lede by dumping a bunch of photos. If your own life is stressful right now, you may want to skip reading about mine. (Then again, sometimes I find it helpful to know that I'm not the only one dealing with 'stuff'. If the shoe fits, read on!)

First, photos shared on IG/FB (plus a few extras), which have gotten more regular again:

"My eastern view from home and on my way to work this morning. I could not capture Mt. Hood's magnificent  presence!" (2 photos)

"Looking forward to a great concert date with my honey!"

Lyle Lovitt and his acoustic group put on a great show

A detail from the lovely Elsinore Theatre

"The sheep are getting ragged around the edges. WHEN will I have time to shear them???"

"The past few days have felt like a spring fling!"

"Last night's clear sky. Orion is my favorite constellation."

"Hmm,  those colors remind me of something. 😍"

"I chased this sunset up the hill a few miles past our lane trying to get a good shot."

"Interesting wisps in the eastern sky this morning."

"Happy Sabbath!"

"Bitsy and Lance, making my day.." (4 photos)

"The ear gnats are out again, so Stella's bonnet is back in use. She knows it helps and accepts it readily."

"Good morning!"

"We're having fungi weather again."

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Rick has almost vacated his old clinic space. The only thing holding us up from giving the new owners the keys they've been hounding us for is getting phone service switched over to the new office. For now we have to keep the landline in the old space and forward the phone to the new secretary's mobile phone during the day and to the answering service for nights and weekends.

The rest of 30 years of accumulation has been moved, some (not enough) to burnpile/trash/recycling, some (shoehorned in) to the new office, and some (WAY too much) to our home. There is stuff stacked in our garage, our daylight basement, the barn aisle, the shed, and on our big trailer. Rick hasn't been able to park on his side of the garage since he brought home a truck AND trailerful of stuff home from Dad's shop last summer; now I can't park in the garage, either. Supposedly most of what he has brought home will be stored in the shop once it is finished; Brian is grumbling that there will be no available space to actually work on vehicles in the 'shop' (which is an indication of other issues).

Through the process of losing both my dads, my desire to declutter and downsize has grown increasingly stronger, and I have taken steps to both get rid of things and minimize further accumulation. But I'm shoveling out with a teaspoon while the men of the family are hauling in with a dump truck, adding despair to the physical/mental/emotional exhaustion I was already struggling with. In my experience, what my guys bring in never leaves, even if it is large and visible (prime examples are a dead pick-up, a dead car, one dead and one dying tractor, two dead riding lawnmowers, and a homemade trailer, now rotting, that we pulled behind the car when we moved to Oregon in 1989). Our little acreage has become an embarrassment and a burden, and I see no way to effect change – not a good emotional state. On top of that, I am aware that FAR worse things are happening to many in our country and on our planet; Lord, help us all.