Written on 6-10-14.
I take a deep breath in, and I let it out. Once more. Breathe in. Breathe out. Fresh mountain air fills my lungs. With each breath, peace flows in and stress flows out. If the stress were visible, it would be a ghastly green, a hideous green and not a mountain pine tree green like the trees I see with my natural widescreen view here. Yes, we are up at the cabin home. Belinda and I have escaped. Let it out, Pat. Let it all flow out. This so necessary, so right. Thank you, Edgertons, for this opportunity. I will be forever grateful that we can come here.
It’s not just that we can come here and afford it; it’s also that my wife sheds the overbearing “skin” of stress that comes from being at home. Not that our home is a stressful place. We do have “haven” and “sanctuary” and now “refuge,” but it’s more about...
her not being close to the children when they are getting ready for work in the morning. It’s about her not wondering about what will be for dinner because she just can’t make dinner if she’s not there, so why worry. She can’t see that her rock wall garden, her Mother’s Day gift/project, still needs to be finished because she is simply not there to see it. Earlier this summer, she came back from the cabin home with her teacher friends and was immediately grumpy. At the cabin, she’s free. Back home, she’s tethered.
We just came from Durango where we stopped for a doctor’s appointment for James. He’s had some small, but bothersome issues with his tonsils for years. It’s not anything serious; it’s just been bugging him. He snores at night. He has mucous problems. He wants to know if they should be removed. He went back home with a kit to test his oxygen levels at night, so that’s a start.
Danielle is working for the Y.C.C. with James this summer. It’s her first summer and his fourth. He’s been a crew leader for two years and a crew member the other two. Danielle is a crew member, and she is a very hard worker, at least she says so, and I believe it. After three years of working at the afterschool program, she is learning a new kind of tired, the physical kind. She said, though, that working with children is more exhausting. B and I understand. She saw some workers coming out of the Boys and Girls Club after she had just completed a full day out in the sun shoveling and wheel-barrowing, but she said they looked more whipped than she felt.
Kyle has an internship with a solar company in Las Cruces, a dream job that not only pays, but will look fantastic on a resume, too. Eric and Amanda just helped him get moved into his apartment for this summer and possibly for the rest of his college career there.
Becca has a new boyfriend, a stud athlete and gentlemanly guy from Farmington. They will both be attending NMSU this fall, so it could be serious. I have not met him yet, but everything I’ve heard has been acceptable news. He got a glowing recommendation from Rocky, an excellent source, and I was impressed when I heard he had told Becca he would rather have conversations, real voice conversations vs. texting and messaging. That’s refreshing. She just celebrated her 18th birthday two days ago. “Our” baby is 18. We did it. We’re done. All four children have been raised to the age society considers adulthood. The parenting never stops, but what a milestone for our two families! She is driving to Albuquerque today with Craig and Dorrie where they will meet up with A and E to go to Texas for their annual Edgerton family reunion. No Kyle this year, though, due to the internship.
Misty is here with Belinda and me. We are in charge of her until they all return on Sunday. She’s lying on her side on their deck, right at home. Good dog.
I take a deep breath in, and I let it out. Once more. Breathe in. Breathe out. Fresh mountain air fills my lungs. With each breath, peace flows in and stress flows out. If the stress were visible, it would be a ghastly green, a hideous green and not a mountain pine tree green like the trees I see with my natural widescreen view here. Yes, we are up at the cabin home. Belinda and I have escaped. Let it out, Pat. Let it all flow out. This so necessary, so right. Thank you, Edgertons, for this opportunity. I will be forever grateful that we can come here.
It’s not just that we can come here and afford it; it’s also that my wife sheds the overbearing “skin” of stress that comes from being at home. Not that our home is a stressful place. We do have “haven” and “sanctuary” and now “refuge,” but it’s more about...
her not being close to the children when they are getting ready for work in the morning. It’s about her not wondering about what will be for dinner because she just can’t make dinner if she’s not there, so why worry. She can’t see that her rock wall garden, her Mother’s Day gift/project, still needs to be finished because she is simply not there to see it. Earlier this summer, she came back from the cabin home with her teacher friends and was immediately grumpy. At the cabin, she’s free. Back home, she’s tethered.
We just came from Durango where we stopped for a doctor’s appointment for James. He’s had some small, but bothersome issues with his tonsils for years. It’s not anything serious; it’s just been bugging him. He snores at night. He has mucous problems. He wants to know if they should be removed. He went back home with a kit to test his oxygen levels at night, so that’s a start.
Danielle is working for the Y.C.C. with James this summer. It’s her first summer and his fourth. He’s been a crew leader for two years and a crew member the other two. Danielle is a crew member, and she is a very hard worker, at least she says so, and I believe it. After three years of working at the afterschool program, she is learning a new kind of tired, the physical kind. She said, though, that working with children is more exhausting. B and I understand. She saw some workers coming out of the Boys and Girls Club after she had just completed a full day out in the sun shoveling and wheel-barrowing, but she said they looked more whipped than she felt.
Kyle has an internship with a solar company in Las Cruces, a dream job that not only pays, but will look fantastic on a resume, too. Eric and Amanda just helped him get moved into his apartment for this summer and possibly for the rest of his college career there.
Becca has a new boyfriend, a stud athlete and gentlemanly guy from Farmington. They will both be attending NMSU this fall, so it could be serious. I have not met him yet, but everything I’ve heard has been acceptable news. He got a glowing recommendation from Rocky, an excellent source, and I was impressed when I heard he had told Becca he would rather have conversations, real voice conversations vs. texting and messaging. That’s refreshing. She just celebrated her 18th birthday two days ago. “Our” baby is 18. We did it. We’re done. All four children have been raised to the age society considers adulthood. The parenting never stops, but what a milestone for our two families! She is driving to Albuquerque today with Craig and Dorrie where they will meet up with A and E to go to Texas for their annual Edgerton family reunion. No Kyle this year, though, due to the internship.
Misty is here with Belinda and me. We are in charge of her until they all return on Sunday. She’s lying on her side on their deck, right at home. Good dog.
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