Airport Musings...

Originally posted on MySpace on Aug 27, 2007

Flying

I love to fly and the trip between SLC and Denver was particularly beautiful. I cannot help but to look at the landscape (geology) below me and marvel at what has taken place over thousand s or millions of years to make it look that way. It is spectacular and never ceases to captivate and amaze me.  I also was in love with the clouds in the distance and those drifting between us and the earth. At one point the clouds below me looked so much like sheep wool. They were shaded by the clouds above us and appeared more of a yellow/beige than snowy white. I could literally feel my fingers digging into the clouds and feeling like the sheep beneath all that wool was not to be found.  It was like being at the state fair. Also, state fair-like were the clouds in the distance that were stretched across the sky like white cotton candy being spun onto its tube.  We know that we can sit and gaze at clouds on spring days and see all sorts of things in them, but for me this was an entirely different perspective and very tactile provoking, if there is such a thing.

Cincinnati

It was a good visit to my new city to be, but I am still not entirely reconciled to living there. I guess in some ways it's unfortunate that I have come to love Utah so much. I have too much left in Utah to see and not enough time.  Cincy, although experiencing a drought, is so much more like Seattle in its greenness. There are deciduous trees everywhere – but alas, no mountains of any sorts.  The landscape is full of rolling hills and that was unexpected to me and a very nice surprise.  Mark and I spent Friday afternoon and all day Saturday exploring neighborhoods and suburbs and were not seeing a lot that inspired us. Or, if it did, it wasn't in our budgeted range – of course! Mark took me to a small community called Mariemont and it was a neighborhood to fall in love with. Unfortunately, according to our Cincinnati  guide book, there is very little turnover in that neighborhood (being so highly desireable and only about 1 mile square.  The next neighborhood we liked was the one our past neighbors from Seattle live in. And there is even a house for sale next door to them – how weird would that be to become neighbors again four years later and thousands of miles from our original neighborness?  Even our dogs are old friends!  LOL. We also liked an area near Milford where we could build a brand spankin' new house. So far that is our favorite option – we just have to find another location without high voltage overhead power lines or too near the freeway. The freeway wasn't visible but it was audible – above the sounds of the cicadas….  How loud can a bug be, anyway???

Middle age crisis… I have a new (to me, anyway) theory on middle age crisis. I never thought I would be particularly bothered by aging and yet I get ideas and desires that seem totally out of line with my age and abilities. So my new theory is that MAC is worse now than ever simply because of the speed our world is changing. There is so much more to see, do and even know about than when my mother was my age. And things are changing faster and faster all the time. So while I may be able to do a few things that I never even imagined while I was a kid, there will be so many more coming along continually. Will I ever be comfortable that I have done all I want? And I won't even go into regrets – the opportunities missed. I've always believed that where I am is where I am supposed to be and anything I "missed" was simply a part of getting me here. I still do believe that, so can I even allow myself to think about things I wish I'd done? Hm…  Perhaps I really should start believing in reincarnation and simply plan for my future instead of revisiting my past.

Because there are so very many random thoughts whirling around in my head I came up with a new name for myself. I don't know if Badonkadonk will ever return simply because there are so many other fun names. Along with my Gypsy name WaUtOh I have added SeaSanCin… the first three letters of the last three cities I have (or will) lived in. I think it kind of has a ring to it.  Or perhaps I have just been reading to many fantasy novels with odd named characters.  Once upon a time SeaSanCin WaUtOh looked down upon the Emerald City, across the Ohio River from the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains…

9:50 PM

• Like
• ·
• Comment (3)

Post a comment...

• • 
    
  • 
    
  
  ♥Cid not so Vicious♥ "...ideas and desires that seem totally out of line with my age and abilities..."
  Age is just a number, nothing more. You can do anything that you want and don't let anyone tell you differently.
  Cincinnati sounds pretty cool. I hope you will like it there. Any chances for a photoblog?
  Have a good day, Betsy! ♥
  

  • Reply(1)

  3 years ago
  • • 
      
    
    Betsy Gully Age, real number: 51 - mental number - 20 or 30-something...
    Abilities.... 70 or 80-something....
    

    3 years ago
• • 
    
  • 
    
  
  Jeannie Corby Becker Cincy Does have a Soccer Club!!!!
  
  They have a website: http://www.cincinnati-excite.com/
  
  as well as a myspace page: www.myspace.com/cincyexcite
  
  
  They have adult soccer leagues as well. Yeah!!!!!!!!!! You will still have your Soccer!
  

