Dark

 

We went home to Oregon last week.  It was, as it always is in this mid-season trip, an exhausting trip and I came back needing to recover.  It's not a vacation -- we always schedule the trip to coincide with some sort of work that needs done.  This time, I was in the field 4.5 of the 6 days and had one day full of meetings and phone calls.  John was in the field in a different location 3 days and was in the office the remainder of the time.  We did take Friday night off to celebrate our 17th anniversary -- grilled some dinner and pulled out our chairs to sit in our backyard. 

I took some photos last week...and realized later how dark they were.  I'm not sure I was cognizant of that when I was taking them even though I did have to physically dial down the exposure to get those photos...  When I saw them later, I reflected that they matched my mood.  What is going on in our country, in our world...it's no wonder I feel dark.  In my own life, while I wouldn't trade that trip home in the middle of the summer for anything, it's really hard on me.  Even though I'm working, I'm back in my space, with my friends and my 'girls', in my bed...all the while knowing that I have to return north for 2.5-3 months.  It's not a big problem in the grand scheme of things, but for me, it's difficult. 

But I did get to spend lots of time with my elk girls (I was collecting data on them for work).  And it was a banner week for wildlife.  Every morning on the way to the field I saw tons of fawns out and about (I actually had to stop and pull one from a fence...one property owner has woven wire fences in a bad place and the deer fawns and elk calves ping off of them while the adults go over...this one got stuck), tons of elk every night (like hundreds down lower than they typically are), and the morning we left, there were 2 adult turkeys and about 10 baby turkeys in our yard.  

And so I am now back north...trying to get back into the groove of this other life.  I think it's going to take me a few days.

Oh -- I do have one finished knitting project to share.  I managed to get my shawl blocked and photographed the night before I left.  I'm not sure why I continue to pay for these simple garter/lace shawl patterns when I could easily figure them out on my own...but I do.  I suppose I like to support small designers and well, the purpose of these shawls is to produce something nice but not think about it.  I'm pleased with this one -- the yarn is a bit different with speckles of color throughout.  I really like it.  I also left at home a colorwork sweater waiting for steeking and a zipper and a sleeveless top waiting for seaming and finishing -- both added to that 'to be finished' pile that is growing even more large and even more unruly by the minute.  I will tackle that pile this fall.

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Now playing:  Sweet Spot by Antje Duvekot


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