  • Reply

  3 years ago
• • 
    
  • 
    
  
  Jeannie Corby Becker SeaSanCin what a wonderful new name. Isn't it amazing how much we wish we could move back to our original homes and then when we have to move to yet another city we want to stay in the city we wanted to leave from. What a roller coaster of emotions.
  
  Ohio what a difference from Utah and Washington, it is like for me Pennsylvania to Las Vegas to Iowa! Only I have about 45 other cities and places to add in between too.
  

I Love to Go a Wandering

When my husband and I talked about moving to Utah it was a no-brainer for me.  I'd visited the Salt Lake area a few times and had always said to myself, "Self, we could live here."  When it became a reality I was all for it. 

 

I LOVE it here. My neighbors, my neighborhood, my home, my yard and garden, the mountains that rise up to the sky behind us... It's a hundred times better than I ever thought it would be. 

 

And now we are going to leave it.  It won't be for another 18 months, but I am sad to go already.

Mark's job is as a Safety Director and he creates safe working environments, programs and strategies for the employees. Part of that job is handling worker's comp and general liability claims. In the first year in Utah he was instrumental in saving the company over $million just by better management of claims and safe work practices. Recently, the company decided to hand the claims aspect over to a TPA and take it away from the Safety Directors in all divisions. This decision didn't eleminate Marks job but took a portion of it off his desk. It also created a need for two people to oversee nationally the TPA, work with them and manage claims and law suits over a certain value. 

 

Mark was interested in that position from the git-go. He inquired and found that it could not be located here in Utah so he didn't apply.  He did ask about it on several occasions indicating that he was interested but wouldn't move his family until Krissy graduates. 

 

Last Friday he got a call and was told they would be making him an offer. SHOCK!!  The offer allows him to perform the job from Utah for one year and then begin relocation to Cincinnati. After a little negotiation he accepted the offer. Incredibly, our kids are excited and happy about this opportunity for him. Of course it means we will be better able to help with college for them, so factor that in...

I have such mixed feelings.  We lived in one house in Seattle for 20 years and I was soooooo ready to move. I always thought I would like to move a little more often but moving is expensive. The move to SLC was over $70,000 and fortunately, the company pays that. They will pay for the move to Cincy, too. I love new places and learning my way around and 'discovering' all there is to discover, but I am not done discovering here yet. We'll have only spent 3 years in Utah - I guess I better get busy exploring a little quicker.

I wish I had visited Cincy before. I would have a better feeling for it and maybe a little less reluctance. We will have major league baseball again - yeah!!  We will be back in a big city instead of a small city - yeah!!  It will be humid - boo!!  Liquor laws will probably make more sense, and I might be able to buy a bottle of wine in the supermarket - yeah!!  I might be able to find another volksmarch club - yeah!!  I might be able to get my scrapbook business going again - yeah!!  I might just come to love it there as much as here - yeah!!

And since there is no skiing in Cincy, maybe we'll just have to join a travel club and take real vacations for a change - YEAH!!! 

 

If anyone can tell me anything about Cincy, Ohio, Kentucky - please do - I've ordered some books but would love to hear the details first hand!

 

That's all - I've rambled enough. 

Maren...

(originally posted on MySpace)

It's been one year since Maren jumped off the Aurora Bridge to her death.  We'll never know or understand why, but we do know the hurt and pain she left us with.  Will it ever go away?  

 

We've promised to never forget her, but even without a promise, how could we?  She was an amazing girl. Not yet 16 at the time of her death, she was smart and pretty and athletic.  She was very well liked by her friends and she was one of those rare girls who liked and was kind to everyone.  

 

My heart especially aches for her family today. The two sisters she left behind, her mom and dad. I can't even pretend to imagine their pain.  

 

Maren, I truly believe you acted in anger and haste and would not have jumped had you stopped to think.  Such a horrid act that can never be undone.  We'll always miss you and always wonder what you would have become and done had you lived on. 

 

I hope your soul is in peace.

 

This 'n That

(Previously posted on MySpace)

It's so "Seattle" today in my back yard.  The precip is sleet instead of rain, but it's coming straight down out of a seattle-gray sky.  The patio is shiney wet and the only action is an occasional birdie scooting along the grass to duck for cover under an evergreen.  

 

I'm happy spring is back. Aside from my 'mia' tulips, I have bunches of lovely daffy-dils and the prettiest green foliage on the trees that separate our yard from our back-door neighbor.  The yard is a good size yard with a trampoline and basket ball court, so we don't feel boxed in, just more private. 

 

Since I am off work today I may have to zip up and go to the nursery. I have some fun plans for the front of the house that will translate into fall & winter venues after summer flowers have had their stay. It's time to get the veggies planted and Mark has a new toy to use in that garden.  Pictures will follow once we get to work.

Any ideas for a nice, not too intrusive, vine-like plant to grow along our back cyclone fence?  I love clematis but had no success with it last year. I've thought about a champaign grape that a friend of ours grew in WA - but I don't know how it would winter.  We do have concord grapes flowing over from a neighbor's yard, by the apricot tree, so I am a little hopeful that it could work. 

 

Our mountains were so incredible this morning when I took Krissy to school.  The clouds were high above them, just out of reach of the peaks, and the sky must have been clear on the back side of the mountains, for the sun had lit the lower underside puffs a light yellow in contrast to the upper grayness. The mountains below are just tipped with the last of our snow and below that flowed like green fabric to the tree line, otherwise known as the house line. 

 

From one view a double row of street lights was twinkling right at the base.  Would have been an awesome photo if not for all the phone lines.  I am so in love with this area. I love that the mountains are so close in our back yard!

 

No matter where you are there is beauty. Take time and stop to enjoy and appreciate it.  Read the Alchemist and you will begin to understand the wonder of a grain of sand.

 

Mom's home!

(from my former MySpace blog)

Mom came home from the hospital today and she is doing well!  When we got to the house I asked her if she wanted me to get her wheel chair to get inside or her walker. She's been sick and off her feet since Friday so I assumed she would want the wheel chair.  But oh, no!  She wanted her walker and negotiated two ramps into the house in a rather fast pace for her.  (Just a smidge faster than a snail's pace...). I am rather impressed and very happy.  She's sitting up in the living room reading her usual assortment of catalogs (that's a blog for another day...)

 

Most importantly, I want to thank all of you for your prayers and healing thoughts, hugs & any other positive energies you sent our way. It's amazing how important and helpful that energy is!!  Hugs right back to all of you, my friends!!!!

xoxo

Wasted days and wasted nights...

(from my former MySpace blog)

Not really wasted in the alcoholic sense or the true sense... 

 

Mom is in the hospital again... 2nd time in two weeks.  It's a strain and a drain to spend so much time in the ER.  I think our shortest time spent in ER is 4 hours.  That was today.  

 

She had another spell and this time we called the paramedics. I think that has probably been her plan all along... get three incredibly good looking guys to come fuss over her and take her away in a huge fire truck.  I have to say I did offer to take her place in the truck.... 

 

Don't know yet what is wrong.  This time they said she is very anemic and gave her two units of blood.  In the a.m. they will do an endoscopy (right word?) to see if she is bleeding in her stomach.  I hope they don't want to send her home after only one night again.  She's just too weak to come home so soon. 

 

On the up side... I should have my Phoenix photos back by tomorrow and I got a little promotion at work.  Woot Woot. 

 

I should be in bed now, asleep, but I feel a bit wound up.  Send up your good thoughts and prayers, k?

 

Phoenix

...is a hecka long way from Sandy, UT. Especially by car. But OMHeck, there is such incredible scenery between the two.  And I love Love LOVE road trips!

 

Unfortunately I left home without my camera, or maybe fortunately because I would still be in the car on the road if I had stopped to photo every awesome sight I saw. 

 

Of course leaving Sandy means driving through the amazing mountains that surround my home.  Traveling south the mountains change dramatically in shape and color and although sometimes the scenery stretches for miles without a significant change, it's all so unbelievably beautiful that long stretches are simply okay and easy to "endure." The colors and textures of the landscape, living or mineral, are such a gift to the eyes and spirit. From sea to shining sea our country is amazing.

 

And I still have not seen the Grand Canyon.  I can't even imagine what kind of an impact that will have on me when the day comes. 

 

Now, ten or eleven hours after leaving home (no, we didn't run away, everyone knows where we went...) we are enjoying our down time before bed and in just another 12 hours will be sitting in the stands ready to enjoy spring training watching the Mariners.  Woot woot!!  I miss my Mariners since they aren't on TV in Utah and these three games in the next three days will have to be my 'fix' for this season. Phoenix is having record breaking high temps right now - should be an interesting time!  I have my sunscreen and peanuts... just waiting for that first pitch!